Copyright © 2016 Pearson Canada Inc. CHAPTER 3 Values, Attitudes, and Diversity in the Workplace.

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Canada Inc.

CHAPTER

3Values, Attitudes, and Diversity in the Workplace


Values

Values: Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existenceConcepts or beliefs that guide how we make decisions about and evaluations of behaviours and events.

Types of valuesTerminal: goals that individuals would like to achieve during their lifetimeInstrumental: preferable ways of behaving

Importance of valuesValues generally influence attitudes and behaviour.


Moral Principles

Ethics: The study of moral values or principles that guide our behaviour, and inform us whether our actions are right or wrong.Ethical values are related to moral judgments about right and wrong.

Values in the Canadian WorkplaceGenerational & Cultural differences

Baby Boomers (born mid-1940s to mid-1960s) Achievement and material success

are very important Sense of accomplishment and social

recognition rank high with them Pragmatists who believe ends can

justify the meansGeneration X (born mid-1960s to late 1970s)

Value flexibility, life options and achievement of job satisfaction

Family and relationships are very important

Less willing to make personal sacrifices for the sake of their employer than Boomers

Millennials (born between 1979 and 1994) High expectations; seek meaning in

their work Tend to be questioning, electronically

networked and entrepreneurial Socially responsible

2011 Census findings on newcomers 20.6 percent of Canadian population

is foreign born vs. 12.9 percent for USA

46 percent of Toronto’s population 40 percent of Vancouver’s population 22.6 percent of Montreal’s

population2011 Census findings on language

20 percent spoke neither English nor French as their first language. Of these:

Largest majority spoke Punjabi, Chinese (not specified) Cantonese, and Spanish


Attitudes

Attitudes are positive or negative feelings concerning objects, people, or events. They reflect how we feel about something. More importantly, attitudes can affect job behaviorAn attitude is made up of 3 components: Cognitive component – the opinion or belief segment of an attitude Affective component – the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude Behavioural component – an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something


Types of Attitudes

The four important attitudes that affect organizational performance: Job Satisfaction An individual’s positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.

Organizational CommitmentJob InvolvementPerceived Organizational SupportEmployee Engagement


Job Satisfaction

A strong correlation between how well people enjoy the social context of their workplace and how satisfied they are overall. Key aspects of the social context of work: InterdependenceFeedback, Social support, and Interaction with co-workers outside the workplace.Key sources of Job Satisfaction: the work itself, salary advancement opportunities, supervision, & co-workers

Enjoying the work itself is almost always most strongly correlated with high levels of job satisfaction.

Once a person reaches the level of comfortable living, the relationship between pay and satisfaction virtually disappears.

People with positive core self-evaluations, believe in their inner worth and basic competence, and are more satisfied with their work.

Job Satisfaction affects:Individual productivityOrganizational productivityOrganizational citizenship behaviourCustomer satisfactionAbsenteeism and Turnover

How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction

• Exit

• Voice

• Loyalty

• Neglect


Managers Often Don’t Get it

Research findings on large organizations:Stock prices in high morale organizations grew 19.4 percent and only 10 percent for the medium an low morale group.Many managers are not concerned with job satisfaction measures.Many other managers overestimate the job satisfaction of their employees.


Types of Attitudes

Organizational Commitment A state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to remain a member of the organization.Three Types

Affective commitmentAn individual’s emotional attachment to an organization and a belief in its values

Normative commitmentThe obligation an individual feels to staying with an organization for moral or ethical reasons.

Continuance commitmentAn individual’s perceived economic value of remaining with an organization.


Types of Attitudes

Job Involvement Measures the degree to which people identifies with a job, actively participates in it, and considers performance important to self-worthPsychological empowerment – employees’ beliefs in the degree to which they influence their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their job and their perceived autonomy.Perceived Organizational SupportDegree to which employees believe the organization values their contributions and care about their well-bring.Employees perceive their organization as supportive when:

rewards are deemed fair when employees have voice in decisions when employees view their supervisors as


Types of Attitudes

Employee engagement: An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for work he or she does. Highly engaged employees have a passion for their work and feel a deep connection to the company. Firms that have employees with a higher level of engagement tend to see positive results:

Higher customer satisfactionMore productive employeesHigher profitsLower levels of turnover and accidents


Managing Diversity in the Workplace

Organizations increasingly face diversity concerns as workplaces become more heterogeneous. Most obvious are biographical characteristics such as age, gender, race, disability, and

length of service Other differences include religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity Diversity in ability Protected groups – women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal people, and visible

minoritiesEffective Diversity Programs include promoting:

legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people

how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients

personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers


Summary

1. Values represent basic convictions about what is important, right and good.

2. Attitudes tend to predict behaviours

3. Job satisfaction leads to better performance.


OB at Work: For Review

1. What are the three components of an attitude? 2. Are these components related or unrelated?3. What are the key attitudes that affect organizational performance? 4. In what ways are these attitudes alike? 5. What is unique about each?6. How does ethics relate to values?7. What causes job satisfaction? For most people, is pay or the work itself

more important?8. What outcomes does job satisfaction influence? 9. What implications do the consequences of job satisfaction have for

management? 10. What are the four employee responses to job dissatisfaction? 11. How do organizations manage diversity effectively?


OB at Work: For Managers

■ Pay attention to your employees’ job satisfaction levels as determinants of their performance, turnover, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaviours.

■ Measure employee job attitudes objectively and at regular intervals in order to determine how employees are reacting to their work.

■ To raise an employee’s job satisfaction, evaluate the fit between the employee’s work interests and the intrinsic parts of his/her job to create work that is challenging and interesting to the employee.

■ Consider the fact that high pay alone is unlikely to create a satisfying work environment.


OB at Work: For Managers

■ Understand your organization’s anti-discrimination policies thoroughly and share them with your employees. ■ Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions. ■ Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need and then fine-tune a job to that person’s abilities. ■ Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteristics of your employees; a fair but individual-oriented approach yields the best performance.

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Canada Inc. CHAPTER 3 Values, Attitudes, and Diversity in the Workplace.

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