EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Improving Job Performance in the Workplace
UGA: Terry College of Business
Organizational Behavior: EMBA 7410
December 8, 2023
By:
Group One:
Ashton Childs
Andrew Collier
Adam King
Javier Perez
Lehman Smith
Jasmine Stewart
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Executive Summary
Individual job performance is key to the success of an entire organization. Job
performance comprises employee behaviors that contribute to the organizational goal,
exemplifying their critical nature. Task performance, behaviors directly engaged in converting
organizational resources into the goods or services produced by the organization, is one key
component to job performance. Citizenship behavior, voluntary behaviors oftentimes outside an
employee’s designated job requirements that contribute to organizational goals by improving the
work environment, is another key pillar. Finally, the third attribute to job performance and the
one that is the most important to reduce: counterproductive behavior. These behaviors are
deliberately detrimental to the achievement of organizational goals. Recognizing the importance
of job performance, Group One sought to identify which factors affect job performance and
develop recommendations to managers based on the results.
To best understand what causes someone to perform their job well, we conducted a series
of interviews and surveys to gain perspective from a diverse pool of individuals. Despite
interviewing six participants with an array of backgrounds, we found three common themes
emerge from their responses to questions related to job performance. Participants cited the
impact of one’s work, amount of workload, and opportunities for professional development in
their responses. Using this information, we hypothesized that the overall impact of work will be
positively related to job performance, the amount of workload will be negatively related to job
performance, and professional development will have a positive relation to job performance.
To test our hypothesis, we surveyed an additional 30 participants. Once again, we
surveyed a diverse group of individuals to obtain responses that reflected a wide population of
individuals. While our initial interview consisted of open-ended questions, we used this survey to
directly ask participants about the impact of their work, their workload, and professional
development opportunities.
Our first hypothesis suggested there would be a positive relationship between the impact
of work and job performance. We found this hypothesis has a moderate to high positive
correlation with the citizenship behavior of employees, and, in some cases, it can also relate to
counterproductive behavior. However, it does not have a correlation with task performance
behavior. The second hypothesis suggested the amount of workload would have a negative
relationship with job performance. We observed that this hypothesis negatively correlates with
the task performance behavior of employees and does not correlate with citizenship or
counterproductive behaviors. Lastly, our third hypothesis proposed that professional
development would have a strong positive relation to job performance. We found a moderate to
high correlation for professional development within task performance and citizenship behaviors.
There was no correlation for counterproductive behavior. Using these results we developed nine
prescriptions, three for each theme, that managers should follow to encourage positivize job
performance:
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Impact of WorkPrescription #1: Managers should guide and demonstrate task performance employees the value
that each core task brings to the company, and how that impacts the company's overall goal.
Prescription #2: Managers should focus on building a culture of sportsmanship and try to move
more task performance employees to citizenship behaviors.
Prescription #3: Managers should provide opportunities for employees to perform more creative
job tasks to impact job performance highly.
WorkloadPrescription #1: Managers should ensure the amount of work correlates to personal employees'
career and company goals. This could show that the work is meaningful and has a more
significant impact on job performance.
Prescription #2: Managers should make sure the employee has enough time to perform and
manage the workload effectively. This can be fixed by eliminating short due dates, dividing the
job amount with more employees, and eliminating overly complicated tasks.
Prescription #3: Managers should use planner tools to understand the process of each project
and to evaluate which stages require additional resources.
Professional DevelopmentPrescription #1: Managers should continue investing in relevant professional development for
each employee. Training, leadership opportunities, and short-term assignments are examples of
professional development that could benefit the employee and the company.
Prescription #2: Managers should adapt the PIE model. This model suggests that the employee
delivers on Performance and work with the manager on the employee's Image, however it is the
manager’s duty to create opportunities for employee Exposure thus allowing them to develop
and learn.
Prescription #3: Managers should have one-on-one meetings with the employee at least twice a
month to ensure they discuss opportunities for growth and that they are on the right track for the
employee's professional goals.
Job Performance Survey Report
Job Performance Interviews
To properly determine what factors cause someone to perform their job well, we conducted
initial interviews with six different individuals from varying backgrounds. Our interview
participants’ demographics are listed below:
Name
Age
Gender
Occupation/Industry
33
Male
US Army
Participant One
51
Female
Teacher
Participant Two
28
Female
HR- Recruiting for Healthcare
Participant Three
30
Male
Accounting System Manager
Participant Four
30
Female
Legal Counsel
Participant Five
26
Female
Retail- Home Depot
Participant Six
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
When creating our interview questions, we crafted questions that offered insights into a person’s
own beliefs as to what impacts performance in the workplace. To ensure we received accurate
responses, we left our questions open ended so the participants could tell us what concepts were
important to them. We asked the following questions during our respective interviews:
1. How do you personally define success in your role, and what steps do you take to reach
or exceed those standards?
2. Can you describe a time when you found it difficult to maintain your usual level of
productivity at work? What were the factors that contributed to this situation?
3. Do you believe your work is meaningful? If yes, in what ways? If not, why not?
4. What is the effect on your productivity when you see colleagues underperforming in their
role? Are there any changes when you see management intervene?
5. What actions do you take to improve your skills and knowledge in a work environment or
project that moves uncomfortably fast?
6. How do you approach failures in your job, and what steps do you take to prevent similar
mistakes from happening in the future?
7. What motivates you to consistently deliver high-quality work in your role? Are there any
personal values or professional goals that drive your performance?
8. Can you describe a specific project or task where you believe you excelled in your job
performance? What conditions or support systems were in place that allowed you to
excel?
Upon reviewing responses, it was evident that while these participants came from diverse
backgrounds, their responses often mirrored each other. In response to Question One, three
participants cited having an impact on other people’s success as ways in which they personally
define success. Participant One said “success is attained by synchronizing and prioritizing unit
efforts to achieve our Commanders objectives for his organization and prepare our Soldiers
personally and professionally to go into combat if called upon.” Participant Two noted that they
defined success by “students not only making progress academically but are also displaying
positive character traits.” Participant Four summed the concept up nicely, stating “success in my
role is defined by the ability to have a meaningful impact on the organization and community.”
Question Two also revealed that, despite their differences, participants shared similar
experiences when asked to share times they felt it difficult to maintain their usual level of
productivity at work. Participant Four cited “workload” as a “big factor in productivity.”
Participant Five echoed this sentiment, saying “there are ebbs and flows where the workload may
be higher volume than usual.” Finally, Participant Six shared that “loss of productivity can be
triggered by several factors” including feeling “overstimulated with the number of tasks to
complete.”
Question Three aligned with the responses we received to Question One, and Participants
unanimously answered that they believed their work was meaningful and had an impact on other
people. While some participants found their work was meaningful because it impacted the
success of the company, others found meaning in their work because it impacted others within
their community and outside of their company. Participant One shared that their work was
meaningful “because the decisions and processes [they] put in place directly affects all 620
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
people in [their] Battalion.” Participant Two found that their work was meaningful because they
“provide students foundational skills needed to be successful and lifelong learners.” Participant
Three explained that their work was meaningful because they “hire people to help get children
with Autism off a waitlist and into therapy across Georgia.” Participant Four stated their work
was meaningful to the “company as it helps automate tasks that without systems and interfaces
would be a manual effort and not very efficient.” Participant Five found meaning in their work
because they “see the direct impact that [their] work has on the stakeholders and the company.”
Similarly, Participant Six “feel[s] the work [they] do is driving the company forward,” and finds
meaning in their contributions to the business.
Question Four offered insight into the role professional development and continued training from
management can have on productivity in the workplace. Participant One shared that the “key to
continued improvement is continued touchpoints and guidance on how to improve from
management [or] leadership.” When asked about how underperforming colleagues can impact
their own productivity, Participant Four stated that she “tr[ies] to encourage better teaching
strategies by sharing examples during Professional Learning Communities.”
Question Five also highlighted the importance of professional development, continued education,
and training. We asked participants to share the actions they take to improve their skills in the
work environment, and unsurprisingly, most respondents cited taking advantage of learning
opportunities. Participant Two “continue[s] to take classes and collaborate with other educators”
to improve. Participant Three uses “LinkedIn learning and DEIB credentialing” to improve their
skills and knowledge in a work environment or project that moves uncomfortably fast.
Participant Four stated they “continue to learn and explore resources that will equip [them] with
the tools” needed to execute tasks, and they “bring in outside learnings and developments to the
team.”
Transitioning into Question Six, participants continued to highlight the need for continued
learning. Participant Two said that they “have the mindset that allows for continued growth,” and
Participant Five stated that “failure should be identified as an opportunity to learn more about
yourself and about new ways to approach a problem or project in the future,” when they were
asked how they approach failures in their respective jobs.
Question Seven, which asked participants what motivated them to deliver high-quality work,
revealed similar themes from the previous questions. Put simply, Participant One attributed their
motivation to “just helping people,” Participant Two credited their motivation to “[their]
students,” and Participant Three’s motivation came from “helping children with special needs
and their families.”
Finally, we asked participants to describe a specific project or task where they excelled in job
performance. Again, despite their differences, themes revealed in previous questions continued
to emerge. While highlighting their success, Participant Three also emphasized the impact their
success had on others by stating they “staffed a brand-new center to 60% full capacity in less
than six weeks and helped over 200 kids get services.” When describing the support systems in
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
place that helped them excel, Participant Six noted having an appropriate workload and adequate
timeline as key factors in their success. They explained that “the biggest support” was having a
“healthy completion timeline” and “help in the form of other peers” to tackle the project.
Using the responses from our diverse group of participants, we found three key themes that were
consistently revealed throughout the interviews. Regardless of their varied demographics and
array of occupations or industries, participants shared universal experiences and similar beliefs
towards concepts that impacted job performance. As highlighted in the paragraphs above,
participants cited the impact of their work, amount of workload, and professional development
opportunities as key indicators into job performance.
Theories Tested:
3 themes: (Hypothesis)
1) Overall Impact of work: Impact of work will be positively related to job
performance.
2) Workload: The amount of workload will be negatively related to job performance. It
will be a weak correlation.
3) Professional Development: Professional development will have a strong positive
relation to job performance.
The theories that our survey will test are graphically represented below. Theory 1: (IV)The
impact of overall work will positively correlate to job performance (DV). Theory 2: (IV)The
amount of workload will negatively correlate to job performance. Theory 3: Professional
development opportunity availability will have a positive correlation to job performance.
Survey Items: The graphs below
outline the survey items and results
collected by the 30 participants.
Each item was carefully selected to
determine the confidence interval
and the overall effectiveness of the
correlation between Task
Performance, Citizen Performance,
and Counter Behavior.
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Demographic Information
This survey delves into the correlation between distinct performance theories and compiles
diverse demographic data to provide a thorough insight into participants' perspectives. The three
theories in focus are as follows:
Ethnicity
African American
Asian/Pacific Islander
Caucasian
Hispanic
Grand Total
Female
Male
6
1
3
2
12
Grand
Total
4
11
3
18
10
1
14
5
30
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Education Level
College Degree
MA/PHD
Some Grad School
Highschool
Some College
Grand Total
Total
17
5
4
2
2
30
Current Job Tenure in
years
1 or less
Total
1-2
7
3-4
8
4-5 6-7
8-9
10+
Grand Total
4
4
2
3
2
30
The survey comprises 30 participants, with an average of 60% identifying as male and 40% as
female. In terms of ethnicity, the distribution averages to 47% Caucasian, 33% African
American, 17% Hispanic, and 3% Asian/Pacific Islander. Analyzing the survey findings through
the lens of ethnicity provides a comprehensive perspective on how different demographic
groups, on average, perceive the correlation between work-related factors and job performance.
Breaking down educational backgrounds, the averages indicate that 57% of participants hold a
college degree, 17% have MA/PHD qualifications, 13% have attended some graduate school, 7%
have completed high school, and 7% have some college experience. Understanding participants'
average education levels adds depth to the exploration of their perceptions regarding job
performance theories. Concerning job tenure, participants' experiences, on average, vary, with
27% having worked 1-2 years, 23% for 1 year or less, 13% for 4-5 years, 13% for 3-4 years,
10% for 8-9 years, 7% for 10+ years, and 7% for 6-7 years. This information provides valuable
context to assess potential correlations between theories and job performance based on the
participants’ varied organizational experiences.
Data Analysis and Conclusion of Results:
Reliability Scale: (usual cut off is alpha = 0.70)
Task Performance (0.73 RELIABLE) refers to employee behavior directly involved in
transforming organizational resources into the goods and services the organization produces.
Citizenship (0.67 NOT RELIABLE): voluntary employee activities that may or may not be
rewarded but that contribute to the organization by improving the overall quality of the setting or
context in which work takes place.
Counterproductive Behavior: (0.55 NOT RELIABLE): employee behaviors that intentionally
hinder organizational goal accomplishment.
Hypothesis #1 (Overall Impact of work: Impact of work will be positively related to job
performance) = 0.87
Task: Low: -0.13, Mean: 0.15 High: 0.42 CONFIDENCE INTERVALS INCLUDES 0. DO
NOT SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Citizen: Low: 0.16, Mean: 0.44, High: 0.71 MODERATE TO HIGH POSITIVE
CORRELATION
Counter: Low: 0.04, Mean: 0.32, High: 0.59 MODERATE POSITIVE CORRELATION
Hypothesis #2 (Workload: The amount of workload will be negatively related to job
performance. It will be a weak correlation) = 0.72
Task: Low: -0.61, Mean: -0.34 High: -0.06 MODERATE NEGATIVE CORRELATION
Citizen: Low: -0.03, Mean: 0.25, High: 0.52 CONFIDENCE INTERVALS INCLUDES 0. DO
NOT SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS
Counter: Low: -0.37, Mean: -0.10, High: 0.18 CONFIDENCE INTERVALS INCLUDES 0.
DO NOT SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS
Hypothesis #3 (Professional Development: Professional development will have a strong
positive relation to job performance) = 0.80
Task: Low: 0.18, Mean: 0.45 High: 0.73 MODERATE TO HIGH POSITIVE
CORRELATION
Citizen: Low: 0.19, Mean: 0.47, High: 0.74 MODERATE TO HIGH POSITIVE
CORRELATION
Counter: Low: -0.31, Mean: -0.03, High: 0.24 CONFIDENCE INTERVALS INCLUDES 0.
DO NOT SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS
Correlations:
IV for First Hypothesis
IV for Second Hypothesis
IV for Third Hypothesis
0.15
-0.34
0.45
0.44
0.25
0.47
0.32
-0.10
-0.03
Confidence Intervals:
Task
Low
End
Citizen
High End
Low End
Counter
High End
Low End
High End
IV for First Hypothesis
-0.13
0.42
0.16
0.71
0.04
0.59
IV for Second Hypothesis
IV for Third Hypothesis
-0.61
0.18
-0.06
0.73
-0.03
0.19
0.52
0.74
-0.37
-0.31
0.18
0.24
Our research findings suggest a positive correlation between the impact of work and job
performance, which is our first hypothesis. The overall reliability score of this correlation is 0.87,
which is significantly higher than the usual cutoff of 0.7. Our study considers several factors,
such as the meaningfulness of the work, its impact on the company's future, the potential for
helping others, and job satisfaction. This also refers to the various behaviors exhibited by
employees, such as task performance, citizenship, and counterproductive actions.
Starting with Task Performance, our data showed no significant correlation for this behavior
involving employees directly transforming resources into goods and services. The confidence
intervals on the task condition include a low correlation of -0.13, a mean of 0.15, and a high
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
correlation of 0.42. On this ratio of correlation, zero is included. Therefore, Task Performance
behavior does not confidently support our first hypothesis about the impact of work and its
relationship to job performance.
In contrast, a Citizen who actively participates in voluntary activities to improve the quality of
their job and the company, tends to have a moderate to higher positive correlation between their
work impact and job performance. The Citizen behavior confidence intervals range from a low
correlation of 0.16, a mean of 0.44, to a high correlation of 0.71.
We also observed a moderate correlation for counterproductive behavior, which refers to
employee behavior that intentionally undermines organizational goals. The confidence interval
for the Counter conduct ranges from a low correlation of 0.04, a mean of 0.32, to a high
correlation of 0.59. This kind of behavior could be linked to some task performance employees
and the belief that their impact on work is unrelated to their job performance.
Our second hypothesis states that the workload will be negatively related to job performance. As
we predicted, the correlation of this hypothesis was weak, having scored 0.72 nearly below the
usual reliability score of 0.7. We evaluated this hypothesis based on several factors, including the
time required to manage a heavy workload, the nature of additional job duties, and the frequency
of working outside regular hours.
As we looked at the Task Performance behavior, our data indicated a moderate negative
correlation for this type of employee. With a low correlation of -0.61, a mean of -0.34, and a
high of -0.06, this study suggests that task-oriented employees do not think the amount of work
could be negatively related to their job performance. As mentioned in the textbook, there are
many types of Task Performance, such as adaptive, routine, and creative, which could consider a
workload positive for their career and overall performance in the company.
On the other hand, both Citizenship and Counterproductive Behavior did not confidently support
this hypothesis, with zero correlation in their range. For Citizen employees who engage in
voluntary activities that are often not rewarded, a higher workload could be something they look
forward to as it provides more opportunities for them to contribute to the overall quality of the
company. This extra workload could include training or helping others, displaying good
sportsmanship, and exhibiting their civic virtues.
Our third and last hypothesis states that professional development will have a strong positive
relation to job performance. This was not a surprise as both Task Performance and Citizenship
employee behaviors demonstrated a moderate to high positive correlation to our hypothesis with
almost identical results. In this hypothesis, we aimed to investigate whether the company
provides the necessary resources for continuing employee professional development, if it
dedicates additional training sessions during work hours, if the supervisor meets with the
employee to discuss goals for growth and professional development, as well as the level of
encouragement to pursue relevant development opportunities.
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Professional development is widely recognized as essential in improving employees' skills,
providing them with opportunities to achieve better job performance. It also helps maintain up to
date skills with modern technologies, increases their confidence, motivates them to seek better
opportunities within the company, and can assist with employee retention as they see the
company investing in them.
In summary, our first hypothesis suggested a positive relationship between the impact of work
and job performance. We found that this hypothesis has a moderate to high positive correlation
with the citizenship behavior of employees, and, in some cases, it can also relate to
counterproductive behavior. However, it does not have a correlation with task performance
behavior.
The second hypothesis suggested that the amount of workload would have a negative
relationship with job performance. We observed that this hypothesis negatively correlates with
the task performance behavior of employees and does not correlate with citizenship or
counterproductive behaviors.
Lastly, our third hypothesis proposed that professional development would have a strong positive
relation to job performance. We found a moderate to high correlation for professional
development within task performance and citizenship behaviors. There was no correlation for
counterproductive behavior.
In addition, our findings enable us to develop accurate prescriptions for each of our hypotheses.
These prescriptions aim to assist managers in comprehending how the overall impact of the job
influences each type of employee, how the workload can either positively or negatively affect
job performance, and how professional development correlates with performance.
On the overall impact of work, we saw that many task-performance employees do not consider
their impact positively related to their job performance. Some of the reasons could be that
performing their core duties is sufficient for them to get by, and sometimes, these routines
remain unchanged. Although we also have adaptive and creative task-performance employees,
these can depend on the task itself. However, citizenship employees think their impact on the job
is highly correlated to their performance. This is not a surprise since these employees would go
the "extra mile" to ensure the organization improves overall quality and are always ready to help
with projects and training. Lastly, we saw some counterproductive behavior, which can be
related to unmotivated employees.
Prescription #1: Managers should guide and demonstrate task performance employees the value
that each core task brings to the company, and how that impacts the company's overall goal.
Prescription #2: Managers should focus on building a culture of sportsmanship and try to move
more task performance employees to citizenship behaviors.
EMBA 7410
Organizational Behavior
Team Research Project: Job Performance
12/08/2023
Prescription #3: Managers should provide opportunities for employees to perform more creative
job tasks to impact job performance highly.
On the workload hypothesis, we saw a negative correlation for task performance employees.
This suggests that this behavior relates the amount of workload to positive job performance.
Most survey responses indicated that employees tend to have a heavy workload. This helped us
conclude that, in some cases, having more work could be related to better performance or at least
feeling that way. However, we found no correlation between workload and citizenship or
counterproductive behaviors.
Prescription #1: Managers should ensure the amount of work correlates to personal employees'
career and company goals. This could show that the work is meaningful and has a more
significant impact on job performance.
Prescription #2: Managers should make sure the employee has enough time to perform and
manage the workload effectively. This can be fixed by eliminating short due dates, dividing the
job amount with more employees, and eliminating overly complicated tasks.
Prescription #3: Managers should use planner tools to understand the process of each project
and to evaluate which stages require additional resources.
Our last hypothesis talks about professional development and the positive correlation with job
performance. Our data supported the prediction, and both task performance and citizenship
employees believe that development is necessary to increase productivity and to perform their
jobs better.
Prescription #1: Managers should continue investing in relevant professional development for
each employee. Training, leadership opportunities, and short-term assignments are examples of
professional development that could benefit the employee and the company.
Prescription #2: Managers should adapt the PIE model. This model suggests that the employee
delivers on Performance and works with the manager on the employee’s Image, however it is the
manager’s duty to create opportunities for employee Exposure thus allowing them to develop
and learn.
Prescription #3: Managers should have one-on-one meetings with the employee at least twice a
month to ensure they discuss opportunities for growth and that they are on the right track for the
employee's professional goals.