Attitudes & Motivation

What is an attitude?

What is an Attitude?
A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a
person, object, or idea, expressed at some
level of intensity (e.g., love, like, dislike,
etc)

Four Possible Reactions to Attitude

Objects

Cacciopo, et al. 1997

Attitudes
Evaluative statements
either favorable or
unfavorable concerning
objects, people or events
Attitudes reflect how one
feels about something

Components of Attitudes
Particularly important when attempting to change attitudes

Cognitive component includes the beliefs,

opinions, and information the person has
about the object of the attitude
Affective component is the persons
emotions or feelings about the object of
the attitude
Behavioral component of an attitude is the
persons intention to behave toward the
object of the attitude in a certain way

Three Main
Components of Attitudes
Cognition an opinion or belief
I just found out I am paid 20% less than my coworkers.

Affect the emotional or feeling segment

associated with that belief
I feel angry that I am not being treated fairly.

Behavior the intention to behave in a certain

way
I am going to quit this job soon as I can, and I am taking the red
stapler with me!

Components of an Attitude

The ABC Model of Attitudes

Affect
Way a Consumer
Feels

Behavior
Persons Intentions
to Do

Cognition
Consumers
Beliefs

Components of an
Attitude

Attitude Object: DENTIST

COGNITIONS
Dentists are friendly.
Dentists are expensive.

AFFECTS
Dentists make me feel Concerned.
I like dentists.

BEHAVIORS
I visit the dentist twice a year.
I am a very cooperative patient.

Major Job Attitudes

Job Satisfaction

Job Involvement
Psychological Empowerment

Organizational Commitment
Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Employee Engagement

Measuring Job Satisfaction

Single Global Rating Method
Only a few general questions
Remarkably accurate

Summation Score Method

Identifies key elements in the job
and asks for specific feeling about
them

What Causes Job Satisfaction?

The Work Itself the strongest
correlation with overall satisfaction
Pay not correlated after individual
reaches a level of comfortable living
Advancement
Supervision

Coworkers

The Consequences of Dissatisfaction

Passive to Active

Destructive to Constructive

Exit

Voice

Neglect

Loyalty

The Benefits of Satisfaction

Better job and organizational performance

Greater levels of customer satisfaction
Generally lower absenteeism
Decreased instances of workplace deviance

Implications for Managers

Employee attitudes give warnings of potential
problems and influence behavior
Satisfied and committed employees exhibit behaviors that
increase organizational outcomes
Managers must measure job attitudes in order to improve
them
Most important elements a manager can focus on are the
intrinsic parts of the job: making the work challenging and
interesting
High pay is not enough to create satisfaction

Keep in Mind
Individuals have many kinds of attitudes
about their job.
Job satisfaction is related to organizational
effectiveness.
Most employees are satisfied with their
jobs, but when they are not, a host of
actions in response to the satisfaction might
be expected.

Why People Have Attitudes

Value-Expressive function: Express who we are
Ego-defensive function: Protect Self-Esteem

Instrumental function: Obtain awards, avoid

punishments
Knowledge function: understand people and events

Motivation:
From Concepts to Applications

Motivation
No one can teach you how
to think, you must motivate
yourself to learn how to
learn!
You are your own motivator.
Your motivation must come
from within yourself. Others
may try to encourage you,
but you are the only one
who can attain what you
desire. You must convince
yourself - you can!

Motivating by Changing the Work

Environment: JCM
The Job Characteristics Model - jobs are
described in terms of five core dimensions:
Skill variety

Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy

Feedback

Examples of High and Low Job Characteristics

Characteristics

Examples

Skill Variety
High variety
The owner-operator of a garage who does electrical repair, rebuilds engines,
does body work, and interacts with customers
Low variety
A bodyshop worker who sprays paint eight hours a day
Task Identity
High identity
A cabinetmaker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the
object, and finishes it to perfection
Low identity
A worker in a furniture factory who operates a lathe to make table legs
Task Significance
High significance
Nursing the sick in a hospital intensive care unit
Low significance
Sweeping hospital floors
Autonomy
High autonomy
A telephone installer who schedules his or her own work for the day, and
decides on the best techniques for a particular installation
Low autonomy
A telephone operator who must handle calls as they come according to a
routine, highly specified procedure
Feedback
High feedback
An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then tests it to
determine if it operates properly
Low feedback
An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then routes it to a
quality control inspector who tests and adjusts it

How Can Jobs be Redesigned?

Job Rotation
The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to
another

Job Enlargement
Increasing the number and variety of tasks

Job Enrichment
Increasing the degree to which the worker controls the
planning, execution and evaluation of the work

Alternate Work
Arrangements
Flextime
Some discretion over when worker
starts and leaves

Job Sharing
Two or more individuals split a
traditional job

Telecommuting
Work remotely at least two days per
week

Example of a Flextime Schedule

Performance = f(A x M x O)

Employee Involvement
A participative process that uses
the input of employees to
increase their commitment to
the organizations success
Two types:
Participative Management
Representative Participation

Examples of Employee Involvement Programs

Participative Management
A process in which subordinates share a significant degree of
decision-making power with their immediate superiors

Examples of Employee Involvement Programs

(contd)
Representative Participation
Workers
participate
in
organizational
decision
making through a small group
of representative employees.

Rewarding Employees
Major strategic rewards
decisions:
1.
2.
3.
4.

What to pay employees

How to pay individual employees
What benefits to offer
How to construct employee
recognition programs

1. What to Pay
Need to establish a pay structure
Balance between:
Internal equity the worth of the job to the organization
External equity the external competitiveness of an
organizations pay relative to pay elsewhere in its
industry

2. How to Pay:
Variable-Pay Programs
Bases a portion of the pay on a given measure of
performance
Piece-Rate Pay workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit
of production completed
Merit-Based Pay pay is based on individual performance
appraisal ratings
Bonuses rewards employees for recent performance
Skill-Based Pay pay is based on skills acquired instead of
job title or rank doesnt address the level of performance

More Variable Pay Programs

Gainsharing compensation based on sharing of gains from
improved productivity

While it appears that pay does increase productivity, it

seems that not everyone responds positively to
variable-pay plans.

3. How to Recognize Them: Employee

Recognition Programs
In addition to pay there are intrinsic rewards
Can be as simple as a spontaneous comment
Can be formalized in a program

Recognition is the most powerful workplace

motivator and the least expensive!

Implications for Managers

Use specific goals and feedback
Allow employees to participate
decisions that affect them

Link rewards to performance

Check the reward system for equity

in

Computing a Motivating Potential

Score

People who work on jobs with high core dimensions are

generally more motivated, satisfied, and productive.
Job dimensions operate through the psychological states in
influencing personal and work outcome variables rather
than influencing them directly.

Thank you

Be a good
motivator