Introduction

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to do the following things:

• Describe what makes work important.
• Describe the criterion problem.
• Describe and categorize work according to different criteria, such as
  • taskwork,
  • organizational citizenship behavior,
  • adaptive performance, and
  • counterproductive work behaviors.
• Describe ways criteria may be measured (i.e., objective versus subjective measures).
• Evaluate criteria according to standards, including relevance, measurability, and variance.

Lesson Readings & Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Course Schedule.

What Makes Work Important?

The importance of work can be quite subjective. Is your work important? Is your neighbor’s work important?

Work often gives individuals an identity ("I’m a dentist") and can increase or decrease their self-esteem. In general, by knowing what people do for work, we attach a certain value to them, whether that's good or bad. For example, would you treat someone differently if she were the CEO as opposed to the receptionist at a multinational corporation? Perhaps. Regardless, we all want to feel good about what we’re doing, as our work is tied to our self-concept.

The notion of occupational prestige is one indication of the extent to which society values various occupations: high-prestige occupations (physician, professor, etc.) are most often highly valued. On the other hand, many occupations are not as highly valued (laborer, clerk, etc.). Does this mean that people who work in these occupations cannot have a positive self-concept or high self-esteem? Of course not! In these occupations, individuals gain esteem from the knowledge that the work they are doing is important. Additionally, one’s work group may help buffer his or her esteem by identifying valuable aspects of the work that may not be apparent to those outside the occupation. Has anyone ever watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel and been unimpressed by how incredibly hard-working those men and women are?

Although it may be easy to agree that work is important, it is difficult to define and measure work in clear and easy terms.