The Individual

THE INDIVIDUALFactors Influencing Work Behaviour

© 2015 Berlin Asong. All rights reserved. 2
I. Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work.
Learning Objective

human behaviour at
An area that continues to attract attention is
WORK.
Picture source: green-mission.info

work behaviour.
An individual
?

Meet Cheery. She takes
pride in her work.

Why does she take pride in
her work? Why others don’t?
10minutes
List as many reasons.

Jim and Kim are just coming out from
a meeting chaired by their line manager.
“What a waste of my time!” “Wow. What a great manager!”
Picturesource:forbes.com

List as many factors that could
account for the difference in opinion held by
Jim and Kim towards their line manager.
10minutes

There are many factors that influence
a person’s work behaviour. All of which
cannot be covered in this session.
These factors are grouped into three major influences…

Personal Influences.
Organisational Influences.
Situational Influences.
Factors Influencing A Person’s Work Behaviour

Personal Influences
Our physical and psychological make-up, and
desires affect what we do and how we act; and
explain why we act the way we act at work.
Personal influences include…

Age Gender Abilities Motivations Perception Personality
MoodsAttitude

Young Individuals Less Younger Individuals
Less experienced Highly experienced
New skills and knowledge Have some obsolete skills and knowledge
Seek to disrupt the status-quo Seek to preserve the status-quo
Seek to embrace new work technologies Seek to embrace routine work systems
Rely on the experience of the old Rely on the novelty of the young
A simplified comparison how
age influences work behaviour.
Age

Jim and Kim are just coming out from
a meeting chaired by their line manager.
“What a waste of my time!” “Wow. What a great manager!”
Gender
Picturesource:forbes.com

Compassion.
Multi-tasking.
Communication.
Physical strength.
Decision-making.
Career choices.
Risk-taking.
Perception.
Etc.
Areas of Gender Differences at Work

Beware of gender
stereotypes at work.
10minutes
Any examples?

Education.
Knowledge.
Skills.
Physical qualities.
Experience.
Ability

Ever wonder why a colleague or friend performs so well at their
job? Could it be due to knowledge or talents they possess?
10minutes

Needs | Goals | Expectations of the individual.
Motivation

Needs/Wants Behaviour
Shape
The things we do

1.Physiological
2.Safety
3.Social
4.Esteem
5.Self-Actualisation
Breathing, Food, Water, Sex, Sleep, Excretion
Security, Protection, Stability, Certainty
Loved, Affiliation,
Belonging, Be Accepted
Respect,
recognition,
status
Fulfilling
one’s potential
or calling.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Maslow,A.(1943),“ATheoryofHumanMotivationbyAbrahamMaslow”.PsychologicalReview,
vol.50,NO.4,pp.370-396

Why do we work? Why do we avoid work? Why our work
motivation is hardly stable? Do managers understand why we
(avoid) work?
20minutes

Personality
A set of enduring, observable
and unobservable qualities that
influence how a person looks,
feels, thinks and behaves.
Hellriegel, G. and John, W. S. (2011), “Organisational
Behavior”. 13th edition, Cengage Learning: Mason,. p. 70

Who am I?
Picture source: © Riona 2013

Often used methods of
determining one’s personality
are traits and types.

Traits Method
According to personality trait theory, there are
five major traits that underlie human personality.

Big Five Personality Traits
Extraversion.
Conscientiousness.
Openness to new experience.
Agreeableness.
Neuroticism/Emotional stability.
Mullins, L. J. (2010), "Management and Organisational Behaviour". 9th edition, Prentice Hall: Harlow,. p. 133

Use the mnemonic—OCEAN—to remember the
Big Five personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness,
Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism.

Source: Costa, P. T & McCrae, R. “Big Five Personality Traits”

Extraversion 20%
Conscientiousness 40%
Openness to new experience 98%
Agreeableness 70%
Neuroticism 42%
Cilia’s Big Fiver personality test score.
Picture source: kellymartinspeaks.co.uk

What sort of role or profession is the best fit for Cilia? How would you
expect Cilia to behave in a teamwork environment? Assuming Cilia holds a
management position, what could be her major strength and weakness
based on her Big 5 personality test score?
15minutes
To complete this exercise, you need to know the meanings of each of the
five personality traits. See slide 29 or 30.

Extraversion 99%
Conscientiousness 70%
Openness to new experience 65%
Agreeableness 40%
Neuroticism 50%
Dino’s Big Fiver personality test score.

Amongst the tools you are using in deciding the best candidate for the post
of Events Manager is the Big Five personality trait test. Base on the
personality test scores of Cilia and Dino; which of the two candidates
would you hire. Justify your answer.
15minutes
To complete this exercise, you need to know the meanings of each of the
five personality traits. See slide 29 or 30.

Type Method
According to personality type theory,
there are 16 discrete personality types.

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
Myers-Briggs 16 Personality Types
Mullins, L. J. (2010), "Management and Organisational Behaviour". 9th edition, Prentice Hall: Harlow,. p. 136

Click slide to access description of 16 personality types.
Internet connection is required.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Click slide to access online personality. Internet
connection is required.

Attitude is an opinion or judgement held by
an individual towards a person or object.
Attitude

Do you like your job? What aspects about your job
do (don’t) you like? Do you identify yourself with members of
your organisation? Are you proud of your organisation?
20minutes

What do you think of your boss? Competent? Lazy?
Vulnerable? Hardworking? Pleasant? Does the opinion you hold
about your boss influence your behaviour towards them?
20minutes

An individual’s attitude is formed through direct and
indirect experiences, imagination and personal beliefs.

Perception describes how a person selects,
organises, and interprets input from their senses
to make meaning of the world around them.
Perception
Hellriegel, G. and John, W. S. (2011), “Organisational Behavior”. 13th edition, Cengage Learning: Mason,. p. 104

Stimuli Response
How the individual processes
information determines the response.

Individuals are susceptible to perceptual errors like
stereotyping, selective distortion, selective attention, self-
fulfilling prophecy, attribution bias, etc. For example…

PremierLeagueRefereeSianMassey
Source: politiken.dk
Sky sport commentators, Andy
Gray & Richard Keys sacked for
making sexist comments about
Ms. Massey & female referees.
“Women [don’t] know the offside rule”.
2010—

Half-full or half-empty?

Created by and courtesy of Dr. Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Ritsumeikan University
Are these objects rotating or static?

"What" do you see?

"What" do
you see?

You have four referral grades. Why
did you perform poorly in your exams?
Some individuals would attribute their underachievement to
external factors rather to their own making. — Attribution bias

Wow. You passed your exams in
flying colours—five distinctions. Explain
the reasons for your success?
Some individuals would attribute their achievement
solely to their own making. — Attribution bias

Have you been in a situation at work where colleagues perceived
an issue differently from you? Or a problem to which your colleagues’
interpretation is completely different from yours? What could have
accounted for the difference in interpretation or perspective?
20minutes

Organisational Influences
These are factors outside the individual
but inside the organisation that affect how
a person acts, feels and thinks at work.

Teams.
Leadership.
Organisational culture.
Organisational structure.
Interpersonal relationships.
Physical workplace design.
Job characteristics.
Organisational Influences

What does the job entail?
What tools & knowledge are required to do the job?
Where and when would the job be carried out?
With whom would I be doing the job?
Are responsibilities and accountabilities clearly defined?
How would performance on the job be assessed?
Would job performance lead to valuable rewards?
Does the job make effective use of my skills?
How does the job affect other jobs in the organisation?
Is the job routine or dynamic?
What unexpected issues could affect the job?
Etc.
Job Characteristics &
Impact on Individuals Behaviour

Situational Influences
These are factors outside the
organisation that affect people’s
behaviour at work.

Weatherconditions
Picture source: forwallpaper.com

PESTELForces
National values & norms with
regards to work; work-life balance.
Depressing & uncertain economic
climate, redundancy, pay-cut on
employee moral & outlook.
Effect of new work
technologies & workplace
design on employees
Effect of green issues &
workplace design on employees.
Changes in employment
laws, employee rights.
Political risks & governmental policies
on economic, social & legal matters
that directly/indirectly affect employees.

Organisational
influences
Situational
influences
Personal
influences
Source: ealingreflexology.co.uk

The Individual

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