What are some characteristics of an ideal work environment? Open lines of communication, motivated coworkers as well as superiors, and minimal conflict are very common answers to this question. Organizational Behavior faces the challenge of converting a poor work environment into a more suitable and productive environment. In this paper we will look at challenges and opportunities for organizational behavior, the main components and the consistency of attitudes, and the theory of self-perception. Organizational Behavior refers to how individuals, groups and structures interact within an organization.
A big test for Organizational Behavior is handling diversity in the workplace. Dealing with diversity of employees based on age, race, gender also offers the opportunity for higher employee retention. By recognizing the differences in employee abilities and assigning jobs or offering promotions that play to their strengths, creates a sense of pride for the individual as well as a loyalty to the company. Other tasks taken on by Organizational Behavior include improving productivity, people skills, and ultimately customer service (Robbins & Judge, 2012 p. 9-10).
By providing accommodations such as better lighting, ergonomic furniture, and a safe environment, productivity can be increased. People skills and customer service can be improved through workshops and one-on-one training. These are a few things that Organizational Behavior can improve that will help make a better company. Attitudes play a huge role in the workplace.
Attitudes are made up of 3 components; cognitive, affective and behavioral (Robbins & Judge, 2012 p. 16). The cognitive piece evaluates what is happening and defines our opinion of it.The affective portion then applies emotion to the situation, and we determine how it makes us feel. Finally the behavioral aspect is our physical reaction to the circumstance, do we remain silent, talk, yell, or walk away. The consistency of an attitude refers to how similar the cognitive component is to the behavioral.
Many times people will adjust their attitudes to reflect their behaviors (Robbins & Judge, 2012 p. 16). For instance, I might buy a particular brand of spaghetti sauce because it tastes best, now my grocer does not carry it anymore and I switch to the generic brand because it is less expensive.The attitude changed to match the behavior. When there is a large variation between cognitive and behavior, the feeling is uncomfortable and is referred to as dissonance (Robbins & Judge, 2012 p. 17).
The theory of self-perception is the idea the behavior is the influence for an attitude, instead of behavior being the result of the attitude(Robbins & Judge, 2012 p. 19). While both theories provide solid evidence to support themselves, it seems that the common correlation is the amount of time that an individual has given an attitude.Organizational Behavior is a fantastic tool that can be used to improve the workplace. There are many challenges faced and even more opportunities for Organizational behavior to assist workers in improving productivity, people skills, and customer service. Understanding how attitudes develop and affect behavior is a key component to Organizational Behavior.
The bottom line, is that the more tuned into the needs of its employees, the more success a company will have.
