Emotions, Attitudes, Values, Abilities

Emotions

A critical factor in an employees behaviour Myth of rationality: orgns designed with the objective of trying to control emotions Another myth: emotions of any kind are disruptive Employees bring an emotional component with them to work every day. Emotions are intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.Moods are feelings that tend to be less than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus. Emotions are reactions to an object, not a trait; they are object specific Emotional labour creates dilemmas for employees when their jobs require them to exhibit emotions that are not in line to their actual feelings

Emotions

Anger and jealousy, both potent emotions, often push aside logic and rationality in the work place. Managers use fear and other emotions to both motivate and intimidate. Emotions: A complex, patterned, organismic reaction to how we think we are doing in our life long efforts to survive and flourish and to achieve what we wish for ourselves. Emotions involve the whole person biological, psychological and social. Anger: most likely to be downright dangerous. Unchecked anger could be a key contributor to orgn motivated aggression. Also a contributor to workplace violence. If anger can be managed through learned self-control, then all emotions can be managed

Emotions
Two types of emotions: Felt emotions are an individuals actual emotions Displayed emotions are those that are organizationally required and considered appropriate in a given job Women are more emotional We can understand another persons felt emotions by focusing on verbal, non-verbal and paralinguistic cues. Facial expressions are a window to a persons feelings.

Attitude

There are so many things in life you have little control over, such as the weather, the job market, your children, the economy. But there is one aspect of your life that you do have the power to control, and thats your attitude. Each and every moment of every day you decide what your attitude will be --- about yourself, your job, your family and friends, change, responsibilities, etc. Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money. than circumstances, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness,or skill. It will make or break a company, a church or a home. -Charles Swindoll

Attitude

An attitude is defined as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object. While Values represent global beliefs that influence behaviour, across all situations, attitudes relate only to behaviour directed towards specific objects, persons or situations. Values and attitudes generally, but not always, are in harmony. Study: Job attitudes of middle aged male employees stable over a time frame of 5 years even those who changed jobs / occupation. Attitudes are translated into behaviour through behavioural intentions. An individuals intentions to engage in a given behaviour is the best predictor of that behaviour.

Attitudes
Job related attitudes tap +ve or ve evaluations that employees hold about aspects of their work environments. 3 major attitudes: 1. Job Satisfaction: an individuals general attitude towards his/her job. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds +ve attitudes toward the job. 2. Job Involvement: measures degree to which a person identifies psychologically with his/her job & considers his/her perceived perf level important to self worth. People with high job involvement strongly identifies with and really care about the kind of work they do. 3. Organization commitment: A state in which an employee identifies with a particular orgn and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the orgn.

Job Satisfaction

A persons job is more than the obvious activities of shuffling papers, waiting on customers, or driving a truck. Jobs require interaction with co-workers & bosses, following orgn rules and policies, meeting perf standards, living with working conditions which often are less than ideal, etc. Happy workers are not necessarily productive workers. However, productive workers are normally happy workers. Orgns with more satisfied workers tend to be more effective than with less satisfied workers. Generally dissatisfied workers absent themselves more. Liberal sick benefits also contribute. Also if you have interesting side activities. Satisfaction is negatively related to turnover. Other factors include the labour market, expectations about other job opportunities, etc.

Expressing dissatisfaction
Employee dissatisfaction can be express in a no of ways. Rather than quit, Employees can complain, insubordinate, steal orgn property, etc.
Active

EXIT
Destructive

VOICE
Constructive

NEGLECT
Passive

LOYALTY

Values

They represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence. All of us have a hierarchy of values that forms our value system. This system is identified by the relative importance we assign to such values as freedom, pleasure, self-respect, honesty, obedience and equality. Values tends to be relatively stable and enduring. A significant portion of our values is established in our early years The process of questioning our values may result in a change.Values are important in OB because they lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation and because they influence our perceptions Values can cloud objectivity and rationality.

Values across cultures

1.

Managers must become capable of working with people across different cultures. Because values differ across cultures, an understanding of these differences should be helpful in explaining and predicting behaviour of employees from different countries. Geert Hofstede surveyed 1,16,000 IBM employees in 40 countries in their work related values found managers and employees vary on 5 value dimensions of national culture. Power Distance: The degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally/ relatively equal (low power distance) to extremely unequal (high power distance)

Values across cultures

2.

3.

4.

5.

Individualism vs Collectivism: Degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of a group. Quantity of life vs Quality of life: Quantity: degree to which values such as assertiveness, the acquisition of money and material goods and competition prevails. Quality: The degree with which we value relationships, show sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others. Uncertainty avoidance: Degree to which people in a country, prefer structured or unstructured situations.; Risk taking. Long term and short term orientation: Long: look to future and value thrift and persistence Short: Values past and present; emphasis respect for traditions and fulfilling social obligations.

Abilities

An ability is a broad and stable characteristic which is responsible for a persons maximum rather than typical performance in mental & physical tasks An ability is the capacity to perform a physical or mental task Intelligence is regarded as a cognitive ability Wechsler: The aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his/her environment the general ability to perform cognitive tasks Sternbers: Cognitive ability of an individual to learn from experience, to reason well, to remember important information and to cope with the demands of daily living.

Intelligence

a)

Intelligence is affected by the environment, and more specifically schooling, socio-economic status, healthy nutrition, and the technological complex society. Intelligence comprises 3 interrelated abilities:
Analytical ability solves familiar problems by using strategies that manipulate the elements of the problem or the relationship among the elements (comparisons, analysis) Creative ability solves new kinds of problems that require thinking about the problem and its elements in a new way (inventing, designing) Practical ability solves problems that apply what individuals know to everyday contexts (applying and using)

b)

c)

Intelligence

Intelligence is considered as a set of skills which consists of behaviours that are modifiable: 3 abilities distinguished:
Practical problem solving: good & logical reasoning; identifying connections among ideas; seeing all aspects of a problem; keeping an open mind and responding thoughtfully to others ideas; sizing up a situation well. Verbal ability: Speaking clearly and articulating well; studying well; reading widely with high comprehension; writing without difficulty; setting aside time for reading and displaying good vocabulary Social competence: includes behaviour such as accepting others for what they are; admitting mistakes; displaying interest in the world at large; being on time for appointments; thinking before speaking and doing; making judgments & assessing well the relevance of information to the problem at hand

a)

b)

c)