Employee Attitudes

• Job Satisfaction
• Job Involvement
• Organizational Commitment
• Organizational Citizenship
• Organizational Justice
 Job Satisfaction
What is it?

• Job Satisfaction – The degree of pleasure an

employee derives from his or her job
 Global vs. Facet
Job Satisfaction
• Global Job Satisfaction – Overall pleasure
derived from the job

• Facet Job Satisfaction – Satisfaction with

specific aspects of the job, such as:
– Pay/benefits
– Supervision
– Co-workers
– Opportunity for Promotion
– Work itself
 Job Satisfaction Research

Job satisfaction related to:

– Productivity (r = .17)
– Absenteeism (r = -.40)
– Turnover (r = -.25)
 Job Involvement
What is it?

Job Involvement – The degree to which a person

identifies psychologically with his or her work and
the importance of work to one’s self-image.
 Organizational Commitment
What is it?
Organizational Commitment – The extent to which an
employee feels a sense of allegiance to his or her employer.
Three components:
1. Affective – emotional attachment to org
• Ex: Ballplayer stays in city that honors him despite opportunity for
higher salary elsewhere
2. Continuance – commitment based upon the costs
associated with leaving the org
• Ex: Despite not enjoying gov’t work, person stays with org for the
good benefits
3. Normative – employees’ obligations to remain with the org
(loyalty)
• Ex: Worker stays with company that gave him a chance when no one
else would.
 Organizational Justice
What is it?
Organizational Justice – Degree to which workers
believe they are being treating fairly.
– Could be related to selection, performance appraisal,
promotion, raises, benefits, etc.
 Organizational Justice
Distributive vs Procedural
Distributive Justice – fairness of outcomes or results
(content driven).
Three rules of Distributive Justice:
1. Equity – reward should match the worker’s contribution
• Ex: Salesperson who brings in most profit, gets biggest bonus
2. Equality – everyone has equal chance of receiving the
reward
• Ex: Sports award for sportsmanship, rather than performance
3. Need – rewards given on basis of individual need
• Ex: Scholarships for students of low-economic families
 Organizational Justice
Distributive vs Procedural
Procedural Justice – Perceived fairness of method used to
reach outcome or decision (process driven)
Determined by:
• How much influence or input one has in the decision
process
• How much respect is paid to person during decision
making process
• Whether decision based on job-related criteria
• Whether feedback provided & in timely fashion
– Ex: Promotion given to one person without opening it up to others
– Ex: Work schedules determined without considering employee
needs (day care, travel distance, religious holidays, etc.)
 Greenberg’s Taxonomy of Justice

• Type of justice:
– Distributive (content) vs. Procedural (process)
• Means of achieving justice:
– Structural (formal) vs. Social (informal)

Procedural Distributive

Structural Systemic Configural

Justice Justice
Informational Interpersonal
Social Justice Justice
 Greenberg’s Taxonomy of Justice
• Systemic Justice – procedural justice by structural means
– Decision making is consistent, based on accurate information,
considers all persons involved, and is moral and ethical
• Configural Justice – distributive justice by structural means
– Does the structure (rules) allow rewards to be distributed fairly?
• Informational Justice – procedural justice by socially-
determined means
– Clearly informing workers as to why & how decisions are made and
without ulterior motives or deceit
• Interpersonal Justice – distributive justice by social means
– Demonstrated concern and sensitivity for decision outcomes
 Example of Systematic Justice

Before deciding who to hire, the boss gets input

from everyone in the department who then vote on
the final candidates. Although you may not have
favored the winning candidate, you think the
decision is fair because everyone involved had
some input into the decision.
 Example of Interpersonal Justice
You were passed over for promotion.
Your supervisor takes you out to lunch to break the
news to you away from the office and to soften the
blow. She expresses her sympathy and lets you
take the rest of the day off.
 Example of Informational Justice
You were expecting at least a 10% salary increase this year,
but only got the standard 3% cost of living increase.
Your supervisor explains that the company only had a certain
amount of money so when deciding who to give the greatest
increases to they looked at performance appraisals and
attendance records and you did comparatively poor on both
(as he shows you a chart of how your performance and
attendance compared to the average worker in your
company).
 Example of Configural Justice

Your company offered a one-week paid vacation to

the salesperson who sold the most cans of instant
hair.
 Organizational Citizenship Behavior

• Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) –

extra-role behavior that goes beyond normal duties
• Five Characteristics of OCB
1. Altruism – help someone else without expecting personal
reward
2. Conscientiousness – follow rules and regulations (arrive
at work on time, turn in assignments, etc.)
3. Courtesy – respect interpersonal communication
4. Sportsmanship – not complaining, gossiping or blaming
5. Civic Virtue – keeping up with org issues, contributing
suggestions, attending committee meetings, etc.
 Psychological Contracts

• Psychological Contract – unwritten contract

involving what the worker contributes to the org
and what the org does for the worker.
– Ex: Worker agrees to work hard and obey rules and in
exchange, the org provides pay, job security, benefits,
and opportunities
– Ex: Student works hard, studies, participates, and
doesn’t spit in class, and in exchange UWF provides
an education
• Because contract is only in the mind of the
worker, the terms tend to change over time
 Psychological Contracts

• Psychological contracts range from

Transactional to Relational

Transactional Relational
• specific obligations • varied obligations
• short time frame • long term
• exchange work for $$ • loyalty
• self-serving • value relationship
 Psychological Contracts
Nature of Psychological Contract

Transactional Relational
Antisocial Behaviors Prosocial Behaviors
• Violence • Conscientiousness
• Threats • Sportsmanship
• Negligence • Courtesy
• Negativism • Civic Virtue
• Altruism

Alienation Commitment
 Psychological Contracts

Ways in which contracts can be broken:

• Training – employee doesn’t receive promised
training
• Compensation – worker doesn’t get as much pay
or benefits as expected
• Promotion – promised promotion doesn’t
materialize in expected time frame
• Job Security – unexpected layoffs
• Feedback – performance reviews not forthcoming
 Psychological Contracts

What actions might worker take if org breaks contract?

• Depends on:
1. Type of contract – violation of transactional contracts
lead to smaller reactions than to relational contracts
2. Magnitude of Violation – try to fix minor violations (ex:
similar training, but not exact), react more severely to
major violations (ex: not receiving promotion after much
overtime work)
3. Perceived fault of employer – workers act more
seriously to perceived deliberate violations
 Contract Violations
Basic Sequence of Responses

Active

4. Exit – 2. Voice –
Quit, force employer to fire, Complain, try to fix
sabotage, violence contract

Destructive Constructive
3. Neglect – 1. Loyalty –
Become irresponsible, Remain silent and wait
neglect work, don’t care for improvement

Passive
 Effects of Downsizing

• On those terminated:
– Psychological – stress, anxiety, anger, loss of self-
esteem, hypertension, gastro-intestinal disorders, etc.
– Physical – inability to pay mortgage, feed family, loss
of health benefits
• On surviving personnel:
– Psychological – less trust and less commitment to
org, us vs. them mentality
– Physical – paycuts, increased responsibilities, longer
hours, reduced status.
 Mergers and Acquisitions

• Merger – 2 orgs agree to come together to form

larger, more powerful org.
– Ex: Lockheed-Martin, McDonald-Douglas
• Acquisition – one org takes over another org
either by purchasing it directly (friendly) or
purchasing 51% or greater share of org (hostile)
– Ex: Dillards acquired Gayfers
 Mergers and Acquisitions
Problems
• Duplication of jobs – layoffs
• Differences in culture – conflict
• Acceptance of new policies – hostilities
• Voluntary turnover – quitting, new training
 Violence in the Workplace

• Often result of perceived injustice, breaking of

psychological contract, termination, missed
promotion, etc.
• Stats:
– 225,000 to 300,000 reported violent workplace acts/yr
– Homicide is 3rd leading cause of death in workplace
– 5 to 6 homicides/month are directed at mgrs & employees
– 80% of victims are male
– 43% of all women who die at work, die due to homicide
– Victims typically 25-44 yrs old
– More than twice as many minority victims than whites
 Violence in the Workplace

• Suspected causes (not empirically tested)–

1. Downsizing – layoffs, high unemployment
2. More violent society – TV, acceptance of violence,
easy access to guns
3. Abuse in childhood – carried over into workplace,
displaced aggression
4. Autocratic Management – authoritarian decision
making, lack of opportunity for creativity
 Violence in the Workplace

• Perpetrators
– Disgruntled employees, fired or laid off
– 25% commit suicide afterward
– Others included in stats: robbers, healthcare patients,
spouses, clients & customers
• Perpetrator profile
– History of violence, fascination with military
– White male, over 35 yrs old
– Loner or extremist
– Carries a grudge
– Difficulty accepting authority or reality
– Substance abuser or history of mental health disorders
 Violence in the Workplace

• Prevention
– Background checks on new employees
– Note changes in behavior
– Zero tolerance of threats (?)
– Violence prevention and education programs to
investigate all acts of violence
– Refer worker with drastic behavior changes to EAP for
counseling