The Impact of Personality on Job Performance
An understanding of organizations behavior has become basic for people in managerial positions. This has been mainly compounded by the understanding of the important role played by employees and the desire to come up with appropriate strategies in order to satisfy their diversified needs and avail a favorable environment that promotes maximum employees productivity (Schermerhorn,2012). An understanding of employee’s personality is an area that is quite significant especially during the recruitment and selection process in order to ensure that the personality of the selected candidate meet the requisite attributes for the vacant position in organizations. Personality is a component of organization Behavior that plays a significant role in the productivity of employees as well as their ability to interact positively with other employees. It is defined as characteristics or set of characteristics that make each person unique (Brooks,2009). The personality of an employee is determined by among other factors their Cultural background and acts as a major determinant of the level of motivation displayed by an employee as well as their level of commitment towards their assigned tasks. This paper aims at exploring why Personality is so important in matching people for jobs.
The impact of personality. The personality of an employee has a major impact on their performance as well as their reactions to different situations that may arise in the Job context of their work. Different employees possess different personalities. In the same way, different jobs require different personalities. This, therefore, means that not all personalities are suited for all jobs which call for managers to identify personality traits for different applicants and compare them with duties under each job so that the selected employees are those whose personalities fit the duties at hand (Chen,2009).
Productivity. Productivity is perhaps the major concern for managers. Not only are managers concerned with individual employee’s performance but also the overall performance of the organization. However, the latter would not be possible in a situation where individual employees are not productive. Personality determines how an individual employee behaves and engages with others. It also influences how an employee communicates both with customers, fellow employees and superiors. For employees in senior positions such as middle-level managers and supervisors, personality plays a significant role in their ability to influence and motivate and persuade junior employees. All these are determinants of both individual and organizational productivity (Cooper, Johnson & Holdsworth, 2012). It can, therefore, be said that personality is important in the maintenance of both individual and organizational productivity. This proposition fits the arguments of the proponent of trait theory of personality which states that individual’s personalities are composed of broad dispositions which make each individual unique. Extraversion which is an important trait of personality has been found out to be quite important in predicting individual employee’s job performance especially for jobs involving high interpersonal interactions such as such as managerial and sales jobs. There are also jobs that require high levels of traits such as assertiveness, social ability, and activeness which are all embedded on an individual’s personality (Wilson,2013). A close check of individual personality is therefore important in ensuring that candidates possessing suitable traits for a particular role are identified and selected among the applicants. Conscientiousness is also a major personality trait that is a major determinant of employee’s performance level. Among the attributes of a conscientious person include being organized, goal oriented, responsible and disciplined which are important attributes that employers seek for in employees. The impact of these attributes is that they ensure that an organization’s productivity needs are catered for. Personality is therefore important in matching for matching recruits with jobs with regard to the traits and attributes that are needed for those particular jobs (DuBrin, 2013).
Productivity
Motivation. Motivation is also quite important in the organization setting. It has been defined as the internal and external factors that encourage people to continuously remain committed to their roles or tasks. It can also be viewed as factors, both internal and external that plays a role in facilitating individual’s commitment to certain goals. There are several factors that motivate employees ranging from monetary incentives such as bonuses or salary increment to recognition. There are, however, employees who are self-motivated which means that their level of commitment is guided by self-satisfaction. This is solely dependent on employee personality which means that employees with different personalities are motivated by different factors. Understanding of individual employee’s personality is therefore important in understanding what motivates them (Greenberg,2013). This can be ascertained even during an interview whereby employees are asked to state what motivates them. By understanding g what motivates employees, it can help in putting in place motivating factors, in order to keep employees running at full speed. According to expectancy theory of motivation by Victor Vroom, employees are motivated to realize maximum potential by factors such as the satisfaction of their personal goals, organizational rewards or performance appraisals. The theory is majorly centered on understanding the relationship that exists between rewards and employee’s level of performance and individual goal satisfaction as well as the relationship between effort and level of performance. Phenomenological theory of personality views individuals drives for self-actualization and self-perceptions as determinants of personality. The theory also views the desire to fulfill one’s potential as being the primary motivator (Hiriyappa,2009).
Communication. Communication refers to the process of dissemination of information from the sender to the receiver. In the workplace context, effective communication is very important. It is through communication that employees pass messages and clarify issues to their fellow employees as well as their superiors. Communication also allows managers to pass messages and clarify issues to their subordinates. An individual’s personality plays a significant role in their ability to communicate and interpret messages sent to them. It is, therefore, true that people learn and assimilate information differently. It has been argued that communication plays a significant role in the determination of the performance of employees especially in a situation where collaborations are encouraged (Fox, 2007). Different employees are unique in terms of how they learn and assimilate information so understanding an individual’s employee’s personality is important to the determination of the best strategy that can be adopted for communication purposes. It helps in reducing the confusion that would have been created in a situation where communication does not achieve its targets. According to Bandura’s Social learning theory, there are different ways in which different people learn such as through imitation, modeling, from one another and through observation. This theory supports the fact that understanding of individual’s personality is important in determining the best communication strategy for different employees (Langton, Robbins and Judge, 2013.).
Decreased conflicts and improved collaborations. Personality clashes at the workplace occur in situations where employee’s personalities are incompatible, where different employees have different styles of doing things as well as their general lifestyles. Among the factors that shape employees personalities include their background and experiences. Majorly in the modern diversified workplace understanding of each other’s personalities can promote meaningful relationships and peaceful coexistence. Failure to understand each other’s personalities can lead to potential conflicts at the workplace (Pinder, 2014). Understanding g of individual employee’s personalities by their managers can also promote meaningful relations and lead to a reduction in the conflicts that would have otherwise arisen. Jobs that require two or more employees to work together may require a through personality check in order to ensure that the employee’s personality matches the traits needed for a particular job besides ensuring that there is reduced personality conflict and increased collaborations. Some roles such as Customer care reception also require individuals with certain personalities, especially those who can answer all manner of questions without any emotional interference as well as those who can deal with all types of clients. According to Jug’s type theory of personality, Individuals can be classified as either Introverts or Extraverts. The main determining characteristics of introverts are social withdrawal, shyness and being less talkative and inability to adjust to social situations. On the other hand, Extraverts are naturally social, talkative, friendly and outgoing. While introverts are future oriented, extroverts are more concerned with the present reality. There are clear distinctions between introverts and extroverts which mean that understanding of different personalities is important in order to reduce conflicts and encourage collaborations at the workplace (Miner,2008).
Conclusion
In conclusion understanding of individual employee’s personality is quite important in any workplace setting. Among the importance of personality is the fact that it has a role to play in the motivation of employees. With the understanding that different employees are motivated by different factors, personality is used in determining what motivates each individual employee. Apart from this, personality is also important in reducing workplace conflicts and improving collaborations. By understanding the different personalities available in an organization, it can be possible to group employees and assign roles accordingly in order to avoid potential work-related conflicts. Understanding of personalities is also important in as far as communication at the workplace is concerned. Different individuals are better communicated to using different strategies. An understanding of individual personality is important in determining the appropriate strategies for individual employees as well as in the assignment of tasks and responsibilities.
Reference
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Langton, N., Robbins, S.P. and Judge, T.A., 2013. Fundamentals of organizational behaviour. Pearson Education Canada.
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Wilson, F.M., (2013). Organizational behaviour and work: a critical introduction. Oxford University Press.
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