Job Attitudes that Relate to Specific Workplace Behaviors - Coursework Example

Running Header: Organizational Behavior and Management Student’s Name: Instructors’ name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Organizational Behavior and Management (OBM) concept uses behavior modification guidelines in realizing the most appropriate behaviors at workplace. These guidelines are important in effectively managing employee behaviors in an organization. The OBM strategies are important tools in developing certain behaviors and attitudes that are perceived to be more effective in advancing the organizational performance. Behavioral principles as used in organizations, is an old concept that provide different strategies that are important in managing behaviors at workplace. OBM develops performance procedures evaluation criteria with regard to behavioral modification in order to positively change the attitudes of employees. This article will in reference to the case study of Billy’s Building Supplies Inc and Ted discuss workplace behaviors such as absenteeism, employee turnover, job satisfaction and workplace deviance, job related attitudes such as job satisfaction, Job involvement and Employee engagement, factors that encourage or are associated with these job attitudes as well as controllable and uncontrollable factors. Finally the discussion will look into some of the performance indicators that tell about the employee’s attitude which include: Job satisfaction, Job involvement, Employee engagement, Job satisfaction, Absenteeism, Turnover and Workplace deviance (Smith & Hulin, 1999). Job attitudes that relate to specific workplace behaviours There are several attitudes that are revealed in the case study of Billy’s Building Supplies Inc and Ted. Given the different situation that the case presents a number of attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement and employee engagement are cited. According to this case, it is disagreeable that Billy had nothing to do in order to improve the attitudes that his employee, Ted had towards the business. Job satisfaction Job satisfaction can be explained as the level to which the employee is contented with the work he is doing in terms of working environment, employment terms and the general relationships that exist between him, other employees and the employer. Job satisfaction plays a vital role in ensuring that the employee is free to commit his time, experience and skills to the work that he is doing. In reference with the case of Billy’s Building Supplies Inc and Ted, job satisfaction has been cited as one of the major concern for Billy. This is due to the fact Ted is not fully satisfied with what he gets from the business given the kind of role he plays for the business. Employees’ satisfaction always attracts employee commitment to the Company and thereby discouraging any kind of behaviours such as absenteeism, turnover and workplace deviance. Billy accepting that there was nothing he could do to rescue the situation is not justified. He could have established a free environment whereby employees could air there grievances in order to create good chances for him to realize the kind of challenge that he is likely to face (Macey, 2008). Job involvement Job involvement entails getting everybody commitment to business activities in order to achieve high level performance. Involvement practices within an organization include training, teamwork utilization, and use of flexible employee reward systems. The ultimate goal for using employee involvement is to achieve superior performance for the organization. Job involvement is used to develop more positive attitudes that include trust, company commitment which leads to low rates of employee turnover and workplace deviance. This in the long-run is likely to create an environment where employees can enjoy doing their work. Billy could have employed this approach in order to solve his problem with Ted rather than permitting that there was nothing he could have done. This concept is important in increasing productivity, employee voice as well as empowerment. As revealed in the case study, Billy failed to practice job involvement thereby allowing employees move different directions thus affecting the overall performance of the business (Latham & Pinder, 2005). Job engagement Job engagement refers to the extent to which employees are committed to their work both emotionally and intellectually in order to work towards achieving business mission and vision. Employee engagement can be defined as the heightened level of freedom whereby employees are allowed to do whatever they think is right in order to benefit the customers and the organization at large. Job engagement also helps in building the employees’ morale in order to boost the unity of responsibility and attitude towards work. Lack of job engagement can lead to high level turnover, workplace deviance and absenteeism whereby employees will be avoiding duties because of the kind of working environment they are in. referring the case of Billy and Ted, it is not true that Billy lacked ways of solving the problem since he had not realized the importance of engaging his employees in order to gain their maximum commitment. This is revealed in the case study whereby Ted is witnessed bullying and harassing his colleagues in front of customers a behavior that is discouraging many employees. Job engagement as a management behavior practice can be used to improve the knowledge of the worker and promotion of individual talent and therefore creating emotional commitment to the employer. In simple terms, job engagement can be defined as raw material for motivating the employee morale (Cameron & Quinn, 2006). Factors that encourage or are associated with job attitudes From the case study, a number of attitudes have been exposed. Given the kind of behavior that has been portrayed by Ted, it is evident that his attitude towards the business was not a positive one and a lot needed to be done. For example from the previous place of work, Ted had left with a feeling that he was not handled well more so in terms of compensation. This way he is out to do whatever he can to ensure that he does not make the same mistake. Ted also believes that he is should be part owner of the business with Billy a kind of idea that has made him totally change his work behavior. These believe has made Ted think that he is charged unfairly by Billy and is not ready to continue working under same status with the compensation plan that is there. These attitudes and many other attitudes such as poor communication, and involvement in business activities affected negatively the kind of attitude Ted had for the business. This greatly influenced his behavior in so many different ways. Some of these attitudes had instigated certain workplace behaviors such as harassing and bullying fellow workers in the public something that impacted negatively on the image of the business as it can be witnessed by drop in revenues and total sales (Ayers, 2008). Controllable factors These factors can be controlled by putting in place certain measures that ensure that there is always teamwork and proper channel of communication. It is important for the business to have guidelines that govern compensation plan in order to ensure that the systems are flexible to accommodate for any eventuality. Building trust can be used to castigate teamwork and trust among the employees who work at the same place. This is important because it helps the business to create a conducive environment where individuals can freely advice one another and even explain some of the issues that may be beneficial to the business such as venturing new markets and offering more competitive services (Harter & Theodore, 2002). Business policy can also play a vital role in controlling some of these attitudes and behaviors since it will create standards on how individuals should relate and handle each other. Problem solving channel can be used in order to create an open environment where employees’ issues can be channeled and attended to. This is done by encouraging employees to raise issues related to behavior at workplace as one way of fostering positive relationship between the workers. In reference with the case study, Billy did not take any step to talk to Ted about the concerns raised against him, this demonstrates clearly that Billy failed to promote relationships and respond accordingly to those behaviours that are perceived inappropriate (Hughes & Ginnett, 2009). Uncontrollable factors In a working environment as seen from the previous discussion, there is always a possibility of employees developing various attitudes towards their work which in one way or the other need to be addressed so that the performance of the business is not compromised. Unfortunately some of these factors are not easy to control and in most instances the employers are not left with any choice but to face with the reality. Citing the case study for example, Ted being the new employee to Billy’s company was interested in becoming part owner of the business and also plays a managerial role in the business. It is important to note that some of the behaviors that are related to job attitudes can be handled and managed by Billy himself in reference to business policy and guidelines like the employee recruitment and selection process which enables the business to get into its team appropriate manpower who can drive the business to attain both its vision and mission (Baron & Fund, 2006). However, some behaviors are difficult to tackle individually since they can only be dealt with by the work relations Disciplinary Policy. The element of bullying, harassment and discrimination as revealed in the case study are some of the factors that can only be managed by the law. The law always ensures that required standards of behavior are explained well to the employees and adhered to. Many of the behaviors perpetuated by Ted and what actually most employees do are deliberate behaviors that are contrary with the standards of behavior and therefore call for serious disciplinary action by the law. In some instances where actions are serious breaches to workplace behaviors, employee dismissal can be done as a result resort. Different behaviors and attitudes call for different measures in order to control. This is so because trade unions employee staff welfares can be used to tackle such behaviors and attitudes by providing appropriate advice (Haines & Taggar, 2006). Job attitudes and performance indicators From the case study, Ted is cited to have developed different job attitudes which include: lack of job satisfaction, involvement and engaged. From the behaviors, Ted is not truly satisfied with the kind of work he is doing. He is interested of becoming partly owner of the business by playing a managerial role. Lack of job satisfaction is also witnessed by the fact that Ted is not satisfied with the compensation plan and he is of the opinion that giving him a chance to become a co-partner to the business will enable him get the most desirable compensation he real deserves. At workplace, employees deserve to be fully involved and engaged to business activities as one way of avoiding rebellious behaviors by making them feel part of the business. Employee are expected to work in a conducive environment that is enjoyable, where people speak freely, treated fairly and their opinions understood and appreciated (Goldstone & Roberts, 2008). From the case study it is clear that employees are not ready to whistle-blow because they feel that there are no proper systems in place to do that because by do so is to personalize issues thereby creating collisions among the employees. In order to discover the existence of these attitudes among the employees several performance indicators have been put in place to act as detectives and they include issues related to job satisfaction, absenteeism, employee turnover, and employee workplace deviance. Some of the indicators that are eminent in the case study include absenteeism, lateness to work and taking of sick-offs on very short notices. Deviance at workplace is witnessed when Ted decided to interfere with other employees by harassing and bullying them. Some of these job attitudes can be demonstrated by employee turnover like in the case of Ted when he resigned because he was not satisfied with his work (Vianen & Dreu, 2001). Conclusion This essay as indicated in the introduction is to discuss various workplace behaviors and attitudes, Factors that encourage or are associated with job attitudes including controllable and uncontrollable factors and the various performance indicators that provide evidence for the existence of those attitudes among the employees with reference to the case study on Billy’s Building Supplies Inc and Ted. From the review it is true that at workplace do exist behaviors and job attitudes and they are the key drivers for the business. Some of the attitudes can be positive while others can be negative to the business. Some of the negative attitudes include: lack of job satisfaction, involvement and employee engagement. Evidence for job attitudes among the employees includes absenteeism, turnover and workplace deviance. This is clearly demonstrated in the case study whereby Ted decides to take sick-offs from work without enough notice, harassing of colleagues, reporting late to work and eventually resigning from Billy’s Company (Smith & Hulin, 1999). References Ayers, K 2008, Engagement Is Not Enough: You Need Passionate Employees to Achieve Your Dream, Harcourt Brace, Sydney. Baron, R & Fund S 2006, The impact of emotional intelligence on performance, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey. Cameron, K & Quinn, R 2006, Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Goldstone, R & Roberts, M 2008, Emergent processes of group behavior, Group Behavior, vol. 17, 1–15. Haines, V & Taggar, S 2006, Antecedents of team reward attitude. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, vol. 10, 194–205. Hughes, R & Ginnett, R 2009, Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (6th Ed.), McGraw-Hill, Boston. 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