Abstract

Managing people well is paramount to achieving goals and objectives at work. This paper investigates and provides a deeper understanding of what positive effects knowledge and application of the concepts of attitude and behaviour can have on managers and therefore the people they manage. The results show that people skills are positively affected by the attitudes and behaviours managers develop and apply. The outcome of a literature review suggests that social psychology plays an important role in establishing how attitudes and behaviours are formed at work and the effects these have on how people think, feel and ultimately act. Outputs from a focus group meeting with practising social psychologists suggest an effective attitude, behaviour and competence skills set that, when applied appropriately, could make the difference between average and superior performance. It is suggested that people skills on their own are no longer adequate to improve the performance levels of people. The outcome of this research is applicable and relevant to managers in any working environment such as Construction, IT, Finance or Consultancy. The proposed skills set of what makes an effective attitude, behaviour and competence (ABC) manager can be universally applied although some modifications may be necessary to meet the needs of cultural diversities.

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