COLUMBUS, Ohio - Despite what many managers believe, highly cynical workers are no more likely to have negative attitudes than workers low in cynicism, according to a recently published study of manufacturing workers.
Researchers from the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University spent three years studying more than 1,000 workers at a Midwestern auto-parts manufacturing plant to determine what causes workers to be cynical about change in the workplace.
The results showed that issues related to management - such as the perceived effectiveness of supervisors - were related more to employee cynicism than were the personality traits of workers.
The damage of cynicism was also evident in the results: highly cynical workers were more likely to file grievances against the company, showed lower levels of commitment and were less likely to believe good work would be rewarded by management.
"The pet theory we heard from plant managers was that a rotten core of employees with bad attitudes caused worker cynicism," said John Wanous, co-author of the study and professor of management and human resources at Ohio State.
"But that's not what we found. It wasn't bad apples that caused problems at the company - the problem was that management spoiled the fruit."
Wanous conducted the study with Arnon Reichers, associate professor of management and human resources, and James Austin, a research specialist at Ohio State. Their results were published in a recent issue of the journal Group & Organization Management.
During the course of a three-year study at the manufacturing plant, the researchers administered two surveys 21 months apart. A total of 1,405 employees participated in the first survey, and 1,032 participated in the second. Both blue-collar and white-collar employees participated.
In the first survey, employees completed a questionnaire designed to measure personality traits that may affect cynicism. For example, they were asked to record how often during an average work day they felt distressed, irritable, nervous, hostile, etc.
They were also asked questions about situations at the plant that may contribute to cynicism, such as the amount of change that had occurred at the plant; how much they participated in decision-making; and how well their supervisor did at keeping people informed, caring about employees, admitting their mistakes, etc.
During the second survey 21 months later, workers completed a survey measuring their cynicism about organizational change at the plant. They were asked how much they agreed with statements such as "Plans for future improvement will not amount to much" and "The people responsible for making improvements don't know enough about what they are doing."
"We found that personality traits did little in explaining which employees were highly cynical and which employees were not," said Wanous. "Those who were highly negative, who reported being more irritable and hostile, were not necessarily those who were most cynical."
However, he said those who reported more management problems - who said their supervisors were ineffective and who said they participated little in decision-making - were much more likely to be cynical.
Other results showed:
- About 38 percent of those who scored high on cynicism had filed a grievance against the company in the two years before the survey, compared to only 21 percent of those low in cynicism.
- Only 38 percent of those who were highly cynical showed high levels of commitment to the company, compared to 81 percent of those who were low in cynicism.
- Salaried employees who were high in cynicism were much
less likely than others to think they would be paid more if
they performed well. "This shows how cynicism can poison
a company," Wanous said. "Our questions measuring
cynicism had nothing to do with compensation, yet highly
cynical workers still saw a connection. Cynicism spills over
and colors how employees see everything about the
company and their jobs."
"Sometimes managers may be embarrassed because the improvements seem slow in coming or relatively minor. But if you say nothing, workers are only going to assume that nothing has changed, or that things have actually gotten worse." Wanous uses a baseball analogy to explain how managers should react. "You don't have to wait for a home run - let employees know every time you hit a single."
In general, Wanous said the best way to battle cynicism is through well-known good management techniques. "Managers should communicate, allow employee participation, and follow through on plans," he explained. "There's nothing special about cynicism - it just comes from bad management."
Contact: John Wanous, 614-292-4591; Wanous.1@osu.edu
Group & Organization Management
Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
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