The Implications of this Concept

Task A

 

What are “attributions”? Discuss the implications of this concept for work situations.

 

            People are innately curious. They tend to seek the explanation for almost everything around. They are satisfied and appeased when they get the answers to the ever-persistent question – why. They hunger to satisfy their hunger for understand the world they live in as well as the events that occur in it.  Given the space that the need to determine the cause occupies in human existence, it should not come as a surprise that theory on how people explain things has been formulated. 

 

            According to  (1967), humans are driven by their need to achieve a cognitive mastery of the structure of causes (p. 193).  This suggests that humans are eager to find out why an event occurred, the source of the event, the motive behind the event as well as the state that may be ascribed to the event.  This drive allows humans to set forth and discover the causal structures of the things around them.

 

Based on the attribution theory by (1958), people explain the world using two types of attribution.  The   first type is the external attribution where people would point a finger to an outside force as the cause an event.  The use of outside force pertains to factors other than the person in question.  One such example of an external attribution is the possible reaction of a manager when a decision being implemented did not result to the expected outcome; if the manager states that, his/her subordinates did not follow the directions causing the failure then that is an external attribution. The second type is internal attribution.  This type of attribution assigns the cause of the event as the factors within the person (Booth-Butterfield 1996). This suggests that the person involved in the event directly claims that the event was caused by his/her own actions.

 

Today, the scope of the attribution theory goes beyond the psychological analysis that aims to explain how people explain things. The findings of various attribution studies are being used in other fields in order to provide an understanding of the players within the given field. One such field that uses the attribution theory to encourage improvement is organizational behaviour. More specifically, business organizations use the attribution theory to provide insights on decision-making situations such as employee appraisals and giving pay raises (Green and Mitchell 1980; Feldman 1981).  In another aspect, the use of attribution to influence people is also being studied (Booth-Butterfield 1996). 

 

In the workplace, both internal and external attribution can be seen at work.  From the smallest to the biggest of organizational events that takes place are being explained by different people using different attribution types. It is mostly the case that internal attributions take place when the event resulted to preferred outcome, while external attribution happens when the outcome of the event jeopardizes the organizational in any degree.

 

For example, an employee was given a poor rating during the annual employee appraisal to determine the rate of increase to be given to every employee.  The employee has two ways of looking or explaining the event that just happened. First, the employee can say the supervisor is biased and rated him/her unfairly. The employee can go on ranting that it is not his/her fault that his performance was not meeting the expectations of the company since the training provided in the beginning of his/her employment was inadequate to perform the expected tasks. 

 

Second, the employee can acknowledge that the poor rating was brought about by his/her lack of competence in the workplace. The employee can admit to his/her own shortcomings. This kind of reaction belongs to the internal attribution type where the person takes the responsibility over the results of his/her actions. This is also the first step towards changing the behaviour of the employee towards his/her work environment and process.

 

Admitting to any shortcomings, means that employees hold themselves accountable for their actions.  Accountability is one trait that should be developed by all employees in any company.  If employees are accountable for their actions, it means that they are aware of the consequences of their decisions. This also suggests that they will become more aware of the organizations status once they implement their decisions.

 

In addition, accountability means that the employees treat the company as if it was their own.  Therefore, employees will choose to make decisions that will be for the benefit of the whole organization and just for the individual. If employees regard the company in such as way that they recognize that its downfall will ultimately affect them, they will take into consideration that in order for them to advance the organization will have to advance as well.

 

This change in attitude can take place by enforcing internal attribution. This is the case since internal attribution means that the individual recognizes internal forces as the decisive factor. This means that the change will be implemented and accepted wilfully and not forcibly.  In addition, internal attribution of the actions taken can result to the change of the attitudes and beliefs about themselves (Booth-Butterfield 1996). This could result to becoming the kind of person that would act to achieve expected results.

 

In conclusion, internal attribution will aid organizations in ensuring that the behaviour of their employees is in line with the objectives that they need to achieve. The culture of the organization and the employees must be on the plane if a harmonious workplace is to be established.

 

 

Task B

 

What are “hygiene factors” and what role do they play in employee motivation?

 

 

            It has often been said that prevention is always better than cure. Medical doctors have advised their patients repeatedly that the best way to stay healthy is to avoid getting sick. They also advised that maintaining good hygiene is one way to ensure that viruses and bacteria will not find their way into the human system and disrupts its normal operations. One such manifestation of good hygiene is constant hand washing. This is recommended to kill bacteria that pose potential life threatening outcomes.

 

            In the business world, maintaining good hygiene is also important. However, the definition of hygiene factors within the business world is different from its medical counterpart. Nevertheless, the premise behind the usage of the term is relatively based on a common notion of prevention rather than cure.

 

In the same way that the medical profession recognizes the presence of bacteria and viruses, the business community recognizes the presence of factors that can result to poor work attitudes of employees (1993). These factors are known as hygiene factors and include supervision, working conditions, security, peer relationships, salary and company policies (Herzberg 1966).

 

            According to (1993), factors that result to positive attitudes are able to do so because they satisfy man’s need for self-actualization or self-realization. According to many personality theorists, mans have the innate yearning to experience the feeling of fulfilment in various aspects of life. One of the most important aspects of life is job fulfilment.  This fulfilment can prove that man is unique based on his/her own personality in relation to the boundaries of reality.

 

            The statements abovementioned suggests that the factors help man realize his/her life goals. It gives them the drive to excel in various aspects of life. In the workplace setting, these factors function in the same way. Hygiene factors, for example, prevent the proliferation of dissatisfaction among employees. This means that the absence of low levels of hygiene factors will result to the dissatisfaction of the employees and thus affecting their job performance. 

 

            However, studies have shown that the increase of hygiene factors do not translate in the increase of job satisfaction. This means that another set of factors affect the increase of job satisfaction and that hygiene factors are present just to control the levels of dissatisfaction. Factors that help increase job motivation are known as motivators. Motivators include recognition, advancement and growth to name a few (Internet Centre for Management and Business Administration, Inc 2005).

 

            Let us take some of the presented hygiene factors and analyze their absence result to dissatisfaction.  First, there is salary.  People work to gain financial independence or stability. This means that they expect companies to compensate the work that they do with financial incentives. If employees feel that the financial gain does not compensate the work output that they give the company, chances are they will feel that the company does not recognize their efforts to help the business succeed. This attitude towards work and the company itself can result to a decrease in job performance.

 

            Another hygiene factor mentioned is peer relationships.  Humans are social beings; they need to constantly see themselves on others to assure them that their experiences are not isolated and that others feel the same way they do. They need constant affirmation of the actions that they do.  This means that people develop interpersonal relationships. In turn, these relationships help them get by obstacles. In the workplace, employees need to develop harmonious relationships with their co-workers if they want to perform well in their jobs. 

 

            In conclusion, the presence of motivators and hygiene factors means that management must ensure that both factors are present in order to ensure the quality of performance that their employees provide.  This means that it is not enough that the level of employee dissatisfaction is low; employee satisfaction rating must also be high in order to maximize the potential of each employee.

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