Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Attitudes are described in the textbook as being "evaluative statements, either positive or negative, about objects, people, or events." (pg. 97). Essentially they are reflections about how we feel concerning certain issues or things. Employees can greatly influence a company's performance by exhibiting either positive or negative attitudes in the workplace. Job satisfaction is one of the attitudes that relates to the workplace. Job satisfaction relates closely to productivity. For instance, if you are satisfied in your job you will work harder and be more productive but if you are not satisfied you will have a lack of motivation towards your job. An example of a conflict that can negatively affect the job satisfaction of an employee is displayed in the following situation: When Hirtmann joined the plant, and had begun to make changes such as, "having job shifting reported to him first" the employees in return would have a negative impact in the workforce and thought that were being controlled by Hirtmann, which they were not adjusted to. On the other hand Dan had dealt with Hirtmanns controlling workplace in a different manner he had stayed positive throughout the strict rules that were applied by Hirtmann. Dan had focused on the work itself and there was no modification towards his attitudes, because he believed that Hirtmann would improve production at Pipe pro Plant. Job satisfaction also has a component of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (or OCB), which is a "discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee's formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organization." An instance of this is when Hirtmann didn't allow the workers to have access to the company's equipment, because of an employee had resold the equipment for "several thousands of dollars"(RDPP, p.1). This