1. Workplace emotions, attitudes and stress
Chapter 4
Workplace emotions, attitudes and stress

2. Learning Objectives
4.1 Explain how emotions and cognition (logical thinking) influence attitudes and behaviour 4.2 Discuss the dynamics of emotional labour and the role of emotional intelligence in the workplace 4.3 Summarise the consequences of job dissatisfaction, as well as strategies to increase organisational (affective) commitment 4.4 Describe the stress experience and review three major stressors 4.5 Identify five ways to manage workplace stress

3. Positive Attitudes at Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto values the health and wellbeing of its staff and the communities in which they work and live. Human resources are the company’s most important asset, and Rio Tinto invests significantly in initiatives that help its staff to achieve and maintain a high quality of life

4. Emotions Defined
Psychological, behavioural and physiological episodes experienced toward an object, person or event that create a state of readiness
Emotions are experiences. They represent changes in our physiological state, psychological state and behaviour
Emotions put us in a state of readiness
Video clip:
Points for discussion:
How did it make them feel? Discuss their emotions towards the child, his mother, smoking, the people behind this commercial etc.

5. Types of Emotions

6. Attitudes: From Beliefs to Behaviour
Points for discussion:
If your boss called an urgent meeting with you in your office, how would you feel about it?
It will depend on your beliefs (do you believe you may be dismissed?), feelings (do you like this boss?) and behavioural intentions (of yourself and others) as well as on your past experiences.

7. Emotions, Attitudes and Behaviour
Attitudes represent the cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings and behavioural intentions towards a person, object or event (called an attitude object):
Beliefs are established perceptions about the attitude object
Feelings represent positive or negative evaluations of the attitude object
Behavioural intentions represent motivation to engage in a particular behaviour regarding the attitude object

8. Positive Emotions at ING Direct Australia
To attract and keep talented employees, companies are finding creative ways to generate positive emotions in the workplace. Employees at ING have plenty of fun with the annual WOW day (see photo)

9. Generating Positive Emotions at Work
The emotions– attitudes–behaviour model illustrates that attitudes are shaped by ongoing emotional experiences
Thus, successful companies actively create more positive than negative emotional episodes

10. Cognitive Dissonance
A state of anxiety that occurs when an individual’s beliefs, feelings and behaviours are inconsistent with one another
Most common when behaviour is:
Known to others
Done voluntarily
Cannot be undone

11. Emotions and Personality
Emotions are also partly determined by a person’s personality, not just workplace experiences
Some people, especially extroverts, experience positive emotions as a natural trait
Positive and negative emotional traits affect a person’s attendance, turnover and long-term work attitudes

12. Emotional Labour Defined
Effort, planning and control needed to express organisationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions
Emotional labour is higher when the job requires:
Frequent and long duration display of emotions
Displaying a variety of emotions
Displaying more intense emotions
Points for discussion:
Ask students about an experience of having to hide their ‘real’ emotions in the workplace. What happened? How did that make them feel?

13. Emotional Display Norms Across Cultures
Displaying or hiding emotions varies across cultures:
Minimal emotional expression and monotonic voice in Korea, Japan, Austria
Emotional expression encouraged in Kuwait, Egypt, Spain, Russia
Points for discussion:
If you have international students in your classroom ask what happens in their culture when they feel angry at the workplace.

14. Emotional Dissonance
It is difficult to display expected emotions accurately, and to hide true emotions
Emotional dissonance
Conflict between true and required emotions
Potentially stressful with surface acting
Less stress through deep acting

15. Emotional Intelligence (EI)
A set of abilities to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in oneself and others
Video clip:
Daniel Goldman discusses EI at

16. Emotional Intelligence Competencies

17. Model of Emotional Intelligence
Relationship management
Managing other people’s emotions
Highest
Social awareness
Perceiving and understanding the meaning of others’ emotions
Self-management
Managing our own emotions
Self-awareness
Perceiving and understanding the meaning of your own emotions
Lowest

18. Improving Emotional Intelligence
EI is associated with some personality traits, as well as with parental EI
EI now becomes a selection criteria
Can be learned, especially through coaching
EI increases with age and maturity

19. Job Satisfaction
A person's evaluation of his or her job and work context
A collection of attitudes about specific facets of the job
Teaching note:
We may be satisfied with some facets of the job but not with others. Herzberg explained which factors can lead to job satisfaction and which factors can lead to job dissatisfaction. The most important factors in creating job satisfaction are not the pay or the corner office, but the work itself (is it meaningful?) and the relationship with peers.

20. EVLN: Responses to Dissatisfaction
Exit
• Leaving the situation
• Quitting, transferring
Voice
• Changing the situation
• Problem solving, complaining
Loyalty
• Patiently waiting for the situation to improve
Teaching note:
Job satisfaction or lack of it can have a strong impact on the organisation and the employees and result in these actions (exit, voice, loyalty, neglect).
Assuring the wellbeing of employees is the right thing to do and is also important for the financial bottom line.
Neglect
• Reducing work effort/quality
• Increasing absenteeism

21. Job Satisfaction and Performance
Happy workers are somewhat more productive workers, however:
General attitude is a poor predictor of specific behaviours
Job performance affects satisfaction only when rewarded
Effect on performance is strongest in complex jobs because of greater employee influence on job performance (e.g. limited in assembly lines)

22. Employees First, Customers Second at Clydesdale Bank
NAB’s Clydesdale Bank treats employees well so that they treat customers well. They listen to and act on employee concerns, spruce up the work environment, introduce career development programs, provide better coaching and give staff more freedom to decide how to serve clients

23. Job Satisfaction and Customers
Job satisfaction increases customer satisfaction and profitability because:
Job satisfaction affects mood, leading to positive behaviours toward customers
Job satisfaction reduces employee turnover, resulting in more consistent and familiar service

24. Job Satisfaction and Customers
Service profit chain model is a theory explaining how employees’ job satisfaction influences company profitability indirectly through service quality, customer loyalty and related factors

25. Job Satisfaction and Business Ethics
Job satisfaction is also an ethical issue that influences the organisation’s reputation in the community
Societies now expect companies to provide work environments that are safe and enjoyable

26. Organisational Commitment
Affective commitment
Emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in an organisation
Continuance commitment
Calculative attachment: stay because too costly to quit
Pre-lesson activity:
Exercise 4.4. University commitment scale:

27. Consequences of Affective and Continuance Commitment
Organisational (affective) commitment can affect retention, motivation, organisational citizenship and job performance as well as customer satisfaction. However, can lead to conformity and less creativity
Continuance commitment can be dysfunctional and lead to lower performance and less organisational citizenship behaviours

28. Building (Affective) Commitment
Shared
values
• Values congruence
Justice/ support
• Apply humanitarian values
• Support employee wellbeing
Employee
involvement
• Employees feel part of company
• Involvement demonstrates trust
Organisational comprehension
• Know firm’s past/present/future
• Open and rapid communication
Trust
• Employees trust org leaders
• Job security supports trust

29. What is Stress?
An adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the person’s wellbeing
A physiological and psychological condition that prepares us to adapt to hostile or noxious environmental conditions
Eustress versus distress
Exercise:
You can ask a student to solve a puzzle in under one minute, and keep pressuring them to demonstrate performance under stress. Discuss with the class the relation between stress and performance.

30. General Adaptation Syndrome

31. Consequences of Distress
Physiological
Cardiovascular disease, hypertension, headaches
Behavioural
Work performance, accidents, absenteeism, aggression, poor decisions
Pre-lesson activity:
Exercise 4.7 Perceived stress scale.
Psychological
Dissatisfaction, moodiness, depression, emotional fatigue, burnout

32. Job Burnout Process Interpersonal and role-related stressors Emotional
Cynicism
Reduced personal accomplishment
Physiological,
psychological
and behavioural
consequences
Emotional
exhaustion
Interpersonal and
role-related stressors

33. What are Stressors?
Stressors are the causes of stress—any environmental condition that places a physical or emotional demand on the person
Some common workplace stressors include:
Harassment and incivility
Work overload
Low task control

34. Psychological Harassment
Repeated and hostile or unwanted conduct, verbal comments, actions or gestures that affect an employee’s dignity or psychological or physical integrity and that result in a harmful work environment for the employee

35. Sexual Harassment
Unwelcome conduct—detrimental effect on work environment or job performance
Quid pro quo
Employment or job performance is conditional on unwanted sexual relations
Hostile work environment
An intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment
For further information:
Ask students: Why is this related to stress?

36. Work Overload and Task Control Stressors
Work overload stressor
Working more hours, more intensely than one can cope with
Affected by globalisation, consumerism, ideal worker norm
Task control stressor
Due to lack of control over how and when tasks are performed
Stress increases with responsibility

37. Individual Differences in Stress
Different threshold levels of resistance to stressor
Use different stress coping strategies
Resilience to stress
Due to personality and coping strategies
Workaholism
Highly involved in work
Inner pressure to work
Low enjoyment of work

38. Work-Life Balance at Pumpkin Patch
At Pumpkin Patch, the children’s-wear store, employees get to spend time with their children
Pumpkin Patch rewards loyalty and long service, and families with young children are supported with in-house crèche facilities or childcare subsidies
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39. Managing Work-Related Stress
Remove the stressor
Minimise or remove stressors
Withdraw from the stressor
Vacation, rest breaks
Change stress perceptions
Positive self-concept, humour
Control stress consequences
Healthy lifestyle, fitness, wellness
Receive social support

40. Summary Emotions and cognition influence attitudes and behaviour
Emotional labour and emotional intelligence have an important role in the workplace
Managers need to strategically increase job satisfaction and organisational commitment
Stress can be harmful to the employee and the organisation and needs to be managed by both

41. Workplace emotions, attitudes and stress
Chapter 4
Workplace emotions, attitudes and stress