Attitude is defined as how an individual feels about a certain situation, either an object or another individual (Kusluvan, 2003). On several occasions, such feelings are influenced by the individual’s experiences with the subject among other received treatments. In other situations, however, an individual’s attitudes tend to be influenced by their bringing up. According to Daft and Dorothy (2009), most of these attitudes are acquired through different life experiences and can be changed according to the required result. Managers have several reasons for their intentions of eliminating some employee attitudes as will be discussed within this section of the paper.
In connection, organizational behavior requires that an individual comprehends the roles of attitudes as it is highly valuable in the study. According to several employer surveys compiled by Walters (1996), it was established that employee attitude about work is the key shortfall among new job applicants. Such attitudes have been identified to lower the chances of employee selection during job recruitment and placement within several companies (Kusluvan, 2003). Essentially, the attitudes exposed by employees can be utilized in predicting the workplace behavior, and consequently design strategies to control the situation. In line with that, especially where employees are upset and lose their morale, managers can assert that an imposed rule caused the current behavior change. Consequently, the managers can use the resultant behavior and renegotiate issues or possibly eliminate such undermining rules to maintain employee productivity (Daft & Dorothy, 2009).
In other scenarios, employee attitudes may change, and individuals will benefit by adjusting to their working environment. With the correct treatment of employees, for instance, there are high chances that such employees will develop a positive attitude towards the managers within the organization (Everard, 2008). On the contrary, where managers oppress employees by using harsh rules and inadequate compensation, such employees will likely develop negative attitudes towards the managers. As such, these attitudes help employees to adjust to the working environment, which is also an example presented for their future behaviors (Everard, 2008). Employee attitudes are usually changed through several methods, which may include reassurance, the co-opting approach, and peer influence among others.
In connection, reassurance happens to be the most widely used method of changing employee attitude. This method can be defined as the act of presenting new information to the employee regarding issues that are considered negative (Walters, 1996). In that essence, the main objective would be to establish the actual cause of such an issue, reasons for getting upset, which is considered as an unnecessary attitude. Accordingly, the employee will have better information about the situation as compared to prior misinterpretations about the subject. When planning to change the attitudes of employees, this becomes the easiest barrier that can be eliminated.
On some occasions, the managers can engage employees in some active activity that would result in changing the attitudes of such employees (Daft & Dorothy, 2009). This theory is referred to as the co-opting approach. An excellent example is the case of workers who become upset by their office organization. In such a case, the manager would propose that they become members of the workers’ council, which is designed to listen to employee issues within the organization. Constant active participation in the worker’s council allows the employees to discover a solution that would help change their attitudes concerning various issues.
The change in employee attitude can also be initiated through the use of friends and peers (McClure, 1996). As an example, an employee may discover that he or she spends money unwisely, while the friends have sound spending capabilities. In that situation, the employee may learn the benefits of spending money wisely and start saving through the lesson learned from the fiends. On the contrary, where this employee sees his fellow friends being extravagant in their spending, he would perceive this as an irresponsible and negative behavior that should not be adopted. Hence, such an employee will not change his attitude towards spending; thereby, maintaining an excellent responsibility with his finances.
Additionally, there are several other approaches to the change of attitude such as the concept of job satisfaction. In line with that, managers have to guarantee that the conditions around employee works, compensation, and management among others are considerably taken care of to eliminate cases of employee anger or even violence (McClure, 1996). Besides, it is valuable that managers keep the working environment safe, satisfying, and challenging so that employees will remain active and always in high spirits (Robbins & Timothy, 2009). Managers should also give employees the chance to select their most preferable compensation packages and plans so that they can be as comfortable as possible. In the same way, promotions should be accompanied with appropriate salary increments to trigger appropriate changes in employee attitudes (Daft & Dorothy, 2009). When employees realize that very little has changed since they were promoted, they become depressed more than they might have been before the promotion. In conclusion, the mentioned roles in the management of employee attitudes are extremely valuable to all managers because they help the ineffective organization of people (Everard, 2008).
List of References
Daft, R. and Dorothy, M. (2009) Understanding Management. 7th ed. South-Western: Cengage Learning.
Everard, B. (2008) Business Principles and Management. 12th ed. South-Western: Cengage Learning.
Kusluvan, S. (2003) Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviours in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
McClure, L. (1996) Risky Business: Managing Employee Violence in the Workplace. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.
Robbins, S. and Timothy, J. (2009) Organizational Behaviour: Global and Southern African Perspectives. 2nd ed.Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa.
Walters, M. (1996) Developing Practice: Employee Attitude & Opinion Surveys. Eastbourne: Antony Rowe Ltd.