Attitudes Attitude" is an individual's point of view or an individual's

way of looking at something.

To be more explicit, an "attitude" may be explained as the

mental state of an individual, which prepares him to react or make him behave in a particular pre-determined way.

An attitude is defined as, "a learned pre-disposition to

respond in a consistently favourable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object".

Attitude is the combination of beliefs and feelings that

people have about specific ideas, situations or other people. Attitude is important because it is the mechanism through which most people express their feelings.

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE Attitude has three components, which are as follows: Affective component Cognitive component Intentional component

ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE

Individual

attitude are formed over time as a result of repeated personal experiences with ideas, situations or people. One of the very important ways to understand

individual behaviour in an organization is that of studying attitude, which is situationally specific and learned.

An attitude may change as a result of new information. A

manager may have a negative attitude about a new employee because of his lack of job-related experience. After working with a new person, a manager may come to realise that he is actually very talented and subsequently may develop a more positive attitude toward him

Work-Related Attitudes
People in an organization form attitude about many things
such as about their salary, promotion possibilities, superiors, fringe benefits, food in the canteen, uniform etc. Especially some important attitudes are job satisfaction or dissatisfaction, organizational commitment and job involvement.

Where negativity exists in a workplace, people are quick to blame each other and feel a sense of injustice. With a negative attitude, you are less likely to be accountable and reliable. An optimistic attitude will enable you to take risks, innovate, communicate, have confidence and create a better workplace. This means you are more productive and achieve more.

Positive Attitude Leads to

Resilience Bouncing back from adversities is quicker and easier if
you view failure as a learning experience and look for new approaches, rather than blaming yourself or others and thinking that the task is too hard or the world is unfair.

Optimism Success, longevity and happiness are all by-products of

optimism. With an optimistic attitude, you will see yourself as being able to influence the world and will carry a flame of hope that enables you to take risks and accept failure.

 Positive Attitude Leads to

Confidence Confidence stems from optimism. If you are confident, you believe in your own abilities and think you have the ability to impact your environment. Your confidence remains steady during setbacks, because you see them merely as challenges, and are ready to take new risks.

Positive Attitude Leads to Creativity Positive attitudes are at the heart of innovation,
because it takes a risk to try something different. Without confidence and hope, you would not attempt a new idea.

Positive Attitude Leads to

Conflict resolution - If you pause and think, you can probably think of dozens of examples of where differing attitudes have caused problems or conflict in your personal and professional relationships. Conflict arises because we expect everyone to have the same attitude as ourselves. But, with a positive attitude you can build your empathy and can more readily see how other people think and feel.

Positive Attitude Leads to

Motivation Surveys show that most peoples motivation in their job comes from stimulation and challenge the chance to learn. Bringing an optimistic attitude to the workplace will create a culture of innovation. The creativity and stimulation of ideas will keep you and your workforce motivated and keen to learn. Focus If you are focussed, you are committed to tasks, take responsibility for them and are able to align your goals with the companys goals.

Positive Attitude Leads to

Achievement drives The attitude of achievement, i.e. the will to get results, enables you to set challenging goals, take calculated risks and learn how to improve performance. Emotional intelligence Once you have the attitude, you will find your emotional intelligence moving into overdrive. This will enable you to better manage and express your emotions and understand others.

Can attitudes be changed?

Changing an attitude starts with self-awareness and usually includes changing a belief. Over the course of our lives we develop many beliefs that are bias and cause us to look at the world in a particular way. It is not surprising that the way we think effects our behaviour. But, research has also found that behaviour can affect attitudes just as much.

Can attitudes be changed?

Therefore, a change in behaviour can change an attitude. Applied to the workplace, this means if you can get employees to behave a certain way (for example, by calling clients to make sure their deliveries have arrived), their attitude will change towards that issue (they will believe following up with the customer is important).

Can attitudes be changed?

There are two ways that your attitude can change: Education Learning helps develop your attitude. It is easier to have the right attitude if you have the right knowledge. Experiences Experiences shape our attitudes. You can provide employees with the opportunity to think differently.

Can attitudes be changed?

Your attitude is influenced by the workplace itself, and this usually comes down to its leadership. Good leadership will promote positive attitudes from employees. A negative culture will dampen the mood and result in more employees calling in sick, feeling unhappy and unmotivated and eventually handing in their letter of resignation.

OCBs( Organisational Citizenship Behaviour)

OCB is defined as individual behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system and in the aggregate promotes the efficient & effective functioning of the organisation. It may be directed towards an individual, a group or the organisation as a whole, without reducing in-role efforts to meet the formal demands of the work schedules.

OCBs( Organisational Citizenship Behaviour) OCBs are pro-social, voluntary behaviour for which there is
no direct rewards. It is important to create context in the organisation that it is favourable to generating positive or desirable attitudes.

Meaningful work, clear & concise goals , a sense of

achievement and positive reinforcement are thought to be important factors that hold the key to higher individual & organisational effectiveness.

Ways to build positive work culture

There are many ways to build a productive culture at work.

Look at the current situation and find ways to improve the workplace culture by changing peoples attitudes to their job, their environment, each other and themselves.

Ways to build positive work culture

Firstly, you need to identify any deficiencies that are causing negative attitudes. These could include issues like favouritism, lack of recognition or different sets of standards for different employees. Managers who get the best from their teams inspire a positive workplace culture.

Ways to build positive work culture

Some of the positive influences include: Fair and equal treatment of all employees Achievements recognised and rewarded Open management style Regular feedback Open and honest communication Clear goals set out Regular training Equal opportunities for all employees

Ways to build positive work culture Emphasis on Employee Welfare Flexible Horizontal Process

 Corporate Involvement Cultural values have been known to shape peoples attitude
at work. In many Indian companies today its found that linking some of the performance friendly cultural values with work practices is helpful.

2 such attitudes reflecting our traditional values are

Karmayoga & Work Dedication.

Karmayoga refers to tendency to discharge ones duties

without lusting after the outcomes.

Work Dedication.