Human Skills: Attitude
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
― Winston Churchill
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude
determines how well you do it.”
― Lou Holtz
Elements of attitude:
- Cognitive
- Behavioral
- Affective
| Negative attitude | Positive attitude |
| I do not respect my seniors/ management/ boss (affective) | I have been promoted and elevated into a higher position just because of my hard work, determination and achieving my KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) |
| My boss gives undue appreciation, incentives, perks to a specific colleague (s) (cognitive) | I will not change my organization at least till my boss is the same as he appreciates and recognizes my efforts. (Behavioral) |
| I need to speak up on bias of my boss to the higher authorities (Behavioral) |
Functions of attitude:
1.Adjustment function / adaptive function
2.The Ego-defensive function
3.The value-expression function
4.The knowledge – function
Why managers need to know about attitude functions?
- Manager can very well predict that in a given situation how an employee is likely to behave.
- It helps managers understand how to deal with a person who is prejudiced against another, where he is less likely to be fair in judging the other person.
- It can help the manager change the attitude of another person. He can do this.
Forming attitudes:
1.Experience in life
2.Social learning
3.Family and Peer Groups
4.Economic Status and Occupations
5.Social Media
6.Attitudes of colleagues, Seniors and management
7.Job Satisfaction
8.Job Involvement
9.Organizational Commitment
What some ways where attitude can be changed?
1.Reward good attitude and punish bad attitude
2.Clearly defined roles
3.Influence of Friends or Peers
4. Assign a mentor or coach