Understanding the Basics of Human Behavior
An
organization’s human resource policies and practices represent important forces
for shaping employee behavior and attitudes. In this chapter, we specifically
discussed the influence of selection practices, training and development
programs, performance evaluation systems, and the existence of a union. Human
resource policies and practice influence organizational effectiveness. Human
resource management includes: employee selection, training performance
management, and union-management relations and how they influence organizations
effectiveness.
Biographical Characteristics
1.
Finding and analyzing the variables that have an
impact on employee productivity, absence, turnover, and satisfaction is often
complicated.
2.
Many of the concepts—motivation, or power, politics
or organizational culture—are hard to assess.
3. Other factors are more
easily definable and readily available—data that can be obtained from an
employee’s personnel file and would include characteristics such as:
·
Age
·
Gender
·
Marital
status
·
Length
of service, etc.
A. Age
1.
The
relationship between age and job performance is increasing in importance.
-
First,
there is a widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing age.
-
Second,
the workforce is aging; workers over 55 are the fastest growing sector of the workforce.
2. Employers’ perceptions are mixed.
-
They
see a number of positive qualities that older workers bring to their jobs, specifically
experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality
-
Older
workers are also perceived as lacking flexibility and as being resistant to new
technology. Some believe that the
older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job. That conclusion is based on
studies of the age-turnover relationship.
3. It is tempting to assume that age is
also inversely related to absenteeism.
-
Most
studies do show an inverse relationship, but close examination finds that the
age absence relationship is partially a function of whether the absence is
avoidable or unavoidable.
-
In
general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence. However, they
have higher rates of unavoidable absence, probably due to their poorer health
associated with aging and longer recovery periods when injured.
4. There is a widespread belief that
productivity declines with age and that individual skills decay over time. Reviews
of the research find that age and job performance are unrelated. This seems to
be true for almost all types of jobs, professional and nonprofessional.
5. The relationship between age and job
satisfaction is mixed. Most studies indicate a positive association between age
and satisfaction, at least up to age 60. Other studies, however, have found a
U-shaped relationship. When professional and nonprofessional employees are
separated, satisfaction tends to continually increase among professionals as
they age, whereas it falls among nonprofessionals during middle age and then
rises again in the later years.
A. Gender
1. There are few, if any, important differences
between men and women that will affect their job performance, including the
areas of:
-
Problem-solving
-
Analytical
skills
-
Competitive
drive
-
Motivation
-
Sociability
-
Learning
ability
2. Women are more willing to conform to
authority, and men are more aggressive and more likely than women to have
expectations of success, but those differences are minor.
3. There is no evidence indicating that
an employee’s gender affects job satisfaction.
4. There is a difference between men and
women in terms of preference for work schedules. Mothers of preschool children
are more likely to prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, and
telecommuting in order to accommodate their family responsibilities.
5. Absence and turnover rates. Women’s
quit rates are similar to men’s. The research on absence consistently indicates
that women have higher rates of absenteeism. The logical explanation: cultural
expectation that has historically placed home and family responsibilities on
the woman.
B. Marital Status
1. There are not enough studies to draw
any conclusions about the effect of marital status on job productivity.
2. Research consistently indicates that
married employees have fewer absences, undergo fewer turnovers, and are more
satisfied with their jobs than are their unmarried coworkers.
3. More research needs to be done on the
other statuses besides single or married, such as divorce, domestic partnering,
etc...
Individual Ability
Organizational behavior is traditionally considered as
the study of human behavior in the work place’. According to this view organizations,
representing collective entities of human actions and experiences, are
dependent upon the extent to which such actions/ experiences, are effectively
coordinated. To understand human action, one needs to have a fundamental
understanding of human behaviors and the underlying stimuli. The behavior of
individuals are influenced significantly by their abilities. The following
diagram presents the various individual factors affecting the final behavior of
a person.
Figure
1.Behaviour of Individuals
Ability
Ability refers to an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks
in a job. An individual's overall abilities are essentially made up of the
following factors: Intellectual Abilities, and Physical Abilities.
Different Types of Abilities
1.
Intellectual Abilities:
Intellectual Abilities are those that are needed to perform
mental activities. Mental activities can be measured by intelligent quotient
(IQ) tests that are designed to ascertain one's general mental abilities. Some
familiar examples of such tests in are Common Admission Tests (CAT), Management
programs admission tests (GMAT), law (LSAT), and medical (MCAT), etc. Usually
these tests try to measure and evaluate one’s mental abilities on various academic areas pertaining to the
success in the relevant courses, such as mathematics, English, General
knowledge etc.
It is believed that there are a few different dimensions
of mental abilities. Some of the most frequently cited dimensions of
intellectual capacities are:
1.
Number
Aptitude (Mathematics),
2.
Verbal
Comprehension (English),
3.
Perceptual
Speed,
4.
Reasoning,
5.
Deductive
Reasoning,
6.
Spatial
Visualization,
7.
Memory
Generally
speaking, the more information processing is required in a job, the more
general intelligence and verbal abilities will be necessary to perform the job
successfully. Of course, a high IQ is not a prerequisite for all. In Fact, for
many jobs in which employee behavior is highly routine and there are little or
no opportunities to exercise discretion, a high IQ may be unrelated to
performance. On the other hand, a careful review of the evidence demonstrates
that tests that assess verbal, numerical, spatial, and perceptual ability are
valid predictors of job proficiency at all levels of jobs. Therefore, tests
measure specific dimensions of intelligence have been found to be strong
predictors of future job performance.
Exhibit 1: Different Types of Mental abilities
|
Sr No.
|
Dimension of
intellectual abilities
|
Description
|
Job Example
|
|
1.
|
Number aptitude
|
Ability to do speedy and accurate
arithmetic
|
Accountant
|
|
2.
|
Verbal Communication
|
Read write speaking ability
|
Senior managers
|
|
3.
|
Perceptual Speed
|
Identify
similarities and differences quickly and accurately
|
Investigators
|
|
4.
|
Inductive reasoning
|
Logical sequence drawing
|
Market Researcher
|
|
5.
|
Deductive reasoning
|
Ability to use logic and assess the
implications of the argument
|
Supervisors
|
|
6.
|
Spatial Visualization
|
Ability to imagine
|
Interior decorator
|
|
7.
|
Memory
|
Ability to retain and recall past experience
|
Sales person- Remembering customer’s name
|
2.
Physical Abilities
To the same degree that intellectual abilities play
a larger role in complex jobs with demanding information-processing
requirements, specific physical abilities gain importance for successfully
doing less skilled and more standardized jobs. For example, jobs in which
success demands stamina, manual dexterity, leg strength, or similar talents
require management to identify an employee's physical capabilities.
Research
on the requirements needed in hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic
abilities involved in the performance of physical tasks. These are described in
Exhibit 2. Individuals differ in the extent to which they have each of these
abilities. Surprisingly, there is also little relationship between them: A high
score on one is no assurance of a high score on others. High employee
performance is Likely to be achieved when management has ascertained the extent
to which a job requires each of the nine abilities and then ensures that,
employees in that job have those abilities.
The
specific intellectual or physical abilities required for adequate job
performance depend on the ability requirements of the job. So, for example,
airline pilots need strong spatial-visualization abilities. Beach lifeguards
need both strong spatial-visualization abilities and body coordination Senior
Managers need verbal abilities; high rise construction workers need balance;
and Journalists with weak reasoning abilities would likely have difficulty
meeting minimum job-performance standards.
What
predictions can we make when the fit is poor?
Quite obviously, if employees lack the required
abilities, they are likely to fail. But when the ability-job fit is out of sync
because the employee has abilities that far exceed the requirements of the job,
our predictions would be very different. Job performance is likely to be
adequate, but there will be organizational inefficiencies and possible declines
in employee satisfaction. Given that pay tends to reflect the highest skill
level that employees possess, if an employee's abilities far exceed those
necessary to do the job, management will be paying more than it needs to,
Abilities significantly above those required can also reduce the employee's job
satisfaction when the employee's desire to use his or her abilities is
particularly strong and is frustrated by the limitations of the job.
Personality
The word personality comes from the Latin root
persona, meaning "mask." According to this root, personality is the
impression we make on others; the mask we present to the world. Personality is
defined as "a unique set of traits and characteristics, relatively stable
over time." Clearly, personality is unique insofar as each of us has our
own personality, different from any other person's. The definition further
suggests that personality does not change from day to day. Over the short-term,
our personalities are relatively set or stable. However, definition does not
suggest that personality is somehow rigid, unchangeable, and cast in concrete.
Definition recognizes that, over a longer term, personality may change.
To examine whether this change is indeed consistent
with most peoples' reality, we ought to examine "where personality comes
from"; what are the origins of personality?
THE
ORIGINS OF PERSONALITY: THE NATURE-NURTURE DEBATE
For psychologists studying the development of
personality, "nature vs. nurture" was a central debate. "Nature
vs. nurture" suggests that biology (a person's genes) and society (the
environment in which a person grows up) are competing developmental forces. In
the past, the debate sought to find whether one may be more important than the
other. Today most psychologists would concede both nature and nurture are
necessary for personality development. Both help to make us who we are.
Determinants of Personality
Several factors influence the shaping of our
personality. Major among these are
1. Heredity,
2. Culture,
3. Family Background,
4. Our Experiences through Life,
5. And The People we interact with.
There are some genetic factors that play a part in
determining certain aspects of what we tend to become. Whether we are tall or
short, experience good health or ill health, are quickly irritable or patient,
are all characteristics which can, in many cases, be traced to heredity. How we
learn to handle others' reactions to us (e.g. our appearance) and the inherited
traits can also influence how our personality is shaped.
Culture:
The
culture and the values we are surrounded by significantly tend to shape our
personal values and inclination. Thus, people born in different cultures tend
to develop different types of personalities which in turn significantly
influence their behaviors. India being a vast country with a rich diversity of
cultural background provides a good study on this. For example, we have seen
that people in Gujarat are more enterprising than people from other states,
Punjabees are more diligent and hardworking, people from Bengal are more
creative and with an intellectual bend and the likes.
Family Background:
The
socio-economic status of the family, the number of children in the family and
birth order, and the background and education of the parents and extended members
of the family such as uncles and aunts, influence the shaping of personality to
a considerable extent. First-borns usually have different experiences, during
childhood than those born later; Members in the family mould the character of
all children, almost from birth, in several ways -by expressing and expecting
their children to conform to their own values, through role modeling, and
through various reinforcement strategies such as rewards and punishments which
are judiciously dispensed. Think of how your own personality has been shaped by
your family background and parental or sibling influences!
Whether one trusts or mistrusts others, is miserly or
generous, have a high or low self-esteem and the like, is at least partially
related to the past experiences the individual has had. Imagine if someone came
to you and pleaded with you to lend him Rs. 100 which he promised to return in
a week's time, and you gave it to him even though it was the last note you had
in your pocket to cover the expenses for the rest of that month. Suppose that
the individual never again showed his face to you and you have not been able to
get hold of him for the past three months. Suppose also that three such
incidents happened to you with three different individuals in the past few
months. What is the probability that you would trust another person who comes
and asks you for a loan tomorrow? Rather low, one would think. Thus, certain
personality characteristics are molded by frequently occurring positive or negative
experiences in life.
PERSONALITY
THEORIES
Traits
Theory
The traditional approach of
understanding personality was to identify and describe personality in terms of traits.
In other words, it viewed personality as revolving around attempts to
identify and label permanent characteristics that describe an individual's
behavior.
Popular characteristics or traits
include shyness, aggressiveness, submissiveness, laziness, ambition, loyalty,
and timidity. This distinctiveness, when they are exhibited in a large
number of situations, are called personality traits.
There are various standard tests
and scales available to measure personality. In the following section we will
be describing a few of these.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): It is a projective test that
offers more validity. The TAT consists of drawings or photographs of real-life
situations. People taking the test are instructed to construct stories based on
these images, and trained raters then score the recorded story for predefined
themes. Psychologists assume that the stories people tell reflect the
unconscious.
Myers-Briggs Types
Indicator (MBTI) was originally developed by a
mother & daughter team which have the following components.
INTJs are visionaries. They usually have
original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. They are
characterized as skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often
stubborn.
ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic,
logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or
mechanics. They
like to organize and run activities.
The
ENTP type is conceptualizer.
He
or she is pioneering, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to
entrepreneurial ideas. This person tends to be resourceful in solving
challenging problems but may neglect routine assignments. A recent book that
profiled 13 contemporary businesspeople who created super successful firms
including Apple Computer, Federal Express, Honda Motors, Microsoft and Sony
found that all 13 are intuitive thinkers (NTS). This result is predominantly
interesting because intuitive thinkers represent only about 5 percent of the
population. More than 2 million people a year take the MBTI in the United
States alone. Organizations using the MBTI include Apple Computer, AT&T,
Citicorp, Exxon, GE, 3M Co., plus many hospitals, educational institutions, and
even the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Big Five Model
MBTI
may be deficient in valid supporting evidence, but that can't be said for the
five- factor model of personality 'more typically called the Big Five. In
contemporary, an impressive body of research supports that five basic
dimensions. Motivate all others and encompass most of the significant variation
in human personality.
The
Big Five factors are:
·
Extraversion. This dimension captures one's comfort
level with relationships. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and
sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet.
·
Agreeableness. This dimension refers to an
individual's tendency to defer to others. Highly agreeable people are
cooperative, affectionate, and trusting. People who score low on agreeableness
are cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic.
·
Conscientiousness. This dimension is a measure of
reliability. A highly conscientious person is responsible, organized,
dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily
distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.
·
Emotional stability. This dimension taps a person's
ability to bear up stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be
calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with highly negative scores tend to be
nervous, anxious,
Depressed, and insecure.
·
Openness to experience. The final dimension addresses an
individual's range of interests and fascination with novelty. Extremely open
people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other
end of the open- ness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.
LEARNING
Learning
can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirect
experience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and
training, practice and experience. It is completed by acquisition of knowledge
and skills, which are relatively permanent.
Nature of Learning
Nature
of learning means the characteristic features of learning. Learning involves
change; it may or may not guarantee improvement. It should be permanent in
nature, that is learning is for lifelong.
The
change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and training. Learning
is reflected through behavior.
Factors Affecting
Learning
Learning
is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by this
experience. The key elements or the major factors that affect learning are
motivation, practice, environment, and mental group.
Coming
back to these factors let us have a look on these factors:
·
Motivation −
The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to achieve a goal
is known as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning as it acts
gives us a positive energy to complete a task. Example − The
coach motivated the players to win the match.
·
Practice −
We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a perfectionist or
at least complete the task, it is very important to practice what we have
learnt. Example − We can be a programmer only when we execute
the codes we have written.
·
Environment −
We learn from our surroundings, we learn from the people around us. They are of
two types of environment – internal and external. Example − A
child when at home learns from the family which is an internal environment, but
when sent to school it is an external environment.
·
Mental group −
It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to hang out with. In
simple words, we make a group of those people with whom we connect. It can be
for a social cause where people with the same mentality work in the same
direction. Example− A group of readers, travelers, etc.
These
are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root
level for our behavior and everything we do is connected to what we learn.
How Learning Occurs?
Learning
can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our
behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are:
- Classical
Conditioning Theory
- Operant
Conditioning Theory
- Social
Learning Theory
- Cognitive
Learning Theory
1.
Classical Conditioning Theory
The classical conditioning
occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an unconditioned stimulus.
Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus like the sound
of a tuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective
like the taste of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned
stimulus is an unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.
After this coupling
process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur after a
single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the
conditioned stimulus, when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The
conditioned response is mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but
unlike the unconditioned response, it must be acquired through experience and
is nearly impermanent.
2.
Operant Conditioning Theory
Operant
conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is
a learning process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its
outcomes. Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to
get the candy inside, or learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison,
the classical conditioning develops a relationship between a stimulus and a
behavior. The example can be further elaborated as the child may learn to
salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble at the sight of an angry parent. In
the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of
these two sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior
analysis.
3.
Social Learning Theory
The key assumptions of social learning theory are as follows:
·
Learning is not exactly
behavioral, instead it is a cognitive process that takes place in a social
context.
·
Learning can occur by observing
a behavior and by observing the outcomes of the behavior (known as vicarious
reinforcement).
·
Learning includes
observation, extraction of information from those observations, and making
decisions regarding the performance of the behavior (known as observational
learning or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond an observable change in
behavior.
·
Reinforcement plays an
important role in learning but is not completely responsible for learning.
·
The learner is not a
passive receiver of information. Understanding, environment, and behavior all
mutually influence each other.
4.
Cognitive Learning Theory
Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding
about himself and environment. This theory considers learning as the outcome of
deliberate thinking on a problem or situation based upon known facts and
responding in an objective and more oriented manner. It perceives that a person
learns the meaning of various objects and events and also learns the response
depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli. This theory debates that
the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which stores organized
information about the various events that occurs.
Learning &
Organizational Behavior
An
individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by
learning.
Example −
Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned.
Behavior
can be improved by following the listed tips:
- Reducing
absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance.
- Improving employee
discipline by dealing with employee’s undesirable behavior, drinking at
workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate actions like
oral reprimands, written warnings and suspension.
- Developing
training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention,
provide required motivational properties etc.
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