In simple words, behavior is a function of the environment and the person in which he or she is performing duties. Individual behavior is mainly affected by the following two factors or we may here are the factors affecting individual behavior at Work.
Factors Affecting Individual Behavior
a) The Person
b) The Environment of the Organization
The Person
Prediction of all behaviors of an individual or complete understanding of an individual cannot be provided by a single evaluation of individual differences. Considering a variety of differences is therefore more useful to explain aspects of employee behavior. These are as follows:
- Skills & Abilities
- Personality
- Perceptions
- Attitudes
- Values
- Ethics
Skills & Abilities:
Physical and mental capacities to perform different tasks. These come from learning, knowledge, and experience.
Personality:
Research shows five consistent elements of personality. The Big Five personality aspects are extroversion/introversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and emotional stability.
- Extroversion/Introversion is the extent to which a person is talkative, sociable, active, assertive, and ambitious.
- Conscientiousness refers to being dependable, reliable, organized, careful, and someone who plans. This aspect is most strongly related to job performance.
- Openness to Experience is the extent to which someone is broad-minded, imaginative, curious, and seeks new experiences.
- Agreeableness refers to the extent to which a person is likable, courteous, flexible, and good-natured.
- Emotional Stability is the extent to which someone is free from depression, anxiety, insecurity, and anger.
Managers must consider that the relevance of any personality aspect depends on the situation, the type of job, and the level at which a person performs duties.
Perceptions:
To pay selective attention to certain stimuli and cues in our surroundings, we use the mental process of perception. Perception is of two kinds:
- Social Perception: The process of selecting, choosing, and interpreting information about how we view others and ourselves.
- Physical Perception: Collecting and interpreting information about physical objects instead of people.
Closure allows us to interpret a stimulus by filling in missing information based on assumptions and experiences.
Attitudes:
Attitudes consist of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. Job satisfaction is one significant work-related attitude, representing the general attitude people have toward their work.
Five major components contribute to job satisfaction:
- The job itself
- Pay
- Promotion opportunities
- Relationships with co-workers
- Relationship with the supervisor
The link between work performance and job satisfaction is complex and influenced by multiple personal and organizational factors. Managers have a greater effect on job satisfaction compared to other individual differences.
Values:
Long-lasting beliefs about what is worthwhile, significant, and desirable are referred to as values. A person’s value system is the way he/she prioritizes and organizes values.
- Terminal values are desired end goals or outcomes.
- Instrumental values are the methods or behaviors used to achieve goals.
Personal values can be influenced by cultural values.
Ethics:
Employees’ ethics are key work-related values.
- Employees with a relativist ethical perspective believe that right and wrong depend on culture and situation.
- Employees with a universalist ethical perspective believe ethical standards should be applied consistently across cultures and situations.
Value conflict occurs when there is divergence among personal values or between organizational and individual values. Managers should work toward aligning and integrating employee values with organizational values to avoid such conflicts.
The Environment of the Organization
• Job
• Work Group
• Personal Life
Individual behavior inside the organization can be affected by the work group and relationships among group members. Behavior is also influenced by organizational culture.
Cultural values indicate what a cultural group considers worthwhile, significant, and desirable. People bring the values of their culture, which form the foundation of individual value systems consisting of instrumental and terminal values.
A person’s ethics is a key work-related value. Ethical behavior in organizations is influenced by value systems. Managers should remain concerned about person-organization and interpersonal value conflicts.
- Interpersonal value conflicts occur when two or more people have opposing values, preventing co-workers from working efficiently together.
- Person-organization value conflicts occur when an individual’s values clash with organizational culture, causing frustration and possibly reducing personal performance.
