Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Attitudes

  • Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.

Components of Attitudes

  • Affective Component: The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
  • Cognitive Component: The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
  • Behavioral Component: An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.

Types of Attitudes

  • Job Satisfaction: A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds toward his or her job.
  • Job Involvement: Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and considering performance important to self-worth.
  • Organizational Commitment: Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and wishing to maintain membership in the organization.

The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

  • Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
  • Desire to reduce dissonance
    • Importance of elements creating dissonance
    • Degree of individual influence over elements
    • Rewards involved in dissonance

Application: Attitude Surveys

  • Attitude Surveys: Eliciting responses from employees through questionnaires about how they feel about their jobs, work groups, supervisors, and the organization.
  • Sample statements include:
    • "This company is a pretty good place to work."
    • "I can get ahead in this company if I make the effort."
    • "This company's wage rates are competitive with those of other companies."
    • "Employee promotion decisions are handled fairly."
    • "I understand the various fringe benefits the company offers."
    • "My job makes the best use of my abilities."
    • "My workload is challenging but not burdensome."
    • "I have trust and confidence in my boss."
    • "I feel free to tell my boss what I think."
    • "I know what my boss expects of me."

The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

  • Satisfaction and Productivity
    • Satisfied workers aren’t necessarily more productive.
    • Worker productivity is higher in organizations with more satisfied workers.
  • Satisfaction and Absenteeism
    • Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
  • Satisfaction and Turnover
    • Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
    • Organizations take actions to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers

How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction

  • Exit: Behavior directed toward leaving the organization.
  • Voice: Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions.
  • Loyalty: Passively waiting for conditions to improve.
  • Neglect: Allowing conditions to worsen.

Job Satisfaction and OCB

  • Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB): Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and are trusting of the organization are more willing to engage in behaviors that go beyond the normal expectations of their job.

Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

  • Satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction because:
    • They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
    • They are less likely to turnover which helps build long-term customer relationships.
    • They are experienced.
  • Dissatisfied customers increase employee job dissatisfaction.