Amanda is a new mother. Briefly describe two programs that Alcoa, her employer, might implement to attempt to create some work/life balance

Give an example of how a psychological contract between an employee and a firm could be breached.

When employees do not get what they expect from a company, a psychological contract can be breached. A psychological contract is an unwritten understanding about what the employee will bring to the work environment and what the company will provide in exchange. For example, if you were told during your initial selection interviews with a firm that the firm was family friendly, but now the boss is wanting you to be available 24/7 and is calling you on your company-issued cell phone at odd hours of the evening, you feel like the contract has been breached and you are sometimes, even often, dissatisfied.

126. Briefly describe how stress can be related to high levels of satisfaction.

Stress can be a two-way street. If role ambiguity is experienced (vagueness in relation to what one’s responsibilities are), role conflict (facing contradictory demands at work), organizational politics or lack of job security, satisfaction can be severely reduced. However, some stress can make us happy. Some people work best under deadlines, even tight deadlines. Further some people like having a great deal of responsibility and the stress which accompanies that simply makes them better at meeting the challenge.

127. Amanda is a new mother. Briefly describe two programs that Alcoa, her employer, might implement to attempt to create some work/life balance for Amanda and others like her.

Alcoa might be able to offer Amanda a flextime schedule where she would need to be in the office for certain hours or on certain days, but could work her schedule out around those core hours as her personal needs dictate as long as she fulfills the hour requirements for the position as a whole.

Again, depending on the specific job she performs, Amanda may be able to work out a telecommuting arrangement with the firm.

Work sharing is another option where Amanda and some other employee will share the one position, dividing up hours, pay, or benefits according to the number of hours they work each year.

128. What is the value of an exit interview for a firm?

Exit interviews are conducted with employees departing a firm. The intent behind them is to find out why the employee is leaving. The challenge is to make sure the employee is being “honest” with his reason for leaving. For example, if the interview is conducted by the employee’s immediate manager, the reason for leaving could actually involve that individual and to have him asking the questions would not probably gather the kinds of information needed to make appropriate changes. Turnover is very expensive for a firm, both in lost productivity and in the need to engage in another recruiting effort, so every opportunity a firm has to keep turnover low should be addressed.

129. What influence does general mental ability have over job performance?

Research indicates that general mental ability is the most powerful influence on our job performance. Reasoning abilities, verbal and numerical skills, analytical skills and overall intelligence seems to be important across most situations. From the time we are young throughout our later life, the correlation between mental ability and performance is strong.

130. Why does how an employee is treated in a firm predict citizenship behavior?

The motivation/behavior link with regard to citizenship behavior is very clear. We tend to do for others as they do for us. So, if we are treated well by those around us, we, in turn, what to return the favor and thus engage in citizenship behaviors.

131. John is a 57-year-old employee at XYZ, Inc. Describe the expectations we might have with regard to the likelihood that he will be absent quite frequently from work.

Since John is older, the expectation is that he will be sick more often and thus will be absent more often. Surprisingly, however, research suggests that age and absenteeism are inversely related. That is, older individuals tend to be absent less than younger employees. Some of the reasons given for this finding include the loyalty older individuals tend to hold for their firms, and their stronger work ethic.

132. Give an example of when turnover is a problem and when turnover is beneficial to a firm.

Turnover is a problem when there is no one to perform a job and the job is critical. Of course, this issue can be further compounded by the difficulty experienced by the firm in filling the open position. Add to that the need to train an employee and wait until he “gets up to speed” on the job and the impact can be quite negative.

On the other hand, if you have an employee who simply is not performing well and may, in fact, be reducing the level of performance of those around him, then the turnover of the poor performer becomes a positive opportunity for the firm.

133. Describe the impact pay for performance systems could have on the employees in a firm.

Pay for performance systems can have a positive impact on a firm. First, the opportunity to enhance pay is afforded in these systems to those who perform well. Therefore, high performers will be paid well. Those who are not good performers may hasten their leave-taking from the firm because they are being paid less. However, in the pay for performance system, you only get paid less if you perform poorly. So poor performers are leaving, and that may not be all bad!

134. Describe the link between work attitudes and turnover.

The link between work attitudes and turnover is actually fairly simple. If workers are unhappy, they will leave. That said, the linkage between work attitudes and turnover is not direct. Instead, those who are unhappy with a firm have an intention to leave, but whether they will actually act on that intention is a separate issue.