9.1 Chapter Introduction
Figure 9.1
Successful organizations depend on getting the right mix of individuals in the right positions at the right times.
Richard foster – Closeup portrait of a group of business people laughing – CC BY-SA 2.0.
What’s in It for Me?
Reading this chapter will help you do the following:
- Understand the roles of personality and values in determining work behaviors.
- List the key set of behaviors that matter for organizational performance.
The relationship between an employee and the business is set with unwritten expectations. We call these expectations a psychological contract. The psychological contract is what an employee expects to receive for their contributions and also what an employer expects to receive from the employee for what it offers. These offers, or inducements, may be tangible or intangible. This unit will explore the psychological concepts that affect a manager and employee.
Figure 2.2 The P-O-L-C Framework
Individuals bring a number of differences to work. They have a variety of personalities, values, and attitudes. When they enter into organizations, their stable or transient characteristics affect how they behave and perform. Moreover, companies hire people with the expectation that they have certain knowledge, skills, abilities, personalities, and values.
Recall that you are learning about the principles of management through the planning-organizing-leading-controlling (P-O-L-C) framework. Employees’ personalities, attitudes, and work behaviors affect how managers approach each P-O-L-C dimension. Here are just a few examples:
- When conducting environmental scanning during the planning process, a manager’s perceptions color the information that is absorbed and processed.
- Employee preferences for job design and enrichment (aspects of organizing) may be a function of individuals’ personalities and values.
- Leading effectively requires an understanding of employees’ personalities, values, and attitudes.
- Absenteeism can challenge a manager’s ability to control costs and performance (both at the group and individual levels).
Therefore, it is important for managers to understand the individual characteristics that matter for employee and manager behaviors.
