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Chapter four
Individual differences and work behaviour
Objectives
Understanding why individual differences are important
Knowing Individual differences influencing work behaviour
Why Individual Differences Are Important?
It is important for managers to know the individual differences among the employees as:
Individual differences have a direct effect on behavior
People who perceive things differently behave differently
People with different attitudes respond differently to directives
People with different personalities interact differently with bosses, coworkers, subordinates, and customers
Also, Individual differences help to explain:
Why some people embrace change and others are fearful of it
Why some employees will be productive only if they are closely supervised, while others will be productive if they are not
Why some workers learn new tasks more effectively than others
Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle-
Schneider (1987) asserted that “the people make the place” and that organizational culture, climate and practices are determined by the people in the organization. „Attributes of people, not the nature of external environment, or organizational technology, or organizational structure, are the fundamental determinants of organizational behavior‟ (Schneider, 1987). The people are functions of an Attraction-Selection-Attrition cycle. In 1995 the ASA Framework was updated. Schneider already mentioned that the person is particularly important in the organizational context. Schneider et al (1995) now added the dimension that the people are responsible for the structure, processes and culture of the organization.
Attraction : People are differentially attracted to careers as a function of their own interests and personality (Holland, 1985). Other signs of attraction are researched by Tom (1971) and Vroom (1966). They have stated that people search environments that fit by their personality and that people would like to obtain their outcomes by selecting a specific organization. Selection : Organizations select people who they think are compatible for many different kinds of jobs. In that way organizations end up choosing people who share many common personal attributes, although they may not share common competencies. Attrition : The opposite side of attraction. When people do not fit an environment they tend to leave it. When people leave the environment a more homogenous group stays than those were initially attracted to the organization. Schneider, B. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology , 40, 437-453. Schneider, B.,Goldstein, H.W. & Smith, D.B. (1995). The ASA Framework: An Update. Personnel Psychology, 48, 747-779.
Each phase of the ASA cycle is significantly influenced by the individual differences of each person. Different people are attracted to different careers and organizations as a function of their own: abilities, interests, personalities.
Organizations select employees on the basis of the needs the organization has for skills and abilities and individual attributes such as values and personality
Attrition occurs when individuals discover they do not like being part of the organization and elect to resign, or the organization determines an individual is not succeeding and elects to terminate
Effective managerial practice requires that individual behavior differences be recognized, and when feasible, taken into consideration while carrying out the job of managing organizational behavior. To understand individual differences a manager must observe and recognize the differences and study relationships between variables that influence behavior
Individual Differences in the Workplace
Individual differences in hereditary and diversity factors, personality, ability and skills, perception and attitude will affect work behavior like productivity, creativity and performance.
Spatial factor (S)-Involved in any task in which the subject manipulates an object imaginatively in space.
Numerical factor (N)-Ability to do numerical calculations rapidly and accurately.
Memory factor (M)-Involves the ability to memorize quickly.
Word fluency factor (W)-Involved whenever the subject is asked to think of isolated words at a rapid rate.
Inductive reasoning factor (RI)-The ability to draw inferences or conclusions on the basis of specific instances.
Deductive reasoning factor (RD)- is the ability to make use of generalized results.
Perceptual factor (P)- is the ability to perceive objects accurately.
Problem solving ability factor (PS)- is the ability to solve problem with independent efforts.
Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner’s Work
- Linguistic intelligence
- Logical-mathematical intelligence
- Musical intelligence
- Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
- Spatial intelligence
- Interpersonal intelligence
- Naturalist intelligence
- Intrapersonal intelligence
Physical Abilities- The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics. Nine Physical Abilities are:
Strength factor
Dynamic- Ability to exert muscle force repeatedly over time.
Trunk- Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk muscles.
Static-Ability to exert force against external objects.
Explosive-ability to expand a maximum amount of energy in one or series of explosive acts.
Flexibility factor
External-Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible.
Dynamic-Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements.
Other factors
Body coordination-Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the body.
Balance-Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance.
Stamina- Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged efforts over time.
Source: Adapted from HR Magazine published by the Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria, VA (accessed from Organizational behavior 12th^ ed- Robbins and Sanghi- Pearson)
Personality
Personality is the overall profile or combination of characteristics that capture the unique nature of a person as that person reacts and interacts with others. It combines a set of physical and mental characteristics that reflect how a person looks, thinks, acts, and feels. It is a relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors. Heredity sets the limits on the development of personality characteristics. Environment determines development within these limits. Across all characteristics there is about a 50-50 heredity-environment split. Key environmental factors in personality development are cultural values and norms and situational factors.
Social traits -Surface-level traits that reflect the way a person appears to others when interacting in various social settings. An important social trait is problem-solving style. Problem-solving style components are information gathering; getting and organizing data for use; evaluation and using collected information. There are Sensation-type individuals; Intuitive-type individuals; Feeling-type individuals and Thinking-type individuals. Problem-solving styles are Sensation-feeling (SF); Intuitive- feeling (IF);Sensation-thinking (ST) and Intuitive-thinking (IT).
Personal conception traits-The way individuals tend to think about their social and physical settings as well as their major beliefs and personal orientation. Key Traits are Locus of control; Authoritarianism/dogmatism; Machiavellianism and Self-monitoring.
Locus of control-The extent to which a person feels able to control his/her own life. Internal locus of control where people believe they control their own destiny. In External locus of control people believe that much of what happens to them is determined by environmental forces
The cognitive process that involves receiving stimuli, organizing the stimuli, and translating or interpreting the organized stimuli to influence behavior and form attitudes. Each person selects various cues that influence perceptions and people often misperceive.
Attitude
Attitude is a mental state of readiness learned and organized through experience. It is exerting a specific response to people, objects, and situations with which it is related. Attitudes are influenced by values and are acquired from the same sources as values. It is a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in one’s environment. Attitudes are determinates of behavior because they are linked with perception, personality, feelings, and motivation
Question
- Define ability. Elaborate the different types of intellectual and physical abilities and their implication for organizational performance.
- Describe the ASA cycle. ‘Each phase of the ASA cycle is significantly influenced by the individual differences of each person’-Justify with examples.
