Organizational Behavior

1. Personality: The complex interplay of nature and nurture

"Both research and everyday experience confirm that employees with high self-esteem feel unique, competent, secure, empowered, and connected to the people around them."

Nature and nurture. Personality is a product of both genetic predispositions and environmental influences. Recent advances in neuropsychology and twin studies have highlighted the role of heredity and brain function in shaping personality. However, the nurture aspect, including socialization and life experiences, remains dominant in personality development.

Self-esteem and socialization. Self-esteem, a person's self-perceived competence and self-image, plays a crucial role in workplace behavior. High self-esteem is associated with better job performance and increased ability to handle workplace challenges. The socialization process, which continues throughout one's life, significantly influences personality development in organizational settings. Techniques such as mentoring, orientation programs, and career planning contribute to successful organizational socialization.

2. The "Big Five" personality traits predict job performance

"Conscientiousness has the strongest positive correlation (about .3) with job performance."

Big Five traits. The Five-Factor Model, or "Big Five," has emerged as a robust framework for understanding personality in the workplace:

• Conscientiousness
• Emotional stability
• Agreeableness
• Extraversion
• Openness to experience

Conscientiousness reigns supreme. Among these traits, conscientiousness consistently demonstrates the strongest positive correlation with job performance across various occupations. Conscientious employees tend to be dependable, hardworking, organized, and persistent – qualities highly valued in most work environments. However, the impact of personality traits can be complex, with interactions between traits and situational factors influencing outcomes.

3. Perception shapes reality in organizational behavior

"Perception is a very complex cognitive process that yields a unique picture of the world, a picture that may be quite different from reality."

Perception as a filter. In organizational settings, an employee's perception acts as a filter through which they interpret their environment, colleagues, and situations. This perceptual process involves selection, organization, and interpretation of stimuli, often leading to interpretations that may differ significantly from objective reality.

Social perception challenges. Two major challenges in social perception within organizations are:

• Stereotyping: The tendency to perceive individuals as belonging to a single category
• Halo effect: The tendency to perceive a person based on a single trait

These perceptual biases can significantly impact decision-making, interpersonal relationships, and overall organizational effectiveness. Managers must be aware of these biases and strive to make more objective assessments of situations and individuals.

4. Job satisfaction: A multifaceted attitude with far-reaching impacts

"Job satisfaction is important in employee turnover. Although absolutely no turnover is not necessarily beneficial to the organization, a low turnover rate is usually desirable because of the considerable training costs and the drawbacks of inexperience, plus the loss of the tacit knowledge that those who leave take with them."

Dimensions of satisfaction. Job satisfaction is a complex attitude influenced by various factors:

• Work itself
• Pay
• Promotion opportunities
• Supervision
• Coworkers
• Working conditions

Outcomes of satisfaction. High job satisfaction is associated with:

• Improved performance
• Lower turnover and absenteeism
• Better physical health
• Faster learning of job-related tasks
• Fewer workplace accidents and grievances
• Reduced stress

Organizations can enhance job satisfaction by making jobs more enjoyable, ensuring fair compensation and promotion practices, matching employees with suitable roles, and designing jobs to be challenging and meaningful.

5. Organizational commitment: The three-component model

"Affective commitment involves the employee's emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization."

Three components of commitment. The widely accepted three-component model of organizational commitment consists of:

1. Affective commitment: Emotional attachment to the organization
2. Continuance commitment: Based on the perceived costs of leaving
3. Normative commitment: Feeling of obligation to stay with the organization

Enhancing commitment. Organizations can foster commitment by:

• Emphasizing people-first values
• Clearly communicating the organization's mission
• Ensuring organizational justice
• Creating a sense of community
• Supporting employee development

High organizational commitment is associated with improved performance, lower turnover and absenteeism, and other positive organizational outcomes.

6. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Going above and beyond

"OCB is 'individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization.'"

Dimensions of OCB. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs) encompass various forms of discretionary, extra-role behaviors:

• Altruism
• Conscientiousness
• Civic virtue
• Sportsmanship
• Courtesy

Antecedents and outcomes. OCBs are influenced by personality traits, job attitudes, and perceptions of fairness. While not always formally recognized, OCBs contribute to individual, group, and organizational performance. Employees exhibiting OCBs often receive higher performance evaluations and contribute to a positive organizational climate.

7. Positive workplace attitudes drive organizational success

"Most organizational behavior scholars as well as practicing managers would argue that job satisfaction is important to an organization."

Attitude-performance link. Positive workplace attitudes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors, contribute significantly to organizational success. While the relationships between these attitudes and performance outcomes are complex, there is growing evidence of their positive impact on individual and organizational performance.

Fostering positive attitudes. Organizations can cultivate positive workplace attitudes by:

• Creating a supportive and fair work environment
• Providing meaningful work and growth opportunities
• Recognizing and rewarding employee contributions
• Promoting work-life balance
• Encouraging open communication and employee involvement

By focusing on these factors, organizations can create a positive cycle where satisfied and committed employees contribute to improved organizational performance, which in turn reinforces positive attitudes.

Last updated: April 11, 2025