ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTIONDr. Rajesh KamathAssistant Professor, Department of Public Health,Manipal University

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

• Attitude : Evaluative statements or judgements concerning objects, people or events.

• Favourable or unfavourable• Reflect how we feel about something.• “I like my job” – Attitude towards work is

being expressed.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

• ATTITUDE HAS 3 COMPONENTS : • 1. Cognitive • 2. Affective • 3. Behavioural

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

• 1. Cognitive component : Opinion or belief segment of an attitude.

• Eg. “My pay is low.”• This sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude…• 2. Affective component : Emotional or feeling segment of an

attitude.• Eg. “ I am angry over how little I am paid. ”• Affect can lead to…• 3. Behavioural component : An intention to behave in a

certain way toward someone or something.• Eg. “ I am going to look for another job that pays better. ”

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

• The 3 components are closely related.• Cognition and affect are intertwined.• Eg:?...• Someone treating you unfairly…• As managers..?• Attitudes are important for their behavioral component.• Eg. If all the nurses believe that the doctors and administrators like

Shinto and Anand are in a conspiracy to make employees work harder for the same pay…it makes sense to try to understand…

• 1. How these attitudes are formed,• 2. Their relationship to actual job behaviour• 3. and how they might be changed

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR

• Early research assumed that Attitudes caused Behaviour.

• Intuitive and Logical?....• Do you not watch the kind of movies that you

like?..• In the late 1960s, Leon Festinger argued the

opposite…?• …that Attitudes follow Behaviour.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR

• Have you noticed how people change what they say so that it doesn’t contradict what they do?

• Eg….? • Levi’s jeans and sister gifting Flying Machine…• Festinger proposed that this was because of

Cognitive Dissonance : Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behaviour and attitudes.

• Any dissonance is uncomfortable and individuals will seek minimum dissonance.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR

• In case of dissonance people will either alter their attitudes or behavior, or will develop a rationalisation for the discrepancy.

• Eg. Tobacco executives..• 1. They can deny any clear causation between smoking and cancer.• 2. They can brainwash themselves by continually articulating the

benefits of tobacco.• 3. They can acknowledge the negative consequences of smoking but

rationalise that people are going to smoke and that they merely promote freedom of choice.

• 4. They can make cigarettes less dangerous and/or reduce their availability to more vulnerable groups such as teenagers.

• 5. They an quit their jobs if the dissonance is too great.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR

• According to Festinger, the desire to reduce dissonance depends on moderating factors:

• 1. Importance of the elements creating the dissonance. The more important the attitude or behaviour, the more motivated will they be to reduce the dissonance.

• 2. Degree of influence we believe we have over them.• 3. Rewards of dissonance : High rewards accompanying

high dissonance tend to reduce the tension inherent in the dissonance. Eg. Income tax evasion.

• Recent research confirms this.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR

• Moderating Variables of the Attitude-Behaviour relationship.• 1. Importance of the Attitude : Stronger the attitude, stronger the relationship to

behaviour.• 2. Correspondence to behaviour : Specific attitudes predict specific behaviours. • Eg. “What is your intention on staying with this organisation for the next 6

months?” – predicts turnover for that person. “ How satisfied are you with the job overall? ” – predicts a general behaviour like engagement or motivation.

• 3. Accessibility : More accessible attitudes influence behaviour more. Eg. The more you talk about your attitude on a particular subject, the more likely you are to access it, and the more likely it is to shape your behaviour.

• 4. Social pressures : Eg. Tobacco executives who are not smokers.• 5. Direct experience with the attitude : Eg. Asking college students with no work

experience how they would respond to working for an authoritarian supervisor.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES

• 1. Job Satisfaction• 2. Job Involvement• 3. Organisational commitment• 4. Perceived Organisational Support• 5. Employee engagement

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 1. Job Satisfaction : A positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.

• Jobs require interacting with co-workers and bosses, following rules and policies, meeting performance standards, and living with less than ideal working conditions.

• How do we measure it?....

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 2 approaches…• 1. Single Global rating : “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 : Key elements in a job like nature of work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, relations with workers are identified. Respondents rate these on a standardised scale, and researchers add these ratings to create an overall job satisfaction score.

• Which one is superior?...

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• Single Global rating..!!• The best explanation for this is that the

concept of job satisfaction is so broad that a single question captures its essence.

• Also, the summation of job facets may leave out some important data.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• Main causes of Job satisfaction : • What was the best job that you ever had and why?... JOB CHARACTERISTICS: • Training,• Variety,• Independence,• Control WORKPLACE CHARACTERISTICS:• Interdependence,• Feedback,• Social support,• Interaction with co-workers outside the workplace.• PERSONALITY:• People with positive Core self evaluations are more satisfied than those with

negative core self evaluations.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• MONEY???• For people who are poor or who live in poor countries, pay does

correlate with job satisfaction and overall happiness.• But once an individual reaches a level of comfortable living, the

relationship between pay and job satisfaction virtually disappears. • People who earn 20 lakhs per annum are on average no happier

with their jobs than those who earn closer to 5 lakhs per annum.• One researcher even found no significant difference when he

compared the overall well-being of the richest people on the Forbes 400 list with that of….

• ….Maasai herders in East Africa!!!!

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• So, does money motivate people???• YES, OF COURSE!!!• BUT, WHAT MOTIVATES US IS… • …NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME AS…• ….WHAT MAKES US HAPPY.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 4 employee responses to Dissatisfaction : • 1. Exit : This response directs behaviour towards leaving the

organisation, including looking for a new position as well as resigning.• 2. Voice : Actively and constructively attempting to improve conditions,

including suggesting improvements, discussing problems with superiors, and union activity.

• 3. Loyalty : Passively but optimistically waiting for conditions to improve. Speaking up for the organisation in the face of external criticism and trusting the organsation and its management to do the right thing.

• 4. Neglect : Passively allows conditions to worsen. Includes chronic absenteeism and lateness, reduced effort, increased error rate.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• Eg. Union workers – low job satisfaction coupled with low turnover.

• Express dissatisfaction through voice mechanisms like grievance procedure or formal contract negotiations. This convinces them that they are acting to improve the situation.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• Specific outcomes of Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the workplace :

• 1. Job satisfaction and job performance.• 2. Job satisfaction and OCB.• 3. Job satisfaction and Customer satisfaction.• 4. Job satisfaction and Absenteeism.• 5. Job satisfaction and Turnover.• 6. Job satisfaction and Workplace deviance.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 1. Job satisfaction and Job performance:• A review of 300 studies suggests that Happy

workers are productive workers.• This holds good at the Organisational level too

- Organisations with more satisfied employees tend to be more effective than organisations with fewer satisfied employees.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 2. Job satisfaction and OCB :• Talk positively about organisation.• Help others.• Go beyond the call of duty, because they want to

reciprocate the positive experience.• Why?• Fairness perception…• …Those who feel their co workers support them

are more likely to engage in helpful behaviours.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 3. Job satisfaction and Customer satisfaction.• Positive relationship.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 4. Job satisfaction and Absenteeism.• Negative relationship.• Interesting observation…• …When numerous alternative jobs are

available, dissatisfied employees have high absence rates. But when there are few alternative jobs available, dissatisfied employees have the same low rate of absence as satisfied employees.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 5. Job satisfaction and Turnover.• Negative relationship.• When is Job dissatisfaction more likely to translate into turnover?• “PULL” and “PUSH”.• PULL – Lure of the other job – Job dissatisfaction might be low, but

combined with the allure of the other position, it results in turnover.• PUSH – The current job itself is unattractive enough to make the

employee want to leave.• When employment opportunities are plentiful.• When employees have high Human capital(High education, high ability) • Eg.: Natasha is an MHA,PhD with 3 years of post-PhD research and

teaching experience in Yenepoya,…• …she has many lucrative and rewarding alternatives to choose from…

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• 6. Job satisfaction and Workplace deviance.• Negative relationship.• Absenteeism• Unionisation• Substance abuse• Stealing at work• Undue socialising• Tardiness “Getting Even”As managers, to effectively control these undesirable consequences of job dissatisfaction, employers should attack the source of the problem-the dissatisfaction-rather than try to control the different responses.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES – JOB SATISFACTION

• As Managers, we should know that Job Satisfaction can affect the bottom line.

• In one study, large organisations were seperated into HIGH MORALE ( more than 70% of employees expressed overall job satisfaction ) and MEDIUM OR LOW MORALE ( fewer than 70% ).

• The stock prices of companies in the high morale group grew 19.4 % and in the low morale group 10%.

• Despite these results, many managers are unconcerned about employee job satisfaction.

• Some managers OVERESTIMATE job satisfaction, and underestimate the problem.

• In a study, 86% managers believed their organisation treated its employees well….

• ….but only 55% of employees agreed!!

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES

• 2. Job Involvement : The degree to which a person identifies with a job, actively participates in it, and considers performance important to self worth.

• Psychological empowerment : Employees’ belief in the degree to which they affect their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their job, and their perceived autonomy in their work.

• Eg: One study of nursing managers in Singapore found that good leaders empower their employees by involving them in decisions, making them feel their work is important, and giving them discretion to “do their own thing”

• Increased organisational citizenship.• Increased job performance.• Reduced absences.• Lower resignation rates.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES

• 3. Organisational commitment : The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organisation.

• 3 dimensions:• 1. Affective commitment: Emotional attachment to the organisation and its beliefs. Eg.???• Your family played a role in its founding…• 2. Continuance commitment : -PAY – Perceived economic value of remaining with an

organisation. Eg.???• Wiincy Thomas has bought a Lamborghini, an 8 bedroom mansion and a 10 lakh rupees

diamond set, on EMI or with a loan. So now she can’t quit her high paying job so easily.• 3. Normative commitment : Moral or ethical reasons. Eg.???• Sherin has just been assigned an important new project in O.B. She does not want to leave

her boss high and dry by quitting.• A review of 27 studies suggested that the relationship between commitment and

performance was highest for NEW EMPLOYEES and considerably weaker for more experienced employees.

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES

• 4. Perceived Organisational Support (POS) : The degree to which employees believe an organisation values their contribution and cares about their well being.

• Eg: An employee believes an organisation would accommodate her if she had a child care problem.

• POS is high when • Rewards are deemed fair,• Employees have a voice in their decisions, and• When they see their supervisors as supportive.• Higher organisational citizenship• Lower levels of tardiness• Better customer service

ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION – MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES

• 5. Employee engagement : An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the work he or she does.

• Higher levels of customer satisfaction• Higher productivity• Higher profits• Lower turnover• Lower number of accidents

• References : • ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR - STEPHEN

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