1 Chapter 4 Job Attitudes

2 Individuals & Attitudes Attitude: An evaluative disposition (toward ____________) when compared against a set of standards or expectations. Reflects how we feel about things.

3 The Components of Attitude Attitudes Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Affective Component The feeling or emotional part of an attitude. Cognitive component The evaluation, opinion or belief part of an attitude. Behavioral Component The action part that expresses how we feel and what we think.

4 Linking Attitudes to the World of Jobs and Work Job satisfaction Job involvement - Psychological empowerment Organizational commitment - Affective commitment - Continuance commitment - Normative commitment Perceived organizational support (POS) Employee engagement

5 Job Satisfaction What are its key “facets” (i.e., what specifically determines an employee’s level of job satisfaction)? Why should managers care?

6 The Key Facets of Job Satisfaction: The work itself Pay and benefits Opportunities for growth and promotion Quality of supervision Quality of co-worker (and other) relations (what else???) (NOTE: The facets are additive and compensatory!)

7 Why care about job satisfaction? Strongly predicts turnover Moderately predicts absenteeism Strongly predicts deviance (e.g., theft, unionization, etc.) Related to OCBs (but via perceptions of “fairness”) Complicated relationship with job performance: - it’s likely “reciprocal” (i.e., high job performance  high job sat.) - which aspects of “performance”? - how much discretionary control do employees really have over their “performance” (vs. “productivity”)? Predicts customer satisfaction Managers often are clueless!

8 Implications for Managers Most of the important elements we can manage focus on intrinsic parts of the job (i.e., making the work challenging and interesting). Employees will have different “attitudes” about many aspects of their jobs: –High pay is not enough to create satisfaction. Most employees are satisfied with their jobs, generally, but be aware when they are not! What you can measure, you can manage.

9 Measuring Job Satisfaction Single Global Rating Method: –Only a few general questions –Can be remarkably accurate Summation Scoring Method: –Identifies specific elements and asks for specific ratings about them –Overall scores are summated composite of individual elements