The Role of Personality in the Workplace - Coursework Example

The Role of personality in the work place. Name Course Instructor Date Abstract Organizations are entirely dependent on the input of people for their employees for the smooth day-to-day operations. There is agreement that the input of each participant at the work place is of great importance regardless of their position, for it is the collective input of each one of them that determines how far the organization rises through the ranks and remains competitive in offering goods and services to the people. The selection and management of this work force thus becomes a fundamental contribution and one that organization must endeavor to handle quite carefully since, other than polices employees may the second most important composition of an organization. The leaders, who in most cases will be the policy makers, must make sure that their thinking and understanding is at least at a balanced level with that of all other employees. In this paper, we will seek to understand what role personality plays in the work place and how it influences results. Introduction. Over the years there has been an increase in research as to how character traits effect all other aspects of an organization and this has in return led to the emergence of colossal literature on the subject. Whereas character traits vary from person to person, the possession or lack thereof of some of these traits may greatly determine how far a person goes in their career and personal life or how an organization is ran (Aiken &West, 1991). By examining this literature in relation to the most common personality traits, we may be able to gain more insight into exactly what role personality traits play either collectively or individually Emergence of the Big Five Personality Traits In discussing personality traits that are prevalent at job places it would be incomplete not initiate a debate on the five most common character traits that have seen the emergence of loads of literature trying to analyze them. These traits have been heavily discussed in personality trait physiology and their role has no doubt greatly contributed to understanding of the overall human behavior especially at the work place. Some of the earliest attempts to understand human traits and how they contribute to the larger working environment can be traced to the 1930s when researchers floated a number of adjectives that could be used to explain the most common personality traits portrayed by the people surrounding the raters (Albright,Kenny & Malloy, 1988). In those early researches, as many as sixty adjectives were given for this description but similar researches continued to narrow this number. However, most of these researches somehow concluded that regardless of the number of adjectives or descriptions given and in spite of the method or approach used, Extroversion, Emotional Stability (Neuroticism), Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience and Agreeableness were five descriptions that seemed to underline personal traits displayed at the job place. Extraversion. From a simplified perspective a person who is extroversive may be said tom have such attributes as sociability, talkativeness and even the ability to affirm their point of view or what may be called assertiveness. The possession of this trait has been found to assist people to communicate better and in a more efficient way while remaining articulate and highly attached to their colleagues due to their level of sociability (Barrick &Mount, 1991.). The practical way of life to look at is perhaps engaging the completely different person who will most likely be solitary and reserved. Research has shown that extraverts have a tendency of dominating activities in the organization and therefore being able to influence direction of activity and attitude within the organization. These attributes often contribute to extraverts being accorded such tasks as those that demand quick expedition and they have in fact been seen to have the ability to effectively adequately and satisfactorily handle these tasks (Funder, Kolar & Blackman, 1995). From this analysis there is a clear indication that extroversion is a quality that reflects the inward and outward productivity of a person, In fact it has been demonstrated that extraversion helps individuals to easily adopt to career changes, and in comparison to people without this ability they may be able to handles situations like job loss in a more positive way. Barrick (1991) observed that the ability to be sociable and active were fundamental to the success of training programs while a positive attitude contributed to the greater success of these training programs. Graziano (1997) further in his paper The Five-Factor Model Of Personality And Its Relationship With Career Success demonstrated that extroversion was largely responsible for career success. Other studies have continued to show that extroverts are considerably preferred for high position jobs or leadership positions. This probably could be attributed to their ability to handle tasks effectively and as well as their ability to positively advocate for their point of view through assertiveness. There has been found to be a close relationship between characteristics such as shyness exhibited in childhood and later life sociability to career success or growth (Gough, 1988). Those who were able to overcome shy tendencies were found to be most likely to attract a sizeable number of followers or a larger circle of associates. Personal attributes also have been discussed in relation to salary issues and it has been observed that possession and subsequent use of extroversion traits could be could be a determinant of an individual’s promotion or salary increase Conscientiousness Conscientiousness is a trait that can be looked at from the angle of an individual’s self discipline personal organization and ability to plan keenly. One is also regarded as having the attributes such as being goal or achievement oriented and they are dependable people. This personal trait has been found to reflect on overall job performance where individuals. These individuals are almost all rounded and seem to do well in almost all the various facets that they may be handling (Goldberg, 1990).From a general point of view conscientiousness has been found to be the most valid and widely used attribute that employees may depend on to have their job well done while it is also the factor they will most likely be looking for in an employee during an interview. Perhaps the reason for the wide application of this character trait is its ability to be all encompassing. Unlike extraversion though conscientiousness has been found to have a small relationship and been indicated as a less significant contributor to salary related issues. Another demonstration that has been reported is that conscientiousness is related much more to work performance and therefore persons with this trait are seen to be more concerned about the results of a particular task. Having this in mind conscientiousness is hence not seen to be inclined more to career success, This might be looked at from different angles by arguing that individuals whose efforts will be more concentrated in one area may not be so much focused on areas of personal development that do not relate top their immediate activity. All in all it is a considerable contributor and has a directly relates personal performance to both inward and outward career success or what is commonly referred to intrinsic and extrinsic career success. In a study conducted using 91 sales representatives of large appliance manufacturer reported that there was a significantly high relationship between the approach that applies an attitude of possibility or what they refer to as “can do” and that which has the approach of “will do”. Most of the attitude attributes portrayed by workers have been found to be fall within this category and it is no wonder then people who are found to be conscientious may perform on a duty independent of the approach, Agreeableness. Agreeableness, as the term goes generally refers to the acceptability and the ability to play along with other members of the organizational environment in an amicable way. It draws its strength from attributes such as being courteous, being good natured and forgiving and having a considerable level of tolerance.These attributes particularly contribute to the enhanced cooperation and individuals who seem to display these characteristics are generally able to act very well in group or team coordinated activities. These more or less social attribute largely refer to the relationship between one person and another. In this case, they may not be very keen in enhance personal performance in job environments but have nonetheless their fair share of contribution. Openness to Experience. This characteristic has been found to be exceptionally important and to play a major role especially in training situations. Individuals will tend to ask and demand more knowledge and generally accept that which they dim appropriate and important to them with relative ease. These individuals are more likely to appreciate artistic expressions; they are quite adventurous and curious. They also seem to have a high level of imagination thus; they can visualize and creatively come up with ideas and solutions. These people are also said to be accommodative to change perhaps due to their nature of adventure (Goldberg, 1990). Researchers have not pointed to there being a high-level relationship between this openness and performance. However, there studies have indicated that these are attributes to contribute positively to organizational objective and are as well relevant for personal growth, Neuroticism Neuroticism is associated with an individual’s ability to handle emotional imbalance. People with a high neuroticism correlation are found to reactively almost negatively to situations of change such as career adjustments and they will normally show signs such as being moody, have a high temper that they are found to be quickly angered an are also very often distressed, To them ordinary situations may be looked from a perspective of threat and minor situations that would be normally easy to solace are often too difficult. In fact, studies have indicated that highly neurotic people almost don not know how to handle difficult situations. In relation to job performance studies have shown that there is neuroticism have largely a negative effect common job performance. It has also been established that individuals need not be too reactive of situations demanding emotional change neither to inactive to adjust to circumstance. Researchers suggest that individuals who seem to display a more balanced emotional persona are more effective and more productive under high levels of stress due to their ability to manage their emotions. It then follow that since high level jobs tend to have more stressful phases , individual expressing signs of high emotional imbalance are often dimmed unfit for them. Another attribute of highly neurotic people that has been demonstrated is that they are highly dissatisfied due to continued experienced stress at work since it is considered to be affective thus has a direct impact on job performance. From a wider perspective, highly neurotic people will not show the best of job characteristics in job expeditions. Discussion. The literature on personal traits no doubt provides a great insight into what they are and how they affect the relationship of one person to another in organization and how they all contribute to the growth and development stages that an organization may be going through. The inclusion of well-analyzed data that has been expressed using scientific methodologies and the inclusion of numerical representation in this data, further gives authenticity to this literature. Research work is supposed to add or improve on the already existing data on the subject being attended to in various ways. This literature therefore becomes important since the explanation that leads to the understanding of this data may lead to its appropriate application thus ensuring that organizations benefit accordingly from individuals who poses the right attributes for their business ( Alper, Tjosvold & Law,1998 ) There is also the aspect of human personal improvement that comes from understanding of this information. By knowing the level at which each one of us operates, individuals should be able to establish various areas a of their career and personal facets need to be enhanced. This will lead to improved provision and tapping knowledge skills and talent. Knowledge of what areas of an individual need improvement of any nature is probably the first step to ensuring that ne remains relevant and even well informed and it is therefore easy even relevant for managers to understand these character traits to be able to establish the most suitable persons for particular tasks ( Alper, Tjosvold & Law,1998 ) Conclusion There is massive literature that deals with person traits and their roles in performance at the job place. However, most of this data gives and over view of what these traits giving much more emphasis on the characteristics they assume and do not clearly demonstrate their applicability. In other words, there is not so much of this kind of data that demonstrates why it is important and where organizations may apply it for their benefit. In addition, most of these studies do not imply the effects of changing trends like social behaviors of employees in their research (Fisher, 2003). That is to mean that there has not been consistent addition of analytical data and thus it n is not easy to establish the effects of technological advances on individuals and organizations in relation to persona traits. Nevertheless, this data is can be said to be largely influential in human resource management. It would give more understanding into the question of why employees behave in a given way. References. Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. London: Sage. Albright, L., Kenny, D. A., & Malloy, T. E. (1988). Consensus in personality judgment at zero acquaintance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 387-395. Alper, S., Tjosvold, D.,&Law, K. S. (1998). Interdependence and controversy in group decision making: Antecedents to effective self-managing teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 74, 33-52. Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1-26. Fisher, C. F. (2003).Why do lay people believe that satisfaction and performance are correlated? Possible sources of a commonsense theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 753-755 Funder, D. C., Kolar, D. C., & Blackman, M. C. (1995). Agreement among judges of personality: Interpersonal relations, similarity, and acquaintanceship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 656-672. Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative description of personality: The Big Five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216-1229. Gough, H. G. (1988). Manual for the California Psychological Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: ConsultingPsychologists. Read More