Unit 2: Individual Processes & Behaviour

● Personality - Definition, Type A, Type B, Big Five Dimensions of Personality;

● Personality Job Fit Theory;
● Attitude - Nature, Components, Functions;
● Attitude Change;
● Implications of Personality and Attitude on work performance;
● Job Satisfaction - Theories and measure of Job Satisfaction;
● Consequences of job dissatisfaction and how to avoid them ;
● Perception - Definition; Perceptual process;
● Factors of Perception;
● Stereotyping;
● Halo Effect;
● Perceptual defence;
● Social perception; Importance of perception;
● Attribution - Nature;
● Kelly’s theory: Impression management;
● Organisational Commitment.

Workplace Challenges
1. Individual Level
• Individual differences
• Job satisfaction
• Motivation
• Empowerment
• Behaving Ethically

2. Group Level
• Working with others
• Workforce diversity

3. Organisational Level
• Productivity
• Employee development
• Putting people first
• Global competition
• Multi-cultural workplace

How can OB make a difference?

Making Sense of behaviour in Organisations

Organisational behaviour (often abbreviated as OB) is a field of study that investigates how
individuals, groups, and structures affect and are affected by behaviour within organizations.
(Behaviour refers to what people do in the organization, how they perform, and what their
attitudes are.)
How will this help?
Because the organizations studied are often business organizations,

OB is frequently applied to address workplace issues such as

• absenteeism,
• turnover,
• productivity,
• motivation,
• working in groups, and
• job satisfaction

Managers often apply the knowledge gained from OB research to help them manage their
organizations more effectively
What is Personality?
Personality - definition
According to Allport (1961), “Personality is a dynamic organisation, inside the person, of
psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings
and behaviours.”
The continuities, consistencies and stabilities of personality traits and dispositions over time
define personality development.

The stable patterns of behaviour and consistent internal states that determine how an individual
reacts to and interacts with others.

How is personality determined?

Personality Determinants:
Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical stature, facial
attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and
biological rhythms are generally considered to be either completely or largely influenced by your
parents’ biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup.

Environmental Factors Among the factors that exert pressure on our personality formation are
the culture in which we are raised; our early conditioning; the norms among our family, friends,
and social groups; and other influences that we experience
The environment we have been exposed to plays a substantial role in shaping our personalities.

Situation, influences the effects of heredity and environment on personality. Although generally
stable and consistent, an individual's personality changes in different situations. More
specifically, the demands of different situations call forth different aspects of an individual’s
personality.

Personality Traits
Early research on personality revolved around attempts to identify and label enduring
characteristics that describe an individual’s behaviour. Popular characteristics include shyness,
aggressive, submissive, laziness, ambitious, loyal, and timid. Those characteristics, when they
are exhibited in a large number of situations, are called personality traits.
The more consistent the characteristic and the more often it occurs in different situations, the
more important that trait is in describing the individual.

The Big Five personality

Agreeableness is associated with a number of affiliative and prosocial outcomes.
For example,
- highly agreeable individuals tend to be better liked by their peers, and their close
relationships tend to be more stable and satisfying.
- They generally prefer social occupations and are more likely to hold religious beliefs,
perform volunteer work, and serve in community leadership roles.
- Agreeable individuals are also less likely to engage in criminal behavior.

Conscientiousness is an important predictor of achievement and health related outcomes.

- Highly conscientious students tend to earn higher grades, and conscientious workers
tend to perform better in a variety of occupations.
- Highly conscientious individuals also tend to live longer, reflecting their tendency to
engage in healthy behaviors (e.g., exercising, maintaining a healthy diet) and avoid risky
behaviors (e.g., smoking, substance abuse, criminal behavior).
- They are also more likely to hold conservative political attitudes and religious beliefs.

Neuroticism is negatively associated with subjective well-being and psychological health.

For example,
- highly neurotic individuals tend to experience lower levels of overall life satisfaction, as
well as lower satisfaction in a number of specific life domains (e.g., job and relationship
satisfaction).
- They are also at increased risk for various forms of psychopathology, including anxiety
and mood disorders.

Openness to Experience is most strongly associated with intellectual and creative outcomes.
 - Highly open individuals tend to score higher on tests of creativity and intelligence,
- and to pursue scientific and artistic occupations.
- They are also more likely to hold liberal political and social attitudes, and to describe
themselves as spiritual (but not necessarily religious).

Extraversion consistently predicts social outcomes.

- Highly extraverted individuals tend to have more friends and dating partners, and are
seen by their peers as having higher social status.
- They generally prefer and perform better in social and enterprising occupations, and are
more likely to adopt community leadership roles.
- Psychologically, extraverts tend to experience greater subjective well-being than
introverts, especially in terms of the frequency and intensity of positive emotions.
Type A-Type B
This type of personality concerns how people respond to stress. However, although its name
implies a personality typology, it is more appropriately conceptualized as a trait continuum, with
extremes Type-A and Type-B individuals on each end.

Type A personality is characterized by a constant feeling of working against the clock and a
strong sense of competitiveness. Individuals with a Type A personality generally experience a
higher stress level, hate failure and find it difficult to stop working, even when they have
achieved their goals.

Friedman and Rosenman (both cardiologists) actually discovered the Type A behavior by
accident after they realized that their waiting-room chairs needed to be reupholstered much
sooner than anticipated. When the upholsterer arrived to do the work, he carefully inspected
the chairs and noted that the upholstery had worn in an unusual way: "there's something
different about your patients, I've never seen anyone wear out chairs like this."
Unlike most patients, who wait patiently, the cardiac patients seemed unable to sit in their seats
for long and wore out the arms of the chairs. They tended to sit on the edge of the seat and
leaped up frequently.

However, the doctors initially dismissed this remark, and it was only five years later that they
began their formal research.

Friedman and Rosenman (1976) labeled this behavior Type A personality. They subsequently
conduced research to show that people with type A personality run a higher risk of heart
disease and high blood pressure than type Bs.

Although originally called 'Type A personality' by Friedman and Rosenman it has now been
conceptualized as a set of behavioral responses collectively known as Type A behavior Pattern.

Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP)

- Competitiveness

Type A individuals tend to be very competitive and self-critical. They strive toward goals without
feeling a sense of joy in their efforts or accomplishments.

Interrelated with this is the presence of a significant life imbalance. This is characterized by a
high work involvement. Type A individuals are easily ‘wound up’ and tend to overreact. They
also tend to have high blood pressure (hypertension).

- Time Urgency

Type A personalities experience a constant sense of urgency: Type A people seem to be in a

constant struggle against the clock.

Often, they quickly become impatient with delays and unproductive time, schedule commitments
too tightly, and try to do more than one thing at a time, such as reading while eating or watching
television.
 - Hostility

Type A individuals tend to be easily aroused to anger or hostility, which they may or may not
express overtly. Such individuals tend to see the worse in others, displaying anger, envy and a
lack of compassion.

When this behaviour is expressed overtly (i.e., physical behaviour) it generally involves
aggression and possible bullying (Forshaw, 2012). Hostility appears to be the main factor linked
to heart disease and is a better predictor than the TAPB as a whole.

Type B personality
Type B personality is characterized by a relaxed, patient, and easy-going nature. Individuals
with a Type B personality work steadily, enjoying achievements, but do not tend to become
stress when goals are not achieved.

People with Type B personality tend to be more tolerant of others, are more relaxed than Type
A individuals, more reflective, experience lower levels of anxiety and display a higher level of
imagination and creativity. Type B behavior pattern consists of a more laid-back style and a lack
of the type A characteristics mentioned previously.

Type B behaviour is essentially the opposite from type A. Type B personalities are relaxed, not
competitive and generally not as ambitious as their Type A peers.

Individuals with a type B personality are therefore less likely to experience high levels of stress
and will generally score lower on stress levels measurement. This is because they experience
none of the urgency and competitive pressure that someone who is Type A will feel.

This means that the stress response does not occur in the body. As a consequence of this, it is
argued that Type B personalities are less likely to suffer from stress-related illnesses such as
heart disease and illnesses resulting from a depleted immune system response.
What is Attitude?
Attitudes are positive or negative feelings about objects, people, or events. Attitudes affect the
way people respond to situations

4 functions of attitudes;
Adjustment Function
•Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment.
•When employees are well treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude toward
management and the organization.
•When employees are criticized and given a minimal salary, they are likely to develop a negative
attitude toward management and the organization.
•These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and are a basis for future behavior.
The adjustment function directs people
•toward pleasurable or rewarding objects and away from unpleasant, undesirable ones.
•It serves the utilitarian concept of maximizing reward and minimizing punishment.
•Thus, the attitudes of consumers depend to a large degree on their perceptions of what is
needed satisfying and what is punishing.

Ego-Defensive Function
•The ego-defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-esteem or that justify
actions that make us feel guilty.
•This function involves psychoanalytic principles where people use defense mechanisms to
protect themselves from psychological harm.
•Mechanisms include denial, repression, projection, rationalization, etc.
•For example; an older manager whose decisions are continually challenged by a younger
subordinate manager may feel that the later is brash,
•cocky, immature, and inexperienced.
•In truth, the younger subordinate may be right in challenging the decisions.
•The older manager may not be a very effective leader and may constantly make poor
decisions.
•On the other hand, the older manager is not going to admit this but will try to protect the ego by
blaming the other party.

Value-Expressive Function
•Whereas ego-defensive attitudes are formed to protect a person’s self-image, value-expressive
attitudes enable the expression of the person’s centrally held values.
•Central values tend to establish our identity and gain us social approval thereby showing us
who we are, and what we stand for.
•Some attitudes are important to a person because they express values that are integral to that
person’s self-concept.
•Therefore consumers adopt certain attitudes to translate their values into something more
tangible and easily expressed.
•Our value-expressive attitudes are closely related to our self-concept.
•One whose central value is freedom, the individual may express very positive attitudes towards
the decentralization of authority in the organization, flexible work schedules, and relaxation of
dress standards.

Knowledge Function
•The knowledge function refers to our need which is consistent and relatively stable.
•This allows us to predict what is likely to happen, and so gives us a sense of control.
•Some attitudes are useful because they help to make the world more understandable.
•They help people ascribe causes to events and direct attention towards features of people or
situations that are likely to be useful in making sense of them.
•Consequently, they help to make the world more understandable, predictable, and knowable.
Knowing a person’s attitude helps us predict their behavior.
•For example- people who are not familiar with nuclear energy may develop an attitude that is
dangerous and should not be used as an energy source.
•Stereotyping is another example.
•In the absence of knowledge about a person, we may use a stereotyped attitude for judging the
person.
Types of Attitude

1. Job Satisfaction

Performance leads to Satisfaction

Consequences of Job (Dis)Satisfaction

• Employee Performance
• Absences & Tardiness
• Violence & Theft
• Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (discretionary actions above and beyond the call of duty
that promote the organization’s success)
• Turnover (attrition)

Excessive employee turnover can have several negative effects

on an organization. They include:
• Separation costs (exit interview time, separation pay, unemployment tax increase)
• Training costs for new employees (both orientation and skill-development instruction; both
formal and informal learning experiences)
• Vacancy costs (temporary help or overtime pay; productivity loss and service disruption)
• Replacement costs (attracting, screening, and relocating new hires)
• Morale effects (loss of friendships; concerns about personal job loss during downsizings)

What leads to job satisfaction?

- Work itself 78%
- Pay 56%
- Promotion 20%
- Supervision 65 %
- Coworkers 70%
- Overall

Changing Employee Attitude

• Make the reward system closely tied to individual or team performance.
• Set challenging goals with employees so that those with achievement drives can experience
the opportunity for satisfaction through their accomplishment.
• Define clear role expectations so that employees struggling with ambiguity can overcome that
concern.
• Refrain from attacking the employee’s attitude. Use active listening skills instead, because an
undefended attitude is more receptive to change.
• Provide frequent feedback to satisfy the need for information about performance levels.
• Exhibit a caring, considerate orientation by showing concern for employee feelings.
• Provide opportunities for employees to participate in decision-making.
• Show appreciation for appropriate effort and citizenship behaviors.
Measuring job satisfaction
1. Single Global Rating: The single global rating is a response to one question, such as “All
things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?” Respondents circle a number between
1 and 5 on a scale from “highly satisfied” to “highly dissatisfied.”

2. Summation of job facets: It identifies key elements in a job, such as the type of work, skills
needed, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, culture, and relationships with
coworkers. Respondents rate these on a standardized scale and researchers add the ratings to
create an overall job satisfaction score

Points to consider
• Should participation be voluntary or mandated?
• Should a sample or the total population be used?
• Should responses be signed or anonymous?
• Should norms be used for comparison?
• Should the forms be returned to the supervisor or to an independent consulting firm?
• Should the survey be designed and conducted by internal staff or by external consultants?
• Should a deadline be stated for the return of the surveys, or should no date be set?
• Should a standardized instrument be used, or should one be created for this situation?
• How should feedback be given to employees?
• How frequently should surveys be administered?
• Should a paper survey or Web-based format be used?

Recap
What is Attitude?
• What are the components of Attitude?
• How is Attitude different from Personality?
• Cause & effect relationship between A & B
• Three types of Employee Attitude
• Job satisfaction
• Cause & effect relationship between S & P
• What leads to Job satisfaction?
• Consequences of Job (dis)satisfaction
• Personal significance of job satisfaction
• How do you measure job satisfaction?
• How can you shape employee attitude?

Ideal Survey Conditions

• Top management actively supports the survey.
• Employees are fully involved in planning the survey. Past surveys have produced noticeable
changes.
• A clear objective exists for conducting the survey.
• The study is designed and administered in a manner consistent with standards for sound
research.
• Management is capable of taking, and willing to take, follow-up action.
• Both the results and action plans are communicated to employees.

Workplace and attitudes

•we can assemble some ideas of how these three components can impact the workplace.
•The workplace’s challenge is that now these components are tied to work functions, policy,
procedures, organizational structure, and the people and individuals present in the organization.
•For example, we could have thoughts or beliefs (cognitive) about managers in general, and
those thoughts or beliefs could manifest themselves as not trusting a manager (effective). Thus
we would never want to develop a close relationship with a manager (behavioral).
•It is important to make the point here that these are attitudes – and yes, they can be wrong.
Just because we have an attitude that does not mean it is correct. It is just how we feel about a
person or situation.
•Obviously, not every manager is trustworthy, but if we let our negative attitudes dictate how we
view and react to managers, we will never see if some are excellent people and can be trusted.
•Certainly, having a good relationship based on trust with the manager is a great thing to have in
the workplace

Employee attitude surveys measure the employee’s opinions on most of the aspects of a
workplace, including:
•Overall satisfaction.
•Management/employee relations.
•Corporate culture.
•Career development.
•Compensation.
•Benefits.
•Recognition and rewards.
•Working conditions.
•Training.
•Staffing levels.
•Safety concerns.
•Policies and procedures.
Organizational commitment
Organizational commitment refers to the connection or bond employees have with their
employer (the organization). This is based on industrial-organizational psychology (I/O
psychology) and describes the individual’s psychological attachment to the organization.

The level of organizational commitment can help predict employee engagement and
satisfaction, performance, and distribution of leadership.

When an employee feels a strong sense of organizational commitment,

- they buy into the heart and future vision of the company (both professionally and
personally),
- they understand the goals of the organization,
- they feel as though they fit in and are well respected and compensated for the work they
do.

This is likely to lead to an increase in productivity, engagement, commitment, and morale and
will increase an employee’s chances of staying with that organization for a longer period. Given
the ever-increasing competitive nature of organizations, this is key to companies retaining their
best talent.

Committed employees display more positive behavior, more determination and motivation, and
are less likely to call in sick.

Organisational Commitment is usually stronger -

• among longer-term employees,
• those who have experienced personal success
in the organization, and
• those working within a committed employee group.
Types of Organizational Commitment
Types of organizational commitment
In 1991, Meyer and Allen proposed the first model of commitment consisting of three
components – the Three Component Model (TCM) – each of which corresponds to a different
psychological state.
The three stages are:
Affection for your organization (affective commitment).
Fear of loss (continuance commitment).
Sense of obligation to stay (normative commitment).

1. Affective commitment
is the “desire” component of organizational commitment.
In this state, an employee demonstrates a high level of active commitment to the organization.
They’re happy, engaged, participate in meetings and discussions, and offer valuable input and
suggestions.
They do all of this because they want to and strive to be an integral part of the organization.
The chances of an employee at this stage remaining with the organization for a considerable
time are high.

2. Continuance commitment
is when an employee weighs up the pros & cons of staying versus leaving the organization.
There’s a fear of loss at play, and their initial affection has transformed into need.
They want to remain in the organization because they believe leaving would be costly, and
they’ve already invested significant time and energy in it.
They feel attached (both mentally and emotionally) to the organization.
The employee weighs costs such as pension accruals and friendships with co-workers against
the benefits of leaving.
They also consider the availability of another position elsewhere and the disruption leaving
would cause on a personal level.

3. Normative commitment
At this stage, the employee feels a sense of obligation to stay with the organization.
Regardless of whether they’re unhappy or desire to pursue new opportunities, they believe they
have a duty to stay because it’s the “right” thing to do.
There could be several different reasons for this.
They think about the time and resources that have been invested in them by the organization, or
family ties with the company are creating extra pressure, or
the organization regularly rewards continued commitment.
Another factor might be they feel they’ve been treated well by the company and fear the grass
may not be greener on the other side.
Normative commitment is the final stage of organizational commitment.
Why is organizational commitment important?
Organizational commitment, especially affective commitment, has multiple benefits for both
employees and their organizations.

- Employee productivity
When an employee is committed to their organization, they believe in the company’s shared
goals, vision, and mission, which in turn leads to them being more motivated and therefore more
productive.
They make a greater effort to be autonomous, set more ambitious goals, and get more done.
Organizational commitment boosts productivity.
What’s more, committed employees have a knock-on effect on their colleagues’ and team
members’ productivity. They want everyone to be putting their all in to achieve shared goals.

- Improved organizational performance

When an employee is heavily invested in an organization, they are increasingly likely to be
cooperative, immerse themselves in collaboration and working within teams.
Once again, this boosts the team’s morale and productivity,

- Employee advocacy
A committed employee is more likely to advocate for their organization because they believe in
the larger vision.
They have adopted the organization’s goals and values on both a professional and personal
level. This means they actively support the organization’s products, services, and policies.

- Lower absenteeism
When an employee is committed, they are much less likely to call in sick than their co-workers.
This is because they are more likely to enjoy coming to work, completing tasks, achieving goals,
and being a valued team member.

- Decreased turnover
When an employee reaches the stage where they identify with the organization’s goals and
values, they are far less likely to consider leaving their job, even when they experience
inevitable periods of job dissatisfaction.

What influences organizational commitment?

Several factors can influence organizational commitment within an employee.

- Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction refers to how much an employee enjoys their work. When employees like their
job, they are more likely to develop a stronger connection to their organization.
A study conducted by Dirani and Kuchinke (2011) indicated a strong correlation between job
commitment and job satisfaction and found that satisfaction is a reliable indication of
commitment.

In fact, one of the top reasons employees leave their job is job dissatisfaction, which means
ensuring employees are happy and enjoying their work should be a top priority in all
organizations.

- Managerial support
A study by Hulpia et al. (2009) examined the correlation between the distribution of leadership
and leadership support among teachers, with job satisfaction and commitment. The results
demonstrated that a higher amount of leadership support and cohesion led to an increase in
organisational commitment.
Employees that are well supported are more likely to feel happy at work, and therefore more
motivated and productive.
The study also showed that when leaders distribute leadership responsibilities out to other
workers, this increases job satisfaction and commitment instead of all the leadership resting on
one person.

- Role stress and role ambiguity

When an employee receives conflicting requests from managers (role conflict comes into play)
or experiences a lack of information to complete a task (role ambiguity), this is likely to cause
role stress. Stress can lead to a decrease in performance, productivity and satisfaction, and an
increase in the probability of the employee leaving the organization.
Role stress and ambiguity almost always have a negative impact on job satisfaction and
organizational commitment.

- Empowerment
Empowerment in the workplace refers to motivating and energizing employees towards
achieving goals, enhancing self-efficacy by reducing powerlessness, and increasing motivation
and commitment.
There are two main concepts of empowerment:
- Structural empowerment: the ability to get things done and to mobilize resources.
- Psychological empowerment: psychological perceptions/attitudes of employees about
their work and their organizational roles.

A study by Ahmad et al. (2010) found a positive correlation between empowerment and job
satisfaction and commitment.

- Job insecurity and employability

A study by De Cuyper research (2009) found that workers on fixed-term contracts, or anyone
seen as a “temporary” worker, reported higher levels of job insecurity compared to permanent
workers.
Job insecurity negatively correlates with job satisfaction and affective organizational
commitment. When an employee believes their job is secure for the long-term, they are more
likely to become invested in their role and the organization.

How can we improve organisational Commitment

It’s clear that higher job satisfaction leads to improved organizational commitment.
So, what can HR do to increase satisfaction and commitment among employees?

1. Foster transparency and clear communication

For an employee to align with an organization’s goals and vision, it must be made clear what
these are.
This includes how employees fit into this picture, how they can contribute, and also their role
today and in the future.
Letting employees participate in the company’s growth helps make them feel more invested and
a part of the overall mission.
This means being transparent with profits (and losses) and strategies.
When an organization does this, it helps build trust, employees feel valued, and their
performance is more likely to increase.
Additionally, when goals and objectives are clear, employees can make better decisions on a
day-to-day basis and cooperate more effectively within their team.
Ways to achieve this include holding monthly profit meetings, sending out a newsletter to
employees with essential updates, and ensuring top management are all on the same page.
That way, your organization can communicate goals clearly across the board.

2. Employ job design strategies to improve job satisfaction

Job design refers to creating a job that simultaneously enables the organization to meet its
goals and motivates and rewards the employee. A well-designed job will lead to improved job
satisfaction, lower absence and turnover rates, and increased organizational commitment.
Job design strategies include:
➢ Job rotation: creating more variety and allowing employees to experience other roles
within the organization.
➢ Job simplification: simplifying complex tasks and streamlining processes.
➢ Job enlargement: widening the scope of responsibilities and opportunities for
development and progression.
➢ Job enrichment: investing in training and team bonding.
➢ Job crafting: individuals proactively making small changes to their job.
➢ When you and your employees use some of these strategies, the work is likely to feel
more exciting and meaningful, and the employee will feel more responsible and better
equipped to do their job.

3. Promote an inclusive environment at work

It’s in our nature as human beings to crave a sense of belonging and want to feel respected and
heard by others. The larger an organization is, the more likely there will be certain majority and
minority groups, where minorities are unintentionally made to feel excluded and like outsiders.
According to a McKinsey survey, 39% of the respondents decided against a job because they
perceived the organization to lack an inclusive environment.
Without a sense of belonging, employees are less likely to be engaged and happy in their role
and committed to the organization. In contrast, when employees feel included, respected, and
heard, they are much more likely to thrive at work and be committed.

Here are some ways to promote an inclusive environment at work:

➢ Conduct an employee survey and act on the findings
➢ Review recruiting and compensation practices
➢ Reassess employee policies
➢ Make inclusion part of the onboarding process
➢ Evaluate how daily practices affect everyone

4. Demonstrate your commitment to employee wellbeing

It’s clear when an organization is (or is not) genuinely committed to the wellbeing of its
employees. This should go beyond working conditions and safety.
Think about how you can improve employee wellbeing.
A great place to start would be to conduct a survey to collect feedback directly from employees
on how they believe wellness could be improved at work. You can also help gradually
implement recurring themes where possible.
Perhaps you could create a break-out space for your employees or set up a cafeteria with
subsidized healthy food and drinks. Maybe you could connect with local businesses and
arrange discounts for specific services and products (e.g., a gym membership). You could also
implement a rule where if an employee is regularly staying late to complete their work, a
member of management checks in to discuss why they’re continually working overtime and how
to help reduce their workload or streamline processes if needed.
When you demonstrate a genuine commitment to your employees’ wellbeing, they will feel
taken care of, and their job satisfaction is likely to rise.
5. Measure organizational commitment
Organizational commitment is measured through organizational commitment questionnaires
(OCQ) initially developed by Porter et al. (1974) and codified by Mowday et al. (1979).
Today, the most widely accepted tool to measure organizational commitment is a 24 item
questionnaire by Alan and Meyer (1990). This includes eight items in each of the three stages:
the affective commitment scale, continuance commitment scale, and normative commitment
scale. Participants are asked to rate how they feel on a scale.
Statements included:
This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me.
Right now, staying with my job at this organization is a matter of necessity as much as desire.
This organization deserves my loyalty.
OCQs are an effective way to determine how happy and committed employees are to their job
and organization. You can use the results to create specific strategies to target problem areas
within the organization and improve overall job satisfaction.

6. Strive for pay equity and fairness

In a Payscale survey, a quarter of respondents indicated that higher pay was the primary reason
they sought employment outside their current organization.

When your employees believe they receive fair compensation for the work they do, they are
likely to feel happier, and overall team morale will likely be higher. On the other hand, if your
employees feel they are being (or feeling) underpaid and exploited, this can lead to a lack of
motivation, increased absenteeism, and a toxic work environment.
Think about how you can effectively communicate about pay equity and fairness with your
employees.
Estimate the current fairness of pay within the company. Survey employees to see how they feel
about it. Based on your findings, work on improving your pay practices and communicate what
you’re doing transparently.

7. Focus on employee development

Job design strategies are one way to increase development within your employees. Still, there
are many other ways to do this that will lead to increased competency, and therefore
satisfaction and commitment at work.
Ensure that you provide internal promotion opportunities and sufficient training and development
to help employees reach their next career stage.
Offer continual opportunities for skill training so that employees can feel more competent and
confident in their role at work and increase their productivity.
Provide regular constructive feedback to highlight to employees where the opportunities are for
improvement and celebrate their achievements. Create opportunities for them to set and
achieve their personal goals in a desired time frame, and ensure they are adequately
challenged and rewarded.
For example, career pathing tools can help you plan, implement, and keep track of all of the
above and more. Focusing on your employees’ development will certainly lead to a more
empowered workforce, higher team morale, and increased organizational commitment.

Committed employees offer plenty of benefits to any organization.

The benefits of committed employees are far-reaching. This is why every organization must
ensure employees are happy in their role by having a solid people strategy in place and
fostering commitment.
Committed employees are likely to be more productive, perform better, remain in an
organization longer, and therefore help an organization thrive and maintain its competitive edge
within an indust

Consequences of Org Commitment

Organizationally committed employees will
• usually have good attendance records,
• demonstrate adherence to company policies
• have lower turnover rates.
Withdrawal Behaviors
Withdrawal Behaviours
Psychological
• Daydreaming
• Socializing
• Looking busy
• Moonlighting
• Cyber loafing

Physical
• Tardiness
• Long Breaks
• Missing Meetings
• Absenteeism
• Quitting

❖ How will you maximize Org Commitment?

Developing Org Commitment

Perception
Why is perception important in the study of OB?
Simply because people’s behaviour is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality
itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important. In other words, our
perception becomes the reality from which we act

What is Perception?
Perception is a process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions in order to
give meaning to our environment. What we perceive can be substantially different from objective
reality.

Factors that influence perception

• Perceiver
• Target
• Context

Attribution Theory
Attribution theory tries to explain the ways we judge people differently, depending on the
meaning we attribute to a behaviour.
Kelley’s Attribution Theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behaviour, we
attempt
to determine whether it was internally or externally caused.
- Internally caused behaviours are those an observer believes to be under the personal
behavioural control of another individual.
- Externally caused behaviour is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do.

That determination depends largely on three factors:

(1) distinctiveness, (2) consensus, and (3) consistency.

Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays different behaviours in different

situations. What we want to know is whether this behaviour is unusual. If it is, we are likely to
give it an external attribution. If it’s not, we will probably judge the behaviour to be internal.

If everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behaviour
shows consensus

Finally, an observer looks for consistency in a person’s actions.

Does the person respond the same way over time?
Fundamental Attribution Error
When we make judgments about the behaviour of other people, we tend to underestimate the
influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors.
Individuals and organizations tend to attribute their own successes to internal factors such as
ability or effort while blaming failure on external factors such as bad luck or difficult coworkers.
Similarly, people tend to accept positive feedback and reject
negative feedback. This is called self-serving bias.

Shortcuts in Judging Others

HALO EFFECT:
The tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single
characteristic.

STEREOTYPING:
Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs

Chris is 35. He studied social philosophy and has had an interest in developing countries since
he was a teenager. After graduation, he worked for two years with the Red Cross in West Africa
and then for three years in its Geneva headquarters, where he rose to head of the African aid
department. He then completed an MBA, writing his thesis on corporate social responsibility.
What is more likely?
A) Chris works for a major bank or
B) Chris works for a major bank, where he runs its Third World foundation.

Recap
• What is Organizational Commitment?
• Types of Organizational Commitment
• Consequences / Benefits of Org Commitment
• Withdrawal behaviours in the absence of OC
• Ways to improve OC
• What is Perception?
• Factors that influence perception
• (Kelley’s) Attribution Theory
• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Bias and Error
• Halo Effect & Stereotyping

Impression Management
The process by which people attempt to manage or control the perceptions others form of them.
People tend to present themselves so as to impress others in a socially desirable way.

How do you wish to present yourself?

Impression Management
Perceptual Defence
• The tendency of the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions
• Blocking or refusing to recognize stimuli or situational events in a particular context that are
unacceptable or threatening
red flag ignoring