Work Adjustment Theory

Most applicable to adults who wish to make career choices or are experiencing work adjustment problems

Consists of 18 propositions and corollaries which predict work adjustment

Work Adjustment – a continuous and dynamic process by which a worker seeks to achieve and maintain correspondence with a work environment. Work adjustment is indicated by length of time, or tenure, on the job.

This theory is concerned with actual job performance, not just career selection or work adjustment.

Two major components to the prediction of work adjustment:
Satisfaction: being satisfied with the work one does, the extent to which a person’s needs and requirements are being met by the work being done.
Satisfactoriness: the employer’s satisfaction with the individual’s performance, concerns the appraisal of others, usually supervisors, of the extent to which an individual adequately completes the work that is assigned to him/her

STEP 1 - ASSESSMENT ABILITIES, VALUES, PERSONALITY and INTERESTS

Abilities: reference dimensions for skills (work skills), encompasses aptitudes, need assessment statements of abilities in order to conceptualize a vast array of work skills
To assess abilities, they used GATB – incorporates abilities required for many jobs and measures a broader base of abilities than many academic tests.

Values: represents a grouping of needs, the number of needs are fewer than skills
To assess values and needs, they developed the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ)
· method of measuring the importance of needs that emerge from experience
· 20 need scales characterize important work-related concepts
· 6 values derived from 20 needs, 3 negatively correlated pairs

Achievement (making use of one’s abilities and having a sense of accomplishment) vs. comfort (non-stressful work environment)
status (how one is perceived by others and the recognition one gets) vs. altruism (how one can help or work with others)

safety (orderliness and predictability) vs. autonomy (opportunity to work on their own)

Personality Styles: concerned with how an individual with particular abilities and values interacts with his or her work situation
Four characteristics of personality style:
_ celerity: speed with which one approaches tasks
_ pace: effort one spends in working
_ rhythm: the pattern of one’s effort or pace
_ endurance: how long one is likely to continue working on a task
Interests: derived from values and abilities in that they are an expression of ability-value relationships. Work values are better indicators of job satisfaction than interests, according to researchers.

STEP 2 – MEASURING THE REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS OF OCCUPATIONS

There are methods to measure the abilities and values needed for many occupations. This is done by averaging scores for people in various occupations on the GATB and MIQ.

Ability Patterns: important abilities that are required for a great variety of jobs.
Set of GATB ability requirements was developed for each occupation and cutoff scores were selected. Those scoring above this cutoff were successful in their jobs. So if a client was taking the GATB, you would compare his score with successful employees and see if they match.
Value Patterns: developed the Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (MJDQ), which assesses how well an occupation reinforces or meets each of the 20 needs.
Combining Ability and Value Patterns: combined data used to create the Minnesota Occupational Classification System (MOCS)

STEP 3 - MATCHING ABILITIES, VALUES, AND REINFORCERS

When matching values and abilities with the Occupational Ability Patterns and Occupational Reinforcer Patterns, the counselor can use (1) MIQ, (2) GATB, (3) MOCS
Adjustment Style: the degree of fit between person and the environment, how an individual relates to the occupational environment
Four qualities describe this fit:
· flexibility - the ability of a person to tolerate unpleasant or difficult aspects of the job
· activeness – trying to change the environment
· reactiveness – changing themselves
· perseverance – how long a person can take adverse conditions before changing jobs

JOB ADJUSTMENT COUNSELING

Work adjustment theory can be used to conceptualize the types of problems that someone can have in adjusting to a job (i.e. their skills may not be fully developed for the job or may not be able to fully develop them, values and needs are not met on the job, does not understand the reinforcer patterns of the work involved, or person could be having problems at home which affect work).
Counselor assesses client’s work personality (MIQ, GATB) and working environment.
Assess discrepancies between the individual’s values and abilities and the ability patterns and reinforcer patterns of the job.
Make changes in the work itself so that reinforcer patterns are altered.

ADJUSTMENT TO RETIREMENT

Try to find work in a non-work environment that has the same abilities and reinforcers as their previous job.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Work adjustment theory is applied to young, gifted adolescents
THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS - MIQ, MJDQ, MSQ (MINNESOTA
SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE), MSS (MINNESOTA SATISFACTION SCALES)

THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION - USE OF THE MINNESOTA OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

APPLYING THE THEORY TO WOMEN AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS
Focus on large differences within groups rather than small differences existing between groups.

COUNSELOR ISSUES: Counselor and client are reinforcers for each other.