How do attitudes and job satisfaction influence the workplace? - Chapter 4

Feeling part of the 'larger mission' of the organization increases workers' meaning in their work and their organizational commitment. This chapter discusses the importance of attitude and job satisfaction in the workplace. For a leader, the implication is as follows: create meaning at work. 

What is an attitude?

An attitude is defined as a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of disfavor. In other words, attitudes are a person's evaluation of something else. These evaluations have three components:

1. Cognitive (belief): "My job is boring"
2. Affective (feelings): "I do not like my job"
3. Behavioral (intention): "I will spend more time on Facebook during working hours"

This three-part conceptualization helps us to understand that attitudes are a complicated construct; it is not just that we think something and believe it to be true. We also experience feelings that are related to our beliefs and contemplate thinking actions based on those feelings. These components thus are all related to one another. 

Cognitive dissonance is defined as the incompatibility between two or more attitudes and behavior. This causes stress for the individual, and that person will be motivated to resolve the stress by making a change in one or both of the other components. Thoughts, feelings, and actions need to be aligned. Question: how can the theory of cognitive dissonance be used to change the attitude of an employee? 

Why is the measurement of attitudes important for the workplace? Attitudes can be studied both as outcome and predictor variables in organizational behavior. Attitudes make a difference in employee behaviors such as job performance. The importance of an attitude and the relationship between the attitude and the behavior increases the prediction of behavior. Social pressure may also enhance this relationship.

What is job satisfaction, and what are the consequences of dissatisfaction?

Job satisfaction is defined as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experience. Job satisfaction may change over time, resulting in (in the event of positive change) better job performance. Job satisfaction has many different facets. It is possible that a person is satisfied with one aspect of their work, but dissatisfied with others. One of the most commonly known measures of facet satisfaction is the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), measuring satisfaction with: pay, promotions, supervision, coworkers, and the work itself.

Job satisfaction is the most frequently studied work attitude. Each year, the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) conducts a survey of employee attitudes toward their work. Over time, the trend of job satisfaction shows an interesting pattern; overall job satisfaction (the global rating of how much a person is somewhat satisfied or very satisfied with their job) shows a positive trend from 2005 to 2009, peaking to 86% of workers claiming to be very satisfied. However, the following years show a downward trend (to 81%). This may partly be caused by the economic stress and uncertainty resulting from the recession of 2008. The rate recovered in the next ten years. This study also examined the reasons why people are satisfied with their job. They found the following reasons, starting with the most important ones being: respectful treatment; overall compensation and salary; benefits; trust between employees and senior management; opportunities to use their skills and abilities at work; having a positive relationship with their boss. 

Job satisfaction is important, because progressive organizations care about the well-being of their workers. It is also important as it is related to other work attitudes (this will be discussed further in the next chapter). Dissatisfaction with work may produce one of the following four possible responses (E-V-L-N):

1. Exit: the employee searches for another job and leaves. This response is active and destructive.
2. Voice: the employee discusses his or her dissatisfaction with the supervisor, making suggestions for improvement. This is an active and constructive response.
3. Loyalty: the employee waits for the situation to improve, showing loyalty and trust in the management to address it in time. This is a passive, but constructive response.
4. Neglect: the employee allows the situation to get worse, may be late or absent from work, and puts in less effort. This is a passive and destructive response.

What is the role of job attitudes in the job search process?

It is important to keep a positive attitude and maintain a positive self-image during a job search. Also, career adaptability is a good job search attitude. It refers to the psychological construct of an individual for coping with current and anticipated tasks, transitions and traumas in their occupational roles. Some people develop job search envy, they envy job search. 

How do job involvement and organizational commitment influence the workplace?

Organizational commitment is defined as a psychological state, that describes an employee's relationship with the organization and a propensity to continue the relationship with the organization. According to the three-component-model of organizational commitment, it captures three different aspects of work attitude. First, affective commitment refers to the emotional attachment of an employee to an organization. They stay, because they care about the organization and are loyal to it. Second, continuance commitment refers to the degree to which an employee is aware of the costs of leaving the organization. They stay, because they are not able to leave. Third, normative commitment refers to the moral obligation to stay with the organization. They stay, because it is the right thing to do. 

Job involvement refers to how much an employee identifies with his or her job and vies their performance at work as an essential part of their self-esteem. Both job involvement and organizational commitment are related to employee turnover.

• High organizational commitment + high job involvement = "institutional stars"
  • Least likely to be absent or leave.
  • Focus on the work itself and a future with the organization, satisfaction with salary, co-workers, and supervision.
• High organizational commitment + low job involvement = "corporate citizens"
  • Less likely to leave on a voluntary basis than the lone wolves.
  • Focus on satisfaction with co-workers
• Low organizational commitment + high job involvement = lone wolves
  • More likely to leave on a voluntary basis than to corporate citizens.
  • Focus on the work itself, satisfaction with working conditions and salary.
• Low organizational commitment + low job involvement = apathetic
  • Most likely to leave on a voluntary basis.
  • Focus on satisfaction with rewards. 

Employee engagement is related to job involvement and plays an important role in the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and job performance. Engaged employees feel valued by their organization. Organizational justice and fair rewards are important to the perception of organizational support. Employees respond positively to the work environment when they feel their organization support them. 

What is psychological empowerment? 

Employee engagement is defined as the investments of an individual's complete self into a role. It is connected to job involvement and enthusiasm for the work performed. Employee engagement plays a key role in the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and job performance. POS refers to whether an organization values the contributions of its employees and cares about their well-being. Engaged employees feel valued by their organization. They respond positively to the work environment. Employee engagement improves financial results.

Psychological empowerment refers to intrinsic task motivation manifested in a set of four cognitions reflecting an individual's orientation to his or her work role: competence, impact, meaning, and self-determination. These cognitions are defined as follows:

• Meaning: how much work aligns with your personal standards.
• Competence (or self-efficacy): your belief in your capabilities to show mastery in your work role.
• Self-determination: the degree to which you feel that you have a choice in your work and autonomy to carry it out according to your own preferences.
• Impact: how much you believe that you can influence important work outcomes. 

Although all four components contribute to job outcomes, meaning is the driver of psychological empowerment. Psychological empowerment is positively related to managerial effectiveness, innovation, and organizational commitment. Leaders can develop their workers' feelings of empowerment. They may also create positive attitudes by developing a sense of meaning with respect to the work performed. By creating a sense of meaning, leaders might be able to activate other positive attitudes about work and improve employee motivation.