Corso di Laurea Triennale in Economia

Human Resource Management

a.y. 2022-2023
Martina Gianecchini | Teaching Assistant Nicola Bertin

Individuals at work

October 10th, 2022

Aim of the lesson
2

Exploring few key characteristics and processes

influencing the performance of individuals at work
1. Personality
2. Attitudes
3. Motivations
4. Perception
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Individuals in organizations
3

Environment
People
Rules
Situations
…

Perception
Organizational
Behaviors
outcomes
Individuals
Personality
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Attitudes
Values
Motivations
…
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Personality
4

Personality is the pattern of relatively enduring ways that a person feels,

thinks, and behaves
Ø Develops over a person’s lifetime (but defined during childhood)
Ø Generally stable in the context of work
Ø Accounts for observable regularities in people’s attitudes and behaviors
Ø Can influence career choice, job satisfaction, stress, leadership, and even
performance
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e.g. experiments Learning process

on twins
Personality and HRM
5

Tests identify a black

and white version of
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people, a reduction of
who they really are.
(context-behaviors?)
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 6
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 7
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a.y. 2022-2023 Good&Co (http://good.co/)
The Big Five Model of Personality

A model for describing personality, through a set of

9

dimensions (traits)
• a specific component of personality that describes the
particular tendencies a person has to feel, think, and act
• Each of the traits represents a continuum along which a
certain aspect or dimension of personality can be placed
• https://bigfive-test.com/it
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Extraversion (Positive Affectivity)

How accurately does each statement

10
Personality trait that
describe you? (on a range between 1 predisposes individuals to
= False to 5 = True)
experience positive emotional
Ø It is easy for me to become enthusiastic
about things I am doing. states and feel good about
Ø I often feel happy and satisfied for no themselves and the world
particular reason around them
Ø I live a very interesting life
Ø Extraverts <-> Introverts
Ø Every day I do some things that are fun
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Ø I usually find ways to liven up my day Which jobs?

Ø Most days I have moments of real fun or
joy
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2-10
Neuroticism (Negative Affectivity)

How accurately does each statement

11
Personality trait that reflects
describe you? people’s tendency to
Ø I often find myself worrying about
something.
experience negative emotional
Ø My feelings are hurt rather easily. states, feel distressed, and
Ø Often I get irritated at little annoyances. generally view themselves and
Ø I suffer from nervousness. the world around them
Ø My mood often goes up and down. negatively.
Ø I sometimes feel “just miserable” for no
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good reason. • Critical (improvement,

decision making process)
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2-11
Agreeableness

How accurately does each statement

12
describe you?
Ø I am interested in people.
Ø I am not really interested in others.*
Ø I sympathize with others’ feelings.
Ø I insult people.*
Ø I have a soft heart.
Ø I am not interested in other people’s
problems.*
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Personality trait that captures
the distinction between
individuals who get along well
with other people and those
who do not.
Ø Take care of others, team players
Ø Low on agreeableness are
antagonistic, mistrustful,

unsympathetic, uncooperative,
and rude
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Conscientiousness

How accurately does each statement

13
Personality trait that describes
describe you? the extent to which an individual
Ø I am always prepared.
is careful, scrupulous, and
Ø I leave my belongings around.*
Ø I pay attention to details. persevering. Those with a high
Ø I make a mess of things.* level of conscientiousness are
Ø I get chores done right away organized and have a lot of self-
Ø I often forget to put things back in their discipline
proper place.*
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Openness to Experience

How accurately does each statement

14
describe you?
Ø I have a rich vocabulary.
Ø I have difficulty understanding abstract
ideas.*
Ø I have a vivid imagination.
Ø I am not interested in abstract ideas.*
Ø I have excellent ideas.
Ø I do not have a good imagination.*
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Personality trait that captures
the extent to which an individual
is
Ø original, open to a wide variety of
stimuli, has broad interests, and
is willing to take risks
Ø as opposed to being narrow-
minded and cautious
People and motivation
15

Which are the main motivating factors?

Ø Intrinsic vs extrinsic

The concept of motivation

Ø An internal state
Ø It has an element of choice, intention or willingness
Ø Motivation -> Action -> Performance
Ø Motivation is multifaceted
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Ø Individuals differ in terms of their motivational state

Ø The motivational state of an individual is variable
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People and motivation
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• Motivating by meeting needs

• Motivating by being fair (we will see few theories when talking
about performance management and compensation!)
• Motivating by manipulating expectations
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Motivating by meeting needs
17

Main ideas
Ø Work-related behaviors are directed to satisfying certain needs
Ø Depending on the quality and the type of that need, people will strive in,
and outside, work to satisfy them
Main theories/authors
Ø Abraham Maslow – Hierarchy of Needs
Ø David McClelland – Three Needs Theory
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Ø Frederick Herzberg – Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Two factors theory)

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Needs and motivation
18

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

Ø Researcher in psychology
Ø What are the determinants of motivation?
ü Unsatisfied needs
ü 1943, “A theory of human motivation”, Psychological Review, 50, 370-
396
Ø Hierarchy of needs
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Human Resource Management

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Physiological needs
Ø required to sustain life, such as: air, water, nourishment, sleep
ü need to breathe, need to drink water, need to eat, need for sexual
activity…
Ø They are the most prepotent of all needs
Ø Physiological needs can control thoughts and behaviors, and can cause
people to feel sickness, pain, and discomfort
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Safety needs
Ø attention to a secure environment that is free from threat of physical and
emotional harm
ü physical security, security of employment, security of revenues, moral
security, family security, security of health, need for order and law…
Social (love/belonging) needs
Ø related to interaction with other people
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ü need to be affiliative, to have friends, to be accepted by other people, to

love and to be loved…
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Esteem needs
Ø External esteem - desire to be recognized by other
ü Desire for reputation, status, fame, glory, appreciation, importance,
dominance…
Ø Internal esteem - desire to achieve success for improving her self-respect
ü Desire for achievement, mastery, independence, freedom…
Self-actualization needs
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Ø “What a man can be, he must be”

Ø Need of humans for self-fulfilment and for making the most of their abilities
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How does the model work?
23

In the model we distinguish:

Ø Deficiency needs (physiological, safety, social) – if these needs are not
met the person will fail to develop into a healthy person
Ø Growth needs (esteem, self-actualization) – they help person to develop to
her fullest potential
The five types of needs are activated in a hierarchical manner
The lowest-order need must be fulfilled before the next higher-
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order need is pursued

When a need is mostly satisfied it is no longer motivating
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Limitations and critique?

Needs and motivation
24

David McClelland (1917-1998)

Ø Researcher in psychology at Harvard University
Ø The needs which originated motivation are acquired over time and are
shaped by one’s life experiences
ü 1961, The achieving society, Van Nostrand, Princeton New Jersey
ü 1989, Human Motivation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK
Ø Three Needs Theory
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Ø https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bd1ecbcf4e5313d98df77b9/t/5e73
98321d316370d4b2a423/1584633907025/McClellands-Social-
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Motivations.pdf
McClelland’s Three Needs Theory
25

Need for achievement

Ø Concern for achieving excellence through individual efforts
ü People with a high need for achievement seek to reach success in
competition with some standard of excellence (competition with others
and with themselves)
Ø Achievers tend to avoid both low-risk and high-risk situations
ü Why?
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Ø Achievers need regular feedback in order to monitor the progress of their

achievements
Ø Achievers assume personal responsibility for goal accomplishment
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Ø Achievers prefer either to work alone or with other high achievers

McClelland’s Three Needs Theory
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Need for power

Ø Concern for acquiring status and having an impact on others
ü personal power – person wants to direct and control others
(competency based)
ü institutional power – person wants to organize the efforts of others to
further the goals of the organization (organizational based)
Ø People are attracted from leadership
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ü Maintenance or attainment of the control of the means of influencing a

person
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McClelland’s Three Needs Theory
27

Need for affiliation

Ø concern for establishing, maintaining, and restoring close personal
relationships with others
ü team-working
ü need to feel accepted by other people
Ø People with high affiliative motivation tend to be non-assertive,
submissive, and dependent on others
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ü They tend to conform to the norms of their work group

Ø They perform well in customer service and client interaction situations
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How does the model work?
28

People are assumed to possess all three motivations to one

degree or another
One of the motives is usually dominant
Training programs can be used to modify one’s need profile
TAT (Thematic Apperception Test)
Ø test of imagination that presents the subject with a series of ambiguous
pictures, and the subject is asked to develop a spontaneous story for each
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picture. The assumption is that the subject will project his or her own
needs into the story
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Motivation-Hygiene Theory
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Frederick Herzberg (1923-2000)

Ø Researcher in psychology
Ø What are the factors in an employee's work environment which caused
satisfaction or dissatisfaction?
ü 1959, The motivation to work, Wiley, New York (with Mausner B.,
Snyderman B.)
ü 1968, “One more time: how do you motivate employees?”, Harvard
Business Review
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Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
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Survey on 200 engineers and accountants representing a cross-section

of Pittsburgh industry
Ø They were asked to remember times when they felt exceptionally good/bad about
their work
Ø Factors that led to satisfaction were different from those that led to dissatisfaction
Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are not opposites to one another,
but they are concerned with two different ranges of human needs
The opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction but simply no job
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Ø
satisfaction!
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Human Resource Management

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Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
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Hygiene factors
Ø Company policy, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and working
conditions
They concern with job environment

Ø Lack of hygiene factors will cause dissatisfaction

ü They are necessary in avoiding dissatisfaction
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Ø Presence of hygiene factors will not (of itself) cause satisfaction

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Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
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Motivator factors
Ø Achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement
They concern with job content

Ø Lack of motivator factors will not cause dissatisfaction

Ø Presence of hygiene factors will cause satisfaction
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Herzberg’s Two Factors Theory
Management implications
35
What is the simplest, surest and
most effective way of getting But… they have a short-run
someone to do something? effect
Ø KITA factors
• Job enrichment
Development of job
which includes aspects
that provide the
opportunity for the
employee’s
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psychological growth
(Vertical job loading)
• Horizontal job
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loading?
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Motivating by altering expectations
37

Main ideas
Ø People are motivated to work when they expect they will be able to
achieve and obtain the things they want from their job
Ø People are rational and logical: they think about what they have to do to
be rewarded and how much the reward means to them before they
perform their jobs
Main theories/authors
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Ø Victor Vroom – expectancy theory model

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Expectancy Theory
38

The expectancy theory says that individuals have different sets of

goals and can be motivated if they believe that
Ø There is a positive correlation between efforts and performance
Ø Favorable performance will result in a desirable reward
Ø The reward will satisfy an important need
Ø The desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort
worthwhile
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Expectancy Theory
39

Valence (reward-personal goal link)

Ø The value a person assigns to the possible rewards and other work-
related outcomes
ü How desirable is an outcome?
Ø Valence values
ü An outcome is positively valent if an employee would prefer having it to
not having it.
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ü An outcome that the employee would rather avoid (fatigue, stress,

noise, layoffs) is negatively valent.
ü Outcomes towards which the employee appears indifferent are said to
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have zero valence.

Expectancy Theory
40

Expectancy (effort-to-performance link)

Ø The individual’s perception of the probability that effort will lead to a high
level of performance
ü If I work hard, will I get the job done?
Ø Assuming all other things are equal, an employee will be motivated to try a
task, if he or she believes that it can be done.
ü This expectancy of performance may be thought of in terms of
probabilities ranging from zero ("I can't do it!") to 1 ("I have no doubt
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whatsoever that I can do this job!")

Ø Factors contributing to employee's expectancy perceptions?
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Expectancy Theory
41

Instrumentality (performance-to-reward link)

Ø A person’s belief that successful performance will lead to rewards and
other potential outcomes
ü What is the connection between job performance and an outcome?
Ø Instrumentality may range from a probability of 1 (meaning that the
attainment of the second outcome — the reward — is certain if the first
outcome — excellent job performance — is attained) through 0 (meaning
there is no likely relationship between the first outcome and the second).
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Ø Factors contributing to employee's instrumentality perceptions?

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Expectancy Theories
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The individual make choices based on estimates of how well the

expected results of a given behavior are going to match up with the
desired goals
Motivational Force (MF) is the product of
Expectancy X Instrumentality X Valence
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When deciding among behavioral options, individuals select the

option with the greatest motivational force
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Perception
44

Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize,

and interpret the input from their senses to give meaning and order
to the world around them
Ø Perceiver: person trying to interpret some observation that he or she has
just made or the input from his or her senses
Ø Target of Perception: whatever the perceiver is trying to make sense of
(e.g. a person, an object, an event)
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Ø Situation: the context in which perception takes place

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Factors that influence Perception
45

The perceptual process does not always yield

accurate perceptions
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Characteristics of the Perceiver
Schemas
46

When John Cunningham, a project manager at the engineering firm Tri-

Systems Inc., was assigned to a new supervisor (a retired Air Force
colonel), he did not gather a lot of information before forming an
impression of him. (…) Simply knowing that his new supervisor used to
be in the military was enough to convince Cunningham that he had a
pretty good handle on what the retired colonel was like.
Cunningham’s supervisor in his last position had served in the armed
forces, and Cunningham had found him bossy and opinionated. (…)
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for Cunningham, the equation was simple: his new ex-military

supervisor would be opinionated and bossy just as his other one had
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been.
Characteristics of the Perceiver
Schemas
47

People interpret the world around them using limited information

Schemas are abstract knowledge structures that are stored in
memory and allow people to organize and interpret information
about a given target of perception
Ø Based on past experiences and knowledge
Ø Resistant to change
Functional
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Ø Help to make sense of sensory input, choose what information to pay

attention to and what to ignore, and guide perceptions of ambiguous
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information
Characteristics of the Perceiver
Schemas
48

Dysfunctional schemas (stereotypes): set of overly simplified and

often inaccurate beliefs about the typical characteristics of a
particular group
Ø Based on inaccurate information
Ø Assigned based on a single distinguishing characteristic (e.g. age, gender,
race)
Ø Can result in inaccurate perceptions (far from the true or objective nature
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of the target)
ü Ageing workforce, intercultural workplaces…
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Characteristics of the Perceiver
Motivational State and Mood
49

Motivational states are the needs, values, and desires of a

perceiver at the time of perception
Ø Participants are shown a series of meaningless abstract pictures and
asked what objects and shapes they perceive in them. The images they
see depend on their motivational states. Those who are hungry are
motivated to see food.
Moods are how a perceiver feels at the time of perception
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Ø When people are in a positive mood, they are more likely to perceive
targets in a more positive light.
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Characteristics of the Target
Impression management
50

Impression management is an attempt to control the perceptions or

impressions of others
Ø Just as a perceiver actively constructs reality through his or her
perceptions, a target of perception can also play an active role in
managing the perceptions that others have of him or her.
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Characteristics of the Target
Impression management
51
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The situation
52

A person with a knife…

… in the kitchen or…
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Biases in Perception
53

A bias is a systematic tendency to use or interpret information

about a target in a way that results in inaccurate perceptions
Ø When perceptions are inaccurate, decisions are likely to be inappropriate
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 Biases in Perception
54

The initial pieces of information Interviewers decide in the first few minutes
Primacy
that a perceiver has about a target of an interview whether or not a job candidate
Effects
have an inordinately large effect on is a good prospect.
the perceiver’s perception and
evaluation of the target.

The perceiver’s perceptions of A manager’s perception of an average

Contrast
others influence the perceiver’s subordinate is likely to be lower if that
Effect
perception of a target. subordinate is in a group with very high
performers rather than in a group with very
low performers.
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The perceiver’s general impression A subordinate who has made a good overall
Halo
of a target influences his or her impression on a supervisor is rated as
Effect
perception of the target on specific performing high-quality work and always
dimensions. meeting deadlines regardless of work that is
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full of mistakes and late.

Biases in Perception
55

People perceive others who are Supervisors rate subordinates who are similar
Similar-to-
similar to themselves more to them more positively than they deserve.
me Effect
positively than they perceive those
who are dissimilar.

Some perceivers tend to be overly When rating subordinates’ performances,

Harshness,
harsh in their perceptions, some some give almost everyone a poor rating,
Leniency,
overly lenient. Others view most some give almost everyone a good rating,
Average
targets as being about average. and others rate almost everyone as being
Tendency
about average.
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A professor perceives a student more

Knowing how a target stands on a
Knowledge positively than she deserves because
predictor of performance influences
of Predictor the professor knows the student had a
perceptions of the target.
high score on the SAT.
(self-fulfilling prophecy)
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