U1 Obj 4C Management Theories And Practices

Front 1

Work Behaviors

Back 1

Understand why people behave the way they do is an important objective of organizational behavior.

Front 2

Strongest Influences over Work Behavior

Back 2

1. General Mental Abilities
   
2. Organizational Justice
3. Interpersonal Relations
   
4. Stress (-)
   
5. Positive Work Attitudes
   
6. Personality
   

Front 3

Job Performance

Back 3

The level to which an employee successfully fulfills the factors included in the job description.

Measured by quality and quantity of work performed, accuracy and speed, and the overall effectiveness of the person on the job.

Can determine if a person is promoted, rewarded with pay raises, given additional responsibilities, or fired.

In jobs where objective performance data is not available, assessments of the quality and quantity of work performed by the person become the indicators of job performance.

Job performance is one of the main outcomes studied in organizational behavior and is an important variable managers must assess when they are engaged in the Controlling role.

Front 4

General Mental Ability "g"

(aka cognitive ability or intelligence)

Back 4

The most powerful influence over job performance.

Can be divided into several components—reasoning abilities, verbal and numerical skills, and analytical skills—and it seems to be important across different situations.

“g” is strongly correlated with measures of academic success even in childhood.

High "g" is needed in for complex jobs.

Front 5

Perceptions of organizational justice and interpersonal relationships

Back 5

We perform better when:

• Being fairly treated by the company
  
• Manager is supportive
  
• High performance is rewarded
  
• We trust the people we work with.
  

We reciprocate by performing our job more effectively.

Front 6

Stress

Back 6

Causes us to focus on coping with the stressor.

Role ambiguity and conflicting role demands are related to lower performance.

Front 7

Work Attitudes

Back 7

• Weak to medium correlation between job satisfaction and performance.
  
• The correlation between commitment and performance tends to be even weaker.
  
• Happy workers are more engaged at work and may be more motivated to perform better.
  
• Actual performance depends on skill level and factors beyond an employee’s control (Ex. pace of machine).
  
• There is a stronger link between work attitudes and performance in professional jobs than manual jobs.
  

Even if you don’t like your job, your performance may not suffer because you need the work, want a promotion for a better job, or your work ethic prevents slacking.

May not be a one-on-one relationship between satisfaction and performance.

Front 8

Personality traits

Back 8

Modestly related to job performance.

Organized, reliable, dependable, and achievement-oriented people seem to outperform others.

Front 9

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)

Back 9

Linked to motivation. Managers, in the Leadership role, are responsible for motivating employees.

Front 10

Organizational justice and interpersonal relationships

Back 10

When we have a good relationship with a supportive manager, are treated fairly, are attached to and trust our peers, we are more likely to engage in citizenship behaviors. High-quality work relationships make us feel obligated to reciprocate and go the extra mile to help others.

Front 11

Personality

Back 11

Personality is a modest predictor of actual job performance but a much better predictor of citizenship. People who are conscientious, agreeable, and low on Neuroticism tend to perform citizenship behaviors more often than others.

Front 12

Job Attitudes

Back 12

Moderately related to citizenship behaviors—more so than job performance. Unhappy people disengage from their jobs and perform to minimum expectations.

Older people are better citizens because it is easier to help others when you have accumulated work and life experiences to draw from.

Front 13

Absenteeism

Back 13

Affect a manager’s ability to Control the firm’s or department’s budget.

The cost is estimated at $74 billion. Related to 15% of the money spent on payroll.

Older employees are more loyal, have a stronger work ethic, and are absent less.

Front 14

Health Absenteeism

Back 14

Health - programs to keep workers healthy are effective in reducing this type of absenteeism.

Front 15

Work/Life Balance Absenteeism

Back 15

Flexible work hours allow employees to manage their own time - they are less likely to be absent.

Employees may use sick leave for social and family obligations if there is no other leave option. Having a single paid time off policy reduces unscheduled absences and helps employees with work/life conflicts.

Front 16

Poor Work Attitudes Absenteeism

Back 16

Dissatisfaction and low organizational commitment lead to absenteeism to avoid an unpleasant work environment. Management should investigating the causes of dissatisfaction and deal with them.

Front 17

Turnover

Back 17

Can cause poor customer service and poor company-wide performance. Companies must spend time recruiting, hiring, and training new employees while suffering from lower productivity.

Turnover is particularly a problem when high-performing employees leave, while a poor performer’s leaving may actually give the company a chance to improve productivity and morale.

75% of job successes are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support, and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat.

Front 18

Performance (Turnover)

Back 18

Poor performers are more likely to be fired, encouraged to quit, or quit to avoid being fired.

Poor performs leave If the job has a pay-for-performance system.

High performers may find alternative jobs more easily so they can leave a job more quickly.

Front 19

Work Attitudes (Turnover)

Back 19

The primary reason people leave. Unhappy workers with low commitment are more likely to leave.

The link between work attitudes and turnover is not direct. A worker's ability to leave depends on many factors (employability, job market).

When unemployment is high, unhappy people stay in their jobs. When the economy is doing well, unhappy people change jobs.

Many companies make an effort to make employees happy.

People are more likely to quit their jobs if they experience stress at work as well. Role conflict and role ambiguity drain energy and motivate people to seek alternatives.

When a stressful job is a step toward a more desirable job, employees seem to stick around longer.

Front 20

Personality (Turnover)

Back 20

People who are conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable are less likely to quit because

they may perform better at work, or have better relations with coworkers and managers.

Front 21

Age and Longevity on the Job (Turnover)

Back 21

Younger employees are more likely to leave. They often have fewer responsibilities such as dependents.

They may have higher expectations and be more easily disappointed when a job proves to be less rewarding than they had imagined.

People with shorter tenure can quit more easily.

New employees experience a lot of stress at work, and there is usually not much keeping them in the company such as established bonds to a manager or colleagues. New employees may even have ongoing job interviews with other companies when they start working giving them the flexibility to leave more easily.

Front 22

Key Takeaways

Back 22

Four work behaviors are critically important:

Job performance is the degree of success performing job related tasks.

A person’s abilities, particularly general mental ability, are the main predictor of job performance in many occupations.

How we are treated at work, the level of stress experienced at work, work attitudes, and, to a lesser extent, our personality are also factors relating to one’s job performance.

Citizenship behaviors are tasks helpful to the organization that go above and beyond one’s job description. Performance of citizenship behaviors are less a function of our abilities and more of motivation. How we are treated at work, personality, work attitudes, and our age are the main predictors of citizenship.

Among negative behaviors employees demonstrate, absenteeism and turnover are critically important. Health problems and work/life balance issues, poor work attitudes, and younger employees are more likely to be absent from work, especially when dissatisfied.

Turnover is higher among low performers, people who have negative work attitudes, and those who experience a great deal of stress. Personality and being younger are personal predictors of turnover.