Chapter 4 One of the ways in which values are learned is through

VALUES, ATTITUDES, AND JOB SATISFACTION communication of attitudes. When a person often
A company which advertises that its milk products hears form acquaintances the risk of buying products
come from contented cows implies that the products imported from a certain country, the person may
are of good quality. It is easy to understand the logic develop negative values about that country.
behind it. In the same light, when someone says Unstated but Implied Attitudes
"workers who are satisfied with their jobs tend to Values may also be affected by attitudes that are not
produce quality outputs," it is also easy to understand stated but are implied by way of action. For instance, if
why it is so. a person sees joy and happiness in every member of
Job satisfaction is an important concern for both his family whenever another member graduates from
employer and employee. This is so because of the college, the person will develop the same values
benefits it brings to both. impliedly exhibited.
This chapter is an attempt to explain job satisfaction
Religion
and the various concerns that make it happen, such as
Values are also learned through religion. For example,
values and attitudes.
the just and fair treatment of people is a value that is
Values generally influence attitudes and behavior. In
taught by priests and ministers of various religious
turn, attitudes form the basis for determining how
sects. Persons who are exposed to the teachings
satisfied people are with their jobs.
develop values that support such beliefs.
Values
Types of Values
Values refer to the importance a person attaches to
Values may be classified in various ways. A
things ideas that serves as guide to action. Values are
classification that is most relevant to the workplace
enduring beliefs that one's mode of conduct is better
indicates that values are of the following types:
than the opposite mode of conduct. An example of a
1. Achievement - this is a value that pertains to
belief is the importance placed by a person on
getting things done and working hard to accomplish
academic titles or degrees and the doubt casted on the
goals;
ability of a person without sufficient academic
2. Helping and concern for others - this value
qualifications.
refers to the person's concern with other people and
The definition implies that values are made of a set of
providing assistance to those who need help;
beliefs. Values may be attached to things or ideas like
3. Honesty-this is a value that indicates the person's
loyalty (to the company or friends), teamwork, honor,
concern for telling the truth and doing what he thinks
obedience, honesty, and the like.
is right; and
How People Learn Values
4. Fairness - this is a value that indicates the
Values are not inborn, they are learned. As they grow,
person's concern for impartiality and fairness for all
people learn values through any or all of the following:
concerned.
1. modeling
Individual versus Organizational Values
2. communication of attitude
Organizations have values that may or may not be
3. unstated but implied attitudes
compatible with the values of the individual workers.
4. religion
There is value incongruence if the individual's value is
Modeling
not in agreement with the organization's value. As a
Parents, teachers, friends, and other people oftentimes
result of such incongruence, conflicts may arise over
become models to persons who would later exhibit
such things as goals or the manner in which the goals
good behavior in the workplace. For instance, a person
will be achieved. For instance, a person who values
who worked as a mechanic for many years in his own
honesty will find it hard to work in an organization
yard was a stickler for cleanliness and getting up early
where graft and corruption is a common practice. If the
to work. He saw to it that his customers were happy
person stays in that environment, he will be
with the service he provided, and he never charged
susceptible to experience the difficulty of "person-role
them with unreasonable service fees. His son saw him
conflict" which may be briefly described as the
in action almost everyday. The son did not notice that
condition that occurs when the demands made by the
he was slowly imitating the good work ethic of his
organization or a manager clash with the basic values
father. It is no wonder that he behaves much like his
of the individual.
father when he is doing his work as a mechanic in a
Espoused versus Enacted Values
large automotive sales and service firm.
Communication of Attitudes
What the company promotes as its own values may be
different from what is practiced by the organization's
individual members. As such, values may be classified
as either (1) espoused, or (2) enacted values.
Espoused values are what members of the
organization say they value. A business organization,
for instance, may state that it highly values its good
relationship with customers. However, if the
employees of the said company give priority to calls
from relatives and friends rather than responding
immediately to customer's inquiries, they are not
actually practicing the values espoused by the
company. Those that are reflected in the actual
behavior of the individual members of the
organization are referred to as enacted values.
Instrumental and Terminal Values
Another classification of values may be presented as
follows:
1. terminal values, and
2. instrumental values
Terminal values represent the goals that a person
would like to achieve in his or her lifetime. Examples of
terminal values are happiness, love, pleasure, self-
respect, and freedom.
Instrumental values refer to preferable modes of
behavior or means of achieving the terminal values.
Examples of instrumental values are ambition, honesty,
self-sufficiency, and courageousness.
Attitudes
Attitudes are important in the study of human
behavior. This is so because they are linked with
perception, learning, emotions, and motivation.
Attitudes also form the basis for job satisfaction in the
workplace. Attitudes are feelings and beliefs that
largely determine how employees will perceive their
environment, commit themselves to intended actions,
and ultimately behave. Attitudes reflect how one feels
about something. For instance, a person may think
working over time is necessary if the situation requires
it, or may consider work as an important ingredient of
one's physical and mental well-being.
The Main Components of Attitudes
Attitudes consist of the following components:
1. cognitive
2. affective
3. behavioral
The cognitive component of an attitude refers to the
opinion of belief segment of an attitude. An example is
the opinion indicated in the statement "my boss is
fickle-minded; he cannot stick to his decision."
The affective component of an attitude refers to the
emotional or feeling segment. The bad feeling
insinuated in the statement "I hate my boss" is an
example.
The behavioral component of an attitude refers to
the intention to behave in a certain way toward
someone or something. An example is the action
indicated in the statement "I have requested a transfer
to another department from my superiors."
Differences in Personal Disposition
People differ in their personal disposition. Some have
attitudes that are positively affective, while some have
negatively affective attitudes.
Positive affectivity refers to personal characteristic of
employees that inclines them to be predisposed to be
satisfied at work. People who have positive affectivity
courteous. are optimistic, upbeat, cheerful, and
Negative affectivity is a personal characteristic of
employees that inclines them to be predisposed to be
dissatisfied at work. People who have negative
affectivity are generally pessimistic, downbeat,
irritable, and sometimes, abrasive.
Managers and supervisors will benefit from knowing
the personal disposition of their subordinates. Their
decisions regarding training, hiring, and promotion
could be made better.
How Attitudes Are Formed
Attitudes are formed through learning. The two
methods that mostly influence attitude formation are
direct experience and indirect means of social learning.
Among the information stored in the human mind,
those that were gathered through direct experience
are the most accessible. So if one had an unpleasant
experience with another person, his attitude regarding
that person would be negative regardless of any other
information obtained from indirect means. Although
indirect means affect the formation of attitudes, their
influence is not as strong as direct experience.
Attitudes that are formed in an indirect way are the
result of social interactions with the family, peer
groups, religious organizations, and culture. For
instance, if parents behave in a manner showing
disdain towards smokers, the children will have a
strong tendency to adapt an attitude of indifference
towards smokers.
Most Important Attitudes in the Workplace
Work behavior is of utmost importance to managers
superiors. Since work attitudes affect work behavior,
the requisite concerns are focused on them. and
The most important attitudes in the workplace are:
1. job satisfaction;
2. job involvement; and
3. organizational commitment.
Effects of Employee Attitudes
Attitudes provide clues to the behavioral intentions or
inclinations of an employee. The manner in which a
person will act can be gleaned from his attitudes.
Employee attitudes may be classified as either:
1. positive job attitudes; or
2. negative job attitudes.
Positive job attitudes indicate job satisfaction and are
useful in predicting constructive behaviors like serving
customers beyond official working hours, and
performing excellently in all aspects of their jobs. An
example of a positive job attitude is "I enjoy wearing
my office uniform."
Negative job attitudes are also useful in predicting
undesirable behavior. Negative job attitudes include
those concerning job dissatisfaction, lack of job
involvement, low commitment to the organization, and
strong negative words like "the office assigned to me
does not speak well of my position."
When employees are dissatisfied with their jobs, they
will have a strong tendency to engage in any or all of
the following:
1. psychological withdrawal like daydreaming on the
job;
2. physical withdrawal like unauthorized absences,
early departures, extended breaks, or work slowdowns;
and
3. aggression, like verbal abuse or dangerous actions
against another employee.
Making Positive Attitudes Work for the
Organization
People with positive work attitudes make it easy for the
organization to achieve its objectives. As such,
recruitment officers must require positive work
attitudes before employment offers are made. Those
who are already employed by the organization but
whose attitudes are negative must be made to
participate or become beneficiaries of programs
designed to change negative work attitudes of
employees to positive work attitudes.
In the process of recruiting people to fill the various
job vacancies in the organization, proven methods of
selection must be made. Applicants found to have
positive work attitudes should be considered for hiring
if other job requirements are met.
There are various ways of changing employee
attitudes. One is making the reward system closely tied
to individual or team performance.
Job satisfaction
The attitude people have about their jobs is called job
satisfaction. In a strict sense, however, job satisfaction
refers to the positive feeling about one's job resulting
from an evaluation of its characteristics. When the
feeling about one's job is not positive, the appropriate
term is job dissatisfaction.
When people are satisfied with their jobs, the following
benefits become possible:
1. high productivity
2. a stronger tendency to achieve customer loyalty
3. loyalty to the company
4. low absenteeism and turnover
5. less job stress and burnout
6. better safety performance
7. better life satisfaction
Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction
There are certain factors associated with job
satisfaction. They are the following:
1. Salary-adequacy of salary and perceived equity
compared with others;
2. Work itself - the extent to which job tasks are
considered interesting and provide opportunities for
learning and accepting responsibility;
3. Promotion opportunity - chances for further
advancement:
4. Quality of supervision - the technical competence
and the interpersonal skills of one's immediate
superior;
5. Relationship with co-workers the extent to which co
workers are friendly, competent, and supportive:
6. Working conditions-the extent to which the physical
work environment is comfortable and supportive of
productivity; and
7. Job security the beliefs that one's position is
relatively secure and continued employment with the
organization is a reasonable expectation.
Ways of Measuring Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction may be measured by using any of the
following approaches:
1. the single global rating method; and
2. the summation score method.
The single global rating method refers to that
approach where individuals are asked to respond to a
single question, such as, "How satisfied are you with
your job?" The respondents indicate their answers by
putting a check (V) before any of the numbers from 5
to 1 as indicated below:
___________1. highly satisfied
___________2. moderately satisfied
___________3. indifferent
___________4. moderately dissatisfied
___________5. highly dissatisfied
The summation score method is an approach where
individuals indicate their feelings regarding each key
factors of their job. The factors would normally consist
of the work, supervision, current salary, promotion
opportunities, and relations with co-workers. A
standard scale is used to rate the factors and then the
overall job satisfaction score is derived. An illustration
of the summation score method is provided below.
A SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE SUMMATION
SCORE METHOD OF JOB SATISFACTION
Please indicate on the blanks provided below how
satisfied you are (in terms of percentage) in each of the
following factors of your job:
___________% 1. work itself
___________%2. salary (or pay)
___________%3. promotion opportunities
___________% 4. supervision
___________%5. co-workers
Note: To be filled by the enumerator:
___________ % overall percentage score
Job involvement
Job involvement is another positive employee attitude.
It refers to the degree to which a person identifies with
the job, actively participates in it, and considers
performance important to self-worth. People who are
really "involved" in their jobs view work as a central
part of their overall lives.
A positive self-image is a result of a person's holding a
meaningful job and actively performing it.
People with a high degree of job involvement will
seldom be late or absent. They are willing to work long
hours if necessary, and they will strive to be high
performers.
Organizational Commitment
Organizational commitment is the third positive
employee attitude. It refers to the degree to which an
employee identifies with a particular organization and
its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the
organization.
Organizational commitment often reflects the
employee's belief in the mission and goals of the
organization, willingness to expend effort in
accomplishing them, and intentions to continue
working in the organization. Employees who are
organizationally committed have good attendance
records, show willingness to adhere to the firm's
policies, and lower turnover rates.
Organizational commitment may be categorized into
three dimensions.
They are as follows:
1. affective commitment;
2. continuance commitment; and
3. normative commitment.
Affective commitment refers to the employee's
emotional attachment to the organization and belief in
its values. For example, an employee may be affectively
committed to his company because of its employment
policy of hiring people regardless of their educational
attainment.
Continuance commitment refers to the employee's
tendency to remain in an organization because he
cannot afford to leave.
In fact, many employees continue to be committed to
the firm because they feel they could not get better
employment elsewhere. The reasons why employees
choose to continue employment with the firm may be
classified as either (1) economic; or (2) non-economic.
Economic factors refer to salary, allowances, and
retirement pension. Non-economic benefits include
participation in decision making, job security, and
certain job characteristics such as autonomy,
responsibility, and interesting work.
Normative commitment refers to an obligation to
remain with the company for moral or ethical reason.
For example, an employee working in a zoo may
remain with his employer because he feels most of the
animals under his care would respond only to him and
it would be hard to find a suitable replacement for him.
He thinks that the existence of the zoo would be in
jeopardy if he leaves.
Chapter 5
Motivation
Job performance is a given requirement in any
organization. It is possible, however, if the following
conditions are met:
1. the capacity to perform
2. the opportunity to perform
3. the willingness to perform
The capacity to perform relates to the degree to which
the employee possesses skills, abilities, knowledge,
and experiences relevant to his job. If high
performance is expected, the employee must be fully
trained and physically capable of doing his job.
The opportunity to perform will depend on the work
environment provided to the employee. One who
works in an office that is hot, humid, and noisy cannot
be expected to perform well. The opportunity to
perform is also diminished by lack of equipment, lack
of funds, and insufficient authority.
The willingness to perform relates to the degree in
which an employee desires and is willing to exert effort
to achieve the goals: assigned to him.
The willingness to perform is also alternately called
motivation.
What Is Motivation
People behave differently and one of the reasons is
that they are motivated differently. Some are
motivated by economic reasons, while some are
motivated otherwise. But even those who are
motivated by money will differ in terms of how much
they want.
As motivation is one of the requisites of performance,
a basic understanding of what motivation is and how it
facilitates the achievement of goals would benefit both
managers and individual employees.
Motivation may be defined as the process of activating
behavior, sustaining it, and directing it toward a
particular goal. Motivation moves people to act and
accomplish.
In the workplace, motivation may be more specifically
defined as the set of internal and external forces that
cause a worker or employee to choose a course of
action and engage in a certain behavior.
Key Elements Of Motivation
Motivation consists of the following elements:
1. intensity
2. direction
3. persistence
Intensity refers to the level of effort provided by the
employee in the attempt to achieve the goal assigned
to him. In simple terms, intensity refers to how hard a
person tries to do work.
The person's effort could be a full commitment to
excellence or doing just enough to get by. For
example, if a company sets a minimum output of 10
units sold per person per month, the employee whose
intensity level of motivation is low will just sell 10 units
per month and those with high levels of motivation
would sell more.
Direction relates to what an individual chooses to do
when he is confronted with a number of possible
choices. When a field salesman, for instance, decided
to visit a friend instead of a prospect, he is moving
away from the direction his company wants him to
take.
Persistence is a dimension of motivation which
measures how long a person can maintain effort to
achieve the organization's goals. A person who scores
low in persistence gives up prematurely. An example
relates to what action a salesperson will do when
confronted by a prospect who thinks slowly and do not
make hasty decisions. Persistence could be the answer,
but the salesperson could decide otherwise.
In any case, the three elements complement each
other. If the intensity of motivation is insufficient, or
the effort is not properly directed or persistent
enough, excellent performance is not just possible.
Theories Of Motivation
There are various theories related to motivation. They
may be classified as either (1) content, or (2) process
theories.
Content theories are those that focus on analyzing the
yants and needs of an individual. The four better
known content theories are the following:
1. Hierarchy of Needs Theory of Abraham Maslow
2. ERG Theory of Clayton Alderfer
3. Acquired Needs Theory of David L. McClelland
4. Two-factor Theory of Frederick Herzberg
Process theories explain how people act in response to
the wants and needs that they have. Classified under
process theories are the following:
1. Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom
2. Equity Theory of J. Stacey Adams
3. Goal Setting Theory of Edwin A. Locke
The Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Abraham Maslow forwarded the idea that human
beings possess a hierarchy of five needs (physiological,
safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization) such that
as each need is substantially satisfied, the next need
becomes dominant.
A brief description of the needs is provided as follows:
1. Physiological needs - which include hunger, thirst,
shelter, sex, and other bodily needs.
2. Safety needs - which include security and protection
from physical and emotional harm.
3. Social needs which include affection, belongingness,
acceptance, and friendship.
4. Esteem needs - which include internal esteem
factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and
achievement, and external esteem factors such as
status, recognition, and attention.
5. Self-actualization - refers to the drive to become
what one is capable of becoming, which includes
growth, achieving one's potential, and self-fulfillment.
If Maslow's theory really gives clue to motivating
people, managers and supervisors would do well in
their jobs if they concentrate on satisfying an
individual's next level of need, i.e., if the current need
level is already satisfied. For instance, if an employee
already feels satisfied with his physiological needs,
then he can be expected to perform better if his safety
needs are taken care of. Figure 18 is an illustration of
Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory.
The ERG Theory
The ERG theory is a need hierarchy theory of
motivation that was developed by Clayton Alderfer. He
believed that in motivating people, we are confronted
by three sets of needs: existence (E), relatedness (R),
and growth (G).
These sets of needs may be briefly described as
follows:
1. Existence - this refers to needs satisfied by such
factors as food, air, water, pay, and working conditions;
2. Relatedness-this refers to the needs satisfied by
meaningful social and interpersonal relationships; and
3. Growth this refers to the needs satisfied by an
individual making creative or productive contributions.
Alderfer, like Maslow, also believed that individuals
progress up the hierarchy of needs as a result of the
satisfaction of lower order needs. But he maintained,
however, that if a higher order need cannot be
satisfied, a lower order need becomes dominant as a
motivating factor. For example, if growth cannot be
attained, the individual will regress to relatedness as a
motivator.
Alderfer also thought that, unlike Maslow, more than
one need may be activated at the same time.
Acquired Needs Theory
Acquired needs theory was developed as a result of a
research made by David McClelland and his associates.
They found out that managers are motivated by three
fundamental needs which may be briefly described as
follows:
1. need for achievement this refers to the desire to do
something better or more efficiently, to solve
problems, or to master complex tasks;
2. need for affiliation - which refers to the desire to
establish and maintain friendly and warm relations
with others; and
3. need for power - which refers to the desire to
control others, to influence their behavior, or to be
responsible for others.
McClelland believed that the foregoing needs are
acquired over time as a result of life experiences.
His research findings consist of the following:
1. People who have high achievement needs have the
drive to advance and to overcome challenging
situations such as those faced by entrepreneurs in
introducing innovative new business;
2. An affiliation motivated person prefers to work with
friends;
3. The need for power drives successful managers.
The Two-factor Theory
Frederick Herzberg developed his two-factor theory
that identifies job context as a source of job
dissatisfaction and job content as the source of job
satisfaction.
The job context or work setting relates more to the
environment in which people work. The factors
associated with job context are called hygiene factors
which include the following:
1. organizational policies
2. quality of supervision
3. working conditions
4. base wage or salary
5. relationship with peers
6. relationship with subordinates
7. status
8. security
According to the two-factor theory, improving any of
the hygiene factors will not make people satisfied with
their work; it will only prevent them from being
dissatisfied.
The job content relates more to what people actually
do in their work. Those that are related to job content
are called motivator factors and they consist of the
following:
1. achievement
2. recognition
3. work itself
4. responsibility
5. advancement
6. growth
According to the two-factor theory, when the
foregoing factors are not present, there is low job
satisfaction among workers and there is lack of
motivation to perform.
Expectancy Theory
One of the process theories refer to the expectancy
theory that was developed by Victor Vroom. This
theory sees people as choosing a course of action
according to what they anticipate will give them the
greatest rewards.
Vroom elaborated by explaining that motivation is a
product of the following factors:
1. valence - how much one wants a reward;
2. expectancy one's estimate of the probability that
effort will result in successful performance; and
3. instrumentality-one's estimate that performance will
result in receiving the reward.
The three factors are useful in deriving motivation. The
formula is as follows:
Expectancy theory predicts that motivation will be high
if all the three factors are rated high. Conversely, the
lower the rate for any or all of the three factors, the
lower the motivation becomes.
Equity Theory
Equity theory is the second process theory presented
in this chapter. It may be defined as a theory that
individuals compare job inputs and outcomes with
those of others and then respond to eliminate
inequities.
Equity theory assumes that employees are motivated
by a desire to be equitably treated at work. Equity
exists when employees perceive that the ratios of their
inputs (or efforts) to their outputs (or rewards) are
equivalent to the ratios of other employees. Inequity
exists when these ratios are not equivalent.
Inequity leads to the experience of tension, and
tension motivates a person to act in a manner to
resolve the inequity. The person, however, will be
confronted with any of the two types of inequity:
1. over rewarded; or
2. under rewarded.
Employees who feel over rewarded will think there is
an imbalance in their relationship with their employer.
They will seek to restore the balance through any of
the following:
1. they might work harder;
2. they might discount the value of the rewards;
3. they could try to convince other employees to ask
for more rewards; and
4.they might choose someone else for comparison
purposes.
When employees feel under rewarded, they will seek
to reduce their feelings of inequity through any of the
following:
1. they might lower the quality or quantity of their
productivity;
2.they could inflate the perceived value of the rewards
received;
3. they could find someone else to compare
themselves with;
4.they could bargain for more rewards; and
5. they might quit.
Goal Setting Theory
The third process theory presented in this chapter is
the goal setting theory. It may be defined as the theory
that specific and difficult goals, with feedback lead to
higher performance.
Goal setting theory is based on the premise that
behavior is regulated by values and goals. A goal is the
specific target that an individual is trying to achieve.
It was Edwin A. Locke and his associates who
developed a comprehensive framework linking goals
to performance. Their findings about goals include the
following:
1. Specific goals lead to a higher performance than
generalized goals. For example, a specific goal like
"increase sales by 10%" is more effective than a
generalized goal like "increase sales".
2. Performance generally increases in direct proportion
to goal difficulty. Goals that are difficult to achieve is
regarded as a challenge perform. Exceptions, of
course, are goals that are too difficult, and the to the
ability of the person. This pushes him or her to person
gets frustrated rather than inspired.
3. For goals to improve performance, they must be
accepted by the workers. It is logical that when goals
are accepted, workers feel that they should achieve
them. Acceptance and commitment to goals happen
when workers participate in the setting of goals. The
workers will feel that they are "part owner" of the
goals, and they will have sense of achieving them.
4. Goals are more effective when they are used to
evaluate performance. This is true especially if
performance is used to determine rewards.
5. Goals should be linked to feedback. When workers
receive feedback, they will know whether or not they
are moving towards the direction of high perfomance.
Such knowledge is important in maintaining the right
motivation to work.
Motivational Methods And Programs
It is normal for employers to want their employees to
do their best in the workplace. For employers, the ideal
situation is for employees to perform excellent work,
and thus produce maximum output. This is wishful
thinking, however, because employees need a certain
degree of motivation to perform very well. To keep
employee sufficiently motivated, some means of
motivation should be designed and implemented.
Four motivational methods and programs are
considered in this chapter.
They are as follows:
1. motivation through job design;
2. organizational behavior modification;
3. motivation through recognition and pride; and
4. motivation through financials incentives.
Motivation through Job Design
One way of motivating employees is to make their job
challenging so that the worker who is responsible for it
enjoys doing it. This management activity is called job
design, when it is undertaken; some useful benefits will
accrue to the organization.
Job design may be defined as the way the elements in
a job are organized.
Three concepts are important in designing jobs. They
consist of the following:
1. job enrichment
2. job characteristics model
3. job crafting
Job Enrichment
This term refers to the practice of building motivating
factors like responsibility, achievement and recognition
into job content Job enrichment provides the worker
with a more exciting job and it increases his job
satisfaction and motivation.
An enriched job has any or all of the following
characteristics:
1. Direct feedback which means employees receive
immediate evaluation of their work.
2. Client relationships - which means an employee is
given a chance to serve an external or internal client.
3. New learning - which means that the employee
acquires new knowledge while doing his work.
4. Control over method - which means that the
employee has some control over which method to
choose to accomplish a task.
5. Control over scheduling - which means the
employee has the ability to schedule his work.
6. Unique experience which means the job has unique
qualities or features, like the opportunity to see the
world.
7. Direct communication authority - which means the
job. provides the employee the opportunity to
communicate directly with people who use their
output.
8. Control over resources - which means the employee
has some control over resources such as money,
material, or people.
9. Personal accountability - which means the employee
is responsible for his or her result. He accepts credits
for doing a good job, and blame for a poor job.
Job Characteristics Model
This term refers to the method of job design that
focuses on the task and interpersonal demands of a
job. This method emphasizes the interaction between
the individual and the specific attributes of the job.
The job characteristics theory maintains that there are
five core job characteristics of special importance to
job design. When these core job characteristics are
high, the job is said to be enriched.
The five core job characteristics are defined as follows:
1. Skill variety- the degrees to which there are many
skills to perform. An example of a job scoring high on
skill variety would be the master carpenter who makes
and install doors, door jambs, cabinets, wooden floors,
tables, chairs, toys, upholstery, and the like. An
example of a job scoring low on skill variety is the
worker who installs bricks eight hours a day.
2. Task identity-the degree to which one worker is able
to do a complete job, from beginning to end, with the
tangible and possible outcome. An example of a job
scoring high on identity would be a guitar maker who
designs the product, select the materials builds the
object and finishes it to be a fine musical instrument. A
job scoring low on the task identity dimension would
be a person whose job is solely to play the electric bass
in a live band performance.
3. Task significance the degree to which the job has a
substantial impact on the lives or work of other people.
An example of a job scoring high on task significance
would be a close-in bodyguard who protects the
president of a nation. A job scoring low on this
dimension would be a dishwasher in a restaurant.
4. Autonomy - the degree which the job gives the
employee substantial freedom, independence, and
discretion in scheduling the work and determining the
procedures used in carrying it out. An example of a job
scoring high on autonomy is a bus inspector who
schedules his or her own work and decides on the
most effective means of checking the work of drivers
and conductors assigned to him or her. A job scoring
low on autonomy would be a bank teller who is
required to follow a standardized procedure with each
bank client.
5. Feedback the degree to which a job provides direct
information about performance. An example of a job
with high feedback is an electrician who installs electric
wirings at residences and then tests them for the
homeowner to see if they operate properly. A job
scoring low on feedback would be a university
professor who receives performance feedback many
months after handling a class.
Job Crafting
This refers to the physical and mental changes workers
make in the task or relationship aspect of their jobs.
The common types of job crafting are:
1. changing the number and type of job tasks;
2. changing the interaction with others on the job; and
3. changing one's view of the job.
Organizational Behavior Modification
The second method of motivation is called
organizational behavior modification (OB Mod). It is
actually the application of reinforcement theory in
motivating people at work.
Reinforcement theory may be briefly defined as the
contention that behavior is determined by its
consequences. Simply stated, a person tends to repeat
behavior that is accompanied by favorable
consequences and tends not to repeat behavior that is
accompanied by unfavorable consequences.
The typical OB Mod program consists of a five-step
problem solving model. These are as follows:
1. Identifying critical behaviors that make a significant
impact on the employee's job performance;
2. Developing baseline data which is obtained by
determining the number of times the identified
behavior is occurring under present conditions;
3. Identifying behavioral consequences of
performance; 4. Developing and implementing an
intervention strategy to strengthen desirable
performance behaviors and weaken undesirable
behaviors; and
5. Evaluating performance improvement.
Among the benefits of OB Mod are:
1. improvement of employee productivity;
2. reduction of errors, absenteeism, tardiness, and
accident rates; and
3. improvement of friendliness toward customers.
Motivation through Recognition and Pride
Recognition is a natural human need and it is a strong
motivator. To make it an effective motivator, the
following steps are necessary:
1. Identify a meritorious behavior (for example, the
development of a scheme that reduces the cost of
providing service to customers); and
2. Recognize the behavior with an oral, written, or
material reward. For example, the equivalent of 10% of
the cost savings will be given to the worker who
developed the scheme every time the savings is
realized.
For a better understanding and implementation of
reward and recognition programs, the following points
must be considered:
1. Feedback is an essential part of recognition;
2. Praise is one of the most powerful forms of
recognition;
3. Reward and recognition programs should be limited
to organizational goals;
4. Identification of the type of rewards and recognition
that the workers will value; and
5. It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the
reward and recognition program.
Pride is also a motivator, but one that is intrinsic.
Workers who achieve outstanding performance
experience the emotion of pride. The feeling satisfies
the need for self-esteem and self-fulfillment. This
provides managers with a clue on what concrete
actions could be done to motivate workers.
Motivation through Financial Incentives
Financial incentives are powerful tools of motivation.
They are monetary rewards paid to employees because
of the output they produce, skills, knowledge, and
competencies or a combination of these factors.
Financial incentives take the form of any or a
combination of the following:
1. time rates
2. payment by results
3. performance and profit related pay
4. skill/competency based pay
5. cafeteria or flexible benefits system
Each of the foregoing financial incentives offers unique
advantages although there are also some
disadvantages when they are used to motivate
employees.
Time Rates
This type of monetary reward use the number of hours
worked as a means of determining rewards. It may be
classified as hourly rate, or weekly wage, or a monthly
salary.
The advantages of time rates are as follows:
1. It is open to inspection and equitable because
employees doing the same job will be on the same
grade level.
2. It encourages the retention of human resources by
stability and this is because of the gradual increases in
rewards within the given grades.
3.It is relatively easy to administer and allows labor
cost to be predicted.
4. It does not emphasize quantity of output to the
detriment of quality.
The main disadvantage of time rates is that it does not
motivate employees to become more productive.
Payment by Results
This scheme links pay to the quantity of the individual's
output. An example is the commission paid to a
salesman for selling the company's products.
The advantages of payment by results are the
following:
1. The employee is motivated to put in extra effort
because by doing so, he or she will receive additional
income;
2. There is fairness because the level of reward is
related to the level of output; and
3. There are likely to be cost advantages since wages
are directly linked to production and less supervision is
required.
The disadvantages of payment by results are as
follows:
1. Outputs in certain jobs cannot be easily measured;
2. Safety standards may be compromised. For instance,
the high rate of accidents involving bus drivers who are
paid commissions is sufficient proof of the
disadvantage of payment by results; and
3. Workers may view payment by results as a device to
obtain greater effort from them without
commensurate rewards.
Performance Related Pay
This scheme considers results or output plus actual
behavior in the job. Most often, rewards consist of a
lump sum, or a bonus as a percentage of basic salary,
with quality of performance determining the
magnitude of the percentage increase, or alternatively
accelerated movement up a pay scale. The bonus is a
reward given to employees for recent performance
rather than historical performance.
The advantages of performance related pay are as
follows:
1. It increases employee beliefs (instrumentality) that
reward will follow high performance;
2. Those that perform better are rewarded more; and The advantages of the skill based pay are the
3. It is comparatively objective and verifiable. following:
The disadvantages are as follows: 1. It provides strong motivation for employees to
1. cost rises along with the rewards; develop their work-related skills;
2. the system is complex; 2. It reinforces an employee's sense of self-esteem;
3. employees with declining energy may experience a 3. It provides the organization with a highly flexible
decrease in total pay; workforce that can fill in when someone is absent.
4. the union may resist the incentive idea;
5. there is delay in the payment of incentives; The disadvantages are as follows:
6. the system is rigid; and 1. Since most employees will voluntarily learn higher-
7. it is difficult to motivate higher performance across a level jobs, the average hourly pay rate will be greater
broad range of employees. than normal;
2. A substantial investment in employee training must
be made especially in the time spent coaching by
supervisors and peers;
Profit Related Pay
3. Not all employees like skill based pay because it
This is an company profits. Profit related pay takes the
places pressure on them to move up the skill ladder;
form of direct cash organization wide scheme where
and
pay is linked to outlay, or allocation of stock options.
4. Some employees will qualify themselves for skill
Stock option is a financial incentive that gives
areas that they will unlikely use, causing the
employees the right to purchase a certain number of
organization to pay them higher rates than they
company shares at a specified price, generally the
deserve.
market price of the stock on the day the option is
Cafeteria or Flexible Benefit System
granted.
This is a benefit plan that allows each employee to put
The following are the advantages of profit related pay:
together a benefit package individually tailored to his
1. Employees identify more closely with the success of
or her own needs and situation. Examples of benefits
the organization;
that may be included in the plan are health and life
2. There is a breaking down or removal of the
insurance, company car, additional holiday
communication barrier between management and
entitlement, membership to social clubs, modification
employees;
of working hours, special pension arrangement,
3. Cooperation and working together for mutual
mortgage loan subsidies, and others.
benefit is encouraged;
The advantages of this plan are as follows:
4. Awareness of the link between performance and
1. It enables employees to choose options that best fit
organizational profitability leads to a greater
their own needs. Old workers, for instance, may choose
awareness of costs and their impact on performance;
health and life insurance, while the younger ones may
5. When profits fall, the decline in pay is a preferable
choose. membership to social clubs.
alternative to laying off employees; and
2. Deciding among the various options makes
6. Group pressure could raise the performance levels of
employees more aware of the benefits, giving them a
poor performers.
real sense of the value of the benefits their employers
The disadvantages of profit related pay are as follows:
provide.
1. Profits are not directly related to an employee's
3. Flexible benefit plans can lower compensation costs
effort on the job, and this is a negative factor on
because employers no longer have to pay for
motivation;
unwanted benefits.
2. Employees must wait for their reward, and the delay
4. Employers and employees can save on taxes.
diminishes its impact; and
3. Since profits are unpredictable, total worker income
The disadvantages of the plan are as follows:
may vary from year to year. As a result, some workers
1. It creates an administrative burden.
the stability of a fixed wage or salary.
2. It can lead to the increased insurance premiums.
Skill Based Pay
Also known as competency based or knowledge based CHAPTER 6
is a pay plan that sets pay levels on the basis of how COMMUNICATION
employees have or how many jobs they can do: pay, Communication
many this skills
 May be defined as the transfer of information
including feelings, and ideas, from one person to
another.
 The goal of communication is to have the receiver
understand the message as it was intended.
 The transfer process, however, is affected by a
number of factors that either help or hinder the
message.
The Importance of Communication
 Without communication, organization cannot exist.
 It is through communication that the individual
members of the organization will know important
concerns such as:
o What their organization is
o What objectives their organization wants to
achieve
o What their roles are in achieving the
organization’s objectives
o How they will achieve those objectives
o Who the individual members of the organization
are
The Communication Process
 Communication is a two-way process in which a
sender reaches a receiver with a message.
 There are six components of an effective
communication. They are the following:
1. A communication source or sender
2. A message
3. A channel
4. A receiver
5. Feedback
6. The environment
The Sender
 A communication source or sender is a person who
makes the attempt to send a message which could
be spoken, written, a sign language, or nonverbal
to another person or a group of persons.
 The degree of attention the message will receive
will depend on the perceive authority and
experience of a sender
The Message
 The message is a purpose or an idea to be
conveyed in a communication event.
 The message is the actual physical product as a
result of encoding. Thus, when speaking, the
speech is the message; when writing, the written
document is the message; when making gesture,
the movements of the arms and the expressions on
faces are the message.
 The message has two components:
o The thought or conceptual component
o The feeling or emotional component of the
message.
The Channel
 The channel is the medium through which the
message travels.
 It consists of various types which are as follows:
o Face-to-face
o Telephone and cell phone
o E-mail
o Written memos and letters
o Posted notices
o Bulletins
 The grapevine is a type of informal channel that
transfer information through networks of
friendships and acquaintances. Grapevines have
the advantage of being able to transmit
information quickly and efficiently. The
disadvantage is that it can transmit incorrect or
untimely information.
The Receiver
 The person receiving a message is the receiver.
 He must interpret and understand the message.
 However, he will be influenced by factors like his
age, gender, beliefs, past experiences and cultural
influences and his individual needs.
The Feedback
 It refers to the process of communicating how one
feels about something another person has done or
said.
 It is difficult to know whether the message was
received and understood without feedback.
 A feedback provides a clue to the sender of
information whether the message he sent was
received as intended.
The Environment
 It refers to the circumstances in which messages
are transmitted and received.
 In an environment of trust and confidence,
messages are easily transmitted even if these
messages are controversial. The advantage of this
type of environment is that management is
provided with the opportunity to address a
problem before it develops into a full-blown
concern.
The Noise
 It refers to anything that disrupts communication,
including the attitude and emotions of the
receiver.
 It includes loud music, the feeling about a sick
relative, children playing in the background, and
many others.
Basic Methods of Interpersonal Communication
 People in organization transfer meaning and
among each other using any or all of the three
basic methods which consist of the following:
o Verbal Communication
 It includes one-on-one meetings, speeches, grapevine,
telephone, departmental or interdepartmental
meetings, presentation, and the like.
o Written Communication
  It includes memos, notice-boards, and letters to staff,
emails, faxes, internal newspaper and instant
messaging.
o Nonverbal communication
 It takes place through facial expressions, body
movements, eye contact and other physical gesture.
Functions of Communication
1. Information function
 It provides information needed in decision-
making.
 For example, a machine operator’s job is to
produce a certain number of units of a product
given a certain quantity of supplies and materials.
Before he proceeds on requisitioning the necessary
materials and supplies, he needs to know the
quantity of finished products his supervisor wants
him to produce. An effective communication
system will provide him with the required
information.
2. Motivation function
 Communication is a means used to encourage
commitment to organizational objectives.
Commitment will not be possible if the worker
concerned does not have full appreciation of the
organization that achieves its goals.
3. Control function
 Communication clarifies duties, authority, and
responsibilities, thereby permitting control. If,
through effective communication, the worker is
informed on what exactly he is expected to do, that
information alone is enough for the worker to
check if he is performing as expected. This will also
make it easy for management to pinpoint
deviations from what is expected from the worker.
4. Emotive function
 Communication permits the expression of feelings
and the satisfaction of social needs. Workers are
human beings and they have a need to express
their feelings one way or another.
Basic Goals of Effective Communication
 Communication is not just about transferring
message from one person to another.
 Effective communication is really a way to achieve
certain goals which consists of the following:
o To gain goodwill
o To inquire
o To inform
o To persuade
Barriers to Communication
1. Filtering
 It refers to the manipulation of information so that
it will be seen more favorably by the receiver.
 Telling what the boss wants to hear is filtering.
 Subordinates filter information to avoid
displeasing their superiors, such as when reporting
the increasing number of employee turnover.
Sometimes, filtering is used to promote one’s
interests in the organization.
2. Selective Perception
 Receivers selectively see and hear messages based
on their needs, motivations, experience,
background and other personal characteristics.
 Example: A person who has limited exposure to
recruitment will find it difficult to actively listen to a
lecture on current hiring practices.
3. Information Overload
 It refers to the condition in which information
inflow exceeds an individual’s processing
capacity.
 When this happens, the person is no longer able to
understand clearly whatever information is sent to
him.
4. Emotions
 The receiver’s emotions affect his ability to
understand any message sent to him.
 He cannot receive a message as clearly as when he
is not angry, excited, or afraid.
5. Language
 Words do not mean the same thing to different
people. This poses barrier to communication.
 The best thing to do when delivering a message is
that the sender must use words that are commonly
used by the audience. This will facilitate
communication.
6. Communication Apprehension
 It refers to the undue tension and anxiety about
oral communication, written communication or
both.
 There are people who find it difficult to talk with
others face-to-face or even carry a telephone
conversation.
7. Absence of Feedback
 Feedback is essential component of effective
communication. When feedback is received by the
sender, he can make some clarification if he thinks
the receiver did not clearly understand what the
sender means.
8. Physical Separation
 It refers to interferences to effective
communication occurring in the environment
where the communication is undertaken.
 These are actually physical barriers which include
distances between people, walls, an office that is
not conducive to communication, an intimidating
person posted near the door and wrong timing.
9. Lack of Credibility of the Sender
 Depending on the credibility of the sender,
messages can get through the channel to the
receiver.
 If the sender has low credibility, the message, even
if it gets through, will likely be ignored.
 This is a type of barrier that should be overcome by
leaders of organizations.

Kinds of Communication Flow

1. Downward Communication
 It refers to the message flows from higher levels to
lower levels.
 Its purpose is to :
o Give instructions
o To provide information about policies and
procedures
o To give feedback about performance
o To indoctrinate or motivate
2. Upward Communication
 It refers to messages from persons in lower level
positions to persons in higher positions.
 Its purposes are:
o To provide feedback to higher-ups
o To inform higher-ups of progress towards goals
o To relay current problems
3. Horizontal Communication
 It refers to messages sent to individuals or groups
from another of the same organizational level or
position.
 Its purpose are:
o To coordinate activities between departments
o To persuade others at the same level of
organization
o To pass on information about activities or feelings.

Improving Communication in Organizations

 Ineffective communication can affect people
involved in it negatively.
 It can cause hurt feelings, and waste of time and
valuable resources. To avoid such unwanted
effects, the following tips could be useful:
o The message should be improved so it could be
easily understood; and
o The receiver must improve his skill in
understanding the messages sent to him.