Individual Differences and Work Behavior

2. Chapter 3 Individual Differences and Work Behavior

3. It is incorrect to assume that individual differences have no connection at all with the environment (work, family, community, and society), they are inextricably intertwined • Employee’s behavior is complex because it’s affected by a number of environmental variables

4. Individual-Behavior Framework The Individual *Abilities and skills *Family background *Personality *Perception *Attitudes *Attributions *Learning capacity *Age *Race *Sex *Experience Behaviors *Problem-solving *Thinking process *Communication -Talking -Listening *Observation *Movement Outcomes *Performance -Long-term -Short-term *Personal development *Relations with others *Satisfaction The environment Work: *Job design *Organizational structure *Policies and rules *Leadership *Rewards and sanctions *Resources Nonwork: *Family *Economic *Leisure and hobbies

5. Why Individual Differences Are Important: (1 of 2) • Individual differences have a direct effect on behavior • People who perceive things differently behave differently • People with different attitudes respond differently to directives • People with different personalities interact differently with bosses, coworkers, subordinates, and customers

6. Why Individual Differences Are Important: (2 of 2) • Individual differences help explain: • Why some people embrace change and others are fearful of it • Why some employees will be productive only if they are closely supervised, while others will be productive if they are not • Why some workers learn new tasks more effectively than others

7. Exhibit 3.1: Variables that Influence Work Behavior Individual Behavior Work Behavior Organizational Behavior - Demographic factors - Abilities and skills - Perception - Attitudes - Personality - Productive - Nonproductive - Counterproductive - Resources - Leadership - Rewards - Structure - Job Design

8. To understand individual differences • Observe and recognize the differences • Study variables that influence individual behavior • Discover relationship among the variables As Kurt Lewin proposed B = f (I, E)

9. Theory building and research: • Behavior is caused • Behavior is goal-directed • Behavior that can be observed is measurable • Behavior that’s not directly obervable (e.g., thinking and perceiving) is also important in accomplishing goals • Behavior is motivated

10. Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(1 of 3) • Different people are attracted to different careers and organizations as a function of their own: • abilities • interests • personalities

11. Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(2 of 3) • Organizations select employees on the basis of the needs the organization has • skills and abilities • individual attributes such as values and personality

12. Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(3 of 3) • Attrition occurs when: • individuals discover they do not like being part of the organization and elect to resign, or • the organization determines an individual is not succeeding and elects to terminate

13. Each phase of the ASA cycle is significantly influenced by the individual differences of each person

14. Effective managerial practice requires that individual behavior differences be recognized, and when feasible, taken into consideration while carrying out the job of managing organizational behavior.

15. Individual Differences in the Workplace Individual Differences Personality Perception Ability and Skills Attitudes Work Behavior • Productivity • Creativity • Performance

16. Individual Differences Influencing Work Behavior: Personality Hereditary and Diversity Factors Attitudes Perception Ability and Skills

17. Perception: The process by which an individual gives meaning to the environment. It involves organizing and interpreting various stimuli into a psychological experience The Person Perceptual Process A response behavior Stimuli (supervisor, reward, workflow) Factor influencing Perception*stereotyping *self-concept *Needs Evaluation and interpretation of reality Observation of the stimuli Attitudes formed

18. Mental Abilities = Intelligence

19. Primary Dimensions (stable) Age Ethnicity Gender Physical attributes Race Sexual / affectional orientation Secondary Dimensions (changeable) Educational background Marital status Religious beliefs Health Work experience Diversity Factors

20. Abilities and Skills • Ability – a person’s talent (innate and learned) to perform a mental or physical task • Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task (task related competency) Key Abilities Mental Ability Emotional Intelligence Tacit Knowledge

21. Attitudes • Are determinates of behavior because they are linked with perception, personality, feelings, and motivation • Attitude – a mental state of readiness • learned and organized through experience • exerting a specific response to people, objects, and situations with which it is related

22. Attitudes: Implications for the Manager • Attitudes are learned • Attitudes define one’s predispositions toward given aspects of the world • Attitudes provide the emotional basis of one’s interpersonal relations and identification with others • Attitudes are organized and are close to the core of personality

23. The Three Components of Attitudes Outcomes Attitudes Stimuli Work factors Job design Manager style Company policies Technology Salary Fringe benefits Components Affect Cognition Behavior Responses Emotional: Statement about liking Perceptual: Statement about belief Action: Statement about behavior

24. The Three Components of Attitudes: Cognition, Affect, Behavior Stimuli Manager style Technology Noise Peers Reward system Compensation plan Career opportunities Work environment factors Beliefs and values “My supervisor is unfair.” Cognition “Having a fair supervisor is important to me.” Feelings and emotions Affect “I don’t like my supervisor.” Intended behavior “I’ve submitted a formal request to transfer.” Behavior

25. Cognition • What individuals know about themselves and their environment • Implies a conscious process of acquiring knowledge • Evaluative beliefs – favorable or unfavorable impressions that a person holds toward an object or person

26. Affect • The emotional component of an attitude • Often learned from • parents • teachers • peer group members • The part of an attitude that is associated with “feeling” a certain way about a person, group, or situation

27. Cognitive Dissonance • A discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors • A mental state of anxiety • Occurs when there is a conflict among an individual’s various cognitions after a decision has been made

28. Changing Attitudes The Communicator The Message The Situation

29. How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (1 of 2) • Concentrate on gradually changing the attitude over a period of time • Identify the beliefs or values that are part of the attitude and provide the attitude holder with information that will alter those beliefs or values

30. How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (2 of 2) • Make the setting (in which the attempted change occurs) as pleasant and enjoyable as possible • Identify reasons that changing the attitude is to the advantage of the attitude holder

31. Job satisfaction – an attitude people have about their jobs Results from people’s perception of their jobs Results from the degree of fit between the individual and the organization Key factors associated with job satisfaction: Pay Promotion opportunities Supervision Coworkers Working conditions Job security Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

32. Satisfaction-Performance Relationships:Three Views Causes “The satisfied worker is more productive.” Job Performance 1. Job Satisfaction Causes “The more productive worker is satisfied.” Job Satisfaction 2. Job Performance Perceived Equity Rewards Job Satisfaction 3. Job Performance

33. Personality • A relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors • The relationship between behavior and personality is one of the most complex matters that managers have to understand

34. Some Major Forces Influencing Personality Cultural forces Individual Personality Social class / group membership forces Hereditary forces Family relationship forces

35. Personality and Behavior in Organizations Locus of Control The Big Five Personality Dimensions Creativity Self-efficacy

36. The Big Five Personality Dimensions Extroversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional Stability Openness to Experience

37. Locus of Control • Locus of control of individuals – • Determines the degree to which they believe their behaviors influence what happens to them • Internals – believe they are masters of their own fate • Externals – believe they are helpless pawns of fate, success is due to luck or ease of task

38. Self-Efficacy • Feelings of self-efficacy have managerial and organizational implications: • Selection decisions • Training programs • Goal setting and performance

39. How to Develop Employee Creativity • Encourage everyone to view old problems from new perspectives • Make certain people know that it is OK to make mistakes • Provide as many people with as many new work experiences as you can • Set an example in your own approach to dealing with problems and opportunities