Employee Attitudes

Concept of attitudes

 State of mind of an individual towards something

 Tendency to feel & behave in a particular way towards
objects, people or events
 Characteristics – attitudes remain unchanged unless
influenced by external factors
- can be either favorable or unfavorable - positive or
negative affectivity
- attitudes refer to feelings and beliefs
Components of Attitudes
What is attitude?

 Relatively stable clusters of feelings, beliefs and

behavioral predispositions

 Work related attitudes – lasting feelings, beliefs and

behavioral tendencies towards various aspects of the job
itself, the setting in which the work is conducted and/or
the people involved
 Sources of Attitudes

 Attitudes are acquired from parents, teachers and members

of peer groups
 People whom one admires, respects or fears
 Can be changed by- providing new information, threat or
coercion, resolving differences & involving people
 Providing right feedback
Types of Attitudes

 Job satisfaction
 Job involvement
 Organizational commitment

 Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

 Employee Engagement
Job satisfaction
 The pleasurable or positive state of mind that results
when an individual evaluates his job

 It is an emotional response to a job situation; it

cannot be seen; it can only be inferred.
 It is often determined by how well outcomes meet
or exceed expectations.
 Job satisfaction represents several related attitudes
Job satisfaction

 Six job dimensions (Smith, Kendall & Hulin)

 The work
 Supervision
 Pay
 Co workers
 Promotion opportunities
 Working conditions
Outcomes of job satisfaction

 Satisfaction and productivity

 Satisfaction and turnover
 Satisfaction and absenteeism
 Other effects – stress, grievances, morale, OCB, CWB
 The squeaky wheel gets the grease – may lead to
dissatisfaction among other employees
 Job Involvement – the degree to which employees immerse
themselves in their jobs, invest time & energy in them and
view work as a central part of their overall lives

 Organizational Commitment – or employee loyalty is the

degree to which an employee identifies with the organization
and wants to continue actively participating in it

 It is a measure of the willingness to remain in the organization.

Definite belief in, and acceptance of, the values and goals of
the organization
 Perceived Organizational Support - is the degree to
which employees believe the organization values their
contribution and cares about their well-being

 Employee Engagement - A relatively new concept, an

individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm
for, the work he/she does. Highly engaged employees have a
passion for their work and feel a deep connection to their
company; disengaged employees spend time but not energy or
attention
Functions of Attitudes
 The adjustment/adaptive function - directs people toward
pleasurable or rewarding objects and away from unpleasant,
undesirable ones - maximizing reward and minimizing
punishment eg. Child knows what will get parental approval

 The ego – defensive function -to protect the ego or self image
from threats eg. made a poor purchase decision or a poor
investment - defend the decision
 The value – expressive function - enable the expression of the
person’s central values; attitude is, consequently, ‘part of who
they are’ and the expression of that attitude communicates
important things about that person to others

 The knowledge function – they help to make the world more

understandable – help people ascribe causes to events,
situations and people, to understand them better. Eg.
stereotyping
 Cognitive Dissonance theory – Leon Festinger
(1950’s)

the incompatibility that an individual may perceive

between two or more of his attitudes or between his
behavior and attitudes
The first thing people notice about you…is your
attitude…