BADM 310 Notes: Performance, Commitment, and Wellbeing
Course Announcements and Exam Information
Late penalties begin at midnight tonight for Weeks 1–2 assignments (due 9/8 and onward).
Plan work ahead and use drops to manage deadlines.
PollEv responses earn extra credit from today; register with your illinois.edu email.
Exam 1: Wednesday 9/17 in class; covers lectures and readings from 8/25–9/15.
Exam format: Multiple choice, true/false, short answer.
One page of notes allowed (front and back).
Conflict exam: Friday 9/19 at 3 pm.
Learning Objectives (Today's focus)
Understand why concept definition and measurement are important as first steps to address a management problem.
Define and measure:
Job performance
Organizational commitment
Job satisfaction
Workplace wellbeing
Framing a Problem as a Management Problem
Frame a problem using three integrated lenses: Individual differences, Behavior, Attitude, Wellbeing.
Emphasize that management problems involve observable behaviors and attitudes that affect wellbeing and performance.
Key Concepts: Concepts, Variables, Constructs
Concept: an abstract idea (example: “performance”).
Variable: a characteristic that can be measured and take on different values (categorical, discrete, or continuous).
Construct: an unseen explanatory variable that cannot be measured directly (e.g., ability, motivation, stress).
Measurement Matters
Measurement quality matters for managing outcomes.
Example of measurement failure: Mars Climate Orbiter (1999) due to unit miscommunication, illustrating how measurement errors can derail outcomes.
Related readings note that contemporary discussions include topics like remote work productivity and the need to interpret measurements carefully.
Frame a Problem as a Management Problem (Reinforcement)
Reiterate: Frame problems around Behavior, Attitude, Wellbeing to connect to managerial actions.
What Managers Define and Measure
Examples managers focus on:
Ability and personality (capabilities and traits)
Performance and citizenship behaviors
Absenteeism and turnover
Commitment, job satisfaction and other attitudes
Wellbeing across financial, social, emotional, and physical domains
Key Takeaway: Define, Measure, Manage
This triad promotes useful research and best practices in management.
Behavior at Work: What Falls Under Job Performance?
All work behaviors that help or hinder organizational goals can be included.
Components often considered:
1) Task performance (core job tasks)
2) Citizenship behavior (contextual performance)
3) Absenteeism and counterproductive work behavior
Assessment of Job Performance
Performance assessment may include:
Task performance
Citizenship behaviors
Counterproductive behaviors
Organizations may also consider absenteeism and turnover as indicators of commitment.
Assessment can be based on:
Objective measures (quantitative results)
Subjective assessments (relative to a standard or to coworkers)
Sources of assessment:
Self, Manager, Coworkers/Clients/Direct reports
Task Performance
Definition: Behaviors directly involved in transforming organizational resources into goods/services (i.e., job description/role behaviors).
Illustrative Job Descriptions (Task Performance Examples)
Flight Attendant Job Description #1:
Primary: Maintain safe conditions in the cabin, teach safety procedures, assist during emergencies.
Secondary: Serve food/beverages, provide comfort items like pillows, magazines, headsets.
Flight Attendant Job Description #2:
Focus: Safety and customer service; working with a fast-paced environment; multi-tasking; staying friendly and professional.
Additional emphasis: Emotional labor, adaptive task performance, and creative problem-solving.
Emotional Labor in Job Performance
Emotions must be expressed as part of job performance (emotional labor).
Not the same as performing difficult emotional work; rather, it's about shaping outward emotional display.
Visual examples: images illustrating “working with a smile” and friendliness as expected behaviors.
Citizenship Behavior (Contextual Performance)
Definition: Voluntary or discretionary activities that contribute to the organization by improving the work setting, beyond formal duties.
Key domains: Interpersonal helping, courtesy, sportsmanship, organizational voice, civic virtue, boosterism.
Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB)
Definition: Behaviors that intentionally hinder organizational goals.
Common categories:
Absenteeism
Property-related: sabotage, theft
Production: wasted resources, substance abuse
Political: incivility, gossip
Personal aggression: harassment, abuse
Note: CWB can be a signal of misalignment between attitudes, wellbeing, and job design.
How to Measure Performance
Focus on specific behaviors and outcomes:
Job/task performance
Citizenship behaviors
Counterproductive behavior
Use key performance indicators (KPI) and individual performance objectives (IPO) to structure evaluation.
Sources of information can be self-reported, supervisor-rated, or from others who observe performance.
Types and Sources of Performance Assessments
Objective assessments: results-oriented, countable outcomes.
Subjective assessments: compared to standards (absolute) or compared to coworkers (relative).
Potential sources:
Self
Manager
Coworkers/Clients/Direct reports
Work Attitudes: Organizational Commitment
A work attitude is an opinion, belief, or feeling about aspects of one’s job and work environment.
Attitudes influence behavior and can affect others in the organization.
Tenure and Turnover (Key Concepts)
Tenure: how long an employee stays at a company (example items and definitions are provided).
Turnover: the rate at which employees leave and are replaced.
Observations from organizations show varying levels of tenure across industries (e.g., airlines often showing long median tenure in some analyses).
Organizational Commitment: Definition and Significance
Organizational commitment: the desire to remain a member of the organization.
Strong commitment predicts citizenship behaviors and longer tenure.
Research indicates different commitment types relate differently to performance and withdrawal:
Affective commitment: positive relationship with performance and OCB; desire to stay
Continuance commitment: may be neutral or negative effects on performance; staying due to costs of leaving
Normative commitment: staying due to sense of obligation
Three Types of Commitment (Definitions and Implications)
Affective Commitment: wanting to stay; e.g., "I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization."
Continuance Commitment: needing to stay; e.g., "It would be very hard for me to leave right now."
Normative Commitment: feeling obligated to stay; e.g., "Loyalty is important; I should stay."
Scales for Organizational Commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990)
Affective Commitment Scale (sample items):
I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization.
I really feel as if this organization's problems are my own.
I feel like part of the family at my organization.
I feel a strong sense of belonging to my organization.
Continuance Commitment Scale (sample items):
It would be very hard for me to leave my organization right now, even if I wanted to.
Too much in my life would be disrupted if I left now.
Leaving would require considerable personal sacrifice and may not be matched elsewhere.
Normative Commitment Scale (sample items):
I believe that a person must always be loyal to his or her organization.
Jumping between organizations seems unethical to me.
If I got another offer for a better job, I would not feel it was right to leave.
Key Points about Work Attitudes and Commitment
Work attitudes are measured via surveys; employers track attitudes and some managers are evaluated in part on them.
Organizational commitment is the desire to remain a member of the organization.
Strong commitment predicts:
Lower likelihood of quitting
More organizational citizenship behaviors
More constructive responses to negative events
The type of commitment matters:
Affective and normative commitment are generally positive for performance.
Continuance commitment can be negative for performance.
Job Satisfaction
Definition: the emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job and job experiences.
Measured by survey items such as:
I feel good about my job.
I am satisfied with my pay.
I get along with my supervisors.
All my talents and skills are used.
Source example: McDonald & McIntyre (1997).
Workplace Factors Driving Job Satisfaction (SHRM Data)
Key drivers include:
Respectful treatment of employees at all levels
Compensation/pay, overall
Trust between employees and senior management
Job security
Opportunities to use skills and abilities in work
Work-life balance and culture/values
These drivers are identified as major contributors to how satisfied employees feel about their jobs.
Value-Percept Theory: Why People Satisfy or Dissatisfy
Core idea: Job satisfaction depends on whether the job provides valued outcomes across multiple facets such as:
Work itself
Altruism
Coworkers
Environment
Pay
Promotion
Supervision
Status
Dissatisfaction is modeled as:
Interpretive note: Satisfaction rises when valued outcomes are perceived as favorable relative to desires, weighted by how important each outcome is.
Takeaways and Practical Implications
Job satisfaction is a key indicator that relates to motivation, performance, and wellbeing.
It should be measured with surveys; use findings to guide interventions.
To raise job satisfaction, identify what employees value and ensure those values are reflected in culture, relationships, ethics, treatment, and benefits; increase the meaningfulness of the work itself where possible.
Real-World and Cross-Topic Connections
Developments in workplace dynamics (remote work, culture, leadership) influence how measurement and definitions affect management decisions.
The relationship between commitment, citizenship, and performance suggests targeted strategies to enhance affective and normative commitment while managing continuance costs.
The interplay between wellbeing, motivation, and job design is central to contemporary OB and HR practices.
Next Time: Preview of Upcoming Topic
Next time: Wellbeing, Motivation
Focus will extend from commitment and satisfaction to how wellbeing and motivation intertwine with performance.
Quick Reference: Notable Formulas and Concepts
Dissatisfaction (Value-Percept Theory):
Key terms:
Concept, Variable, Construct
Task performance, Citizenship behavior, Counterproductive work behavior
Affective, Continuance, Normative commitment
Job satisfaction, Wellbeing
If you’d like, I can tailor these notes to your preferred depth or formatting, or export a version focusing specifically on exam-ready bullet points with condensed definitions and sample items.