Chapter 2: Individual attributes

and their effects on job

performance

© John Wiley and Sons Australia

 Learning Objectives
1. Explain the individual performance equation
2. Discuss the demographic characteristics that distinguish
individuals
3. Discuss competency characteristics that distinguish individuals
4. Discuss personality characteristics that distinguish individuals
5. List some strategies that managers can adopt to capitalise on
workforce diversity in their organisation
6. Define and describe possible values and attitudes of workers
7. Explain the importance of job satisfaction as a specific
organisational attitude, and determine how this variable can affect
job performance
8. Describe the perceptual process and common perceptual distortion
of stereotyping.
Individual performance factors
 Differences among individuals
• Demographic differences
– Gender (women leaders are less autocratic than men)
– Age (experienced workers are more skilful and loyal)
– Racial background (no relationship with performance)
• Competency differences
– Aptitude (capability to learn new skills)
– Ability (existing knowledge and skills of staff)
– Cognitive abilities (handle numbers and memory)
– Physical abilities (e.g. soldiers need strength and stamina)
– Emotional competence (e.g. doctors need to monitor and
control emotions)
 Personality differences among individuals

• Personality differences
– Personality is the overall profile or combination of traits
that characterise the unique nature of a person
– It reflects how a person looks, thinks, acts and feels
– E.g. An introvert person is less sociable than an extrovert
– Personality is influenced by heredity (characteristics
inherited) and environment (cultural, social and situation)
 8 dimensions of personality traits

1) Extroversion-introversion (sales staff should be sociable)

2) Conscientiousness (a well-organized, dependable staff)
3) Agreeableness (a cooperative, reliable and helpful staff)
4) Emotional stability (calm when handling setback)
5) Openness to experience (trainer should be willing to learn)
6) Locus of control (‘internal’-can control his fate, willing to learn
and solve problems, versus ‘external’-believe in luck)
7) Authoritarianism/Dogmatism (wants power and obedient staff)
8) Machiavellians (manipulate others for personal benefit)
 Individuals and workplace diversity
• Implement Diversity Management Program:
– Long-term view as change in attitude takes time
– Top management set the tone
– Involved those who will be affected by change
• Benefits
– Wider pool of available talented staff for recruitment
– Diverse talented staff who understand customers’ needs
– Creativity and innovation workforce
– Solved various problems effectively
Extending the performance equation
 Values

• A person’s sense of ‘What is right, what is wrong, what

ought to be’
• Should treat others with respect and dignity and equal rights
• 4 types of workplace values:
– Achievement (work hard to achieve success)
– Helping and concern for others (selfless)
– Honesty (do what is right)
– Fairness (impartial)
 Patterns and trends in values
• Needs, values and expectations of different generations posed
challenges to managers:
– Baby boomers (believed in authority and power)
– Gen X (1965-81, disliked supervision, like work-life balance)
– Generation Y (flexibility and results driven)

• Top 9 work-related values in US

1. Recognition for competence 6. Lifestyle quality (balance)
2. Respect and dignity (valued) 7. Financial Security (stability)
3. Personal freedom 8. Self development
4. Pride in one’s work 9. Health and wellness
5. Involvement at work (participation)
What rewards Australian workers value
 Attitudes
• Attitude
– An inclined respond in a positive (like) or negative (dislike)
way to some person, thing or event in your environment
– 3 components of attitude
• Cognitive (I believe if I study hard, I will succeed)
• Affective (I love to study)
• Behavioural component (I will study X hours daily)
• Cognitive dissonance
– Perceived inconsistency between a person’s expressed
attitudes and actual behaviour
– Unable to achieve so criticize it to reduce dissonance e.g.
sour grapes
Attitudes
 Positive workplace-related attitudes
• Job satisfaction
– The degree to which an individual feels positively or
negatively about his/her job.
• Organisational commitment
– The degree to which an individual identifies with and
feels part of the organisation.
• Job involvement
– Willingness to work hard and apply effort
 Job satisfaction
• Job satisfaction:
– influences absence and turnover behaviours
– Lead to Organisational commitment less clear
– Relationship with job performance is debatable
– Research suggest that rewards cause both
performance and satisfaction
– Performance and satisfaction are interrelated and
good management of rewards help to boost both
performance and satisfaction
 Perception and the perceptual process

• Perception involves forming impression of oneself

and others
 3 factors in the perceptual process
• Perceiver
– One’s needs, motives, past experiences, values, attitudes and
personality, e.g. Positive attitude towards taking new courses
• Setting
– physical, social or organisational context
– can address managers by names in Australia (PI<40) but not
in Malaysia (PI>90)
• Perceived Target
– perceived characteristics such as contrast, intensity, size,
motion, repetition or novelty
– Target object is big or has bright colour
 Stereotyping

• Stereotyping occurs when, in order to make sense of it,

information is organised and sorted into different categories,
groups, or ‘stereotypes’
• Demographic variables a common basis for stereotyping
– age and performance (senior workers are less productive)
– gender and performance (male CEOs are more capable)
– ethnicity and performance (discrimination)