EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE

PRESENTED BYSMITARUP PATNAIKROLL NO 8363

WHAT IS ATTITUDE?• An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an

individual's degree of like or dislike for an item.

• Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person for a place, thing, or event.

• Everyone has an attitude toward everything-attitude being defined as a personal opinion/feeling toward any given subject. And usually attitudes lead to specific behaviors.

CONT… • Employee attitudes and behaviors are usually interrelated either .

FOR EXAMPLE If employee has a negative attitude towards their job, or a supervisor, or the

organization as a whole-then they are less likely to care about their job performance, disregard their supervisor or try to cause problems with them, or not consider anything that would benefit the company as a whole-just worry about doing just enough in their job and get paid.

However, if an individual likes their job-they will take pride in doing it correctly, if they like their supervisor-they are more likely to communicate and participate with them, and if they value the organization as a whole-they tend to look for ways to improve the company as a whole, even when they don't have too.

Attitude formation

• Unlike personality attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience.

• Tesser (1993) has argued that hereditary variables may affect attitudes - but believes that they may do so indirectly.

Employee attitude.

• Employees have attitudes or viewpoints about many aspects of their jobs, their careers, and their organizations. How- ever, from the perspective of research and practice, the most focal employee attitude is job satisfaction.

• To create a positive impact based on an individual's attitude, one must influence the individual to identify with the desired attitude by creating personal interest and value-so that person is more inclined to correspond with the desired attitude, leading to the desired behavior.

Causes of employee attitude

• Cultural Influences

• Work Situation Influences

• Social influence

Cultural influence

• In terms of other influences on employee attitudes, there is also a small, but growing body of research on the influences of culture

or country on employee attitudes .

• Hofstede in 1980 conducted research on employee attitude data in 67 countries and found that the data grouped into major cross cultural

dimensions.

The major cross-culturaldimensions are: (1) uncertainty avoidance versusrisk taking; (2) power distance, or the extentto which power is unequally distributed(3) masculinity/femininity,

Cont…

• These dimensions have been a useful framework for understanding cross-cultural differences in employee attitudes, as well as recognizing the importance of cultural causes of employee attitudes.

Work situation influence

• The work situation also matters in terms of effecting employees attitude

• some managers think employees are most desirous of pay to the exclusion of other job attributes such as interesting work.

For example

• In a study examining the importance of job attributes, employees ranked interesting work as the most important job attribute and good wages ranked fifth, whereas when it came to what managers thought employees wanted, good wages ranked first while interesting work ranked fifth

Social influence• Lastly, there is social pressure which can throw anyone's predictability out

the window.

• Even though all individuals have morals and attitudes toward different subjects, when they are put in a situation where peers can influence their attitude, or the individual just wants to fit in, they may cause discrepancies between an individual's normal behavior and their socially effected behavior.

• To lessen the conformation of a group of people in an organization, it would be important to let each employee know that personal attitudes are tolerated, and that the organization will work to understand, consider, and accept-without negative repercussions.

How to measure and influence employee attitude.There are a number of possible methods for measuring

employeeattitudes, such as:- 1.conducting focus groups, 2.interviewing of employees, 3.Carrying out employee surveys.

Of these methods, the most accurate measure is a well-constructed employee attitude survey.

Focus group

• The first focus groups were created at the Bureau of Applied Social Research by associate director, sociologist Robert K. Merton.

• A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging.

• Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

Employee attitude survey

• Employee Attitude surveys provide a picture of your organization's needs.

• These surveys can be used to solicit employee opinions on a variety of issues such as the company's success in communicating its mission to employees, or local issues such as quality of the working environment.

Foundations of employee attitude survey

•Creativity •Innovation •Satisfaction •Senior Management •Interpersonal Relations •Compensation •Ability to Listening •Customer Service •Communication

Cont…

•Obtaining Results •Analytical Thinking •Mentoring •Strategic Leadership •Teamwork •Adaptability •Staff Development •Leadership

Cont..

• This feedback is essential to facilitating development and organizational change

• It allows the organization to focus on needs and leverage its strengths

• Informs the organization on which actions will create problems for the employees

• Provides management with employee feedback (both positive and negative) on the internal health of the organization

• Measures the impact of current programs, policies and procedures

• Can be used to motivate employees and improve job satisfaction

How it is conducted

• Needs Analysis

• Develop questionnaire

• Instrument Pre-Test

• Ensure confidentiality of participants

Need analysis

• Meetings are held to determine the goals and objectives, as well as the content of the project.

• Whether implemented through individual interview or focus group this needs analysis will ensure that the critical information is gathered in the manner that best fits the customer need

• and will assist in determining the best method of collecting the data.

Develop questionnaire

• A questionnaire used for Employee Attitude/Opinion Surveys typically contains items that are rated on a 5 point scale.

• These items may be developed to measure different dimensions of the organization (e.g., communication, teamwork, leadership, initiative, management, compensation)

• Questionnaires also typically include one or more open-ended questions to solicit written feedback.

• Questionnaires typically include from 50 to 100 items. When estimating the amount of time to complete the questionnaire you should estimate about 1 minute per questionnaire item.

Demo of employee attitude questionnaire

• Please describe your position with the company. • How long have you worked for this company? • I have ready access to the information I need to get my job done. • I am familiar with the mission statement put forth by my

department. • I agree with the mission statement put forth by my department. • I am involved in decision making that affects my job. • Management has created an open and comfortable work

environment. • I know my job requirements and what is expected of me on a

daily basis. • I have received the training I need to do my job efficiently and

effectively.

cont…• Training is provided to enable me to do my job well. • Management recognizes and makes use of my abilities and skills. • I am treated with respect by management and the people I work

with. • I am encouraged to develop new and more efficient ways to do my

work. • Employees work well together to solve problems and get the job

done. • Management is flexible and understands the importance of

balancing my work and personal life. • I would recommend others to work for this company. • What changes, if any, do you feel need to made in your department

to improve working conditions? • What changes, if any, do you feel need to be made in the company

to improve working conditions?

Instrument Pre-Test

• Instrument pre-test, which is an examination of the data collection instrument by potential respondents.

• It can be completed for paper-based, as well as electronic and phone based data capture.

• This may include a series of telephone interviews or focus groups designed to gather feedback on the content, clarity, readability, relevance, length, and comprehensiveness of the item set.

Ensure confidentiality of participants

• Steps must be taken to ensure the confidentiality of the feedback results.

• For example, the feedback ratings from several employees should be combined to mask the identity of an individual employee.

• Comments or written answers to questions may be summarized in the results to mask the identity of the author.

• The confidentiality helps ensure that the results are genuine.

Role of employees in these survey.

• Employees submit ideas on how to make the company more efficient, cut costs, or increase revenue.

• The idea is submitted, eliminating potential conflicts.

• All ideas will be evaluated.

• An idea is selected for merit if, in management's sole opinion, it should be implemented.

Benefits of employee attitude survey

• Focusing of Employee Development Programs.

• Enhancing Management/Employee Relations.

• Training Needs Assessment.

• Organizational Climate Survey.

• Employee Performance.

The Downside of Employee attitude Surveys• There are risks involved with asking for employee opinions and

attitudes.

• The business manager who seeks employee attitude information but fails to act on the resulting information may cause further deterioration in employee attitudes.

• Managers must recognize that measuring employee attitudes, whether by formal survey, focus groups, or informal discussions, implies a commitment to act on the information received.

• Failure to do so implies a lack of caring or concern for employee opinions.

Employee Attitudes Affect Customer satisfaction

• Studies show that attitudes of employees correlate closely with customer satisfaction, which correlates with business profitability.

• Customers prefer to do business with employees who have positive attitudes and this preference brings customers back time and time again.

• Since it costs less to support a sale to a returning customer than attracting new customers, a high percentage of retained customers correlates with higher business profitability.

Managers Can Affect Employee Attitude

• Be a good role model.

• Practice positive self-talk within the work group.

• Ban complaining.

• Practice and teach win/win, looking for positive ways to solve problems for all stakeholders.

• Encourage brief stress-reduction techniques such as short meditations, deep breathing, and in-place exercises.

cont…

A Positive Work Environment• As leader of your organization, you have the ability to set a tone of

positive attitude.

• Positivity is healthier, more energizing, and attractive. Everyone wins when people stop mindless complaining and adopt a positive, problem solving attitude at work.

• Business managers can implement a customer satisfaction program, beginning with measuring and addressing employee attitudes and job satisfaction to increase customer retention and improve business profitability.

Managing Employee Negative Attitudes

• What is negative attitude When you think about it, a negative

attitude is just a judgment made by one person about another person based on what that individual says and does.

It's a label slapped on another person's

behavior when someone else doesn't like that behavior.

Cont…

• But rather than using judgments and labels, the trick to solving attitude problems is to focus on objective facts.

• For example, you really never know for sure what kind of attitude an employee took with a customer unless you were there. What you do know is that a customer complained about being treated rudely.

Ways to tackle negative attitude

• Attitudes can be changed through persuasion.

• We should understand attitude change as a response to communication.

• The Costs of Negativity Jon Gordon provides a strong argument for

fostering a positive attitude at work. Gordon quotes Gallup Organization research indicating that negativity costs the U.S. economy $250 to $300 billion every year.

cont…• Practice Gratitude: It may sound odd in a business setting, but daily

gratitude exercises bring a measurable boost in happiness and are energizing. Begin each morning by reflecting on three blessings related to your business or organization. Share these with your employees. Doing so will show your humanity and sensitivity.

• Praise Others: Focus your energy on what people are doing well, your customers, employees, and other groups with which your organization interacts.

• Focus on Success: Each day, send an email describing one success of your organization. Perhaps it's an on-time delivery, a successful sale, or a great idea.

• Let Go: Focus on the things you and your organization can control. Let go of the rest.

• Mary received a parrot as a gift. The parrot was fully grown with a very bad attitude and worse vocabulary.

• Mary tried to change the bird's attitude by constantly saying polite words and playing soft music anything she could think of. Nothing worked.

• She yelled at the bird and the bird got worse. She shook the bird and the bird became even madder and ruder. Finally, in a moment of desperation, Mary put the parrot in the freezer to get a minute of peace.

• For a few moments she heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming. Then, suddenly, there was absolute quiet.

• Mary was frightened that she might have actually hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door.

• The parrot calmly stepped out onto Mary's extended arm. Perfectly calm, the parrot said, "I am very sorry that I offended you with my language and my actions and I ask your forgiveness. I promise you from deep of my heart to correct my behavior, and I am sure it will never happen again.“

• Mary was astounded at the changes in the bird's attitude and was about to ask what had changed him, when the parrot continued, "May I ask what the chicken did?"

Benefits of positive employee attitude

Improve Employee

• Output

• Motivation

• Reduce Stress

A strong positive attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.