Employee Attitudes and their effects

Attitudes: are the feelings and beliefs that largely determine how employees will perceive their environment, commit themselves to intended actions, and ultimately behave. Some people are optimistic, upbeat, cheerful and courteous , they are said they are to have positive affectivity. Others are generally pessimistic, downbeat, irritable, they are said to have negative affectivity.

Job satisfaction: is a set of favorable or unfavorable feelings and emotions with which employees view their work. Typically hob satisfaction refers to the attitudes of a single employee. The general term used to describe overall group satisfaction is morale. Overall or multidimensional: job satisfaction can be viewed as an overall attitude of it can apply to the various parts of an individual’s job.

Environmental impact: job satisfaction is one part of life satisfaction. The nature of a worker’s environment off the job indirectly influences his or her feelings on the job. Spillover effect: it occurs in both directions between job and life satisfaction. Consequently, managers need to monitor not only the job and immediate work environment but also their employee’s attitudes towards other parts of life. Level of job satisfaction: the level is not constant, it is related to various variables.

Job involvement: is the degree to which employees immerse themselves in their jobs, invest time and energy in them and view work as a central part of their overall lives. Organizational commitment: is the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization and wants to continue actively participating in it. Factors that inhibit and that stimulate employee commitment Inhibiting factors Stimulating factors Excessive blaming Clarity of rules and policies Insincere gratitude Investments in employees Failure to follow through inconsistencies Respect and appreciation for efforts Inflated egos and bullying Making employees feel valued

Work moods: employees have feelings about their jobs that are highly dynamic, they can change within a day, hour, or minute. These attitudes towards jobs are called work moods. Effects of employee attitudes: dissatisfied employees may engage in psychological withdrawal ( e.g. Day dreaming on the job) physical withdrawal (e.g. unauthorized absence, early departure..) or even over acts of aggression. On the other hand the satisfied employees may provide acts of customer service beyond the call of duty, having sparkling work records.

Employee performance: the high performance contributes to high job satisfaction. Better performance typically leads to higher economic , sociological and psychological rewards. Performance Rewards Perception of equity in rewards Satisfaction or dissatisfaction Greater or less effort Greater or less commitment Turnover Absenteeism Tardiness Theft Violence Poor organizational citizenship

Tardiness: a tardy employee is one who comes to work but arrives beyond the designated starting time. Tardiness is a short period absenteeism ranging from a few minutes to several hours for each event. Presenteesim: occurs when employees come to work despite troublesome physical and emotional health conditions that affect their performance. Theft: some employees steal product from the company. It is the unauthorized removal of company resources. Violence: it can be verbal or physical aggression at work.

Turnover: higher job satisfaction is associated with lower employee turnover, which is the proportion of employees leaving an organization during a given time period. Employees turnover can have several negative effects on the organization. They include: Separation cost Training cost for new employees Vacancy cost Replacement cost Morale effects

Employee –organization attitudes employee’s attitudes toward employee Employee stays Employee is terminated Employee leaves voluntarily Employee leaves by mutual agreement Positive Negative Organization’s attitudes toward employee p N

Benefits of Job satisfaction Job satisfaction survey is a procedure by which employees report their feelings toward their jobs and work environmnet. Benefits of job satisfaction: 1- monitoring attitudes: management can have an indication of general levels of satisfaction in a company. 2- the flow of communication in all directions is improved as people plan the survey, take it, and discuss its results. Ideal survey conditions: Top management supports the survey Employees are involve in planning the survey Past surveys have produced noticeable changes A clear objective exists for conducting the survey Management is willing to follow up the action Both the results and action plans are communicated to employees

Types of Job satisfaction survey questions Closed –end questions: present a choice of answers in such a way that employees select and make the answers that best represent their own feelings. Open-end questions: seek responses from employees from employees in their own words. This type of questions has two kinds 1- directed questions: focus the employee attention on specific parts of the job and ask questions about those aspects. 2- undirected questions): ask for general comments about the job.

Major steps in conducting the surveys Identify reason for survey Obtain management commitment Develop survey instrument Administer survey Tabulate results Analyze result Provide feedback to participants Implement action plan Monitor results

Reliability: is the capacity of a survey instrument to produce consistent results regardless who administers it . Validity: The capacity to measure what they claim to measure Using survey information: Communicate the results Comparative data Work follow up Feed back to employees

Changing employee attitudes If management wants to change the attitudes of employees, there many ways such as: Make the rewards system is tide to individual or team performance Set challenging goals Define clear role expectation Refrain from attacking the employees’ attitudes Provide frequent feedback Exhibit a caring Provide opportunities Show appreciation for appropriate effort