The Importance of Attitude in Workplace

By

J. Kelvin Fallah, BSc, MA, CIPD

March 27, 2017

Attitude is a settled way of feeling or thinking with regard to something or someone and is

reflected in the behavior of a person. In the setting of a workplace, positive attitude is

particularly important. The relationships and ultimately performance of any workplace is highly

influenced by the attitude of the team. If workers for instance have the feeling that they are not

valued by the organization or respected by their leaders then the level of moral is likely to be

low. On the other hand when workers actually feel that the organization values, them recognizes

and appreciates their contribution, then their motivation and commitment to the organization is

higher. It is therefore very important that organization and leaders deliberate cultivate good

workplace cultures by promoting positive attitudes among the employees. This paper evaluates

the importance of attitude in the workplace.

Cultivating a culture of positive attitude in the workplace can help the workforce not only

accomplish their assignments faster but also in better manner. To a very great extent, workforce

performance depends on the relationships individuals have with others as well as their superiors.

Good workplace relationships can only be enjoyed when every employ has the right attitude with

regard to work and colleagues. Positive energy transforms work into a pleasure and this way,

employees do not just enjoy their work but also find their goals easily achievable. When the

workforce is happy, enjoy their work and are satisfied with their workplace, the product is a

higher motivation, increased performance and ultimately better quality of service to customers.

The organization benefits from positive workplace attitude because happy customers recommend
the brand to their friends, the customer numbers increase, sales volumes go up and ultimately

profitability.

One very important benefit of attitude in the workplace is career success. The standard way to

measure the success of employees in the work place is through evaluation of the performance of

every individual towards the achievement of organizational performance targets. It is naturally

for an employee with the right attitude to ever think of the best and easiest possible way of

accomplishing assigned tasks. Such an employee will not be heard to always complain or find

excuses to justify poor performance. Constant achievement of performance targets on the other

hand translates into work success and the employee will ultimately either be promoted to more

responsibilities or compensated commensurate to the level of performance (Keamer, 2013).

A good attitude in the workplace is very instrumental in enhancing productivity. People who

have a positive attitude have the tendency of taking more interest in everything they do and also

how they deliver it. Employees who have the right attitude about work will therefore naturally

think about their work and strive to give it their best. As a result they end up producing good

quality work with limited flaws. The overall outcome is an improved output and productivity

among the employees. However, for the workforce to have a good attitude the organization

through the management team must deliberately provide good working conditions, recognize

effort and show employees that they are valuable assets of the organization. The HR department

has said function and responsibility to ensuring that the organizational workforce has the right

qualities. One beneficial quality that the HRD must promote among employees is a positive

attitude (Balzer, 2010).

attitude is typically an individual quality, fostering a collective workplace positive attitude by the

management is very important. The concept of team spirit has become common in the modern

workplaces (Pirouz, 2015). Every organization is depending on teams to accomplish tasks faster.

Good teamwork is a product of positive relationships among employees. Positive relationships

help employees build efficient teams in which all participants are committed and working the

common cause. Cultivating a positive workplace attitude can help individual workers appreciate

the contribution, skills and competencies of their colleagues. This way, people are encouraged to

focus on the attainment of team performance targets through positive synergy instead of focusing

their energy on the inadequacies of others. The organization through relevant trainings of the

workforce and supervisory teams can help cultivate a culture of positive attitudes among its

people with the resultant effective teamwork (Byers, 2009).

Another beneficial outcome of a positive attitude in the workplace is increased motivation.

Possession of the right attitude helps workers easily overcome any obstacles they encounter in

the course of executing their duties. Good attitude also affects the manner in which workers

perceive the world around them. Ease of overcoming challenges in the workplaces motivates

employees to move forward in their job. Employees are also able to take better decisions in their

work as a result of possessing the right attitude towards their work. A good attitude enhances

healthy thinking thus enabling workers to make wise and logical choices. This is because at all

times in their work the employees who have the right attitude are guided by objectivity (Fritz,

2008). They will look for the solution to the issue instead of complaining and whining about

challenges encountered.
A very important aspect of good attitude is that it enhances fruitful interpersonal relationships

among the employees. They enjoy and share good rapport with not just their colleagues and

supervisors but also the customers they serve. Customers would prefer to be served by positively

motivated individuals and therefore where employees are able to strike a good rapport with the

customers the level of customer loyalty goes up. Additionally good workplace attitude

tremendously contributes to stress management among employees. Stress can detrimentally

affect employee’s health wise. Positive thoughts help drastically reduce stress levels and with

less stress, workers can have a stable state of health which translates into fewer sick offs sought.

Attitude is therefore not just an issue of employees but also the management teams and the entire

organizations. By providing good work environment and appreciating employees, organizations

cultivate the culture of positive attitude among employee teams. This results in less stress levels,

greater levels of motivation, good service to the customers and good job performance (Clarke,

2015).

Conclusion

In conclusion therefore, attitude is a very important factor in the workplaces. It is not only

beneficial to the organization but also the individual employees. Organizations that cultivate

good workplaces attitudes among their employees improve the efficiency of communications,

achieved better teamwork and collaboration in the course of work. As a result their employees

have a tremendously boosted morale, have lesser levels of stress and are highly productive. As a

result of the good attitude, the level of fatigue and stress among employees is reduced as they are

motivated and innovative in discharging their duties. Reduced stress translates into reduced

absenteeism. Higher productivity means the organization is able to achieve performance goals

and therefore is profitable. Organizations must therefore strive to cultivate good workplace
attitudes among employees as to motivate. Highly motivated employee teams perform well,

serve well and therefore enable the organization to compete on the frontiers of quality products

and services to their customers.

1. Abang Ekhsan Abang Othman and Wasilu Suleiman. (2013). An Analysis of Causes of

Poor Attitude to Work. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences.

2. Alex Pirouz. (2015). The Importance of Attitudes for Business Success. The Huffington

Post. Agailable at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-pirouz/the-importance-of-

attitude-for-business-success_b_7958636.html

3. Anne Keamer. (2013). It’s Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the Workplace.

Random House Publishing Group.

4. Bruce Clarke. (2015)Good Managers Pay Attention to Behavior and Attitude Issues. The

News Observer. Available at:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article10256189.html

5. Chris Byers. (2009). Identify and Cure Negative Workplace Attitudes. Entrepreneur.

Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/202916

6. Harter, J. W., Schmidt, F. L., & Hayes, T. L. (2002). Business-unit-level relationship

between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: A

meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 268–279.

7. Kathryn Suyes, Sheryl W. Abrahams and Miriam H. Labbok. (2008). Breastfeeding in

the Workplace: Other Employees’ Attitudes towards Services for Lactating

Mothers. International Breastfeeding Journal.

8. Keith Harrell. (2009). Attitude in the Workplace. Success Magazine. Available at:

http://www.success.com/article/attitude-in-the-workplace
9. Lillian Turner de Tormes Eby and Tammy D. Allen. (2012). Personal Relationships: The

Effect on Employee, Behavior and Well-being. Routledge.

10. Lise M. Saari and Timothy A. Judge. (2004). Employee Attitudes and Job Satisfaction.

Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

11. Roger Fritz. (2008). The Power of a Positive Attitude: Discovering the Key to Success.

AMACOM.

12. William K. Balzer. (2010). Lean Higher Education: Increasing the Value and

Performance of University Processes. CRC Press.