Values, Attitudes and Job

Satisfaction in an Organization
Values
In every organization, the top managers were responsible for creating
a work climate for performance. Their values influence the direction of
the organization. The term value can be defined as a fairly permanent
belief about what is appropriate and what is not that guides the actions
and behavior of employees in fulfilling organizational objectives.

Values can be thought of as forming an ideology that permeates

everyday decisions. The organizational culture created by managers
can result in carrying out managerial functions in the correct way.

Value refers to the worth or excellence or the degree of worth ascribed

to an object or a class of objects. It has also been defined as an
enduring conviction that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of
existence is personally and socially preferable to the alternative modes
of conduct or end-states of existence. It contains a moral flavor and
thus, carries an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or
desirable.

Value is defined as a “concept of the desirable, and internalized

criterion or standard of evaluation a person possesses.” So values
provide standards of competence and morality and are fewer in
number. Values transcend specific objects situations or persons, they
are the most central to the core of a person and are relatively
permanent in every person. They may resist changes.

Normally culturizing the source of values. It contains and reinforces

them. In India, people follow and cherish some good values like peace,
co-operation, harmony, equity, democracy, etc., values are not fixed
and they change with time. In every society, people learn to inculcate
values from their family, teachers, friends, and media.
To start with children learn values from their family and as and when
they grow they are exposed to varied value systems and accordingly
may change some of their earlier values. Basic values remain relatively
stable and enduring.

Types of Values: 

In management literature, we come across two important

classifications.

Classification of Values: 
Allport, Vernon, and Lindzey have identified six types of values.

They are: 
(1) Theoretical (discovery of truth through a critical and rational
approach)

(2) Economic (useful and practical)

(3) Aesthetic (form and harmony)

(4) Social (Love of people)

(5) Political (acquisition of power and influence) and

(6) Religious (Unity of experience and understanding of the cosmos as

a whole).  

According to them, individuals engaged in different occupations

assign divergent importance to these values. Sometimes the inner core
of an individual is made up of a mix of some of these values.

Similarly, another authority by the name of C. W. Graves in his article

Levels of Existence has specified seven levels of values. These values
range from the lowest to the highest.
These values are as follows: 
(a) Reactive: 
Means unaware of oneself and others as human beings react to basic
physiological needs.

(b) Tribalistic: 
Refer to a high degree of dependence, strongly influenced by tradition
and power exercised by authority, wants strong directive leadership.

(c) Egocentrism: 
Believes in rugged individualism, aggressive and selfish, response
primarily in power desires individual responsibilities wants to work as
a loner in an entrepreneurial style.

(d) Conformity: 
Signifies low tolerance to ambiguity, difficulty in accepting people with
divergent values, desires that others accept his values.

(e) Manipulative: 
Strives to accomplish goals by manipulating things, people,
materialistic seeks status and recognition actively.

(f) Sociocentric: 
This value means the individual desires to be liked and get along with
others rather than getting ahead. He seeks primarily the social
relationship which a job provides.

(g) Existential: 
Means high tolerance for ambiguity and people with divergent values,
outspoken on inflexible systems, restrictive policies, status symbols,
and arbitrary use of authority, seeks full exposition of growth and self-
fulfillment needs through work.

The reason for defining values and classifying them is used to facilitate
an understanding of why people have divergent attitudes and reveal
different patterns of behavior. Values influence behavior. Better
analysis and understanding of an individual’s values help explain and
predict their behavior.

This will also facilitate the Value – Job fit with the object of enhancing
employee performance and satisfaction. Some organizations have
organized values and work environments. Further attempts can be
made to fuse individual and organizational goals. But such efforts are
rare in the industry.

The analysis of values is also helpful to managers in designing

motivational techniques. The managers are to consider individual
differences in values at the time of developing motivational
techniques.

Two authorities Arnold and Feldman point out those values

can determine motivation in two ways: 
(a) They exert an impact on the general activities which an individual
may find appealing.

(b) They also exert an impact on an individual’s motivation to

accomplish specific outcomes like money, promotion, and prestige.
The values that individuals may assign to varied organizational
outcomes may strongly influence their motivation.

Attitudes: 
Attitudes are the feelings and beliefs that strongly determine how
employees will perceive their environment, commit themselves to
intended actions and ultimately behave. Attitudes are a mental set that
affects how a person will view everything. Attitudes are evaluative
statements relating to objects, people, or events and they reflect how
one feels about something. Newcomb defines attitude as a condition of
readiness to be motivated.

It is neither behavior nor a cause of the behavior. It is an intervening

predisposition. It indicates how an individual is likely to behave in a
certain situation. It is set-to-action to an emotional overtone. An
attitude is a tendency to react in a certain way. A person who has an
attitude has a readiness or a disposition to favorably or unfavorably on
a large variety of related situations. Until some situation arises the
attitude is latent.

Characteristics of Attitudes: 
The important features of attitudes are: 
(a) Valence

(b) Multiplexity

(c) Relation to needs

(d) Centrality.  

(a) Valence: 
Valence means the magnitude or degree of favourableness or
unfavourableness towards an event or object. In measuring attitudes
valence is considered. If a person is relatively indifferent toward an
object event his attitude has low valence.

(b) Multiplexity: 
This specifies the number of elements constituting the attitude.

(c) Correlated to Needs: 
Attitudes vary concerning the needs they serve. Attitudes of an
individual towards a task are based on their strong needs like security,
achievement, recognition, and satisfaction.

(d) Centrality: 
This refers to the importance of the attitude object to the individual.
This indicates the importance of the subject. The attitudes have high
centrality for an individual who is less susceptible to change.

Sources of Attitudes:
Attitude is an amalgam of personal experience. The factors which
influence attitudes can be identified as sources. An individual starts
modeling has attitudes after those he admires, rejects, or respects. He
observes the way the family members and friends behave and he forms
the attitudes he relates with theirs. He may also copy the attitudes of
popular persons or those he admires and respects.

So attitudes are shaped by the environment. The name of the former

President of India, Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam creates a sense of
admiration and respect in the minds of everybody besides his
simplicity. So attitudes are shaped by the experiences and
personalities the individual meets in his life.

The factors which are identified as the sources of attitude

are: 
(a) Personal experiences

(b) Association

(c) Family

(d) Peer group and society

(e) Models

(f) Institutional factors.

(a) Personal Experiences: 

Experiences are considered as best teachers. It is considered better
than the acquired theoretical knowledge. People form attitudes by
coming in direct contact with an attitude object. Facing an interview
panel for the first time in everybody’s life is full of fear and shiver. If a
person has attended many interviews in a short span he becomes good
at performing in interviews.

Similarly, an individual who has worked with many organizations may

develop attitudes about factors like salary, performance reviews, job
design, workgroup, affiliation, and managerial capabilities. Moreover
their attitudes like loyalty, commitments, performances, etc.

(b) Association: 
Employees in organizations are highly influenced by associations or
major groups with which they are associated. Religion, Educational
background, race, sex, age, income, regional affinity influence strongly
their attitudes. Their proximity to any group strengthens the group
influence, and this again influences the attitude of the employees.

(c) Family: 
In attitude, molding family plays an important role. Family exerts
influence on the initial core of attitudes held by an individual. The
family members parents, brothers, and sisters play an important role.
The family characteristics influence the individuals’ early attitude
patterns. Research has established that there is a high degree of
relationship between parents and children in attitude. Similarly,
attitude pattern is also influenced between children and their peer.
They also observe that there is a low correlation between the attitudes
of the children and their teachers.

(d) Peer Groups: 

As individuals grow and attain adulthood they highly rely on their peer
group for approval attitudes. Other adults in the group judge the
individual by his image and approval-seeking behavior. The affiliation
to the group arises due to the cultural language and structure of the
society. The childhood attitude also undergoes a change when he
attains adulthood due to peer group pressure. In work-spot also peer
group pressure plays an important role.

(e) Models: 
People try to imitate others as they consider them as their role models.
Individuals assess and identify the behavior of some people and try to
imitate them in different situations. This is probably because people
identify characters and respect their judgment. People learn by
watching successful people’s footsteps. Individuals seek to emulate
different characteristics of different people. Thus values, attitudes, and
beliefs may be derived from other people.
(f) Institutional Factors: 
Every society has different organizations like business organizations,
schools, military set up, hospitals, religious institutions. These
organizations have their architecture, furnishings, people’s clothing,
set of rules, rituals, practices which are responsible for setting the tone
and style of functioning of the organization. These institutional factors
function as sources and support for developing attitudes and beliefs.

Attitudes are learned. People are not born with specific attitudes. They
acquire them through the process of sources of attitudes and learning.

Types of Attitudes: 
S. P. Robbins has classified attitudes into three groups.

They are: 
(a) Job satisfaction,

(b) Job involvement and

(c) Organisational commitment.

(a) Job Satisfaction: 

It means an individual’s general attitude towards his job. It has been
defined as a general attitude of an employee as a consequence of
several specific attitudes in the following areas of job factors,
individual adjustment, and group relationships outside the job.

Like motivation and morale, attitude and job satisfaction are

scientifically, logically, and effectively related factors. An individual
who has a high level of job satisfaction will reveal a positive attitude
towards the job. Similarly, if he is dissatisfied with his job he will have
a negative attitude towards his job.

(b) Job Involvement: 
This means the involvement of the individual in the job. This is
reflected by his identification with the job, his active participation in it
and considers his performance important to his self-worth. Any
employee with a high job involvement is likely to be more productive,
have higher satisfaction, and will not resign from the job.

(c) Organisational Commitment: 
This refers to the individual’s orientation towards the organization.
This is reflected by an employee’s involvement, identification, and
loyalty towards the organization in which he is employed. It is more
likely that a highly committed individual is a better performer and is
less likely to desert his job than the one having a low level of
commitment to the organization.

Functions of Attitudes: 
Attitudes are called a “frame of reference” as they provide a general
context within which people tend to perceive specific aspects of their
work-life including pay, hours of work, nature of supervision
promotion avenues, and other related factors.

Pestonjee has specified that attitudes perform the following

functions:
(a) Organisational settings

(b) Determination of the meaning

(c) Reconciliation of contradictions

(d) Organisation of facts and selection of facts.

(a) Organisational Settings: 
This means what the organizational backdrop is and how it influences
the operations. The organizational settings include the organizational
structure, workflow, work culture, conduct, and observance of rules
and regulations. These factors develop positive or negative thinking in
the minds of employees. Like or dislike by employees is created by the
organizational environment.
(b) Reconciliation of Contradictions: 
Attitudes reconcile contradictions in the opinion of people. The
question of contradiction arises because there is a lack of
understanding. For example, when a worker relaxes during working
hours the supervisor thinks he is wasting time but the employee thinks
his superior is spying or he is being evaluated for performance. This
can be reconciled by proper understanding and good attitudes.

(c) Attitudes Organise Facts: 
Events can be viewed by people from a different angle by people with
divergent attitudes. There is every possibility for management and
employees to place facts properly to develop a better understanding
and at the same time, there is a possibility to create misunderstanding.

(d) Selection of Facts: 
Attitudes act as a screen or filter. Every individual may select those
facts and stimuli from the environment which are consistent with
cherished attitudes. Managers may focus on the negative attitude of
unionists and fail to observe their positive attitude.

Measurement of Attitudes:
Attitudes can be measured. The most common method of
measurement is the questionnaire method. The respondents are given
a questionnaire to evaluate and rate their attitudes regarding a
particular object. Normally, bipolar scales are used to assess the
individual attitudes of employees.

For the measurement of attitudes the normally used scales

are: 
(a) Thurstone’s scale

(b) Likert’s scale

(c) Bogardus’s social scale

(d) Guttman’s scale.

(a) Thurstone’s Scale: 
On this scale, there are eleven piles. Each one will represent one level
of likes and dislikes. Individuals will be asked to check those
statements with which they agree. The average scale value of these
items which they accept will indicate the placement of a person in this
attitude continuum.

(b) Likert’s Scale: 
This was developed by Rensis Likert and this is comparatively an
easier one. This scale consists of six boxes ranging from “strongly
agree” to “strongly disagree”. The respondent is given a chance to
check one of the boxes and finally, all the ratings are summed up. This
is attempted to obtain a person’s attitude towards his job. The
summed-rating scale provides a measure for the intensity of one’s
attitude towards the particular object in addition to the direction.

(c) Bogardus’s Social Distance Scale: 

This scale was developed by Bogardus in 1925. This is also a simple
scale of measuring attitudes. The scale is composed of a large number
of statements regarding rational, racial, or ethnic groups. The
respondents are asked to rate and then the attitudes are evaluated.

(d) Guttman’s Scale: 
In 1950, Guttman developed a cumulative scaling technique to
measure attitudes. This technique is used to find out one’s attitude
towards work. An employee is presented with six statements
displaying a successively higher degree of satisfaction. The basic
assumption of this approach is that the employee will reach some
point beyond which he can no longer agree. The main thrust of this
scale is considered to be the degree of satisfaction.

Besides these techniques, there is one more method that is used to

obtain a true picture of attitudes. This is known as Projective Test.
This requires a person to respond to an unstructured stimulus
situation. The idea behind such tests is that to identify the personal
factors which determine the individual’s responses.
This test is highly helpful in the study of prejudices because many of
our prejudices operate at our unconscious level. Whatever may be the
study it is always better to use a standard questionnaire or to consult
an expert to obtain a fairly valid estimate of attitudes of employees in
an organization.

In measuring attitudes the researcher may face some problems.

They are: 
(i) Use of open-ended questions is often used instead of a structured
set of questions. This is done with the object of enabling the
respondent to answer freely. Based on his answers only further
questioning is to be made. The respondent must be a good
communicator.

(ii) The questions should be understandable to the respondent. There

should be no ambiguity in framing questions.

(iii) Knowingly or unknowingly respondents may distort their

answers. Conscious distortion may take place when an individual
intentionally wants to misinterpret.

(iv) Selection of a good sample always poses a tough problem.

Influencing of Attitudes:
These are two successive stages. Attitude is responsible for correct
motivations. Every organization should have personnel policies that
facilitate the influencing of attitudes and their arousal. Every manager
should be aware of the factors which influence a change in attitudes.
They are: 
(a) Characteristics of the communication

(b) Method of communication

(c) Characteristics of the target

(d) Situational factors and

(e) New experiences.  

(a) Characteristics of the Communication: 

The most important thing in attitude change is the status and prestige
of the communicator. The higher the status of the manager, the higher
is the probability that will be able to change the attitude of the
employees. The communication must be free from bias and
dispassionate from the point of view of the employees. This will
improve the confidence and trust in communication. Further, the trust
of the manager in the minds of employees will also influence the
attitude.

(b) Method of Communication: 
The method of communication must be fair, brief, and present a two-
sided view. This will promote understanding. The next point is the
presentation of “fear appeals”, i.e. wrong performance may result in
the existence of an organization.

(c) Characteristics of the Target: 

This means the characteristics of the employees who are to be
influenced. The attitudes that are publically expressed are difficult to
be influenced as the employees are strongly committed to it.
Researches have also shown that attitudes represented by public
statements are more resistant to change than those stated privately.

(d) Situational Factors: 
These factors are extensive. How the employees perceive the message
is dependent on the situation or the prevailing context. A good
manager will have no problem in introducing attitude changes because
the group and manager go together.

(e) New Experiences: 

Experiences faced by employees at various levels may be responsible
for changing their attitudes. Employees with strong attitudes may
resist changes. Employees may resist changes because of ego
involvement. This is due to the need to enhance and defend their self-
esteem.
A prolonged series of strongly favorable or unfavorable experiences
can affect a change. The human tendency is to perceive those
situations or aspects of situations that are congruent with the existing
attitudes and beliefs and to reject information to the contrary.

Arousal of Attitude:
Every manager is intimately concerned with attitudes as it is an
important cognitive input that decides the direction of human
behavior. Any event or incident appears to maintain, attain or foster
the movement towards what one values, then the event will tend to
arouse positive reactions. But any event which tries to destroy, prevent
attainment of or otherwise endanger what one values, then this event
will tend to arouse negative reactions.

Keith Davis has come out with the following suggestions for
arousing attitudes: 
(a) A significant path is by manipulating the reward system. Many
employees respond well to monetary incentives. So the organization
must link the reward system to individual or group performance. An
important advantage of this approach is, it is easy to assess the
effectiveness and it can be modified as and when necessary in the
desired direction.

(b) Challenging goals can be set by employers and these goals will act
as achievement drives and enhance the satisfaction of employees.

(c) The goals can be set in tune with reward systems with the object of
bringing about changes in employee satisfaction with their pay and
opportunities to achieve.

(d) Further, management can focus on the employee’s job context or

work environment. This can be achieved by clear role assignments
coupled with specific assignments which will facilitate them to have
greater satisfaction.

(e) Employees will be interested in getting information regarding their

performance as the right feedback. They will also feel at home and
comfortable with caring and considerate superiors. Moreover, they
prefer a supervisor who shows concern for their feelings and also
provides opportunities for them to participate in decision-making.

(f) The organization can provide the employees with new data about
the growth and expansion of the organization in the future with the
object of instilling confidence in the minds of employees.

(g) Last but not least, it would be naive to assume that attitudes only
influence behavior but there is a reciprocal relationship between them
and it influences the attitudes. Sometimes it is better to change their
behavior first and then the desired attitude shift will follow.

Job Satisfaction:
Keith Davis has defined job satisfaction as a “set of favorable or
unfavorable feelings and emotions with which employees view their
work.” This refers to the attitudes of a single employee. The
assessment of individual satisfaction can be averaged across all
members in a work spot, then the morale is used to denote group
satisfaction.

Job satisfaction can be viewed as an overall attitude or it can apply to

the various parts of an individual’s job. Job studies often focus on
various parts that are important as it is responsible for the
determination of employee’s performance. Important aspects of job
satisfaction include pay, superior’s treatment, nature of tasks to be
performed, peer group pressure, and working conditions.

Job satisfaction is viewed as a multidimensional concept and it must

be developed in a balanced way. Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction
emerges more quickly as and when an employee gains more and more
information about work-spot. It is dynamic and its decline is faster
than its development.

Job satisfaction is one part of life satisfaction. The nature of one’s

environment off the job indirectly influences one’s feelings on the job.
As a job is an important part of life for many workers job satisfaction
influences one’s general life satisfaction. The result is that there is a
spillover effect occurring in both directions between job and life
satisfaction. So the manager is to concentrate on both jobs and work
environment and the employees' attitudes towards other parts of life.

The level of job satisfaction varies with groups. It is not a constant

factor as it is related to a number of variables. This facilitates
managers to identify groups that are more likely to exhibit the
problem of behavior associated with dissatisfaction. The key variables
are age, occupational level, and organizational size.

The employees in the higher age bracket tend to be slightly more

satisfied with their jobs as they adjust themselves better to work
situations and adjust their expectations to realistic levels.

Similarly, people with higher-level occupations tend to be more

satisfied with their jobs as they are better paid with better working
conditions and hold jobs where they make full use of their potentials.
Levels of job satisfaction are higher in smaller organizations than
larger organizations.

Job Satisfaction Studies: 
A typical method used for the study is known as a job satisfaction
survey. Other names to this study are – Morale, opinion, attitude, or
quality of the work-life survey. A job satisfaction survey is a procedure
by which employees report their feelings towards jobs and work
environment. The individual responses are combined and
analyzed later. 
Managers must identify the purpose of the attitude assessment. They
must get permission and support from the top management, support
of employees, and develop the measurement design. After conducting
the study the conclusions are given to the participants. Based on the
conclusions the action plans are to be developed.

In the survey, they may use close-end questions or open-end

questions. Close-end questions present a choice of answers and the
employees select and mark the best that represent their feelings.
Open-end questions present a variety of topics and the employees
answer in their own words. A survey can employ both approaches.

The critical issues involved in such a survey are reliability, validity,

and social desirability. Reliability means the capacity of survey
documents to produce consistent results. The term validity means
measuring what they claim to measure accurately to satisfy the
purpose. The respondents may be asked to send their answers in a
short time. If they fail in sending it they may be sent reminders.

The employees will normally have a social desirability bias regarding

the submission of responses. If they feel that society's values can be
controlled they may delay the response.

Merits of Job Satisfaction:

The merits of job satisfaction surveys are: 
(a) This technique is a powerful diagnostic instrument for assessing
employee's problems. The survey reveals how employees feel about
their jobs, the strength and weaknesses of the organization.

(b) The flow of communication can be improved in all directions.

(c) Surveys serve as safety values or a source of emotional release for

people.

(d) It helps managers to identify training needs.

(e) They facilitate managers to plan and monitor new programs by

getting feedback on proposed changes in advance.