Organizational Behavior

604/640Hall #4

It’s a Great Place to Work, Except for the People! Differences at Work

1

Welcome to Hall 4

• It’s a Great Place to Work, Except for the People! Differences at Work.

▫ Have you ever had that thought: I love the work, but the people are a challenge?

▫ Some people charge us with energy and help us to be joyful! Others seem to be a strain on our joy?

▫ Some who drain our energy, may be energy givers to others?

2

Hall 4 Topics

• Biblical value of diversity in work

• Scriptural examples of work balance and choice

• Secular reasoning for individual differences in the workplace

• Model of individual differences that contribute to workplace diversity

• Role of heredity and culture in work attitudes

• Determining abilities and skills

• Influencing attitudes

• Personality

• Emotional intelligence and wisdom

• Current issues in organizational diversity

3

Questions for reflection & study

• What is the Biblical justification for skill and personality diversity in the workplace?

• What good is the water cooler in the workplace?

• What is the difference between abilities and skills?

4

The Joy of the Water Cooler

5

The Joy of the Water Cooler

6

• One of the great social spots of the office

• The place where individuals get together informally to enjoy mini-breaks throughout the day

• The location of refreshment

• A break from the norm

• A place to interact with those whom we might not see any other time of day

• The watering hole

The Joy of the Water Cooler

7

• Where we:

▫ Share the weekend’s sports action

▫ Hear random facts and information

▫ We get the latest funny jokes

▫ We connect to the office grapevine

▫ “catch up”

▫ Enjoy fellowship

▫ Take time

God desires joy for us

• Despite our differences, God designed us to fellowship with each other

• Organization builds in some areas for socializing

• Removing organizational informal areas may be viewed as a punishment

8

Biblical Foundation

• Luke 10: 38-40

▫ Martha and Mary invited Jesus to their home.

Martha was busy preparing, hurriedly.

Mary sat at the feet of Jesus.

• I Corinthians 12

▫ Verse 12: the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.

9

God’s values

• Time spent in meaningful reflection

• Attention to what is important

• Preparation

• Hospitality

• Gentleness

• Listening

• Directness

• Honesty

• Unity

• Gifts

• Specific jobs

• Information

• Power of the Holy Spirit

• Knowledge

• Individual assignments

10

Dysfunctional

organizationThink about how these might manifest themselves in organizations :

•Individual and divisional self-protection

•Refusal to share resources

•Negativity

•Complaints

•Turnover

•Incidences of intolerance

•Continual crisis

•Sad and tired employees

•Production declines

•Increased errors and mistakes

• We can identify disunity in our organizations▫ Conflicting values

▫ Unhealthy competition between divisions

▫ Rumor mongering

▫ Blaming

▫ Diversity clashes

▫ Continual hurriedness

▫ Communication gaps

▫ Lack of organizational joy

▫ Silo mentality

11

Unity at Work

• Fruits of the Spirit abound

• Team activity flourishes

• Ideas are encouraged and acted on

• Individuals are respected

• Employees speak positively about each other’s accomplishments

• Appreciation is given

• Employees are refreshed and rejuvenated

• Shared credit, authority, decision making

12

Unity at Work (cont.)

• Positive conflict exists

• Product and service quality are high

• Customers see a positive difference

• Organizational values are understood and appreciated

• Negativity is pruned off the grapevine

• Negative information is objectively received

• Socialization process improves overall attitude

• Joy ensues

13

Utopia, Inc.?

• Here’s where the individual differences enter

▫ Employees are not all the same

God promises that – organizations didn’t invent it

Individual differences directly impact behavior

▫ Think about what has influenced who you are

Place of birth, family, background, foreground, individual characteristics, needs, how you perceive the world (world view), personality.

14

Individual differences influence

work behavior

• Personality impacts attitudes, perceptions, skills, and abilities

• Each of those, in turn, influence work behavior through productivity, creativity, and performance

▫ Work behavior – anything/everything an employee does at work

15

Manager’s tasks

• Recognize differences

• See relationships

• Understand the variables that influence them

• Make good decisions based on this knowledge

16

Individual differences

• Heredity factors

• Abilities and skills

• Attitudes

• Personality

17

Heredity factors

• God controls these

▫ Half of the diversity equation

▫ Six stable dimensions

Age

Ethnicity

Gender (male/female)

Physical attributes

Race

Sexual/affectional orientation

The Bible does not classify this as a stable dimension, but as a behavior choice

▫ I Corinthians 6:9-10

18

Secondary dimensions

• Those that are changeable

▫ Educational background

▫ Marital status

▫ Religious beliefs

▫ Health

▫ Work experience

19

Abilities and skills

• Ability

▫ Talent to perform a mental or physical task

▫ Generally stable over time, innate

• Skills

▫ Learned talent, developed

▫ Change as training and experience occur

▫ Can also be lost if not practiced

20

IQ, EI, and TK – Oh, my!

• Mental ability

▫ IQ - Measure of intelligence

• Tacit knowledge

▫ Practical know-how

Observation

Experience

• Emotional intelligence (EI)

▫ Ability to be self aware of feelings, manage emotions, motivate self, express empathy, handle relationships

21

Attitudes

• Determine behavior

• Subject to change

• Mental state of readiness learned & organized through experience, exerting a specific influence on responses to stimuli

• Links:

▫ Perception

▫ Personality

▫ Feelings

▫ Motivation

• ABCs of Attitude

▫ Affect

Emotional component

Learned from influencers

▫ Behavior

Tendency to act a certain way

▫ Cognition

Perceptions, opinions, beliefs

22

Cognitive dissonance

• Attitude influencers in the workplace

▫ Communication

Who is communicating

How message is communicated

▫ Message

Clear, understandable, convincing

▫ Situation

Environment in which message is communicated

23

• A feeling caused by discrepancy between attitude and behavior

• Can result when workplace and personal values are misaligned

What satisfies you about your job?

• How does our satisfaction level change when economic times are more difficult?

24

I have a job!

Attitudes and job satisfaction

• Pay• Work itself

• Promotion

• Supervision

• Co-workers

• Working conditions

• Job security

• Thinking of your own situation, which of these have more or less bearing on your commitment to your workplace?

• Which are more extrinsic and which are more intrinsic?

▫ Externally or internally impacted

25

Personality

• Relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors significantly shaped by genetic and environmental factors

▫ Nature and nurture

• Appears organized into patterns

• Both superficial and deep characteristics

• Common and unique characteristics

26

Big 5 Personality Dimensions

• Extroversion

• Emotional stability

• Agreeableness

• Conscientiousness

• Openness to experience

27

Locus of control

• The degree to which one believes their actions and fate are controlled by internal or external forces.

▫ Internal

Belief in own efforts, skills

▫ External

Luck, ease of task, other forces

28

Self-Efficacy

• Belief that one’s participation matters

▫ Belief in competency to complete a job successfully

I can/I can’t do that

▫ Impacts

Selection decisions

Training programs

Goal setting and performance

29

Review the questions

• What is the Biblical justification for skill and personality diversity in the workplace?

• What good is the water cooler in the workplace?

• What is the difference between abilities and skills?

30

What next?

• Take the Hall Quiz

• Complete your detailed reading

• Reflect on your own organizational experiences

• Answer the discussion questions

• Seek joy at your workplace

• Complete the writing assignments

31

See you at the water cooler!

32

References

• Ivancevich, J.M., Konopaske, R., & Matteson, M.T. (2010). Organizational behavior. NY, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

• The Holy Bible

33

This concludes Hall 4

34