Organizational Behaviour and Foundations of Human Behaviour

Human behavior is the way humans act and interact. Understanding human behavior is very necessary to work in an organization as the workplace in an organization involves many individuals, with different personalities, attitudes, learning styles, perceptions, and values, and motives. Understanding human behavior is significant for developing efficient human skills, and it offers a framework for predicting behavior in changing environmental conditions.

Foundation of the behavior

Behavior is the result of interaction between Personal characteristics and Learned characteristics.

Personal characteristics are physical attributes such as age, sex, race, education, and abilities, and psychological attributes such as values, attitudes, personality, and aptitudes. 

Learned characteristics are the attributes acquired from the environments as an individual grows. The environmental factors are economic conditions, social and_. cultural norms, and political factors.

The functioning of Human behavior:

Human behavior functions through a complex interplay of three components: actions, cognition, and emotions. 

An action refers to everything that can be observed which is an initiation or transition from one condition to another. 

Cognition refers to the thoughts and mental images you carry with you.  Cognitions include skills and knowledge. 

Emotion refers to any conscious experience or feeling characterized by intense mental activity which is not developed out of reasoning or knowledge. The emotions exist on a scale of levels, from positive (pleasurable) to negative (unpleasant).

Actions, cognitions, and emotions do not function separately, but the appropriate interaction among them helps one to perceive the world, listen, and behave appropriately.

The psychological factors of employee behavior:

Psychology refers to the science of behavior and mind which explains the mental states and processes and behavior in humans. The Psychological Factors of employee behavior are the factors that explain the psychology of an individual that motivates his actions to seek satisfaction at the workplace. The psychological factors of the behavior are:

• Attitude
• Personality
• Perception
• Learning

Objectives of Organizational Behavior:  

The objectives of the organizational behavior are to explain, predict and influence the behavior of the employees in the organization. More specifically, organizational behavior explains, predict and influence the following employee behaviors:

Employee productivity: the performance measure of efficiency (doing the right things, for example, a right goal) and effectiveness (doing things right, for example, cost-effectiveness)

Absenteeism: The practice of regularly staying away from work without a valid reason.

Turnover: The number of employees who leave an organization and are replaced by new employees

Organizational citizenship behavior: An individual’s commitment to an organization voluntarily.

Job satisfaction: The degree to which an employee feels self-motivated, happy, and content with the job.