Attitudes

 Thoughts (true) > to think, feel, or act positively or negatively toward a person, idea, or event
 Emotional readiness to behave in a particular way
 Learned and can be changed (hard but not impossible to change)
 Should match core values

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
1. Cognitive
 Set of beliefs about the object of the attitude
 Attitudes about smoking > changed by accurate information about risks
2. Emotional or affective
 Feelings about the object
 More likely to donate > in a good mood or have good feelings about cause
3. Behavioral
 The way one acts toward the object
 Thoughts and feelings translate into action

Hiring for Attitude

 Job hunting: check resume, outfit, and attitude
 Customize all application materials
 Be prepared to provide additional information during an interview

Healing Career Wounds

 Losing a job > easy to become pessimistic
 Many workers are actively disengaged and dislike going to work
o Unhappy, unproductive, and propagate negative attitudes

Core Values Revisited

 Clarify and develop core values
o What are the highest priorities in my life?
o Of these priorities, which do I value most?

The Age of Information Mandates Attitude Changes

 Quick, accurate info, and advanced technology aren’t enough to retain customers
 Competitive advantage is often based on superior customer service
 Empathizers can imagine themselves in another’s position and understand his/her feelings

HOW ATTITUDES ARE FORMED

1. Socialization
 People are integrated into a society by exposure to actions and opinions of others
 Others help us learn what is “proper” to believe
2. Peer and Reference Groups
 Peer groups
o People one’s own age
o Powerful influence on attitude during adolescence, possibly stronger than in adulthood
 Reference groups
o Several people who share a common interest
o Tend to influence behavior
o Provide a point of comparison and source of information
3. Rewards and Punishment
 Attitudes developed to minimize punishment and maximize rewards
 Some attitudes are rewarded (sharing) while others are discouraged (cheating)
4. Role Model Identification
 Role model: Someone that you admire or are likely to emulate (managers in organizations)
 New employees watch what supervisors do
5. Cultural Influences
 Culture: Total of knowledge, beliefs, values, objects, & customs that we use to adapt to our environment
 Includes food, clothing, education, laws, and more

ATTITUDES VALUES BY EMPLOYERS

1. Basic Interpersonal Skills
 Workplace civility
2. Self-Motivation
 Take responsibility for the job, including goal setting and progress monitoring
3. Openness to Change
 Need to avoid stubbornness, arrogance, and inflexibility
4. Team Spirit
 Team player facilitates solving problems, making decisions
5. Health Consciousness
 Healthy employees take fewer sick days, bring more energy to work
6. Appreciation of Coworker Diversity
 Multicultural, global work forces are diverse
7. Honesty
 Relationships depend on trust

POSITIVE ATTITUDES
1. Choosing happiness
2. Embracing optimism
3. Thinking for yourself
4. Keeping an open mind

CHANGING YOUR OWN ATTITUDE

1. Choose Happiness
 Happiness: state of mind that permits us to live life enthusiastically, tolerate life’s frustrations more easily
 Perceptions of situations are critical
 Happy people: more sociable, flexible, creative
 Unhappy people: self-focused, socially withdrawn, antagonistic
 Tips to achieving happiness:
o What we choose to focus on largely determines our level of happiness
o Mentally reframe events or activities that create unhappiness
o Seek happiness in relationships
2. Embrace Optimism
 Optimistic thoughts give rise to positive attitudes and effective interpersonal relationships
 Others tend to feel your energy and mirror your behavior
 Avoid pessimism, which can lead to cynicism
3. Think for Yourself
 Avoid “groupthink”
 Differentiate between personal and professional relationships with coworkers
4. Keep an Open Mind
 Attitudes may persist in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary
 Expose yourself to experiences and information beyond what you have been socialized to believe
 New information and experiences can be a valuable growth experience

HELPING OTHERS CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES

1. Change the conditions that precede the behavior
 When employees feel prepared, they can be more effective
2. Change the consequences that follow the behavior
 When the consequences are positive, expect the behavior to be repeated
 When the consequences are negative, expect the behavior to decline or stop

Organizations’ Efforts toward Improving Employees’ Attitudes

 Positive attitudes improve job performance and productivity
 Organizations realize employees’ attitudes and performance cannot be separated
 Workers’ attitudes are affected by
o Mutual respect, interesting work, recognition for work well done, and skill development

Professional presence
 Dynamic blend of poise, self-confidence, control, & style
 To be able to command respect in any situation
 To project confidence that others can quickly perceive

Professional brand
 Attributes & image you wish to portray to others when they think of you

First impression
 Lasting, first step in building a long-term relationship

SECRET TO MAKING A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

1. Social generosity: helping others feel good about themselves
2. Putting others’ needs & feelings before your own

THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

1. The Primacy Effect
 Tendency to form and retain impressions quickly at the time of initial meeting
 Initial information tends to carry more weight than information received later
 Later information is either ignored or reinterpreted based on initial framework
  First impressions represent 100% of what they know about you at that point
2. The First Few Seconds
 We would like to think our decision-making is the result of rational thinking, but it is often irrational
 We make decisions subconsciously in a split second
3. Understanding Perception
 Initial impressions are made up of assumptions and facts; people tend to rely more heavily on assumptions
 The briefer the encounter, the greater the chance for misinformation
4. Cultural Influences
 Stereotypes of entire groups are often formed during our early years
 Lead us to have impressions of people before we even meet them
 We need to realize that the Korean shopkeeper is being polite, not hostile, when he puts change on the counter
and not in your hand
 Some Asian students do not speak up in class out of respect for the teacher, not boredom

Image
 Used to describe how other people feel about you
 Your behaviors and appearance communicate a mental picture that others observe and remember
 Tool that can reveal your inherent qualities, competence, attitude, and leadership potential
 Invest the time and energy to refine and enhance your personal image

MAJOR FACTORS THAT FORM YOUR IMAGE

Surface language
 Pattern of immediate impressions conveyed by appearance

Rebranding your image

 Basic appearance/wardrobe guidelines:
o If you want the job, look the part
o If you want the promotion, you have to look promotable
o If you want respect, dress as well as or better than your industry standards

Selecting Your Career Apparel

 Special uniforms for particular jobs
 Project an image of consistent quality, good service, uniqueness
 In other professions, a certain general type of career apparel is expected
 Different clothing & accessories considered inappropriate by coworkers & customers

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF CLOTHING FOR WORK

1. Products and services offered
 More or less dictate a certain type of dress
 A receptionist employed by a well-established law firm wear clothing that is conservative, modest, and in good
taste
2. Type of person served
 First impressions created by dress and grooming are greatly influenced by unconscious expectations
 We form mental images of the apparel common to each of these occupations
 When we encounter someone whose appearance does not conform to our past experiences, we often feel
uncomfortable
3. Desired image projected by the organization
 Some companies establish dress codes that help shape the image they project to the public
 Walt Disney Company maintains a strict dress and grooming code for all its theme-park employees

Business casual
 Movement toward greater comfort and individuality (usually does not include frayed jeans, T-shirts, etc.)
 Wear dressier business clothing when meeting with customers or clients
 Respect the boundary between work and leisure clothing
 Not all trends should be adopted
 Wear clothing that is clean, is neat, and fits well
 Be discreet with jewelry, perfume, and cologne

Facial expression
 After your overall appearance, the most visible part of you
 Provides cues for initial interactions & clues by which others read your mood & personality
  Strongly influence people’s reactions
o Can quickly trigger a positive or negative reaction from those you meet
o Being good looking is not as important as your ability to communicate positive impressions with a
pleasant smile and eye contact

Entrance and poise

 The way you enter an office or business meeting can influence the image you project
o A nervous or apologetic entrance may ruin your chances of getting a job, closing a sale, or getting the
raise you have earned
 Project self-confidence with strong stride, a friendly smile, good posture, a genuine sense of energy

Voice quality and speech habits

 Tone of voice
 Rate of speech (tempo)
o Rapid speech patterns can be very irritating to people
 Volume
 Ability to pronounce words clearly (diction)
 Speech habits
o Avoid teen speak, regional lingo, skipping consonants
 Be aware of your voice
o Record yourself; target areas for improvement

Handshake
 Most typical physical contact when two people first meet
 Can communicate warmth, genuine concern, & strength or aloofness, indifference, & weakness
 For a positive handshake:
o Offer a firm but not viselike grip
o Maintain eye contact & smile

How Online Presence Influences Your Personal Brand

 Building a personal brand for yourself is a major part of a job search strategy
 Decide what makes you special in the job market
 Consider how you might use various Internet technologies & tools

Building and Managing Your Personal Brand

 Use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & other social media networks > personal brand
 One of the best ways to establish and build your online brand is to write a blog
o Share your perspective on topics you find interesting and care about to promote your brand to future
employers
 Social media provides many ways to build your personal brand, but use it with great care
o Everything you say or do online adds or detracts from your personal brand; be wary of what your friends
and complete strangers post about you

Make Your Social Media Profile Consistent with Your Brand

 Photo should look professional
o Capture smile, warmth and energy
 Online profiles need to reflect the image you wish to portray, in content and design
o What you wear should be consistent with the profession that you are in or hope to join
 Ask yourself: Is this the image I want my future employer to see?
o It’s likely that an H R department will review your social media profile during a reference check
 Keep your profiles/website current by posting regularly, commenting on news, and sharing links to informative
articles

Social Media Monitoring

 Be just as diligent about monitoring your personal brand as you are creating & building it
 Social media monitoring market = social reputation monitoring services
 Use Google Alerts to track mentions of your name

Etiquette
 Set of traditions based on kindness, efficiency, and logic

Dining Etiquette
 Pay attention to table manners
 Don’t begin eating until the people around you have been served;
 however, if you have not yet been served, encourage others to begin
 Order food that is easily controlled, not messy
Meeting Etiquette
 Start and end positively and on time
 Speak only to the topic(s)
 Summarize and recap responsibilities

Smartphone Etiquette
 Don’t place your phone on the table during meetings
 Talk in a normal speaking voice
 Don’t text during meetings or conversations
 If necessary, respectfully request that others not constantly text or call you

Conversational Etiquette
 Don’t be too informal, too soon
 Avoid obscene language

Networking Etiquette
 Introduce yourself and what you do
 Avoid negative talk about your current job or your life
 Follow up with contacts
 Send a written thank-you note to anyone helpful to you

Online Recruiting World

 Online recruiting is trying to replicate word-of-mouth networking
 Job board sites: CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, Facebook, indeed, Jobvite, and [Link]

Incivility—The Ultimate Career Killer

 Civility is a form of social generosity
 Refilling the copier paper tray, saying “Please” and “Thank you,” opening doors for others

Professional Presence at the Job Interview

 Prepare by acquiring background information on the employer
 Dress conservatively
 Be on time and attentive
o You will lose credibility if you are late or if you fail to give your full attention during the interview
 Don’t even think about peeking at your phone

Information age
 Rapid advances in tech-based communication
 Faster and more frequent communication
 Information glut
 The battle for our attention

Impersonal communication
 One-way process
 Limited opportunity to clarify
 Memos, voice mail, message boards

Interpersonal communication
 Two-way process
 Feedback necessary
 Meetings, phone calls, classes

SIMPLE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

MORE COMPLEX COMMUNICATION PROCESS

SENDER FILTERS
1. Semantics
 Study of the relationship between words and their meanings
 Abstract terms are subject to more diverse interpretation of meaning
 Job satisfaction has more possible interpretations than envelope
2. Emotions
 People often fail to understand messages when their thoughts are influenced by emotion
3. Language/Culture
 Language and Cultural Barriers
o Globalization & workplace diversity > thoughtful when communicating with multi-lingual people
o Values, expressions, & beliefs influence the way we interpret verbal & nonverbal messages
 Cultural intelligence
o Can be developed by learning communication methods appropriate to different cultures
4. Attitudes
 Negative or positive attitudes about another’s voice, accent, topic, delivery, gestures, or appearance can create
resistance to or bias toward a message
5. Role expectations
 People may discount a message based on the speaker’s role
 Use of “position power” can influence communication
6. Gender-specific focus
 Gender roles learned throughout childhood influence men and women to communicate and value conversation
differently
7. Nonverbal messages
 Messages communicated without words through posture, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, personal
space, and voice tone
 When two people communicate, nonverbal messages convey more than verbal messages

NONVERBAL MESSAGES
1. Eye Contact
 A direct stare is considered impolite in many cultures
 Avoiding eye contact is often perceived as indifferent or dishonest in the U.S., but avoiding eye contact is
considered a sign of respect in some East Asian and African cultures
 As a general rule in North America, when you are communicating in a business setting, your eyes should meet
the other person’s about 60 to 70 percent of the time
2. Facial Expressions
 Often help us identify the inner feelings of others
 Many people attempt to intentionally manipulate their facial expressions
 Some facial expressions are considered “culturally universal” because, across the globe, humans use the same
muscles to produce them
 Most people can detect the difference between genuine and faked expressions
3. Gestures
 Give information to others about how you are reacting to them and to situations
 Some cultures value gesturing more than others
 Be careful: Gestures are not culturally universal!
4. Posture
 Posture during communication affects the sender and receiver physiologically, psychologically, and behaviorally
 Effective posture = non-slouching, open, alert
5. Personal Space
 How closely we stand to others influences how comfortable they are with us
 Consider these zones:
o Intimate distance, personal distance, and social distance

Sender and receiver

 Share equal responsibility in good communication

HOW TO IMPROVE PERSONAL COMMUNCATION

1. Send Clear Messages
 Use clear, concise language: Avoid slang, jargon, or industry-specific language a receiver might not understand
 Use repetition: Send an e-mail and phone
 Ask questions: Obtain or supply clarification
 Use appropriate timing: Be aware of others’ schedules and workload
 Consider the receiver’s preferences: Some prefer email, others prefer face-to-face or phone calls
2. Develop Effective Listening Skills
 Active Listening: Maintaining intense involvement in & concentration on what one is hearing & seeing
 Critical Listening: Listening while using critical thinking to analyze message content & source
 Empathic Listening: Listening with the intent of understanding how the other person feels
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
1. Horizontal: Official info travels between people of the same level of authority
2. Vertical: Official info travels up and down through all levels of authority
3. Cross-functional: Spans across all levels/areas

Improving Upward Communication

 Encourage upward communication of feelings and ideas from employees to managers
 Managers must demonstrate desire to listen to their subordinates

Informal communication channels

 The grapevine
 Carry unofficial information in many directions

Enterprise Social Networks

 Internal social networks used by many large organizations
 Benefits:
o Increased productivity, transparency, efficiency
o Improved collaboration, customer service
o Increased job satisfaction
o Innovation
o Improved relationships among employees

Communicating in a digital world

 Increased use of teleconferencing, e-mail, voice mail, and other forms of technology create advantages and
challenges in communicating with and relating to others

FACTORS THAT DRIVE COMMUNICATION CHANGES

1. Growth of the virtual office
2. Cost effectiveness
3. Time effectiveness
4. Globalization

Social media
 Online virtual communities & networks that enable people to share information
 Consumers trust other consumers’ comments over marketing messages
 Employees must write clearly, obey etiquette rules, & be aware of privacy & security issues

Mobile communication
 Tailor messages to the receiver & the situation
 Never use company e-mail or social media accounts for posting personal messages on social networks!
 Follow B Y O D (bring your own device) policies
 Think before you post/send: Careless comments can have huge consequences

VOICE MAIL ETIQUETTE/TIP TO AVOID PHONE TAG

 For your voice mail:
o Professional: full name, when to expect return call
o Explain how to reach “live” person for urgent calls
 When leaving voice mail:
o State first and last name
o Briefly explain information or action needed
o Provide contact number
o Indicate best time to reach you

E-mail
 Know your company’s policies
 Use an appropriate e-mail address
 Create a descriptive subject line
 Compose clear, concise messages
o S E N D = simple, effective, necessary, done (getting something done)
 Recognize e-mail limitations
o No rapport building
o Messages can be misconstrued without social cues

Blogs
 Discussion or information site focused on certain topics
 Follow established guidelines and protocols when writing a blog for or with encouragement from an employer