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This document contains Chapters 1 to 5 CHAPTER 1 Human Relations: A Background Learning Objective After studying this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Define human relations. 2. Explain the importance of human relations in business. 3. Discuss the challenges of human relations as these factors affect success in business. 4. Identify what the study of human relations does not include. 5. Describe the areas of emphasis for human relations in today’s workplace. 6. Discuss a short history of the study of human relations. Key Terms Bureaucracy: A formal organization in which each person has specific duties and responsibilities and is assigned to only one supervisor. Communication: The process of sending and receiving ideas, thoughts, and feelings from one individual to another. Group dynamics: The set of interpersonal relationships within a group that determine how group members relate to one another and that influence task performance. Hawthorne experiment: A five-year study conducted at the Western Electric plant in Hawthorne, Illinois that showed—among other findings—that workers performed better when someone was paying attention to them. Human relations: The skill or ability to work effectively through and with other people. Informal organization: The ever-changing set of relationships and interactions that are not formally put together; they form naturally in the workplace. Mutual respect: The positive consideration or regard that two people have for each other. Motivation: The force that gets people to do their tasks or activities, based on the needs of an individual or group. Scientific management: A management system based upon scientific and engineering principles. Self-esteem: A person’s feeling of confidence and worth as a person. Self-awareness: The knowledge of how you are being perceived by others. Self-disclosure: The process of letting other people know what you are really thinking and feeling. Theories X and Y: Theory X managers see workers as lacking ambition, disliking work, and wanting security above all else. Theory Y managers see workers as enjoying work, being able to assume responsibility, and being creative. Total Quality Management (TQM): An organizational philosophy that quality must be present in the product or service produced and in all support activities related to it. Trust: To rely on, or have confidence in, the honesty and integrity of a person. Lecture Outline I. What is Human Relations? Human relations is the skill or ability to work effectively through and with other people. Human relations includes a desire to understand others, their needs and weaknesses, and their talents and abilities. Human relations also involves an understanding of how people work together in groups, satisfying both individual needs and group objectives. Poor human relations skills can make an otherwise able person seem like a poor performer. II. The Importance of Human Relations Skills Reasons for studying human relations include the following: • Human rights—this awareness calls for more skillful relations among employees, using tact, trust, and diplomacy with greater skill. • The global marketplace—improving interpersonal skills (the skills associated with getting along with others) can be a factor in fighting the widespread anti-Americanism that sometimes seems to be growing worldwide. • Emphasis on people as human resources—the two sets of behaviors now considered the most important for new job applicants are communication skills and human relations abilities; this trend, emphasis on what are often called business “soft skills,” will likely continue in the future. • Renewed emphasis on working groups—both managers and employees need to understand the dynamic of group interaction if such participation is to be effective. • Increasing diversity in the workplace—a deep understanding of the differences that diversity brings is one of the most important skills in human relations. A. Human Relations and You Human relations skills can help one get a job, enjoy the work, be more productive at it, and stay there longer with better chances for advancement. An understanding of oneself and others can help one to be happier and more productive in all areas of his or her life. You, the Manager For a manager, no skill area is more important than human relations abilities. A manager with good human relations skills will retain employees longer, be more productive, and provide employees with an enjoyable environment. The most common reason for failure in the job of manager is faulty human relations skills. Because interpersonal skills are so important, experts often suggest that new managers should put as much effort into studying people as they put into developing technical skills. You, the Entrepreneur When a person is the owner and operator of a business, his or her people skills—or human relations—are the most important factors in his or her success. In an e-commerce business, although there is less face-to-face contact with customers and suppliers, the ability to work with people and to fulfill their needs remains extremely crucial to success. In a larger sense, a person’s knowledge of human relations helps the work he or she does—or the business he or she owns—provide fulfillment. Many entrepreneurs become business owners to escape the feeling of uselessness associated with their former jobs. The entrepreneur is in the position of being able to control the human climate of the business he or she owns and operates. You, the Employee Underdeveloped interpersonal skills represent the single most important reason for failure at a job. Making a good impression on one’s superiors, peers, and all other co-workers will set him or her on a good track. Developing interpersonal skills is extremely important to the advancement of one’s career and will affect the ways in which fellow employees, supervisors, and customers view one’s overall performance. III. Current Challenges in Human Relations Today’s Generation Y, the generation now entering the job market, can tend to find that good, sustainable-wage jobs are hard to come by, and advancement is very difficult. The problems faced by this group and by Generation X are often blamed on the “Baby Boomers,” the late-middle aged people who are mostly in management positions above them. Although a “generation gap” is nothing new in our history, this one affects human relations in the workplace directly and forcefully. A. Increased Competition in the Workplace Competitiveness reaches into all areas—urban, suburban, and rural—and affects all businesses, large and small. Small businesses feel pressure to meet the high international standards of the foreign market, and of the huge multinational companies that dominate the economy. Higher paying jobs for all age groups are more competitive than before. Having a college degree is no longer a ticket to a meaningful career, as it was only a generation ago. This new reality causes a great deal of frustration for many people in the workplace, and many human relations problems result. Another very important factor in competition is the current strength of some Asian countries, especially China, which have an ever-increasing share of the world economy. Economic factors that have made this power position possible are lower labor costs, a nationwide desire to compete, and a government role that allows potent government help to businesses. B. Dual-Career Families Most families now need income from both adult members to survive comfortably. This reality has placed a strain on the family and its members—a strain that is felt in the workplace in several ways. First, additional financial pressures cause workplace stress. Second, the time needed for the everyday realities of child rearing—such as visits to the family doctor and transportation to and from school—create difficulties for everyone involved. C. Single-Parent Families and Divorce Two important factors have contributed to the existence of a higher number of single parents than was prevalent among the baby boomer generation: a high divorce rate and an increase in the number of never-married parents. The parent—often the mother—must be the provider, taxi service, spiritual guide, and emotional support source. These many roles often result in a spillover effect of frustration and stress in the workplace. This type of worker can be truly overloaded. A divorced person typically has to go through a period of emotional recovery, during which many emotional issues can form. Such issues often negatively affect job performance and attitudes, harming relationships with co-workers, bosses, and fellow employees. D. Two Generations of Dependents People are living longer now than ever before. This rise in life expectancy, along with fewer high-income jobs for senior citizens, and cuts to pension funds and post-retirement health insurance, means that many middle-age adults now find themselves helping to support their own children along with their aging parents and parents-in-law–all at the same time. These middle-aged adults who find themselves squeezed for time and finances are often referred to as the “sandwich generation” (with the elderly dependent parents as one piece of bread, and the dependent children as the other). The added responsibilities exist when parents or in-laws live with the adult children and their families, but also when elderly parents live alone or in retirement homes. IV. What Human Relations is Not Some characteristics that human relations does not have are: • Human relations is not a study in understanding human behavior in order to manipulate others. Good human relations means being real, positive, and honest. • Learning better human relations skills is not a cure-all. Nor is it a quick-fix for deep and ongoing personal problems. • Human relations is not just common sense. V. Areas of Major Emphasis Study of human relations has two goals: personal development and growth, and achievement of an organization’s objectives. Figure 1.1: Highlights the major goals and emphasis areas of human relations. A. Self-esteem Self-esteem is one’s feeling of confidence and worth as a person. Psychological research has shown that lower self-esteem is related to a variety of mental health problems, including alcoholism, anxiety, and depression—all of which cause problems on the job. Higher self-esteem, on the other hand, improves attitudes, job morale, and overall quality of life. In the workplace, healthy self-esteem is the key to top performance and high-quality work— especially when the work directly affects other people. B. Mutual respect Mutual respect, the positive consideration or regard that two people have for each other, can exist only when one’s self-esteem is stable. If one’s self-esteem is too fragile, he or she will have little energy left for cultivating mutual respect. Also, without trust, mutual respect is meaningless. Many human relations specialists rate trust as the single most important element in human relations. C. Self-awareness and Self-Disclosure Self-awareness is the knowledge of how one is being perceived by others. Self-disclosure is the process of letting other people know what one is really thinking and feeling. Self-awareness allows one to know what in one’s own behavior is being perceived as real by other people; self-disclosure involves “being real” with others. D. Communication skills Communication is the process of sending ideas, thoughts, and feelings from one individual or group to another, and having them received in the way you intended. The communication process is at the heart of all managerial functions, and it is directly related to success or failure at the managerial level. If one is to grow either as an individual or in groups, effective communication is essential. Much of one’s success depends on one’s ability to express ideas and concepts precisely. Part of that ability is based on one’s listening level, which includes listening for feelings and emotions as well as for objective content. E. Group dynamics Once a group is formed, it immediately requires understanding, planning, and organizational tactics appropriate to groups. Thus, understanding group dynamics—the ways in which groups operate—is a cornerstone in the study of human relations. Knowledge of group dynamics includes understanding conflict management. Much of good human relations involve preventing negative conflict. F. Motivation People often use the term motivation to describe the force that gets them to do their tasks. Motivation derives from the needs of an individual and of a group. It is also a major element in understanding human relations. VI. A Brief History of Human Relations The history of human relations is essential to a thorough understanding of its place in today’s world. Human relations has been important ever since human beings began to live together in groups. The history of human relations problems can be viewed in different ways during different times. A. The Early Years Human relations began to be an issue as it is known today around the early- to mid-1800s. Figure 1.2 presents a human relations timeline. In early 19th century England, a man named Robert Owen came up with the amazing idea that treating workers better would actually increase productivity and, thus, profits. Owen introduced many reforms in the industry of the time. Like Robert Owen, Andrew Ure (also from Great Britain) was interested in human relations in manufacturing companies. In 1835, Ure published a book called The Philosophy of Manufacturers. This book suggested that workers should have medical help, hot tea on a regular basis, good ventilation, and even sick leave—again, all ideas that were advanced for their time. In Germany, a sociologist named Max Weber saw human relations problems as being caused by favoritism, nepotism (playing favorites with family members), and other unfair practices. Weber came up with the bureaucratic organizations approach, a system that was meant to be impersonal and rational. This approach reduced favoritism and many other unfair practices. In Weber’s model, called bureaucracy, each person had specific duties and responsibilities that were to be assigned on the basis of ability and talent only. Also, the work of the people in an organization was to be done in an orderly way, with only one supervisor to whom each worker must answer. This approach reduced favoritism and many other unfair practices. B. Human Relations as a Science Today the word bureaucracy often has a negative connotation. The word is often associated with government inefficiency (“red tape”) and paperwork. Bureaucracy actually started out as a method of improving not only efficiency, but human relations as well. C. Scientific management In the early years of the 20th century, Frederick Taylor and others began a movement called scientific management. He is often criticized as someone who cared more about production than about the needs of workers. However, Taylor is important to the history of human relations because he showed how crucial the human element is in the performance of any organization. Like others in the scientific management movement, Taylor was concerned with increasing efficiency while getting as much work as possible out of employees. Taylor’s approach contained two major features: • Managers should carefully select and train workers for specific tasks. • Managers should try to motivate workers to increase productivity. One of Taylor’s best-known victories was the invention of the optimum shovel. D. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Living around the same time period as Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were a married couple who were both industrial engineers—and scientific managers. The Gilbreths became especially well-known for their research study of bricklayers. Frank Gilbreth identified 18 different motions that had been used by bricklayers, apparently for as long as people had been laying bricks. Lillian Gilbreth was especially interested in studying workers and their reactions to working under stressful conditions. She taught the importance of standard work days, relaxed and regular lunch breaks, and periodic rest periods. Her life’s work helped influence Congress to pass child labor laws. E. Mary Parker Follett In the early years of the 20th century, Mary Parker Follett became known for her lectures and writings on what, now, are called human relations issues. Follett taught three concepts that were ahead of their time: • She held that workers should be allowed to be involved in decisions affecting them. • She stressed that the workplace is dynamic—that is constantly changing. • She believed that the main job of managers at all levels was to maintain positive relationships with workers. Happy workers with a sense of belonging, she said, would end up making more money for the company and would remain at the same job for a longer time. F. The Hawthorne Experiment In the late 1920s, a group of scientific management scholars went to Hawthorne, Illinois, to study the effects of physical factors on workers and their productivity. The problem confronting these scientific management scholars attracted the attention of Elton Mayo, a social psychologist from Harvard University, who traveled to Hawthorne and stayed. For nearly five years, from 1927 to 1932, he and his Harvard colleagues studied the Hawthorne Experiment. Two important discoveries came from this five-year study: • Mayo showed that the workers at Hawthorne performed better because someone was paying attention to them. • Mayo found that the relationships that had formed naturally in the workplace made up what he called the informal organization. G. Human Relations and Management Probably the most important improvement Elton Mayo brought about was to change the way management looked at workers. Rather than seeing workers mostly as people who need wages, managers now began to understand that the complex needs of workers include a unique combination of values, attitudes, and desires. During the Great Depression, labor unions began to gain power. Congress passed the Wagner Act in 1935, giving unions and union members more rights than they had enjoyed before. By the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Depression was showing some signs of lifting. Once the country began gearing up its manufacturing sector for World War II, the workplace was affected drastically. With hundreds of thousands of young workers going overseas to fight, employers were forced to hire nearly anybody who would work. Managers knew their employees would be very hard to replace, so treatment of workers temporarily improved. Throughout the war, and in the years immediately following, many studies were done on human relations factors. The noted psychologist Abraham Maslow devised a “hierarchy of needs,” which teaches that people tend to satisfy their needs in a certain order. McGregor introduced the concepts of Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X managers see workers as lacking ambition, disliking work, and wanting security above all else. Theory Y managers, on the other hand, see workers as happy to work, able to assume responsibility, and overall quite creative. These two theories—especially Theory Y—have influenced thinking in both management and human relations since the year of their creation. H. Human Relations, History, and the Individual In the early 1960s, Eric Berne had created his famous Transactional Analysis method of understanding interpersonal communication. Carl Rogers published his findings on the development of the personality, group dynamics, and conflict management. By 1980 Total Quality Management (TQM) had been introduced in the United States as it had been three decades earlier in Japan. The man responsible for this new movement was an American named W. Edwards Deming. This important school of thought held that the process of whatever happens in an organization is more important than the product. Doing away with targets, “zero defects” programs, and slogans, the TQM people concentrated on the process—which inevitably includes people and relationships. By the late 1980s, Total Quality Management had changed industry both in America and abroad. From the mid-1990s to the present, the label “TQM” has been heard less frequently. However, the process of TQM survives under other names—sometimes simply “quality”—and remains an important part of many successful organizations. The 1970s through the 1990s saw a tremendous growth in the academic study of human relations. Today, an increasing number of college business and industrial education departments require courses in human relations. This trend reflects the growing awareness of the importance of understanding, and working with, others effectively. As the global economy continues to develop, human relations assumes a broader significance. CHAPTER 2 Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in Human Relations Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, students will be able to: 1. Define self-concept. 2. Identify the four areas of the self-concept. 3. Describe the real and ideal selves. 4. Explain the importance of pleasing yourself and others. 5. Define self-esteem. 6. Discuss the relationship between self-esteem and work performance. 7. Distinguish among different types of self-esteem. 8. Explain the origins of your self-esteem. Key Terms Compensating: The use of a strength to make up for a real or perceived weakness. Conditional positive regard: Acceptance of individuals as worthy only when they behave in a certain way. External locus of control: This occurs in people who feel they have no control of the events in their lives. Higher self-esteem: Occurs when people have healthy feelings about themselves and are therefore more likely to succeed in personal goals and career goals. Ideal self: The way one would like to be or plans to become. Internal locus of control: Occurs in people who feel they are in control of the events in their own lives. Locus of control: The name given to the amount of control one feels one has over events that happen to him or her. Looking-glass self: The self one assumes others see when they look at him or her. Lower self-esteem: Occurs when individuals are unable to see themselves as capable, sufficient, or worthy. Lower self-worth: Occurs when an individual believes himself or herself to have little value to offer the world. Mentor: A person who acts as a guide or teacher for another, leading that person through experiences. Pathological critic: A negative inner voice that attacks people and judges their worth negatively. Positive self-talk: A popular method of building self-esteem by thinking and speaking positively about oneself. Real self: The way one really is when nobody is around to approve or disapprove. Role model: A person to whom an individual can look to for guidance by example, but who isn’t necessarily actively interacting with the individual. Self-concept: The way one pictures oneself to be. Self-efficacy: The confidence an individual has in his or her ability to deal with problems when they occur. Self-esteem: The regard in which an individual holds himself or herself. Self-fulfilling prophecy: Tendency for a prediction to actually occur once it is believed; for example, a victim believes that prejudice against him or her is true, and then fulfills it. Self-image: The way one honestly feels about oneself. Self-respect: Positive self-image with high self-esteem. Unconditional positive regard: The acceptance of individuals as worthy and valuable regardless of their behavior. Lecture Outline I. What Is Self-Concept? Self-concept is the way one conceives of (or see) himself or herself; this view of oneself is the foundation of all his or her thoughts about himself or herself, including his or her self-esteem. Self-concept and self-esteem affect people’s relationships, work, and nearly every part of their lives. Everyday actions also tend to affect one’s self-concept; in turn, one’s self-concept affects the things that one does. Once this cycle gets started, it is difficult to stop. One needs to examine ways of stopping it, or at least minimizing the effects of the vicious cycle. II. The Four Parts of the Self-Concept A. Ideal Self Everyone has some notion of what he or she would like to become. For some people, the image of the ideal self is sharp and clear; they know the changes they need in their lives and what they must do to make them happen. Many people, though, have a less clear picture of their ideal self, and still others have an unrealistic idea of what they want to become. One common mistake is to think that you have already reached your ideal, when actually you still have a long way to go. Another is to create an ideal self that is unrealistic and unattainable. B. Looking-Glass Self The looking-glass self is the self that a person assumes others see when they look at him or her. It is also affected by one’s view of reality. Some people assume that others think well of them much more than is true, while many more tend to assume the opposite. For most people, the looking-glass self is much more negative than it deserves to be. C. Self-Image One’s self-image is the way he or she truly feel about himself or herself. It can be programmed by one’s day-to-day behavior and by the things one says to oneself or others. D. Real Self The real self is a person as he or she really is, when nobody is around to approve or disapprove of his or her actions. Just as with the ideal self, what one thinks of oneself or what one presents to others is not necessarily what is real. III. Focusing on the Real and Ideal Selves Carl Rogers, a well-known psychologist, developed ideas about the self-concept in the mid to late 1900s that are still in use today. He believed that people get little bits of information all the time about their real selves from their experiences in the world. Rogers believed that in order to have a healthy self-concept, people need to work on making the ideal and real selves much closer. This can be done by paying more attention to messages about one’s real self, adjusting one’s ideal self to fit the reality, and working up to a more realistic and attainable ideal. IV. Pleasing Yourself and Pleasing Others Many people derive purpose from pleasing others. Having a healthy self-concept means not allowing oneself to give in to other people’s opinions. A crucial factor to a healthy self-concept and self-esteem is balancing one’s needs with others. When one’s self-concept is set and stable at a comfortable level, one will find that knowing and taking care of the “real you” will be quite possible without threatening others. V. What Is Self-Esteem? Self-concept is closely tied to self-esteem. Self-esteem can be defined as the extent to which an individual believes him- or herself to be capable, sufficient, and worthy. Self-esteem is usually described as high or low. But the reality is that one’s self-esteem falls along a scale, from high to moderate to low. Higher self-esteem is healthy self-esteem. Most people who always need to tell about their accomplishments are actually compensating in some way for low self-esteem. Another form of compensating is when people focus on a single strength (such as good looks, mental ability, or athletic skills) to make up for their overall bad feelings about themselves. These feelings are also called lower self-worth. No matter how hard most people work at exercising those special abilities, many find that after months and years of trying, they still have lower self-worth. These people are motivated by their own lower self-esteem. They excel in one or more areas of their lives in an unsuccessful attempt to overcome their low self-worth and find happiness. People who have healthy feelings about themselves, or higher self-esteem, are more likely to succeed at their personal goals, career goals, and even more important, at life. People with higher self-esteem believe in themselves and believe they can reach these goals. VI. Self-Esteem and Work Performance Business success depends greatly on one’s level of self-esteem. Psychological research finds that people with lower self-esteem are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, irritability, aggression, feelings of resentment and alienation, unhappiness, insomnia, and other problems. Lower self-esteem is also associated with low job satisfaction and has even been linked to a higher likelihood of unemployment. People with lower self-esteem often work with little enthusiasm or commitment. In contrast, when an employee feels positive about his or her ability to compete and make a worthwhile contribution, work performance is usually higher. A person with healthy self-esteem will be open and ready for new experiences. When such people tackle problems, they tend to be more objective and constructive because they do not fear that their ideas will be rejected. VII. Types of Self-Esteem Currently, researchers describe two different types of self-esteem: • Feelings, either positive or negative, about self-worth. • Confidence in the ability to deal with problems when they happen, often called self-efficacy. The first type has to do with how one feels about oneself when he or she is alone. The second type has to do with actions, problem solving, and the ability to succeed at particular tasks. VIII. Origins of Self-Esteem Self-esteem starts to develop in early childhood from messages one receives from parents and others around. According to psychologist Carl Rogers, the sense of self is a guiding principle that structures the personality. Though inborn, the sense of self is shaped by many outside forces. In young children, self-esteem is just a reflection of the esteem that parents and others have for the child; it develops as children react to the ways that important people treat them. During childhood, parents are the most important people among those shaping self-esteem. When parents and other important people show a person unconditional positive regard, or accept him or her no matter what his or her behavior may be at the moment, then he or she is likely to develop a healthy self-esteem. When parents show conditional positive regard, accepting their children only when they behave the way they want, then children may not develop a healthy self-esteem. Psychologist Alfred Adler, another pioneer in the area of self and personality, believed that the main motivation for everything people do, including efforts toward a successful career, is to get away from a deep childhood-based feeling that they are not as good as they should be—that they are not perfect. He also coined the term inferiority complex. With a healthy self-concept and high self-esteem, one can become an effective manager of other people. Most important, one can become a happy, contented person who is able to reduce harmful stress and solve problems. CHAPTER 3 Self-Awareness and Self-Disclosure Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, students will be able to: 1. Define self-awareness. 2. Explain how awareness-related barriers impact human relations. 3. Use the Johari Window as a tool for self-understanding. 4. Define self-disclosure. 5. List the outcomes of failing to self-disclose. 6. Understand the five major levels of communication as they relate to disclosure. 7. Discuss the impact of making assumptions regarding other people. 8. Explain the risk factor of disclosure. Key Terms Blind pane: The pane in the Johari Window that contains everything other people can see about you, but you can’t see about yourself. Cliché conversation: The level of communication with the least amount of self-disclosure, including niceties such as “Have a nice day.” Gut-level communication: Level of communication in which feelings are expressed honestly. Hidden pane: The pane in the Johari Window that contains information and feelings that you are hiding from other people. Ideas and judgments: Expressed through conscious thoughts, opinions, and theories in this level of communication. Johari Window: A composite of four panes that shows you ways of relating to others: the open, blind, hidden, and unknown. Nonconversation: A way to describe the amount of actual conversation in cliché conversation. Open pane: The pane in the Johari Window that contains information that you know about yourself and that you have no reason to hide. Peak communication: Communication characterized by complete openness and honest self-disclosure. It happens rarely. Repress: To block off memories that may cause pain, embarrassment, or guilt. Self-awareness: The ability to see yourself realistically, without a great deal of difference between what you are and how you assume others see you. Self-disclosure: The ability to let another person know what is real about your thoughts, desires, and feelings. Unknown pane: The pane of the Johari Window that contains unknown talents, abilities, and attitudes, as well as forgotten and repressed experiences, emotions, and possibilities. Lecture Outline I. What is Self-Awareness? Self-awareness and self-disclosure are two of the most important elements in human relations. Self-awareness is the ability to see oneself realistically, without a great deal of difference between what one is and how he or she assumes others see him or her. Self-disclosure is the ability to let another person know what is real about one’s thoughts, desires, and feelings. II. Awareness-Related Barriers to Effective Human Relations Many people spend much of their lives building walls. In other words, they develop traits such as secrecy, dishonesty, or other defenses to prevent people from determining their true thoughts and motives. These people often believe that if these walls are not there, catastrophes such as rejection and loneliness will result. Also, once the walls are in place, the people who built them often forget they are there and wonder why others often misunderstand them. III. The Johari Window Everyone shares four ways of relating to others: the open (or public) side, the blind side, the hidden side, and the unknown side. These are illustrated by the panes in the Johari Window (Figures 3.1 and 3.2). These separate responses deal with two factors: people’s understanding of themselves and the way they interact with others based on that level of understanding. None of these panes necessarily remain the same size for all relationships or interpersonal encounters. A. The Open Pane The open pane, upper-left pane of the Johari Window, contains information that one knows about oneself and has no reason to hide from most people. This pane will become larger as a friendship develops. Figure 3.2 shows the Johari Window after established relationship. The pane size increases with the desire to be known and understood. Sometimes the act of showing more and more of one’s inner feelings can be done unwisely. Usually, though, the more information that one mutually shares with a friend, the more productively that relationship is likely to develop. B. The Hidden Pane The hidden pane of the Johari Window contains information and feelings that one is aware of but hides from other people. People possess a great deal of private information, including information that they are ashamed of or afraid to share with others, such as things they regret or consider failures. If an individual is shy or secretive, his or her hidden pane might be quite large. As a close relationship develops and the open pane grows bigger, the hidden pane will become smaller. Increased trust in someone helps decrease the size of the hidden pane. C. The Blind Pane The blind pane can be disturbing to people who would rather not believe that others see personality traits that they don’t see in themselves. The blind pane can hide good qualities in people as well as bad traits. This pane can shrink if one heeds another person’s encouragement and allows himself or herself to look into his or her blind areas to a greater extent. D. The Unknown Pane If the blind pane can be frightening, the unknown pane is probably even more so because it deals with areas that nobody—the self, friends, or family—can see. The unknown pane can include childhood memories that people block out for various reasons. This pane contains all of the experiences, feelings, fantasies, and possibilities that people repress. It can be reduced in size by developing a close friendship. Information and emotions that are repressed often come out in dreams, fantasies, and even slips of the tongue. Once these desires or fears are recognized, the person can then open avenues of self-knowledge and make changes in his or her life. Feedback from the right person can trigger information that has been unexamined. Sincere friendship is an important aid to self-awareness at any level. IV. What Is Self-Disclosure? Self-disclosure is letting another person know one’s real thoughts, desires, and feelings. Self-disclosure allows people to know themselves and those around them better. Very often, people justify withholding the truth for legitimate reasons. In most cases, people withhold information in order to: • Feel all-powerful. • Control the feelings of others. • Feel superior to those around them. • Believe that they are perfect. • Have everyone’s approval. • Feel safe from people who might challenge them. • Deny that they have problems. • Avoid the fear that they aren’t lovable. • Avoid feelings of inadequacy. Other reasons behind avoiding disclosure stem from childhood experiences. Many people learn very early to shut away large parts of themselves in the hidden pane. If a young child’s emotions or opinions are silenced, those emotions can remain hidden for the rest of that person’s life. V. Outcomes of Failing to Self-Disclose To understand why people should self-disclose, one can examine the negative things that can happen when it is not done. Some of the more common outcomes of failing to self-disclose include the following: • Loss of relationships with others. • The slowdown of personal growth. • Waste of time and energy. • Loss of a sense of identity. People who refuse to self-disclose at work can lose their sense of identity on the job and end up relying too heavily on family, friends, and outside organizations for social contact. People who rely too much on their workplace to make friends and plan social activities are in an opposite version of the same danger, since in effect they never leave the office. To retain a sense of identity, people should strive to self-disclose and be real in all aspects of their life without overdisclosing. VI. Levels of Communication as they relate to Disclosure To enhance one’s self-awareness and self-disclosure skills, one needs to better understand the levels of disclosure to be used. Author John Powell identified five general levels of self-disclosure. These five levels of communication are helpful in understanding the amount of self-disclosure taking place (Figure 3.4). A. Level 5: Cliché Conversation Level 5 is the level that most people rely upon every day. Cliché conversation includes niceties, such as: • “Nice morning, isn’t it?” • “How is your family?” • “How’s the weather up your way?” The primary purposes of niceties are to acknowledge the other person’s presence and, especially in the case of strangers, to present oneself as nonthreatening. This is nonconversation in a real sense—a way to describe the amount of actual conversation in cliché conversation. B. Level 4: Reporting the Facts about Others On level 4, people move beyond clichés, although no real self-disclosure takes place yet. The only hint of self-disclosure comes from the choice of topic. Others can discern a little about a person from what he or she chooses to discuss. C. Level 3: Expressing Ideas and Judgments When one expresses ideas and judgments—expressed through conscious thoughts, opinions, and theories—he or she takes more risks, although undemanding ones: what one says at this level is filtered through some self-censorship, and one should watch the other person carefully before jumping in. Unless one is willing to rise up to the next level, no real self-disclosure will take place here. D. Level 2: Expressing Feelings and Emotions on the “Gut Level” The second level of communication involves gut-level communication—level of communication in which feelings are expressed honestly. At this point one begins to apply genuine self-disclosure. E. Level 1: Peak Communication A peak communication is characterized by complete openness and honest self-disclosure. It happens rarely. When it does, though, as Powell suggests, “The two persons will feel an almost perfect and mutual empathy.” The more often Level 1 self-disclosure takes place, the more one invites close relationships that can lead to enhanced opportunities for peak communication. Such experiences can be triggered by unexpected events. In cases like these, self-disclosure is often not a choice, but an automatic response. In other words, self-disclosure is essential to responding to a given situation and one’s feelings about it in a healthy way, and for regaining a sense of balance afterward. F. A Key to Improved Human Relations–Level 2 Making the gut level work is a key step in the process of learning to self-disclose. When people communicate on this level, human relationships grow, people understand themselves better, and conflict is reduced. In work environments, such benefits translate into greater efficiency and productivity throughout the organization. The primary benefits include the following: • Improving relationships. • Growing toward maturity. • Bringing out the honesty of others. VII. Making Assumptions about Other People Another dimension of both self-awareness and self-disclosure is the way so many people operate on perceptions or hunches they have about each other. A situation can become more and more complicated simply because the people involved operate on hunches, rather than on real information. Psychologist R. D. Laing became well known for his work in this area of behavior. Laing says that assumptions or hunches one has about others keeps one from operating in the real world. VIII. The Risk Factor of Disclosure Choosing to self-disclose involves risks. Once people conclude that self-disclosure is productive behavior, they may run into another barrier: fear. Perhaps fears include the following: • Losing control of a conversation or relationship. • Becoming trapped or controlled by someone else. • Facing something unpleasant within yourself. • Losing self-respect. • Appearing to be a loser to others. • Being rejected or being belittled. The first step in dealing with fear is to look at exactly what one is afraid of. If the fear is not on this list, it needs to be identified and then decide on how to respond to it. CHAPTER 4 Attitudes and Values in Human Relations Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, students will be able to: 1. Define an attitude. 2. Examine what makes a good attitude. 3. Discuss what goes into changing an existing attitude. 4. Find details regarding the link between positive attitudes and job satisfaction. 5. Define values, and show how they differ from attitudes. 6. Explain the origin of your values. 7. Identify strategies for coping with values conflict. 8. Apply values in a global context. Key Terms Attitude: An evaluation of people, ideas, issues, situations, or objects. Cognitive dissonance: The emotional state that results from acting in ways that contradict one’s beliefs or other actions. Corporate culture: A system of shared values and assumptions throughout an organization. Denial: A failure to confront your problem. Extraversion: Characteristic of a happy attitude in which a person’s behavior is directed outward, toward others. Feedback: Information given to people either on how well they are performing a task, or on how clearly they are being understood. Instrumental values: Values that reflect the way you prefer to behave. Organizational citizenship behavior: An attitude of willingness to go above and beyond the behaviors that are generally associated with life in the workplace. Personal control: The power people have over their destinies. Positive attitude: A position resulting from healthy self-esteem, optimism, extraversion, and personal control. Rath test: Finds out if the values you think you have are the ones you truly have. Self-justification: Explaining behavior so that you feel it is correct. Terminal values: Values likely to maintain a high priority throughout your life. Values: The worth or importance you attach to different factors in your life. Values conflicts: Conflicts that occurs when one set of values clashes with another. Values systems: Frameworks people use in developing beliefs about themselves, others, and how they should be treated. Lecture Outline I. What is An Attitude? An attitude is an evaluation of people, ideas, issues, situations, or objects. An attitude has three parts: • Thoughts • Feelings • Actions These three parts of an attitude are so intertwined that we probably do not even notice them as separate components. One’s attitudes toward people are a result of the beliefs and feelings he or she has about himself or herself and about other people, and attitudes directly affect his or her treatment of both. Attitudes range along a scale from positive to negative, and usually don’t change very much over time. One’s attitudes have a lot to do with how he or she relates to others and to the world. Attitudes can make or break one’s relationships with others. II. What Makes a Good Attitude? Happiness is an attitude—one that most people strive for. Many studies have shown that people can choose to have a happy or positive attitude—a position from healthy self-esteem, optimism, extraversion, and personal control. Psychologist David Myers lists the following four characteristics that happy people do all seem to have in common. • Healthy self-esteem—the strategies that work to increase self-esteem will also help improve the overall attitude of happiness. • Optimism—optimistic people are both happier and physically healthier than less optimistic people, and cope with their problems better; pessimists, by contrast, tend to deny that problems exist, and they focus on their negative feelings rather than on solving their problems; the most dangerous kind of pessimism is hopelessness. • Extraversion—an extravert is an outgoing person, one whose behavior is directed outward toward others; the famous psychiatrist Carl Jung said, behavior of extraverts is directed to the objects in the external world; this factor is also very directly related to one’s level of self-esteem. • Personal control—the idea that a person believes either that he or she is responsible for his or her own situations and life events (internal locus of control); or that other people, luck, chance, or fate are in charge of the events in his or her life (external locus of control). III. Changing Existing Attitudes Changing a person’s attitude is not always possible. Often, people with negative attitudes only need to be shown how destructive their attitudes are before a change takes place. When giving attitude-improving feedback—information given to people either on how well they are performing a task, or on clearly they are being understood—one should deal with facts rather than opinions, and descriptions rather than judgments. The giver of feedback should also try to strike a balance between negative and positive feedback. Some authorities on this subject suggest giving two positive messages for every negative one. IV. Attitudes and Job Satisfaction The degree of satisfaction any employee feels is based on the extent to which the job and benefits associated with it fulfill that employee’s needs and desires. When job satisfaction is very high, employees are less likely to be absent for unexcused reasons. The successful performance of a series of tasks will often lead to feelings of satisfaction and well-being, which in turn will motivate the employee to complete other tasks that bring about an even higher level of satisfaction. Thus, a manager needs to be in touch with the type of tasks—and rewards—that cause high satisfaction in employees. Recently, a number of research studies have focused on what is called organization citizenship behavior—an attitude of willingness to go above and beyond the behaviors that are generally associated with life in the workplace. V. What are Values? Values are the worth or importance people attach to different factors in their life. Values usually come in a list of priorities that people are not fully consciously aware of at the time when value judgments take place. All of an individual’s values taken together are called a value system—the set of standards by which you have chosen to live. Values exist not only within individuals, but in organizations as well. A corporate culture is a system of shared values throughout any given company or other organization. Values are especially important to understanding human behavior. Conflicts between employees, as well as between managers and employees, often are based on differences in values. A. Values versus Attitudes Attitudes are often affected by values, and values conflicts with other people certainly involve attitude problems—but values are a deeper, and in some ways, more important part of everyone’s lives and organizations. VI. Where your Values Come From Personal values are formed in early childhood and are affected strongly by the values of parents and the child’s environment. The place and time period of the first few years of most people’s lives have a great effect on the formation of values. Statistics expert Daniel Yankelovich shows that three value patterns related to work and home life have emerged since the early 1970s: • The nature of a person’s paid job is now much more significant. • Leisure time is more valued, mostly because it has become a rarer commodity. • Americans now insist much more strongly that jobs become less impersonal, and more human and humane. These three value areas have created more emphasis on individual freedom of choice, a movement away from rigid organizational and work systems, and a desire to live more closely with both nature and community. Another disturbing area of social values change has been in high school and college student cheating. In a book called The Cheating Culture, author David Callahan shows that American students are being taught “bottom-line economy” thinking. This mind-set makes it more likely than in the past that such students will carry their questionable behavior into the workplace after they have finished school. Other important factors that help form values are religion, political views, parental influence, socioeconomic class, exposure to education, television, the Internet, and other mass media. Figure 4.3 highlights the influence of certain factors as they have affected values Values can be placed in two categories. Terminal values (or end-point ideal values) are likely to maintain a high priority throughout one’s life. These will often be related to long-term goals that one wants to accomplish during his her lifetime. Instrumental values (or everyday action-directed attitudes), on the other hand, reflect the ways one prefers to behave. They are based on one’s actions and attitudes. In a way, instrumental values help people reach their goals, while terminal values are those goals. Figure 4.4 provides examples of terminal and instrumental values. VII. Values Conflicts Values conflicts commonly happens when one set of values clashes with another, and a decision has to be made—sometimes very quickly. These conflicts happen surprisingly often in most people’s lives. A. Interpersonal Values Conflicts All people come from differing backgrounds, where they have learned various value systems. When they are thrown together in the workplace, they often must work with others whose values differ greatly from their own. To deal with such potential problems, people are often called upon to look closely at their own values, trying whenever possible to understand and accept the values of others without compromising their personal integrity. Also, people will often find it necessary to discover common ground where they can agree with others on what is important to both the workplace and the goals that everyone needs to achieve. B. Personal versus Group Values Values conflicts also often involve a clash between the individual and the group. The culture of an organization can work against an individual’s values to the point of distress. If a person is outnumbered greatly, changing the group values is possible but very unlikely. When this happens, the person usually must decide whether or not to stay in such a job. C. Internal Values Conflicts People sometimes find themselves wanting two different outcomes that contradict each other. Interpersonal and internal conflicts often result in cognitive dissonance: the emotional state that results from acting in ways that contradict one’s beliefs or other actions. Most people have a certain amount of such dissonance in their behaviors. If the issues are small and create little compromise to people’s values and attitudes, people usually live with the mild discomfort that dissonance can create. However, if what is being compromised is an important value, people will usually take one of the following four possible actions: • Change their original beliefs • Use denial—failure to confront problems. • Self-justification—explaining behavior so that one will feel it is correct. • Change their behavior When a person experiences cognitive dissonance, he or she doesn’t necessarily move toward trying to make actions consistent with values and beliefs. Instead, he or she might use any of these methods to make them appear more consistent and to lessen the stress caused by cognitive dissonance. All humans seem to need to justify their actions and make consistent sense out of their own contradictions. This process often happens instantly and without much deliberate thought—so it should not be surprising that it has been found to occur in four-year-old children, in patients with amnesia, and even in capuchin monkeys. VIII. Values in an International Economy Today’s business world is now dealing with people from many different religions, political systems, languages, cultural backgrounds, and ethnic groups. Many citizens of the United States tend to think that the U.S. value system is the only one in the world with anything going for it, but they need to understand that every other country has the same temptation—to think its own national and cultural values are the best. When dealing with people from other cultures, one will tend to find four major areas of difference in values—and in perception of the values of others. They are: • Views of power and authority. • Views of the individual versus the group. • Tolerance for uncertainty. • The value of punctuality. CHAPTER 5 Motivation: Increasing Productivity Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, students will be able to: 1. Define motivation. 2. Explain need-based theories of motivation. 3. Explain behavior-based theories of motivation. 4. Describe reinforcement theory and behavior modification. 5. Discuss the relationship between self-esteem and motivation. Key Terms Affiliation needs: Occur in people who want to be accepted and liked by others. Achievement needs: Occur in people who are goal oriented and take personal responsibility for achievements. Autonomy: Independence, the ability to act and make decisions on one’s own without undue interference from management. Behavior modification: The process of changing behavior because of a reward or lack of a reward. ERG theory: A refinement of Maslow’s hierarchy that includes only three needs areas: existence (mostly physical needs); relatedness (needs linked to relationships; and growth (internal esteem needs and self-actualization). Esteem needs: In Maslow’s hierarchy, self-esteem needs include recognition from peers and colleagues. Expectancy: In expectancy theory, the likelihood that if a person tried, the result would be better performance. Expectancy theory: Developed by Victor Vroom to explain human behavior in terms of people’s goals, choices, and the expectation that goals will be reached. Frustration-regression principle: A principle that says that someone who fails to reach a higher need level will sometimes become frustrated and regress (go back) to a lower need level, and stay there for some time—perhaps forever. Goal setting: Allows employees to set their own goals. Hygienes (dissatisfiers): The qualities in the workplace that are outside the job itself (examples: company benefits, workplace policies, job security). When these factors are weak or missing, motivation will fall; however, when they are high, motivation will not be strong or long term. Instrumentality: The likelihood that something good (or bad) will come from an increase in effort. Job enrichment: The upgrading of a job that makes it more interesting, meaningful, or rewarding and provides long-term motivation. Love and belongingness needs: Include complete acceptance from family and friends. The third level of Maslow’s hierarchy. Manifest needs theory: Developed by David McClelland to show that all people have needs that motivate them in life and on the job. These three needs include power needs, affiliation needs, and achievement needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Shows that people tend to satisfy their needs in a certain order: first, physiological needs, then safety and security, belongingness and love, esteem, and finally, self-actualization. Morale: Overall mood of an individual or group, based on attitudes and satisfaction. Motivation: The force of the need or desire to act. Motivators (satisfiers): The factors in Herzberg’s theory that cause real, long-term motivation, usually containing intrinsic motivation factors (examples: interesting and challenging tasks, advancement, achievement, growth). Organizational climate: Emotional weather within an organization that reflects the norms and attitudes of the organization’s culture and that affects worker morale, attitudes, stress levels, and communication. Physiological needs: The most basic of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs having to do with the satisfaction of physical needs, including food, water, air, and shelter. Power needs: Desired by individuals who want to control and influence other people. Reinforcement theory: Explains human behavior in terms of repetition. Behavior that is rewarded enough times will be repeated, whereas behavior that repeatedly receives no reward will probably discontinue. Reinforcers: Incentives such as awards, bonuses, promotions, gifts, and even compliments. Safety and security needs: In Maslow’s hierarchy and include physical safety from harm and the elements as well as financial security. Self-actualization: Highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; occurs when one has fulfilled his or her potential. Skill variety: The opportunity and ability to use numerous different skills in one’s position at work. Task identity: The worker’s perception of the meaningfulness of a job, often based upon the worker’s permission to start a job and see it through to completion. Task significance: A worker’s perception that the task directly affects other people’s work or lives. Valence: The value a person places on a reward. Lecture Outline I. What Is Motivation? Motivation is the willingness to make an effort toward accomplishment. According to Management expert Peter Drucker, “The purpose of an organization is to enable common men [and women] to do uncommon things.” A. Organizational Climate and Morale A large motivating factor on the job is the organizational climate. Organizational climate affects employee morale. Morale is the overall mood of a group of people and is based on employees’ attitudes and feelings of satisfaction. An effective climate allows people to work to their full potential without becoming a threat to others. It encourages competent and rapid completion of tasks and allows employees to feel comfortable. Many methods can be used to improve the climate of an organization. Though managers are in the key position for making change, individual employees can also accomplish a great deal. They can listen to others carefully, step in and help with a task without complaints, and maintain a positive attitude. Often, employees also have opportunities to suggest changes. An employee in a negative or uncomfortable climate should take a look at the situation and see what he or she can do. For managers, they should start with their own attitude and look to see where changes should be made in the physical environment, job assignments, and procedures. B. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards Economic need is the primary motivator toward work. Working allows a person to pay his bills, collect benefits, and build financial security for his retirement—allowing him to work in the present without worrying about the future. These are all extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic rewards are the internal feelings of satisfaction a person gets from his job. In addition to job satisfaction, other intrinsic rewards include: • A work ethic • A sense of self-identity • A sense of self-fulfillment • A sense of self-worth • The social value of work • Social and community roles Figure 5.2 provides examples of additional intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. II. Need-Based Theories of Motivation Many psychologists agree that people are motivated by their needs. Theorists’ views differ about which needs are most important. A. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Psychologist Abraham Maslow believed that most people fulfill their needs in a certain order. Before a person can bloom into his or her full potential, he or she must take these steps of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the order that follows: • Physiological needs—the most basic of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs having to do with the satisfaction of physical needs, including food, water, air, and shelter. • Safety and security needs—include physical safety from harm and the elements as well as financial security. • Love and belongingness needs—include complete acceptance from family and friends; the third level of Maslow’s hierarchy. • Esteem needs—include recognition from peers and colleagues. • Self-actualization—highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; occurs when one has fulfilled his or her potential. Figure 5.4 provides information on suggestions given by Maslow on how to increase one’s self-actualization. Maslow’s theory makes the following assumptions: • Needs that are not yet satisfied will motivate or influence a person’s behavior. • When a need has been satisfied, it will no longer motivate the person’s behavior—at least not nearly as strongly. • Needs are arranged by order of importance. • A need in the hierarchy will not be a motivator until those below it are already satisfied. For managers, Maslow’s main lesson on motivation is to notice the needs level of employees. When a manager is in touch with the employees’ basic needs, he or she can be much more effective in getting employees to perform. According to management experts Richard Steers and Lyman Porter, Maslow’s theory is useful when applied to organizational climate: “When the needs-hierarchy concept is applied to work organizations, the implication for managerial actions becomes obvious. Managers have the responsibility, according to this line of reasoning, to create a ‘proper climate’ in which employees can develop to their fullest potential.” B. Alderfer’s ERG Theory A scholar named Clayton Alderfer created a theory that is based on Maslow’s hierarchy, but which in some ways improves on it. Instead of Maslow’s five levels, ERG theory has only three needs areas: • Existence needs are the needs that have to do with making a person’s way in life in a physical sense. • Relatedness needs refer to what Maslow called “belongingness” needs and the part of esteem needs that are external, or socially fulfilling. • Growth needs are the more internal esteem needs that everyone has, along with what Maslow called self-actualization. ERG theory presents three very important differences from Maslow’s famous “hierarchy.” • Unlike Maslow’s theory that includes the same order of progression for all people, ERG theory teaches that the order in which people progress through the three stages can be different for different people. • Some people can approach these needs steps simultaneously; in other words, some people might be progressing in all three need areas at the very same time.. • The ERG theory features the frustration-regression principle—a principle that says that someone who fails to reach a higher need level will sometimes become frustrated and regress (go back) to a lower need level, and stay there for some time, perhaps forever. C. McClelland’s Manifest Needs Theory David McClelland believed that all people have certain needs that motivate them both in life and on the job. McClelland’s manifest needs theory isn’t a hierarchy. McClelland found through years of research that all people have three basic coexisting needs: • Power needs—desired by individuals who want to control and influence other people. • Affiliation needs (the need to interact with others)—occur in people who want to be accepted and liked by others. • Achievement needs—occur in people who are goal oriented and take personal responsibility for achievements. Power Needs When McClelland first started his research on motivation, he saw power as a basically negative force. Later he found that power, like the other two needs, can be either positive or negative, depending on how it is used. According to McClelland, a manager without a need for power will generally be less effective than one with a strong power need. A person who has a strong need for power wants to control and influence other people. This person is also competitive and wants to win. This type of person also usually likes conflict—even confronting others and being confronted. Affiliation Needs Most people need to be with other people, to develop friendships and acquaintances. According to McClelland, some people have this need so strongly that it motivates them to go to work every day. These people often have an intense desire to be accepted and liked by other people. McClelland feels that someone with a strong affiliation need will generally not make the best manager. Achievement Needs A person with a high need for achievement is usually very goal oriented, has a high energy level, and wants to take personal responsibility for achievements. People with low achievement needs seem to be motivated more by a fear of failure than an expectation of success. They set impossibly high goals or very low, simple goals. They blame their failures on their own lack of ability, on bad luck, or on fate. According to McClelland, these three needs are not factors that people are simply born with. They are developed through life experiences. If, in later life, people wish to develop more in one of the three areas, they can make that happen. To McClelland, a need is like a muscle; with exercise, it will grow. D. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory In his two-factor theory, psychologist Frederick Herzberg describes two forces that are often confused with each other. He calls them hygienes and motivators. Hygienes are factors connected with a job that make working there better. Some examples of hygienes are piped-in music, attractive carpeting, a good health plan, or good relations with the supervisor. According to Herzberg, factors such as these will keep workers from becoming dissatisfied; for that reason they are also called dissatisfiers. The factors on the job that really do motivate workers are called, appropriately, motivators. These are factors that are intrinsic—that is, they are found either within the work itself or within the worker. They include feelings of accomplishment, of worth, of a job well done, or of doing meaningful and interesting work. This theory is based on a belief that employees find self-fulfillment in work and are motivated by it. For motivation to take place, according to Herzberg, both the hygienes and the motivators must be used. First, the hygienes have to be in place; then the motivators can take over. Figure 5.5 highlights the Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. E. Job Enrichment as a Motivator To Herzberg, upgrading of a task, or job enrichment, is the only real way to motivate a previously unmotivated worker for any long period of time. According to Herzberg, making jobs more challenging and fulfilling is the only appropriate approach to meaningful motivation. To enrich a job often means complete restructuring of the tasks related to the job, to make them more meaningful and fulfilling—giving the job more intrinsic motivators. Several factors are necessary for job enrichment to be effective. These are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. Figure 5.6 highlights the Hackman-Oldham Job Enrichment Model Skill Variety and Task Identity Skill variety is the opportunity and ability to use numerous different skills in one’s position at work. Task identity is the worker’s perception of the meaningfulness of a job, often based upon the worker’s permission to start a job and see it through to completion. Task Significance Most people are motivated more by a job that seems to make a difference to other people or to the physical environment. If the work directly affects other peoples’ work or lives, the job is said to contain task significance. Autonomy Autonomy means the freedom to choose one’s tasks and methods of work. When workers are given a great deal of autonomy, they feel ownership of the job and of the tasks it involves. They are more likely to feel responsible for—and motivated by—the success or failure of a project. Autonomy also involves time. When a worker is given a flexible schedule, with deadlines mostly self-imposed, both job satisfaction and motivation usually increase. Feedback When a job allows individuals to know how well they are performing, the job is enriched considerably. No matter how much autonomy a worker has, feedback is still essential. Knowing results of one’s work can help someone who has some autonomy decide which tasks to emphasize. The manager who is redesigning jobs should look carefully at the worker’s talents, needs, abilities, and desires. All the job characteristics listed will do little good if the match between the job and the worker is defective. Job enrichment is essential. III. Behavior-Based Theories of Motivation A. Expectancy Theory Expectancy theory brings several ideas together, and different versions of it have become quite popular in the past few years. In the 1960s Victor Vroom originally developed expectancy theory to explain human behavior in terms of people’s goals and choices and the expectation that goals will be reached. Its main concepts are: • Expectancy—describes the likelihood that if a person tries to perform better, that will really be the result. • Instrumentality—refers to the likelihood that something good (or bad) will come from an increase in effort. • Valence—the value a person places on a reward. In the late 1970s, expectancy theory was revised. In this new revision, Barry Staw showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are related to all three areas of this theory, but especially to valence. The value, or valence, of an expected outcome will be both intrinsic and extrinsic. When a manager is attempting to motivate an employee, both factors should be calculated. Intrinsic factors would include the amount of creativity allowed, the degree of responsibility, and the satisfaction of helping others. IV. Reinforcement Theory and Behavior Modification The ideas of reinforcement theory are becoming more and more popular in businesses today. Most of the ideas that this theory is based on come from the work of psychologist B. F. Skinner. Reinforcement theory explains human behavior in terms of the results—both good and bad— that have occurred under similar conditions in the past. When something good happens as the result of what one does, that behavior is more likely to be repeated. When something is done and there is no result, it will probably not be done again. The process of changing behavior because of a reward, or a lack of reward, is called behavior modification. Some psychologists call it stroking. Skinner believed that one can help shape and mold people without making them feel that their freedom and dignity are threatened. The method consists of positive reinforcement: reward the behavior that is desired and ignore the behavior that is not desired. Punishment can be very effective in changing someone’s behavior, but this theory teaches that punishment has so many negative side effects that it will usually backfire on the manager. Positive reinforcement can be just as effective as negative reinforcement, and it has fewer unwanted side effects. A manager trying to motivate employees should use sincere and frequent praise, letters of commendation, and other forms of recognition. Examples of effective reinforcers (or incentives) overlap considerably with examples of extrinsic rewards, since they are essentially the same thing. Examples include bonuses, awards, time off, praise, better office space, public posting of performance ratings, promotions, gifts or trips, and impressive titles. A. Goal setting To make reinforcers or incentives more effective, the employees involved should have the opportunity for goal setting. Telling people to do their best is not as effective in reaching higher performance levels as setting specific goals that are moderately difficult. Organizations can increase their employees’ commitment to goals by following these four suggestions: • Have employees participate in the goal-setting process. • Make goals challenging but attainable, specific, and attractive. • Provide feedback on how the employees are doing in meeting the goals. • Reward employees for reaching their goals. B. Reinforcement, Values, and Self-Esteem Self-esteem is basic to the success of a behavioral modification program of any kind. Much of what the reinforcer is doing is improving the feelings of value and worth that the employee has, or perhaps hasn’t, felt before. If a person is a reinforcer, he or she must be sure to make the praise and recognition sincere. Also, he or she should be sure to clearly identify what he or she is reinforcing. Choosing the right type of reward is important, too. Just as valence is important in expectancy theory, reinforcement theory requires giving rewards that are valuable to the person getting them. Some of the criticisms of behavior modification: • Some people see it as unfeeling and inhumane because it manipulates people into doing what the reinforcer wants them to do. • Others see it as bribery. V. Motivation and Self-Esteem As studies of motivational theories show, the desire to feel better about oneself is a main motivator in the workplace. In the same way, one is also motivated not to perform tasks that threatens one’s self-esteem. This attempt to maintain self-esteem on the job is important in understanding one’s motivation to do a task at all. A. Self-Esteem and Job Performance There are two more ways that self-esteem ties in with overall performance on the job: • If the job calls for creativity in decision making, low self-esteem may keep an individual from making risky decisions. Mediocre decisions might be made instead of exciting and challenging ones. • A person with low self-esteem may perform at exactly the level where others expect performance to be, so as not to threaten others’ values. Instructor Manual for Human Relations: Strategies for Success Lowell Lamberton, Leslie Minor-Evans 9780073524689
