Personnel Psychology - Notes

Unit 1 - Introduction - Basic concepts in Organizational set up and its

importance

Personnel means Employee.

• Personnel Psychology is a subfield of Industrial and Organizational

Psychology. It is an area that primarily deals with the selection and
evaluation of personnel and

• Other job aspects such as morale, job satisfaction, performance appraisal

and relationships between managers and workers at the workplace.

• Psychology is a Science of human behavior & higher mental processes

Aims of psychology

1. To understand own behavior and others behavior

2. To predict behavior

3. To control (to some extent)

Career anchors-

a. Technical and analytical competence – an engineer, writer, scientist,

accountant

b. Managerial competence – managing people, budgets, projects

c. Security and stability in your job - prefer routine job or low

challenging job

d. Creativity and entrepreneurship - may start businesses, often sell

them, move on

e. Autonomy and independence - creatively and own, with minimal or no

supervision

Basic concepts-
 Employment – Working for someone

Work-An activity an individual engages in to earn money

Job- a specified task or set of tasks an individual does as part of an

occupation

• Globalization- The increased internationalization of business based on the

movement of trade, resource and personnel across borders and regions

• Career patterns

• Steady state –in which one remains in one job long- term, changing
employers infrequently

• Spiral career- in which one follows a variety of interests based on one’s

skills

• Transitory – in which one moves among many different unrelated positions

• Linear- in which one stays within the same profession, but changes jobs and
companies fairly frequently, moving up the ladder

Failure- Can we learn from it?

• Not learning and recognizing from failures might be the most dangerous
failure because it means the problem is likely to occur again.

• The right thing is to admit it, though it is hard

• Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam-

• F.A.I.L - First attempt in learning

• End is not the end but Effort Never Dies

If you get No as an answer, it means Next Opportunity

 Heed pressure- high pressure often provokes faulty thinking

 In high –pressure situations ask you “If I had more time and resources,
would I make the same decision?”

 Recognize that failure is not always bad

 Understand and address the root cause

 Reward owning up – If you make a mistake, be willing to speak up and

admit it. Too often we dig ourselves deeper into a hole by being defensive
about mistakes.

Unit 2 - Personality and corporate world

Know and accept yourself. Preparing for the corporate world,

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning continuous improvement. It's made up of

two characters in Japanese: kai, which means 'change,' and zen, which means
'good.'

 kaizen simply means "change for better“

 The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small

• Two kaizen approaches have been distinguished

1) Flow kaizen- is oriented towards materials and information - reorganization

of an entire production area, even a company.

2) Process kaizen - means the improvement of individual work

• In the kaizen model, workers mostly look for small ideas and improvements
which can be implemented on the same day.

• Toyota has developed its production system around eliminating three

enemies -

 Muda (waste) , Muri (overburden) , Mura (unevenness)

Personal Kaizen

• It can also be used in other settings, including your personal life. To

implement it –
• just set a regular time for reflection on the things you do - perhaps daily at a
specific time or a couple of times per week.

• Pay special attention to regular things you do that don't go very well.

• Look for small ways you can improve these practices, and be patient! Over
time, small improvements will combine into faster, better ways to do the
things you need to accomplish.

Locus of Control-

• A dimension of personality that explains the degree to which people

believe that they, rather than external forces, determine their own lives.

( Rotter)

• Internal loc-the tendency to believe that events result primarily from one’s
own behavior and actions

• Have better control of their behavior

• More active in seeking knowledge and information

• More likely to assume that their efforts will be successful

• Likely to have Stronger self esteem and to develop healthier life style

• Likely to perform better on jobs with that requires initiative and offer
autonomy.

International studies findings-

• People had higher job satisfaction and absence of psychological strain

• Tend to have a stronger sense of psychological well – being.

• External loc believe that powerful others , fate or chance primarily

determine events.

• Tend to be more anxious.

• Likely to seek structured jobs with clean directions

 • Expectations and results – Internals are stronger relationship between what
they do and what happens to them, expect working hard leads to good
performance, feel more control over how to spend time, perform better

• Preference for skill VS chance- Int. prefer skills- achievement outcomes,

externals prefer chance achievements

• Use of rewards- Int. are more likely to use personally persuasive rewards
and power bases and less likely to use coercion.

• Response to others- Int. are more independent, more reliant on own

judgment, and less susceptible to influence of others

Students

• High in external loc believe they have little control over their final
grades, less likely to assume their responsibility for their course
performance than internals and are more prone than internals to
blaming their teachers for their grades

Big Five Model

1 .Extroversion and (sociability) energy VS introversion and passivity

Extroverts are sociable, fun-loving, affectionate, friendly and talkative. They

exhibit warmth, gregariousness, activity, excitement – seeking, and positive
emotions enjoy others’ company and the ability to be assertive Liking people does
not necessarily make one likeable

Introversion and passivity –

People high on – retiring, sober, reserved , submissive, aloof, inhibited, quiet ,

unengaged emotionally

2. Agreeableness ( Accommodation) VS tough- mindedness

Agreeable exhibits trust, sympathy, generosity, forgiveness, open- mindedness,

flexibility, cheerfulness

Tough-mindedness- self- centered, critical, skeptical, uncooperative, stubborn,

blunt
Some are overtly aggressive and others may be polished manipulators

3. Conscientiousness VS non-directedness –

• Con- being careful and preferring to live one’s life with purpose. Associated
with reliability, hard work, self discipline, neatness and ambition, related to
having a need for achievement

Somewhat related to being moralistic

• Opposite pole- disorganized, sloppy, aimless, unstable, non-ambitious

4. Emotionality(Neuroticism) VS stability

• High emotionality suggests anxiety, hostility, depression, impulsiveness,

vulnerability

Use inappropriate coping responses, like hostile reactions and wishful thinking,
likely to adopt irrational beliefs as self blame

Stable- even tempered, comfortable, relaxed, calm and self- satisfied

5. Adventurous (openness) versus traditional (closed)

Open people- preference variety, independence, liberal beliefs. Care or acquiring

rich and varied experience than for developing thinking abilities

Likely to be original, imaginative and daring have a broad range of interests

including aesthetic, feelings, actions ideas, values

Closed – conventional, down – to- earth, confirming

Like routine and do not have a lot of curiosity

Unit 3. Motivation- Self motivation and motivating others in their jobs

Motivation is an important factor in everyday life. Our basic behaviors and

feelings are affected by our inner drive to succeed over life's challenges while we
set goals for ourselves. Our motivation also promotes our feelings of competence
and self-worth as we achieve our goals.
Motivation
Performance = f (ability x motivation)
Ability refers to skill and competence of the person to complete a given task and
also desire to accomplish the task.
--the set of forces that cause people to behave in certain ways
Motivation is the result of processes, internal or external to the individual, that
arose enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action

Motivators –

External or extrinsic – Materialistic and social, such as enhancing their wealth,

image and popularity

Intrinsic or internal – Psychological or interpersonal such as enhancing their self

acceptance, personal affiliation and community contribution

• Developmental goals are established for personal / professional growth –

especially for preparing annual performance appraisal
• Innovation goals for creating a new process, function or program, higher
level of service
 • Improvements goals means goals to correct performance that is below
standards and requirements

Interpretation:

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology

comprising a eight-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels
within a pyramid

1. Biological and physiological needs-air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep, etc.
2. Safety needs-protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom
from fear.
3. Love and belongingness needs-friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance,
receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family,
friends, work).

4. Esteem needs-which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for
oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, and independence) (ii) the desire for
reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
5. Cognitive needs-knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for
meaning and predictability.
6. Aesthetic needs-appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.

7. Self-actualization needs-realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking

personal growth and peak experiences. A desire “to become everything one is
capable of becoming”
8. Transcendence needs-A person is motivated by values which transcend beyond
the personal self (e.g., mystical experiences and certain experiences with nature,
aesthetic experiences, sexual experiences, service to others, the pursuit of science,
religious faith, etc.).

The test is based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow said that needs 1-4 are deficiency motivators and are generally satisfied in
order when the previous need is fully or partially satisfied. If ticked above they are
probably satisfied. Needs 5-8 are growth motivators. If ticked above they are likely
to be a focus of personal growth motivation.

Implications of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory for employee -

Generally, a person beginning their career will be very concerned with
physiological needs such as adequate wages and stable income and security
needs such as benefits and a safe work environment. We all want a good salary
to meet the needs of our family and we want to work in a stable environment.
After these basic needs –
the employee will want his "belongingness" (or social) needs met.
The level of social interaction an employee desires will vary based on whether the
employee is an introvert or extrovert.
The key point is that employees desire to work in an environment where they are
accepted in the organization and have some interaction with others.
With these needs satisfied, an employee will want his higher level needs of esteem
and self-actualization met. Esteem needs are tied to an employee’s image of
himself and his desire for the respect and recognition of others.
Advance training, job enrichment, and special assignments are popular methods for
making work more rewarding. Further, allowing employees to participate in
decision making on operational matters is a powerful method for meeting an
employee’s esteem needs.
Finally, symbols of accomplishment such as a meaningful job title, job perks,
awards, a nice office, business cards, work space, etc. are also important to an
employee’s esteem. The important consideration for managers is that they must
provide rewards to their employees that both come from the organization and from
doing the work itself. Rewards need to be balanced to have a maximum effect.

Herzberg two factors theory-

A).Hygiene factors-Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for
existence of motivation at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for
long-term. But if these factors are absent at workplace, then they lead to
dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which when
adequate/reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and do not make them
dissatisfied.
These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called as dissatisfies
or maintenance factors as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These factors
describe the job environment/scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the
physiological needs which the individuals wanted and expected to be fulfilled.
Hygiene factors include:
1 .Pay-The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be
equal and competitive to those in the same industry in the same domain.
2 Company Policies and administrative policies -The company policies should
not be too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working
hours, dress code, breaks, vacation, etc.
3. Fringe benefits -The employees should be offered health care plans
(mediclaim), benefits for the family members, employee help programmes, etc.
4. Physical Working conditions -The working conditions should be safe, clean
and hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and well-maintained.
5. Status-The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and
retained.
6. Interpersonal relations -The relationship of the employees with his peers,
superiors and subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be
no conflict or humiliation element present.
7. Job Security -The organization must provide job security to the employees.
B) Motivational factors-
The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to
work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These
factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job.
Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized
the psychological needs that were perceived as an additional benefit

Motivational factors include -

1) Recognition -The employees should be praised and recognized for their
accomplishments by the managers.
2) Sense of achievement -The employees must have a sense of achievement. This
depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job.
3) Growth and promotional opportunities -There must be growth and
advancement opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees to
perform well.
4) Responsibility-The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work.
The managers should give them ownership of the work. They should minimize
control but retain accountability.
5) Meaningfulness of the work -The work itself should be meaningful, interesting
and challenging for the employee to perform and to get motivated. The Two-Factor
theory implies that the managers must stress upon guaranteeing the adequacy of
the hygiene factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction. Also, the managers must
make sure that the work is stimulating and rewarding so that the employees are
motivated to work and perform harder and better. This theory emphasize upon job-
enrichment so as to motivate the employees. The job must utilize the employee’s
skills and competencies to the maximum. Focusing on the motivational factors can
improve work-quality.
McClelland’s needs theory-
•The need for achievement may be defined as the degree to which a person
wishes to accomplish challenging goals, succeed in competitive situations and
exhibit the desire for clear feedback about his performance.
•The need for power the desire to dominance and social control, authority
position.
It is to manipulate others or the drive for being in charge of others. It has
significant implications for organizational leadership
The need for affiliation may be defined as the degree to which people seek
approval from others, confirm to their wishes and avoid conflicts or confrontations
with others. Those with high need for affiliation express the greatest desire to be
socially accepted by others.

Unit 4

Approaches to work-

• Job- the compensation aspects of the position will probably hold more
appeal than anything else, and have the greatest impact on whether you stay
or go

• Career- looking for promotions and career development opportunities.

Overall satisfaction is typically linked with your status , power and position.

• Passion- the work itself is the factor is the factor that determines your
satisfaction, regardless of money, prestige or control

Positive Work Ethics:

• Work ethics can be defined as a set of values, which involves the right
approach, attitude, precise behavior, respect for others and lively
communication.
• Basically, work ethics normalize what an employee would do in different
situations in office premises.
• The habit of following good work ethics is inherent - it comes from within.
It involves our morality and other values, apart from what our parents have
taught us.

Negative Work Ethics

• A negative work ethic is a behavior of a single individual or a group that
has led to a systematic lack of productivity, reliability, accountability and a
growing sphere of unprofessional/unhealthy relationships (e.g., power
politics, lack of social skills, etc.)

Difference between ‘Work Ethics’ & ‘Human Values’

WORK ETHICS
• Organizational level, work place oriented
 • Rules are set by Business Experts, CEOs, CTOs, COO, Co workers, place to
place.
• Types of Industry & work environment are different. Geographical changes;
Mission & Vision of Institute
• Training given at College end, HR of the Company or TNP heads of
Institutes

HUMAN VALUES
• Individual level & Personal. Morals are within, differs from person to person
• Rules of Human values are based on Humanity, spirituality, religious,
cultural matters. (As all religions teach the same Human Values)
• Training given at Home by Parents, Teachers in School & Self Observation
of World

Unit 3 -Group dynamics

There are various Causes for emergence of Groups. Few of them are as follows-

• According to Maslow it is because of need to belongingness

• Human beings have a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a

minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and impactful interpersonal
relationships. Baumeister and Leary.

• Sense of identification

• Security

• Source of information –

• Innovation and creativity

Definition-
 ‘A Group is a collection of individuals who have relations to one and
another’
 Two or more people who spend time with each other, experience
emotional ties, share a common frame of reference, and are
behaviorally interdependent
Types of groups-
 *Formal- A group which is officially designed by an organization to
accomplish its tasks such as a functional, project group and executive group.
* Informal- A group that have no official designation by organization yet
have some common interests and personal ties. It may be based on family
relationship, interests, same age.
*In- group that commands member’s esteem and loyalty
*Out group – a group toward which the group members feel some
opposition or competition

The nature of groups

• Common goals- have purpose, reason—
It may be important and complicated - business strategy or simple and
tangential- lunch, entertainment program Partner
• Small size- Generally, effective work groups are small in size. Small size
fosters participation and cohesion
• Large size – each member has less air time for themselves and fewer
opportunities to interact with other group members. A leader is more likely
to attempt direct and to control it, less individual recognition, group
productivity is likely to go down.
• Norms- Informal rules which regulate and standardize group member’s
behavior. It clarify the central values of a group, simplify and make
predictable what behaviors are expected from group members, and help the
group to avoid interpersonal conflicts.
• Cohesion- The sum of all the forces acting on members to remain in a group,
including the degree to which members of the group are personally attracted
to each other
• Conformity – The tendency for people to change their behavior to match
group norms
• Roles- shared expectations about how a particular person in a group ought to
behave.
Role strain-person lacks the knowledge, ability or motivation to perform a
role well
Inter role conflict – The situation that arises when someone finds that he or
she is trying to fill two roles that conflicts.
Group development-
Tuckman has developed a four stage model of group development-
 Stage I- Forming- high dependence on the leader for guidance and direction
Ind. Roles and responsibilities are unclear. The leader must be prepared to
answer for lots of questions about team’s purpose, objectives and external
relationships
• Stage II- Storming- Team members attempt to establish themselves in
relation to other team members and the leader. Leadership may receive
challenges from team members. cliques and factions, form and there may be
power struggle
• Stage III – Norming - Agreement and consensus among gr. members who
respond well to facilitation by leader. Roles and responsibilities are clear and
accepted. Commitment and unity is strong. The team may engage in fun and
social activities.
• Stage IV- Performing – The group knows why and what it is doing. It is able
to stand on its own feet. Focus on over achieving goals Team makes most of
the decisions against the criteria agreed with the leader.
• Stage V- Adjourning- It is the breakup of the group, hopefully, when the
task is completed successfully, its purpose fulfilled. Everyone can move on
to new things, feeling good about what has been achieved.
Group structure-
Belbin developed a model of group structure It is based on observation,
personality and ability data. He proposed that alongside any functional and
technical expertise, individuals bring to a group difference in personality and
ability, and give rise to styles of behavior and thinking which predispose
people to one or other team role.
Different roles are as follows-
• Coordinator attempts to establish goals and agenda of the group
• Plant is essentially the idea person, tend to be more innovative and to search
for possible changes in the group’s approach to the problem.
• Implementer is the member who converts ideas and objectives into
practical operational procedures
• Monitor/ evaluators evaluate the contribution of others.
• Resource investigator identifies the ideas and resources in the external
environment
• Completer is member who is keen to complete task in time
• Specialist is the member focused in providing specialist knowledge and
skills
 Group cohesiveness-
The more cohesive the group the greater its:
• Productivity and efficiency
• Decision quality
• Member satisfaction
• Member interaction
• Employee courtesy
How groups can help organizations-
• Improve creativity
• Make better decisions
• Increase commitment to action
• Help to control their members
• Offset large organization size
• People learn from each other and share job skills and knowledge, learning
environment and experience can be used to solve difficult and unique
problems.
• Helpful to newcomers
• Important sources of need satisfaction for their members
• Opportunities for social interaction provide a sense of security
• Provide emotional support in times of crisis or pressure.
Team
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are
committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually accountable
Difference between groups and teams-
Group
 Strong clearly focused leader
 Individual accountability
 Group Purpose same as broader organizational purpose
 Work products - individual
 Measures effectiveness by its influence on others
 Dynamics- Discusses, decides and delegates

Teams
• Shared leadership goals
• Individual and mutual
 • Specific that team itself delivers
• Collective
• By assessing collective work products
• Discusses, decides and does real work together

Types of teams

1) Self – directed team – A group that is responsible for a whole product and
that makes its own decisions about task assignments and work method.
May called as autonomous work team, self managed work groups or self
regulating groups.
2) Virtual team- A group of employees situated in distant locations whose
members have unique skills and must collaborate using technology to
accomplish their assigned tasks
Limitations-
Lack of nonverbal communication, Building relationship,
Access for unique knowledge possessed by each member
Types of group tasks
1) Performance tasks VS learning tasks
Is the group primarily solving a problem and implementing a solution or
analyzing and planning?
2) Task using convergent VS divergent
Is the group selecting the best solution from number of options or searching
for a variety of solutions?
3) Intellectual tasks VS judgment tasks
Is the group using reasoning to make decisions or it is making a moral
judgment

Social loafing

• A reduction in motivation and effort when individuals work in groups

compared to when they work individually

Possibilities –

• people do not find Work interesting

• Individual work is not compared with a group standard

Motivating individuals to be committed to their teams

• Rewards are based on group performance

• All members feel at the same level

• Individuals are confident that their opinions will be valued even if deviant

• Long term

• Friendship among members

• Individual output is not evaluated by group

• Working with strangers

• Expectations from other members to perform well

• Do not feel that their inputs are not necessary with those of others

Leadership

• The process o directing and influencing the task related activities of group
members.

• A process that shapes the goals of a group or organizations motivates

behavior toward the achievement of those goals, and helps define group or
organizational culture.

Four important implications of the definition-

• Leadership involves other people employees, followers. Willingness from

them to accept directions from the leader

• Involves unequal distribution of power between leader and group

Members. Five bases of power-reward, coercive, legitimate, referent and
expert. Greater the no. powers- greater potential for effective leadership

• The ability to influence the follower’s behavior in number of ways.

 • Leader must have values.

• James McGregor- a leader who ignores that moral component of leadership

may go down in history with bad reputation.

• Moral leadership concern values and requires that followers be given

enough knowledge of alternatives to make intelligent choices when it
comes to responding to a leader’s proposal to lead.

Leadership styles

• Authoritarian or autocratic –when Leader talk their employees what they

want done and how they want to accomplished, without taking advice of
their followers.

• Democratic or participative – it involves the leader and some other

employees in the decision making process. Leader maintains final authority
for decision making

• Delegative - Leader allows the employees to make the decisions. Still

Leader is responsible for the decisions are made. This is used when
employees are able to analyze the situation and determine what needs to
be done

Successful Leadership – the ability to get others to behave as the manager’s

intends them to. The job is done and the manager’s needs may be satisfied, but
the employee’s needs are ignored. It has to do with how the individual or the
group behaves

Effective Leader- the employee performs in accordance with the manager’s

intention and at the same time fined their own needs satisfied. Contributes long
term benefits, as loyalty, support, job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation .

Characteristics for effective leadership

• Integrity- strong values, whole and consistent with the things they believe,
take personal responsibility for their actions and be honest with others and
themselves.
• Energy- energize and inspire other people for their betterment, not by
administering but by ministering

• Inspiration – others to see the greatness that is within them

• Wisdom- need to be teachers. Must see beyond the horizon and

understand the principles that underlie success

• Courage- have to do hard thing, have to maintain standards might makes

them unpopular. Courage is hard, but it can be developed

• Communication skills- able to communicate their views, visions, and

directions in clear and lucid manner

• Cultural flexibility- skills refer to cultural awareness and sensitivity, able to

recognize and value diversity in the organization

• Creativity- good blend of creative people and engineers are essential to

push growth. Profits and growth go hand in hand.

• Political skills- the ability to effectively understand and influence others for
personal and organizational benefit. It allows people to adapt and tailor
their behavior to the context and people involved. High P.S.- can diagnose a
situation and adjust their behavior accordingly

• Community building- calls leaders to take a more active role as a new local
planning and decision making apparatus

Theory X of leadership

The assumption –

• Most people have an inherent dislike for work, need to be coerced and
supervised very closely –goal achievement

• People have little ambition, are not self directed and value oriented. Thus
need for high levels of control, supervision

Theory Y
 The assumption—

Work is a natural part of life; most people seek greater meaning in it rather
than to avoid it.

As a result people are capable of some degree of self control and will work
toward the goals of the organization to the extent that they find doing so
personally rewarding

• Under the right conditions, many people will seek out responsibility and will
creatively solve organizational problems if thy are allow to do so

• The conditions in most organizations result in the underutilization of

employee’s skills and talents

• span of control would be wider, lines of authority would not be strictly

defined, there would only be rules when necessary

• Employees are capable of doing their work without close supervision, and
they are bright enough to engage in creative problem solving when novel
problems occur.

• Benefit of Y theory-

• Such organizations are inherently more humane and potentially more

psychologically fulfilling for employees.

• Work can be a source of personal growth rather than a ‘necessary evil’

Conflict

A situation where two or more people (groups) disagree over issues of

organizational substance and / or experience some emotional antagonism with
one another.

The situation of ‘common interest’ for both the groups, but each group may or
may not have ‘different interest’.

Types of conflict -
Substantive conflict: A conflict arising out of fundamental disagreement over the
end goals and /or the means to achieve those. It is related to task & process

Emotional conflict: A conflict involving interpersonal difficulties arising over

feeling of anger, ego clashes, mistrust, dislike, fear, resentment etc.

• Constructive conflict- It stimulates the search for new facts, methods or

solutions

• It increases the cohesiveness and performance within each group.

• It may reduce perceived power differences and therefore improve problem

solving

• Creating a conflict reduces the probability of a more serious conflict

Destructive conflicts

1. Conscious efforts by one party to block goal achievement of another party

2. Groups that are so intent on competing with each other that they lose their
focus on organizational goals

3. Emotions and attitudes that interfere with problem solving and

implementation

Conflict management approaches

Indirect approach:

Appeal to common goals

Hierarchical referral

Organizational redesign

Clarifying myths

Direct approach:

Win-lose
 Win-win

Lose-lose (avoidance)

Style Situation

Avoidance You have no choice of satisfying your concerns.

Let the people cool down.

Accommodation You realize that you are wrong.

Issue is more critical to the other party.

To build up credit for a later negotiations.

Competition No long term relationship.

To protect yourself against untrustworthy parties.

Issues are vital to your welfare.

Collaboration Both parties’ concerns are too important to be compromised

To gain commitment.

Time is not an issue.

Compromising Goals are less important to you than collaboration.

Mutually exclusive goals.

To achieve temporary settlement. Intense time pressure.

Negotiation

It is a process of making joint decisions when the parties involved have different
preferences. In an effective negotiation, substance issues are resolved and
working relationships are maintained or improved

Performance Appraisal

• An evaluation of a person’s job performance and potential, usually made

by that person’s immediate supervisor.

• The evaluation criteria will influence what employees do / perform

• Most common criteria in performance evaluation

• Individual task outcomes – If ends count. (e.g. production quantity, scrap

generation, sales volume)

• Behaviors – Typically used in support and advisory functions and for work
assignments are part of group effort (e.g. number of tests done, number
of contact sales calls, leadership style affecting team)

• Traits – Qualities far away from measured performance. (e.g. good

attitude, confidence, dependable, team player)

• Performance evaluation process

• Very common is 360 Degree evaluation

Process steps -

SMART Objectives aligned at the beginning of the year

Actual performance vis-à-vis objectives

Self evaluation by employee and inputs from others

Rating the employee (compared with other team members)

Unit 4- Mental health at workplace

Emotional Intelligence

The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for
motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in
our relationships - Daniel Golman

• The emotionally intelligent person acknowledges emotions in himself and

in others and uses it appropriately.

• negative emotions if acted upon without intelligence may have

inappropriate consequences.
• EI – not denial of emotions but in sense of proportion, the ability to
reason or distract oneself from emotional folly or obsession, defer or
delay gratification

• EI dimension- Self awareness

Characteristics - Self understanding: knowledge of true feeling at the

moment

Workplace example

The person recognizes that he is angry so he will wait to cool down and
gather more information before making an important personnel decision

• EI dimension- Self management

Characteristics

Handle’s one’s emotion to facilitate rather than hinder the task at

hand, shake off negative emotions and get back on constructive track for
problem solution

Workplace example

The individual holds back her impulse to become visibly upset and raise
her voice at the customer’s unfair complaint and tries to get more facts of
what happened

• EI dimension- Motivation

• Characteristics

Stay the course toward desired goal, overcome negative emotional

impulses and delay gratification to attend the desired outcome.

• Workplace example
 The individual persisted to successful project completion in spite of the
many frustrations from the lack of resources and top management
support

EI dimension- Empathy

Characteristics

Understand and be sensitive to the feelings of others, being able to

sense what others feel and want

Workplace example

Because the head of the team knew her members were mentally
exhausted get refreshment/ break for the team

EI dimension- Social Skills

• Characteristics

The ability to read social situations, smooth in interacting with other’s

and forming networks, able to guide others emotions and way they act

• Workplace example

The officer could make out from the non verbal from his staff members
that they were not buying new policy being presented, so after the
meeting he visited each one of them to explain how they all are getting
benefited

Boredom

Meaning-- tedious, wearying and dull

Fisher defined “ an unpleasant, transient affective state in which the

individual feels a pervasive lack of interest, in and difficulty in concentrating
on the current activity.
 It results from the lack of physical and mental engagement, social isolation
and negative mood of feelings as well as various environmental
characteristics. In industrial arena, boredom also sets in due to performing
of routine and repetitive tasks that require little cognitive energy. Social
isolation is the absence of others and a lack of friends intimate and
platonic.

• Causes of boredom

• Lack of challenge and variety

• Lack of skills and independence

• Automation

Fatigue

• Industrial fatigue affects the worker’s muscles, nerves and mind

• It may described as decreased capacity for work which results from work

• It is caused by work of muscles in which resulting expenditure of energy is

at a faster rate than is its recovery. Fatigue in industry is not localized and
spreads to the whole individual

Types of fatigue

• Physical- extensive use of one or muscles

• Mental - it is distaste for the work in at hand, and a desire to follow out
more attractive activities the continually lure the worker away from the
task

• Nervous – feel tired. It results from constant hurry and worry, emotional
strain and trying to work to the maximum of one’s capacity in complex
situations

• Monotony- there is either no change or change occurs in repetitive and

highly predictive fashion which the individual has very little or no control
 How to relieve from BFM

• Collaboration

• Content of the tasks and choice by the people about how and what they
perform a task

It is said that – If you want people motivated to do a good job, give them
a good job to do

• Manager’s commitment to the creation of environment- employee’s

participation

Stress

• Stress refers to the body’s physiological, emotional, and psychological

response to an individual’s well-being.

• Distress- when the response is in the form of a deviation from healthy

functioning

• Eustress – The reaction, which activates and motivates people to achieve

their goals , change their environment, and face life’s challenges

Experiencing stress

• Perception of stressors-

Two employees relocated to different states

One may perceive it as a challenge

Other may look at it as a punishment

• Past experience- familiarity with the situation and prior experiences with
the stressors

• Social support- understanding by colleagues, family, friends plays a very

significant role in the process of alleviating distress
• Individual differences- personality, attitude, abilities, motivation influence

As per Big five model- those who are stable and confident more likely to
cope well, Nervous and self doubting may have greater difficulty in coping

Potential stressors-

• Personal factors-

• Type A personality

• Hardiness – person’s ability to cope with stress. These people have an

internal locus of control, are strongly committed to the activities in their
lives, and view change as an opportunity for advancement and growth

• optimism – is the event to which a person sees life in positive or negative

terms
Life stressors

• Life change – any meaningful change in a person’s personal or work

situation. Marriage, death of close family member, divorce, change in
residence, Career, etc

• Life trauma – any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his attitudes,
emotions or behavior – marital problems, family difficulties, health
problems

Organizational stressors

• Task demands- the change enforced o the employees with respect to the
demands of their job

• Role demands- impossible work loads, idle period of time, job ambiguity
and conflicting performance expectations

• Overload – an expectation from the organization to accomplish more than

the ability of the person

Boss- burnout stress syndrome

• Under load – people have insufficient work to fill their time or are not
allowed to use enough of their skills and abilities

Ross – Rust out stress syndrome

• Role conflict – exits when job functions contains duties or responsibilities

that conflict with one another

• Physical demands – poor working conditions, high travel demands, ,

excessive travel, long working hours, etc
• Can also be a source of stress for employee and managers.
• Aggressive behavior- physical harm, violence, sexual harassment
• Environmental factors
• Economic uncertainty –
• Technological changes – advance technology creates disparity between the
new breed of workers and the old masters of the game
• Political uncertainty - Political disturbance in the external environment has
tremendous impact on the working of business organizations.
Consequences of stress
• Physiological- increased BP, increased heart rates, breathing problems,
muscular tension, and gastrointestinal disorders.
• Psychological – boredom, anxiety, dissatisfaction, depression, tension,
irritability, and job burn out
• Behavioral – sleep disorders, changes in eating habits, addiction, nervous
mannerism like rapid speech, rude behavior, etc.
Coping strategies
Individual level-

 Change the job

 Time management

 Seek help- All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice
and to receive help from other people

 Exercise-

 Relaxation- It is not stress kills us; it is our reaction to it

 Role management-

 Holding on to anger is like holding on to a hot coal with the intent of

throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

 Getting social support - healthy relationships

 Getting close to yourself

 Place the stressful situations in perspective –

 He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to
change reality

Institutional level-

Properly designed jobs, shift work, work schedule

Standards of conducts

• Help to develop the beliefs and values to be a good at your workplace

• Expectations of -

• Employer

Community

• Work – pay contract at work place

But beyond that employee expects

• To be allowed to learn & progress

• Good supervision & training

• Employer should be honest and fair

• Reasonably safe & fair place to work

• Lunch time, rest time, extra pay, other fringe benefits

• Keep your standards high

• Loyalty

• Honesty

• Be away from Larceny

• When there is a match between organizational and individual core ideology

that the Personnel excellence may be attained.

• Spiritual intelligence –

The ability to rise above one’s ego and overcome the self-centeredness and
ambition that goes with the ego and exchange it for a deeper
understanding of oneself, a stronger sense of meaning and purpose and a
more courageous approach to everything one does.

It is composed of one’s purpose in life that represents one’s life mission,

vision, values and goals. It enables individual to discover one’s own identity

• SQ is the intelligence that allows our EQ, business quotient and political
quotient to function effectively.

Three aspects of SQ –

 Acceptance – the ability to love, respect and forgive others despite of what
others have said or done

 Self identity – a deep knowledge of yourself

Purpose and values - having clarity about your purpose , value and
contribution to the world , being congruent in your values and actions and
being brave in facing your fears

• Another constituent of SQ is Accountability.

• It is a state of being whereby a person choose to willingly be responsible

for collaborating for a specific purpose.
• Responsibility in this context begins with a fundamental belief that you are
at – cause in the matter of your life . There is no room of blame , excuses,
rationalization, making someone / thing wrong or the reason for not
succeeding – Magee J.L. & Ferraro J.

• Transactional analysis (TA) is a method of analyzing and understanding

behavior that was developed by Eric Berne.

• Sigmund Freud first to suggest that there are 3 sources within human
personality- Stimulate, monitor and control behavior

• According to TA , a transaction is a stimulus plus a response

• Personality of a person is the collection of behavior patterns developed

over time

• It is evoked from three ego states –Parent, Adult and Child

Berne stats, “Although we cannot directly observe these ego states , we can
observe behavior and from this infer which of the three ego states is
operating at that moment”

• The Parent ego state is a result of the messages (conditioning) people

received from their parents, elder siblings, teachers and authority figures
during their early childhood.

• A person is operating from childhood are mentally played back

It is right, wrong, bad, good ….. Should, should not

Thus it is the evaluative part of us that is value laden behavior

Parent ego

1. Nurturing –understanding, caring

2. Critical - attacks people’s personalities & behavior, evaluative & judgmental

should, ought

Adult ego state – logical, reasonable, rational and unemotional

• Behavior- problem solving analysis and rational decision making

• Examining alternatives, probabilities and value prior to engaging in

behavior

The child ego state-

• Associated with behaviors that appear when a person is responding

emotionally.

• Contains the “natural” impulses and attitudes learned from childhood

experience

• Happy child – do things because they want, but their behavior is not
destructive for others or to environment

• Destructive child- Their behavior is either disruptive to others , themselves

or to environment

• Another form of DC is rebellious child- Do not listen any one. They rebel
openly or subtly by forgetting, being confused. Will not listen even if it
makes sense

• Adapted child- They do what others want

• It is better to have a functioning child ego state that is Spontaneous ,

emotional and sometimes dependent

• Happy child – do things because they want, but their behavior is not
destructive for others or to environment

• Destructive child- Their behavior is either disruptive to others , themselves

or to environment

• Another form of DC is rebellious child- Do not listen any one. They rebel
openly or subtly by forgetting, being confused. Will not listen even if it
makes sense

• Adapted child- They do what others want

• It is better to have a functioning child ego state that is Spontaneous ,
emotional and sometimes dependent

A Healthy personality-

• Maintains balance among all three, parent, child and child.

• At times adult state take over and think very rationally and engage problem
solving, other time they are able to use free child ego state, have fun , be
spontaneous and emotional.

• They are able to go to parent ego state and learn from experience. Develop
values that aid in the speed and effectiveness of decision making.

*******************************************************