Chapter 11: Managing Individual Differences & Behavior There are five personality dimensions and five personality traits that managers need to be aware of to understand workplace behavior. Leading, is defined as motivating, directing, and otherwise influencing people to work hard to achieve the organization's goals. Personality consists of the stable psychological traits and behavioral attributes that give a person his or her identity.

The Big Five Personality Dimensions 1.

Extroversion. a. How outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive a person is.

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Agreeableness.

a. How trusting, good-natured, cooperative, and soft-hearted one Is.

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Conscientiousness. a. How dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, and persistent one is.

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Emotional stability.

a. How relaxed, secure, and unworried one is.

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Openness to experience. a. How intellectual, imaginative, curious, and broded one is.

Extroversion -the outgoing personality.  Extroversion has been associated with success for managers and salespeople.  Stronger predictor of job performance than agreeableness, across all professions. o It appears that being courteous, trusting, straightforward, and softhearted [that is, agreeableness] has a smaller impact on job performance than being talkative, active, and assertive [that is, extroversion].

Conscientiousness -the dependable personality.  Conscientiousness (strong work ethic) has been found to have the strongest positive correlation with job performance and training performance.  Individuals who exhibit traits associated with a strong sense of purpose, obligation, and persistence generally perform better than those who do not.

The proactive personality is someone who is more apt to take initiative and persevere to influence the environment. People of this sort identify opportunities and act on them, which makes them associated not only with success-individual, team, and organizational-but also with entrepreneurship.

Five Traits Important in Organizations o

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Locus of Control – indicates how much people believe they control their fate through their own efforts  Internal locus of control – you believe you control your own destiny  External locus of control – you believe external forces control you  Expect different degrees of structure an compliance for each type  Employ different reward systems for each type Self-Efficacy – belief in one’s personal ability to do a task  Low self-efficacy associated with learned helplessness – debilitating lack of faith in one’s ability to control one’s environment  Implications for managers?  Assign jobs accordingly  Develop Self-efficacy Self-esteem – the extent to which people like/dislike themselves, their overall self-evaluation  People with high self-esteem  More apt to handle failure better + emphasize the positive  Take more risk + choose unconventional jobs  Might be too egotistical and boastful  People with low self-esteem  Focus more on weakness during failure  More dependent on others and are more influenced by them  Some ways managers can build employee self-esteem:  Reinforce employee’s positive attributes and skills  Provide positive whenever possible  Break larger projects into smaller tasks and projects  Express confidence in employee’s abilities  Provide coaching whenever employees are seen to be struggling to complete tasks Self-monitoring – extent to which people are able to observe their own behavior and adapt it to external situations  Low self-monitors – criticized for being insensitive to their surroundings  High self-monitors – enjoy more internal and external promotions and are more political savvy Emotional Intelligence – ability to cope, to empathize with others and be self-motivated.

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Higher EI brings along:  Better social relations for child and adult  Better family and intimate relationships  Being perceived more positively by others  Better academic achievement  Higher task performance  Better psychological well-being EI comprised of 4 key components  Self-Awareness – ability to read your own emotions so as to know how you are affecting others  Self-management – ability to control your own emotions and act with honesty and integrity  Social awareness – includes empathy, allowing you to show others you care  Relationship management – ability to communicate clearly and convincingly, disarm conflicts How to raise your EI?  Develop awareness of your EI level  Learn about areas needing improvement

Values, Attitudes and Behavior 

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Organizational Behavior – dedicated to better understanding and management of people at work o Tries to help managers not only explain workplace behavior but to also predict it so that they can lead and motivate their employees o Individual Behavior o Group Behavior Values – abstract ideals that guide one’s thinking an behavior across all situations o Concepts, principles, things, people or activities for which a person is willing to work hard for. o Compensation, recognition and status are common values in the workplace Attitudes – learned predisposition toward a given object o Unlike values, they are directed toward specific objects, people or events Three Components of Attitudes o Affective component – consists of the feelings/emotions of a situation (I feel) o Cognitive component – beliefs and knowledge of a situation (I believe) o Behavioral component – intentional component refers to how one intends/expects to behave toward a situation (I intend) o When attitudes and reality collide?  Cognitive dissonance – psychological discomfort a person experiences between his/her cognitive attitude and incompatible behavior (Leon Festinger)  Leon Foster: how people deal with discomfort of inconsistency:

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Importance (ex. Law abiding citizen that speeds on the road)  Control (ex. Juror may not like the idea of death sentence but may ister it for he/she has no choice)  Rewards (ex. Police working on a case for a long time and does not want to find contradictory evidence)  Main ways to reduce cognitive dissonance  Change your attitude/behavior  Belittle the importance of the inconsistent behavior  Find consonant elements that out-weight the dissonant ones Behavior – actions and judgments (through a person’s value and attitudes)

Work-Related Attitudes and Behaviors Managers Need To Deal With  

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Job Involvement – extent to which an individual is immersed in his or her present job Work Related Attitudes o Attempts at raising overall employee morale by thinking of work as a “calling” and not just a job. Three types of attitude managers are particularly interested in: o Employee Engagement – individual’s involvement, satisfaction and enthusiasm for work o Job Satisfaction – extent to which you feel positive/negative about various aspects of your work  Determined by their work, pay, promotions, co-workers and supervision  Job satisfaction brings stronger motivation and less tardiness and perceived stress o Organizational Commitment – extent to which an employee identified with an organization and is committed to its goals Important Workplace Behaviors o Performance and Productivity  Evaluating behavior when employees are working, and must match the job being performed o Evaluating behavior when employees are not working  Absenteeism – when an employee does not show up for work.  Might be related to job dissatisfaction  Turnover – when employees leave their jobs  Cost of turnover is high with around 30% of the annual salary of an hourly employee but 150% of a professional employee o Evaluating behavior that exceeds work roles  Organizational Citizenship behavior – employee behaviors that are not directly part of employee’s job descriptions (exceeds work-role requirements)

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Example: Constructive statements of the department and expression of personal interest in the work of others Evaluating behavior that harms the organization  Counterproductive work behaviors – types of behaviors that harm employees and the organization as a whole  Absenteeism, drugs, alcohol, abuse…etc and must be addressed by the company usually by the interview stage

Perception and Individual Behavior 

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Four steps in the perceptual process o Perception – process of interpreting and understanding one’s environment o Process involves four steps  Selective attention – Did I notice something?  Interpretation and evaluation – What was it I noticed? What does it mean?  Storing in memory – it as an event, concept, person?  Retrieving from memory to make judgments and decisions – What do I recall about that? Four distortion in perception o The Recency Effect – the most recent impressions are the ones that count  The tendency to recent information better than earlier information. o Stereotyping – tendency to attribute to an individual the characteristics one believes are typical of the group to which that individual belongs  Sex-role stereotype – differing traits an abilities make males and females particularly well suited to different roles (ex. Male as preferred leaders over females)  Age stereotype – depict older workers as less involved in work and less efficient  Race/ethnicity stereotypes o Halo Effect – we form an impression of an individual based on a single trait  One trait tells me all I need to know!  Single positive trait = array of positive traits and single negative traits = generalized negative image o Casual Attributions – activity of inferring causes for observed behavior  Fundamental Attribution Bias – people attribute another person’s behavior to his/her personal characteristics rather than to situational force

Self-serving bias – people tend to take more personal responsibility for success than failure Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (Pygmalion effect) – phenomenon where people’s expectations of themselves/others lead them to behave in ways that make those expectations come true o Example – waiter sees poorly dressed customers as not being able to give large tips hence gives them poor service and gets the expected results – a lower tip o For a manager? If you expect employees to perform badly, most likely they will 

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Understanding Stress and Individual Behavior   

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Stress – tension people feel when they are facing/enduring extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities and are uncertain about how to handle them effectively Stressor – source of stress Toll of workplace stress o Cost economy huge sums on health care, missed work, and stress reduction treatment o Workplace stress is negatively related to job satisfaction, positive emotions and job performance o Positively related to alcohol, drugs, and overeating How does stress work? o Stress defined as the perception that events/circumstances have challenged or exceeded a person’s ability to cope o Stressors can be hassles or simple irritants or crises The Sources of Job-Related Stress o Demands created by individual differences (by genetic or personality characteristics)  Type A Behavior Pattern – involved in a chronic, determined struggle to accomplish more in less time. Often times includes increased work performance but greater cardiovascular activity o Individual task demands (stress created by the job itself) o Individual role demands (stress created by other’s expectations)  Roles – sets of behaviors that people expect of occupants of a position  Role overload – other’s expectations exceeds one’s abilities  Role conflict – one feels torn by the different expectations of important people in one’s life  Role ambiguity – other’s expectations are unknown o Group Demands (stress created by co-workers and managers) o Organizational demands (stress created by the environment and culture)  Physical environment of the job? Poultry processing and coal mining  White collared environment stressors by poor lighting and no privacy

Non-work demands (stress created by forces outside the organization)  Money problems, divorce and family problems etc The Consequences of Stress o Symptoms  Physiological signs – sweaty palms, heat attacks, hypertension etc  Psychological signs – boredom, irritability, depression etc  Behavioral signs – sleeplessness, changes in eating habits etc o Burnout – state of emotional, mental, and even physical exhaustion (listlessness, indifference, or frustration)  Brings upon reduced productivity o Alcohol and other drug abuse Reducing Stressors in the Organization o Buffers – istrative changes that managers can make to reduce the stressors that lead to employee burnout  Employee assistance programs – host of programs aimed at helping employees cope with stress and problems  Holistic wellness program – self-responsibility, nutritional awareness and environmental awareness  Create a ive environment  Make jobs interesting  Make career counseling available o

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Personality At the centre of the diversity wheel is personality. It is at the centre because personality is defined as the stable physical and mental characteristics responsible for a person's identity.

Internal Dimensions Internal dimensions of diversity are those human differences that exert a powerful, sustained effect throughout every stage of our lives: gender, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, physical abilities. These are referred to as the primary dimensions of diversity because they are not within our control for the most part. Yet they strongly influence our attitudes and expectations and assumptions about other people, which in turn influence our own behaviour.

External Dimensions External dimensions of diversity include an element of choice; they consist of the personal characteristics that people acquire, discard, or modify

throughout their lives: educational background, marital status, parental status, religion, income, geographic location, work experience, recreational habits, appearance, personal habits. They are referred to as the secondary dimensions of diversity because we have a greater ability to influence or control them than we do internal dimensions. These external dimensions exert a significant influence on our perceptions, behaviour, and attitudes.

Organizational Dimensions Organizational dimensions include management status, union affiliation, work location, seniority, work content, and division or department.

Trends in Workforce Diversity 

Age: More older people in the workforce o Number and proportion of younger people is rapidly shrinking. Those shrinking numbers of younger people will have to both drive their economies and help much larger numbers of older people

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Gender: More women working o glass ceiling-the metaphor for an invisible barrier preventing women and minorities from being promoted to top executive jobs. o Women slowly making up an increasing percentage of the workforce

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Race & Ethnicity: More People of Colour in the Workforce o more minorities hitting the glass celling

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Sexual Orientation: Gays & Lesbians Become More Visible o harassed, pressured to quit, or denied a promotion because of their sexual orientation. o if managers are concerned about hiring and keeping workplace talent, they shouldn't ignore the motivation and productivity of 6% of the workforce

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People with Differing Physical & Mental Abilities o People with disabilities have difficulty finding work

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Educational Levels: Mismatches between Education & Workforce Needs o College graduates may be in jobs for which they are overqualified.  some are underemployed – working at jobs that require less education than they have such as tending bar, managing video stores, or other jobs that someone with less education could do. o High-school dropouts and others may not have the literacy skills needed

for many jobs.

Barriers to Diversity Resistance to change in general is an attitude that all managers come up against from time to time, and resistance to diversity is simply one variation. 1. Stereotypes & Prejudices a. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's native country, culture, language, abilities, or behaviour is superior to that of another culture. b. When differences are viewed as being weaknesses, this may be expressed as a concern that diversity hiring will lead to a sacrifice in competence and quality. 2. Fear of Reverse Discrimination a. Some employees are afraid that attempts to achieve greater diversity in their organization will result in reverse discrimination. 3. Resistance to Diversity Program Priorities a. Some companies, such as 3M, offer special classes teaching tolerance for diversity, seminars in how to get along. i. Some employees may see diversity programs as distracting them from the organization's "real work." 1. In addition, they may be resentful of diversity promoting policies that are reinforced through special criteria in the organization's performance appraisals and reward systems. 4. Unive Social Atmosphere a. Diverse employees may be excluded from office camaraderie and social events. 5. Lack of for Family Demands a. more and more women are moving back and forth between being at-home mothers and in the workforce, as economic circumstances dictate i. Yet in a great many households, it is still women who primarily take care of children, as well as other domestic chores. b. When organizations aren't ive in offering flexibility in hours and job responsibilities, these women may find it difficult to work evenings and weekends or to take overnight business trips. 6. Lack of for Career-Building Steps a. Organizations may not i. provide diverse employees with the types of work assignments that will help qualify them for positions in senior management. ii. provide the kind of informal training or mentoring that will help them learn the political savvy to do

networking and other activities required to get ahead.