3

Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

3.1 Contrast the three components of an attitude.
3.2 Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.
3.3 Compare the major job attitudes.
3.4 Identify the two approaches for measuring job satisfaction.
3.5 Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.
3.6 Identify three outcomes of job satisfaction.
3.7 Identify four employee responses to job dissatisfaction.

ATTITUDES
Attitudes are evaluative statements—either favorable or unfavorable—about objects, Attitudes
people, or events. They reflect how we feel about something. When you say, “I like my Evaluative ­statements
or judgments
job,” you are expressing your attitude about your work.
­concerning objects,
Attitudes are complex. Let us say that you are interested in becoming an accoun- people, or events.
tant. If you were to ask accountants and auditors their attitudes toward their job, you may
get simple responses (e.g., “No, I hate my work,” “Being an accountant is fantastic!”
etc.), but the underlying reasons are likely more complicated. For example, accountants
who perceive that their jobs have challenges, great benefits, and supportive management
are much more likely to be happier with their jobs.1 As we will see in this chapter, how
satisfied you are with what you do, how committed you are to your employer, and other
attitudes are major considerations in the workplace. If you like your job, you are more
willing to stay, do your work well, and even go above-and-beyond to make sure the work
gets done. To fully understand attitudes, we must consider their fundamental properties Cognitive component
or components. The opinion or belief
Typically, researchers assume attitudes have three components: cognition, affect, segment of an attitude.
and behavior.2 The statement “My pay is low” is a cognitive component of an attitude—
Affective component
an opinion or belief about the attitude target (e.g., your supervisor). It sets the stage for The emotional or
the more critical part of an attitude—its affective component. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an
feeling segment of an attitude reflected in the statement “I am angry over how little I’m attitude.

63

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 64 Part 1 • Understanding Yourself and Others

EXHIBIT 3-1

Cognition, affect, and behavior are closely related.

The Components Cognitive 5 evaluation
My supervisor gave a promotion
of an Attitude
to a coworker who deserved it
less than I do. My supervisor is unfair.

Negative
Affective 5 feeling attitude
I dislike my supervisor! toward
supervisor

Behavioral 5 action
I’m looking for other work; I’ve
complained about my supervisor
to anyone who would listen.

Behavioral paid.” Affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component of an attitude
­component describes an intention to behave a certain way toward someone or something—as in,
An intention to
behave in a certain
“I’m going to look for another job that pays better.”
way toward someone Viewing attitudes in this way helps us understand their complexity and the
or something. potential relationship between attitudes and behavior. Exhibit 3-1 illustrates how the
three components of an attitude are related. Let us imagine that you did not get a pro-
motion you thought you deserved. Your attitude toward your supervisor is illustrated
as follows: You thought you deserved the promotion (cognition); you strongly dis-
like your supervisor (affect); and you have complained and taken action, or otherwise
intend to (behavior).
In organizations, attitudes are important for their behavioral component. If an
accountant believes, for example, that they have no attachment to their firm and could get
better opportunities with other firms, this belief could lead to whether they stay or leave
their jobs. Understanding how this commitment is formed and how it might be changed
is important to managers who want to reduce turnover. Interestingly, some research from
the Netherlands suggests that the cognitive component is most important for predict-
ing who will become committed to the organization (e.g., newcomers in an onboarding
program) or uncommitted (e.g., unattached accountants considering leaving for better
positions).3

ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

Perhaps it is easy to think of how attitudes can cause people to behave in certain ways.
Using our prior examples, accountants who are not satisfied with their jobs or committed
to their organizations may start looking for work elsewhere. Research, in general, sup-
ports the idea that attitudes predict future behavior.4

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 Chapter 3 • Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 65

Several powerful characteristics change the nature of the attitudes–behavior rela-

BMW
tionship: the importance of the attitude, its correspondence to behavior, its accessibility, Amid the stress
the presence of social pressures, and whether a person has direct experience with the atti- and uncertainty
tude.5 Important attitudes reflect our fundamental values, self-interest, or identification of the COVID-19
with individuals or groups we value. These attitudes tend to show a strong relationship pandemic, the
German automotive
to our behavior. However, discrepancies between attitudes and behaviors tend to occur
giant recognized
when social pressures to behave in certain ways hold exceptional power, as in most orga- the strategic
nizations. You are more likely to remember attitudes you frequently express, and attitudes importance of
that our memories can easily access are more likely to predict our behavior. The attitude– maintaining a
behavior relationship is also likely to be much stronger if an attitude refers to something satisfied workforce,
not only to ensure
with which we have direct personal experience.
smooth and
Advancements in machine learning (see Chapter 1: What Is Organizational uninterrupted work
Behavior?) have enabled researchers to understand the attitude–behavior relationship operations but
even further. For example, using a machine learning algorithm enabled researchers in one also to accelerate
study of hospital nurses to determine that their job attitudes were related to performance their digitalization
strategy. According
in certain conditions, such as when their job responsibilities were clearly defined.6
to BMW Group
However, there are some instances in which behavior might predict future attitudes. Asia’s managing
Did you ever notice how people change what they say so that it does not contradict what director Christopher
they do? For example, when women come forward to call out sexual harassment in their Wehner, many of
jobs, even with clear evidence that the behavior occurred, management and harassers BMW workers
were forced to
alike will often trivialize, minimize, ignore, or even aggressively justify their behavior.7
work from home
Cases of attitude following behavior illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance,8 con- in the light of the
tradictions individuals might perceive between their attitudes and their behavior. pandemic. A survey
People seek consistency among their attitudes, and between their attitudes and their conducted by
behavior.9 Any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable, and individuals will therefore BMW Asia found
that the majority of
attempt to reduce it. When there is dissonance, people will alter either their attitudes or
BMW employees
their behaviors, or they will develop a rationalization for the discrepancy. For example, working from home
university faculty members who were on strike found it difficult to accept their union’s miss the personal
recommendation to accept the university’s offer and return to work; instead, they sought interactions they
out additional information to justify their belief that the offer was unfair, instead of used to have with
their colleagues at
accepting the offer outright.10
work. To maintain
No individual can avoid dissonance. You know texting or talking on the phone while their satisfaction
driving is unsafe (there is research to prove it, do not try to justify your attitude or reduce at work, BMW
your dissonance to get you out of this one!),11 but you do it anyway and hope nothing bad responded
happens. The desire to reduce dissonance depends on three factors, including the impor- by actively
encouraging remote
tance of the elements creating dissonance and the degree of influence we believe we
employees to
have over those elements.12 Individuals are more motivated to reduce dissonance when connect with each
the attitudes are important or when they believe the dissonance is due to something they other via phone or
can control. The third factor is the rewards of dissonance; high rewards accompanying video conference as
dissonance tend to reduce tension inherent in the dissonance (e.g., dissonance is less dis- often as possible.13
tressing if accompanied by something good, such as a higher pay raise than expected).14
Cognitive
dissonance
JOB ATTITUDES Any incompatibil-
ity between two or
We have thousands of attitudes, but organizational behavior (OB) focuses on a very more attitudes or
limited number that form positive or negative evaluations employees hold about their between behavior and
attitudes.

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 66 Part 1 • Understanding Yourself and Others

Organizational work. Research suggests that across all job attitudes, organizational identification,
­identification or the extent to which employees define themselves by the same characteristics
The extent to which
employees define
that define one’s organization, forms a basis for which attitudes and behaviors
themselves by the are engendered.15 A review of hundreds of job attitude–behavior studies found that
same ­characteristics organizational identification strongly predicted job attitude formation across all
that define one’s types.16 Furthermore, drawing on artificial intelligence theory, some researchers have
­organization, proposed that humans form attitudes similarly to machines in order to make predic-
­forming the basis for
which attitudes are
tions based on continuously incoming data. For example, employees may experience
­engendered. event (e.g., reduced pay), after event (e.g., downsizing), after event (e.g., cancelled
bonuses)—from such events, employees begin to “learn” that the organization may
not value paying its employees well, begin to form negative attitudes toward the orga-
nization, and begin to dis-identify.17
Much of the research has looked at three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involve-
ment, and organizational commitment.18 Other important attitudes include perceived
Job satisfaction
organizational support and employee engagement.19 In the following section, we will
A positive feeling
about one’s job describe these attitudes.
resulting from an
evaluation of its Job Satisfaction and Job Involvement
characteristics.
When people speak of employee attitudes, they usually mean job satisfaction, a positive
Job involvement feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. A person with high
The degree to which
a person identifies
job satisfaction holds positive feelings about the work, while a person with low satisfac-
with a job, actively tion holds negative feelings. Because job satisfaction is one of the most important atti-
participates in it, and tudes, we will review this attitude in detail later.
considers perfor- Related to job satisfaction is job involvement, the degree to which people psy-
mance important to chologically identify with their jobs and consider their perceived performance levels
their ­self-worth.
important to their self-worth.20 Employees with high job involvement strongly identify
with and care about the kind of work they do; as such, they tend to be more satisfied with
Psychological their jobs.21
­empowerment Another closely related concept is psychological empowerment, or employees’
Employees’ belief in beliefs regarding the degree to which they influence their work environment, their
the degree to which
they affect their work
competencies, the meaningfulness of their job, and their perceived autonomy.22
environment, their The more “empowered” employees are, the more likely they are to perform
competence, the well, engage in organizational citizenship behaviors (see Chapter 1: What Is
meaningfulness of Organizational Behavior?), be creative, and the less likely they are to intend to leave
their job, and their the organization.23
perceived autonomy
in their work.
Organizational Commitment

Organizational An employee with strong organizational commitment identifies with their organization
commitment and its goals and wishes to remain a member. Emotional attachment to an organization
The degree to which and belief in its values is the gold standard for employee commitment.24
an employee identi- Employees who are committed will be less likely to engage in work withdrawal,
fies with a particular
even if they are dissatisfied, because they have a sense of organizational loyalty or attach-
organization and its
goals and wishes to ment, they may not have other options, or it may be difficult for them to leave.25 Even if
maintain membership employees are not currently happy with their work, they may decide to continue with the
in the organization. organization if they are committed enough.

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 Chapter 3 • Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 67

Perceived Organizational Support Perceived

­organizational
Perceived organizational support (POS) is the degree to which employees believe the ­support (POS)
organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. People perceive The degree to which
employees believe an
their organizations as supportive when rewards are deemed fair, when employees have a
organization values
voice in decisions, and when they see their supervisors as supportive.26 their contribution
POS is a predictor of employment outcomes, but there are some cultural influ- and cares about their
ences.27 POS is important in countries where the power distance, the degree to which ­well-being.
people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed
Power distance
unequally, is lower. In low power-distance countries like the United States, people are A national cul-
more likely to view work as an exchange than as a moral obligation, so employees look ture attribute that
for reasons to feel supported by their organizations. In high power-distance countries like describes the extent
China, employee POS perceptions are not as deeply based on employer demonstrations to which a society
accepts that power
of fairness, support, and encouragement.
in institutions and
The picture is even more complicated considering how multinational corporations organizations is dis-
often send people to work for extended periods of time at locations far away from home. tributed unequally.
In these instances, corporations can extend much-needed support to avoid failed inter-
national assignments, which can be costly; they can provide logistical support (e.g., find
housing, secure transportation), cultural support (e.g., provide training with how to com-
municate effectively in the new country), or relationship support (e.g., programs to help
these employees make friends and build a social support system).28

Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is the degree of enthusiasm an employee feels for the job.29 Employee
Employee engagement, in many ways, represents a combination of attitudes (e.g., sat- engagement
isfaction and commitment) but exceeds these, representing something like “devotion” or The degree of
­enthusiasm an
giving your “heart and soul” to your work.30 Highly engaged employees have a passion employee feels for
for their work and feel a deep connection to their companies; disengaged employees the job.
have essentially checked out, putting time but not energy or attention into their work.
Engagement becomes a real concern for most organizations because disengaged
employees cost organizations money—one study suggests that organizations can lose
up to $550 billion annually in lost productivity.31 Employee engagement is related to job
engagement, which we discuss in detail in the chapter on motivation concepts.
Engagement levels affect many organizational outcomes. Reviews of the research
on employee engagement suggest that employee engagement is moderately related to
employee and organizational performance. A study of nearly 8,000 business units in thirty-
six companies found that units whose employees reported high-average levels of engage-
ment achieved higher levels of customer satisfaction, were more productive, brought in
higher profits, and experienced lower levels of turnover and accidents than at other business
units.32 Molson Coors, for example, found engaged employees were five times less likely
to have safety incidents, and when an accident did occur, it was much less serious and less
costly for an engaged employee than for a disengaged one ($63 per incident versus $392).
Caterpillar set out to increase employee engagement and recorded a resulting 80 percent
drop in grievances and a 34 percent increase in highly satisfied customers.33
There is some distinctiveness among attitudes, but they overlap greatly for various rea-
sons, including the employee’s personality. Generally, if you know someone’s level of job

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 68 Part 1 • Understanding Yourself and Others

satisfaction, you know most of what you need to know about how that person sees the organi-
zation. Next, we will consider the implications of job satisfaction and then job dissatisfaction.

JOB SATISFACTION
We have already discussed job satisfaction briefly. We know that it is one of the most
important job attitudes, and that it predicts several important business outcomes. Now let
us dissect the concept more carefully. If I am a manager and I want to get a better idea of
how satisfied the people in my organization are, how do I measure job satisfaction? How
satisfied are people with their jobs, in general? You may be surprised with some of the
answers to these questions below.

How Do I Measure Job Satisfaction?

Two approaches are popular. The single global rating is a response to one question, such
as “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?” Respondents circle a
number between one and five on a scale from “highly satisfied” to “highly dissatisfied.”
The second method, the summation of job facets, is more sophisticated. It identifies key
elements in a job, such as the type of work, skills needed, supervision, present pay, pro-
motion opportunities, culture, and relationships with coworkers. Respondents rate each
of these on a standardized scale (e.g., from one to five, dissatisfied to satisfied), and these
ratings are added to create an overall job satisfaction score.
Is one of these approaches superior? Intuitively, summing up responses to sev-
eral job factors seems likely to achieve a more accurate evaluation of job satisfaction.
Research, however, does not entirely support the intuition.34 This is one of those rare
instances in which simplicity seems to work as well as complexity, making one method
essentially as valid as the other. Both methods can be helpful. The single global rating
method is not very time consuming, while the summation of job facets helps managers
zero in on problems and deal with them faster and more accurately.

How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?

Are most people satisfied with their jobs? In the 2017 World Happiness Report, peo-
ple in 160 countries worldwide (and representing 98 percent of the world’s popula-
tion) were surveyed; the majority of employees in 92.5 percent of those countries
were satisfied with their jobs.35 Job satisfaction levels can remain quite consistent
over time. For instance, average job satisfaction levels in the United States were con-
sistently high from 1972 to 2006.36 However, economic conditions tend to influence
job satisfaction rates. In late 2007, the economic contraction precipitated a drop-off in
job satisfaction; the lowest point was in 2010, when only 42.6 percent of U.S. work-
ers reported satisfaction with their jobs.37 Approximately 51 percent of U.S. workers
reported satisfaction with their jobs in 2017,38 but the rebound was still far off the
1987 level of 61.1 percent.39
The facets of job satisfaction levels can vary widely. As shown in Exhibit 3-2, people
have typically been more satisfied with their jobs overall, the work itself, and their super-
visors and coworkers than they have been with their pay and promotion opportunities.
Furthermore, one review of dozens of studies with more than 750,000 participants sug-
gests that there are slight racial differences: White employees tend to be slightly more satisfied

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 Chapter 3 • Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 69

100 EXHIBIT 3-2

Average Job
90
Satisfaction
80 Levels by Facet
Source: Society for
70 Human Resource
Management,
60
Percentage

“2017 Employee
Job Satisfaction
50 and Engage-
ment: The Doors
40 of Opportunity
are Open,” April
30 24, 2017, https://
[Link]
20 /hr-today/trends
-and-forecasting
10 /research-and
-surveys/pages/2017
0 -job-satisfaction
Work Itself Pay Promotion Supervision Coworkers Overall -and-engagement
-doors-of-opportu
[Link]

EXHIBIT 3-3
93.7
93.8

90.5
90.4
89.2

100
88.1
87.4
86.0

85.6
85.7

85.5
85.3

Average Levels
82.4

90
of Employee Job
74.9
74.6
74.0
74.0
73.3
71.5
71.4
80
Satisfaction by
70
Country
Percentage

60
Source: J-E. De
50
Neve and G. Ward,
40 “Happiness at
30 Work,” in J. Helli-
20 well, R. Layard,
and J. Sachs (Eds.),
10
World Happiness
0 Report (World
Happiness Report
Tu ico
Sa F om

h an
d Sp a
ng in
er s

er a

i A nce

Br a

M ica

So Ja ia

do ea
sia

C ia
na
str y

er y

Ru y
C land

of I il
itz nd

G nad

bi
Au an

Am tal

e
Ki a

az
al

ss

d
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In or
rk

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APPENDIX, 2017).
Sw rla

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m

K
a
he
et
N

ite

es
Un

at
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ite
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than black employees in general, especially in more complex jobs.40 Regarding global differ-
ences in job satisfaction, Exhibit 3-3 provides results from the 2017 World Happiness Report
and, more specifically, from the twenty countries with the largest economies in the world.
In these countries, over 70 percent of employees are satisfied with their jobs. It is difficult to
discern all the factors influencing job satisfaction worldwide but exploring how businesses
consider and address job satisfaction worldwide may provide an answer.

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 70 Part 1 • Understanding Yourself and Others

WHAT CAUSES JOB SATISFACTION?

Think about the best job you have ever had. What made it great? The reasons can differ
greatly. Let us consider some characteristics that likely influence job satisfaction, starting
with job conditions.

Job Conditions
Generally, interesting jobs that provide training, variety, independence, and control sat-
isfy most employees. Interdependence, feedback, social support, and positive interac-
tions with coworkers and even customers are also strongly related to job satisfaction, even
after accounting for characteristics of the work itself.41 It goes without saying that toxic
workplace environments lead to dissatisfied employees. For example, if you experience
workplace racial discrimination, you are likely to become dissatisfied (and some research
suggests, might even experience a decline in physical and psychological health).42
As you may have guessed, managers also play a big role in employees’ job sat-
isfaction. One review of nearly 70,000 employees from twenty-three countries found
that the quality of exchange between the leaders and their employees is more strongly
related to job satisfaction in more individualistic (e.g., Western) cultures than it is in more
collectivistic (e.g., Asian) cultures.43 Furthermore, “fitting in” matters for job attitudes,
worldwide. Another review of over one hundred studies in East Asia, Europe, and North
America suggests that fitting in with your organization and job matters more in North
America, whereas fitting in with your team or supervisor matters more in East Asia.44
Thus, job conditions—especially the intrinsic nature of the work itself, social interac-
tions, and supervision—are important predictors of job satisfaction.45 Managers would do
well to make sure the job conditions are satisfying enough to make employees happy. For
example, Bain & Company is listed as the number one best place to work in 2019, accord-
ing to Glassdoor; one employee re-emphasizes the value of social support, noting that “at
a local level, my colleagues are at once my mentors, confidantes, and closest friends.”46

Personality
As important as job conditions are to job satisfaction, personality also plays an important
Core self-evaluation role.47 People who have positive core self-evaluations (CSEs; see the chapter on
(CSE) personality and values for further discussion)—who believe in their inner worth and basic
Believing in one’s competence—are more satisfied with their jobs than people with negative CSEs. For those
inner worth and basic
competence.
in collectivist cultures, those with high CSEs may realize particularly high job satisfaction.48

Pay
You have probably noticed that pay comes up often when people discuss job satisfaction.
Pay does correlate with job satisfaction and overall happiness for many people, but the
effect can be smaller once an individual reaches a standard level of comfortable living.49
As a corollary, money does motivate people, as we discover in the chapter on motivation
applications. But what motivates us is not necessarily the same as what makes us happy.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Would you be as happy to work for an organization with a stated social welfare mis-
sion as you would for an organization without one? An organization’s commitment to

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 Chapter 3 • Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 71

corporate social responsibility (CSR), or its self-regulated actions to benefit society Corporate social
or the environment beyond what is required by law, increasingly affects employee job responsibility (CSR)
An organization’s
satisfaction. Organizations practice CSR through environmental sustainability initiatives, ­self-regulated actions
nonprofit work, and charitable giving. to benefit society
CSR is good for the planet and good for people. Employees whose personal values or the environment
fit with the organization’s CSR mission are often more satisfied. In fact, of fifty-nine beyond what is
large and small organizations recently surveyed, 86 percent reported they have happier required by law.
employees as a result of their CSR programs.50
“The next generation of employees is seeking out employers that are focused on the
triple bottom line: people, planet, and revenue,” said Susan Cooney, founder of philanthropy
firm Givelocity.51 CSR allows workers to serve a higher purpose or contribute to a mission.
People who view their work as part of a higher purpose often realize higher job satisfaction.52
However, an organization’s CSR efforts must be well governed, and its initiatives must be
sustainable for long-term job satisfaction benefits.53
In sum, CSR is a needed, positive trend of accountability and serving. It can also
contribute significantly to increased employee job satisfaction when managed well.

OUTCOMES OF JOB SATISFACTION

Having discussed some of the causes of job satisfaction, we now turn to some specific
outcomes.

Job Performance
As several studies have concluded, happy workers are more likely to be productive
workers. Some researchers used to believe the relationship between job satisfaction
and job performance was a myth, but a review of 300 studies suggested the correla-
tion is quite robust.54 Individuals with higher job satisfaction perform better, and
organizations with more satisfied employees tend to be more effective than those
with fewer.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

It seems logical that job satisfaction should be a major determinant of an employee’s orga-
nizational citizenship behavior (known as OCB or citizenship behavior; see Chapter 1:
What Is Organizational Behavior?).55 Evidence suggests job satisfaction is moderately
correlated with OCB; people who are more satisfied with their jobs are more likely to
engage in citizenship behavior.56 Why does job satisfaction lead to OCB? One reason
is trust. Research in eighteen countries suggests that managers reciprocate employees’
OCBs with trusting behaviors of their own.57 Individuals who feel their coworkers support
them are also more likely to engage in helpful behaviors than those who have antagonistic
coworker relationships.58

Customer Satisfaction
Because service organization managers should be concerned with pleasing customers,
it is reasonable to ask whether employee satisfaction is related to positive customer out-
comes. For employees who have regular customer contact, the answer appears to be yes.
Satisfied employees appear to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.59

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 72 Part 1 • Understanding Yourself and Others

Several companies are acting on this evidence. Online shoe retailer Zappos
is so committed to finding customer service employees who are satisfied with
the job that it offers a $2,000 bribe to quit the company after training, figuring the
least satisfied will take the cash and go.60 Zappos employees are empowered to
“create fun and a little weirdness” to ensure that customers are satisfied, and it
works: Of the company’s more than twenty-four million customers, 75 percent are
repeat buyers. For Zappos, employee satisfaction has a direct effect on customer
satisfaction.

Life Satisfaction
Until now, we have treated job satisfaction as if it were separate from life satisfaction, but
they may be more related than you think, with evidence suggesting that they mutually
influence one another.61 Furthermore, life satisfaction decreases when people become
unemployed, according to research in Germany, and not just because of the loss of
income.62 For most individuals, work is an important part of life, and therefore it makes
sense that our overall happiness depends in no small part on our happiness in our work
(our job satisfaction).

THE IMPACT OF JOB DISSATISFACTION

What happens when employees dislike their jobs? One theoretical model—the exit–
voice–loyalty–neglect framework—is helpful for understanding the consequences of dis-
satisfaction. The framework’s four responses differ along two dimensions: constructive/
destructive and active/passive. The responses are as follows:63
Exit • Exit. The exit response directs behavior toward leaving the organization, including
Dissatisfaction looking for a new position or resigning. To measure the effects of this response to
expressed through
dissatisfaction, researchers study individual terminations and collective turnover—
behavior directed
toward leaving the the total loss to the organization of employee knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
organization. characteristics.64
• Voice. The voice response includes actively and constructively attempting to im-
Voice prove conditions, including suggesting improvements, discussing problems with
Dissatisfaction superiors, and undertaking union activity.
expressed through
active and construc-
• Loyalty. The loyalty response means passively but optimistically waiting for
tive attempts to conditions to improve, including speaking up for the organization in the face of
improve conditions. external criticism and trusting the organization and its management to “do the right
thing.”
Loyalty • Neglect. The neglect response passively allows conditions to worsen and includes
Dissatisfaction chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and an increased error rate.
expressed by pas-
sively waiting for Exit and neglect behaviors are linked to performance variables such as pro-
conditions to improve. ductivity, absenteeism, and turnover. But this model expands employee responses to
include voice and loyalty—constructive behaviors that allow individuals to tolerate
Neglect unpleasant situations or improve working conditions. Furthermore, some researchers
Dissatisfaction
expressed through
have suggested the framework be expanded to include retaliatory responses, many of
allowing conditions which are described in the next section.65 As helpful as this framework is, it is quite
to worsen. general.

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 Chapter 3 • Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 73

Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB)

Substance abuse, stealing at work, undue socializing, gossiping, absenteeism, and tardiness are
examples of behaviors that are destructive to organizations. They are indicators of a broader
syndrome called counterproductive work behavior (CWB), also termed deviant behavior Counterproductive
in the workplace, or simply employee withdrawal (see Chapter 1: What Is Organizational work behavior
(CWB)
Behavior?).66 Like other behaviors we have discussed, CWB does not just happen—the
Actions that actively
behaviors often follow negative and sometimes long-standing attitudes. Therefore, if we can damage the orga-
identify the predictors of CWB, we may lessen the probability of its effects. nization, including
Generally, job dissatisfaction predicts CWB.67 People who are not satisfied with their stealing, behaving
work become frustrated, which lowers their performance68 and makes them more likely aggressively toward
co-workers, or being
to commit CWB.69 One important point about CWB is that dissatisfied employees often
late or absent.
choose one or more specific behaviors due to idiosyncratic factors. One worker might quit.
Another might use work time to browse Reddit. Another might take work supplies home
for personal use. In short, workers who do not like their jobs “get even” in various ways.
Because those ways can be quite creative, controlling only one behavior with policies and
punishments leaves the root cause untouched. Employers should seek to correct the source
of the problem—the dissatisfaction—rather than try to control the different responses.
As a manager, you can take steps to mitigate CWB. You can poll employee atti-
tudes, for instance, and identify areas for workplace improvement. Furthermore, creating
strong teams, integrating supervisors with them, providing formalized team policies, and
introducing team-based incentives may help lower the CWB “contagion” that lowers the
standards of the group.70

ABSENTEEISM We find that unsatisfied employees tend to be absent more often, but the
relationship is not very strong.71 Generally, when numerous alternative jobs are available,
dissatisfied employees have high absence rates, but when there are few alternatives,
dissatisfied employees have the same (low) rate of absence as satisfied employees.72

TURNOVER The relationship between job satisfaction and turnover is stronger than
between satisfaction and absenteeism.73 Overall, a pattern of lowered job satisfaction
is the best predictor of intent to leave. Turnover has a workplace environment
connection too. If the climate within an employee’s immediate workplace is one of
low job satisfaction leading to turnover, there will be a contagion effect. This suggests
managers should consider the job satisfaction (and turnover) patterns of coworkers
when assigning workers to a new area.74
The satisfaction–turnover relationship is affected by alternative job prospects. If an
employee accepts an unsolicited job offer, job dissatisfaction was less predictive of turnover
because the employee more likely left in response to “pull” (the lure of the other job) than
“push” (the unattractiveness of the current job). Similarly, job dissatisfaction is more likely to
translate into turnover when other employment opportunities are plentiful. Furthermore, when
employees have high “human capital” (high education, high ability), job dissatisfaction is more
likely to translate into turnover because they have, or perceive, many available alternatives.75
Some factors help break the dissatisfaction–turnover relationship. Employees’
embeddedness—connections to the people or groups one is involved with at work—can
help lower the probability of turnover, particularly in collectivist (group-oriented) cul-
tures.76 Embedded employees seem less likely to want to consider alternative job prospects.

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 74 Part 1 • Understanding Yourself and Others

Managers Often “Don’t Get It”

Given the evidence we have just reviewed, it should come as no surprise that job sat-
isfaction can affect the bottom line. One study by a management consulting firm sepa-
rated large organizations into those with high morale (more than 70 percent of employees
expressed overall job satisfaction) and medium or low morale (fewer than 70 percent).
The stock prices of companies in the high-morale group grew 19.4 percent, compared
with 10 percent for the medium- or low-morale group.77 Furthermore, companies listed
within the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” generated 2.3%–3.8% higher
stock returns annually than other firms between 1984 and 2011.78 Despite these results,
many managers are unconcerned about employee job satisfaction.
Others overestimate how satisfied employees are, so they do not think there is a
problem when there is one. For example, in one study of 262 large employers, 86 percent
of senior managers believed their organizations treated employees well, but only 55 per-
cent of employees agreed; another study found 55 percent of managers, compared to only
38 percent of employees, thought morale was good in their organization.79 Regular surveys
can reduce gaps between what managers think employees feel and what they really feel. A
gap in understanding can affect the bottom line in small franchise sites as well as in large
companies. As manager of a KFC restaurant in Houston, Jonathan McDaniel surveyed
the employees every three months. Results led McDaniel to make changes, such as giving
employees greater say about which workdays they had off. McDaniel believed the process
itself was valuable. “They really love giving their opinions,” McDaniel said. “That’s the
most important part of it—that they have a voice and that they’re heard.” Surveys are no
panacea, but if job attitudes are as important as we believe, organizations need to use every
reasonable method find out how they can be improved.80

SUMMARY
Managers should be interested in their employees’ attitudes because attitudes influence
behavior and indicate potential problems. Creating a satisfied workforce is hardly a guar-
antee of successful organizational performance, but evidence strongly suggests managers’
efforts to improve employee attitudes will likely result in positive outcomes, including
greater organizational effectiveness, higher customer satisfaction, and increased profits.

IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS

• Of the major job attitudes—job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational com-

mitment, perceived organizational support, and employee engagement—remember
that an employee’s job satisfaction level is the best single predictor of behavior.
• Pay attention to your employees’ job satisfaction levels as determinants of their
performance, turnover, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaviors.
• Measure employee job attitudes objectively and at regular intervals in order to
determine how employees are reacting to their work.
• To raise employee satisfaction, evaluate the fit between the employee’s work inter-
ests and the intrinsic parts of the job; then create work that is challenging and
interesting to the individual.
• Consider the fact that high pay alone is unlikely to create a satisfying work
environment.

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