Personality Influences on Job Turnover
The debate as to the impact that personality has on job turnover has increased over the course of the past generation. Several factors throughout a person’s life have the inherent potential to impact the rate of turnover (Bakker, Boyd, Dollard, Gillespie, Winnfield and Stough, 2010). Of these influences, the underlying state of mind has been demonstrated to have the most telling influence. Emotional factors play a vital role in any decision to stay or leave an employment position (Jang and Geoge, 2010). With modern technology increasing the manner in which the ability to apply pressure to any position has increased, employees are facing an unprecedented amount of both opportunity and instability in the work force. An employee’s personality is often the deciding factor when it comes to a sustained job opportunity (Garrosa, Rainho, Moreno-Jimenez, and Monteiro, 2009).
This study will examine assessments of job place stressors in order to establish a working data base from which to build a foundation. Following this will be an evaluation of implementation and the impact that emerging science has had on overall understanding. Combining the first two sections, this essay will establish a reasonable illustration of the future potential of job management and the very real possibility of building on modern practice.
In the end this study will have examined personality influence, emotional influence, and future potential with the stated goal of gaining a fuller understanding of the influence of the personality on turnover in the work place.
Personality Influence
Felps, Mitchell, Hekman, Lee, Hotom and Harman (2009) argue that there are many social and personal levels involved in any decision to maintain or leave an employment position. This view corresponds with the approach that a person’s entire lifestyle is a factor in the understanding of why or why not an employee stays. Alongside personal issues many external social issues have the potential to impact the decision to leave a job. Industries that include a social environment such as the Hotel or Tourist arena include the factor of social acceptance among the rest of the staff as an additional variable in the decision to quit (Felps, Mitchell, Hekman, Lee, Hotom and Harman, 2009). The rate of embedded-ness that the employees exhibited among the rest of the staff had the impact of either reinforcing the desire to leave or to stay.
Reinforcing the perception that an employee’s personality plays a major role in long term job acquisition is the argument that the personal behaviours that include job search habits play a pivotal role in the determination of long term employment (Felps, Mitchell, Hekman, Lee, Hotom and Harmn, 2009). The perception that it would be harder to find another job as opposed to dealing with the issues in the current position rests on the personality. Each individual will approach the decision differently. This component of job satisfaction can be dependent on outside influences that serve to bolster or undermine the underlying desire (Valentine, Godkin, Fleischman and Kidwell, 2011). Efforts to incorporate the needs of the employee in the work place have been shown to have an impact on an employee’s willingness to remain in a position.
High corporate values have been argued to play a fundamental role in a company’s ability to retain a credible work force (Valentine, Godkin, Fleischman and Kidwell, 2011). This approach demonstrates that when a company places a high value on ethics and the overall satisfaction of their employees, the employees themselves are far more comfortable and likely to remain employed with the company. This is a clear illustration that the feeling of being a positive element in the company, an appreciated component that aids in the overall building of an opportunity, will in turn engage the work force and enable a feeling of commitment (Valentine, Godkin, Fleischman, and Kidwell, 2011). Coupled with a positive group dynamic that fosters a group creativity method, the capability for a company to aid their own case is available.
Emotional Influence
Job stress is defined as the emotional response of an employee in a work environment that demonstrates a threatening attitude to co-workers (Jang and George, 2011). The ability for emotion to be a primary factor in the work place stressors is very high. The inherent environment that a job inhabits will create a form of pressure that has been demonstrated to contribute to the rate of turnover (Garrosa, Rainho, Moreno-Jimenez and Monteiro, 2009). High pressure jobs such as health care and emergency services have demonstrated a very high rate of employees quitting due to the natural stressors that are created. Within the high pressure position, employees personality becomes an even more vital instrument of assessing long term potential (Garrosa, Rainho, Moreno-Jimenez and Monteiro, 2009). Employees assessed to possess hardy personalities have been found to thrive and prosper in areas that others lacking those same resilient personal qualities wither and diminish.
The associated rate of burn out among employees in the high risk fields is consistent with the personality type, hardy being more likely to sustain a position (Garrosa, Rainho, Moreno-Jimenez and Montero, 2009). Among these same classes of employees, social mechanisms served to be not only the best overall predictor, but an available source of support and assistance. It has been argued that the perception of depersonalization will manifest prior to an employee feeling the need to leave a position; this perception is modified in the presence of positive social infrastructure (Garrosa, Rainho, Moreno-Jimenez and Montero, 2009). In each of these areas, a person’s personality is aided or hindered by the emotional elements associated with the job.
Jang and George (2011) argue that the emotional intelligence of an individual is the primary component utilized in the decision to leave a position. The ability to recognize and responsibly deal with emotions in the work place has the potential to exert a fundamental pressure on an employee unaccustomed to doing so successfully. In areas such as the restaurant industry that have a constant contact with the public, the social stressors associated with any one position can sometimes seem inordinately large (Jang and George, 2011). The qualities of personal, emotional and social abilities can combine with the inherent skills needed to accomplish any task and directly influence the effort in a detrimental manner. This argument reflects the building recognition that a person’s entire personality must be considered in order to predict any form of long term commitment, regardless of whether that individual voices an affirmation of that job or not.
Future Potential
The growing recognition of the value of emotional and personalized approach to management is increasing the possibilities for many prospective employees (Bakker, Boyd, Dollard, Gillespie, Winefield and Stough, 2010). As the ability to assess the associated impacts of social and personal elements in the work force increases, so too is the ability for modern science to submit a potential resolution that will aid in the quest to establish a greater understanding of motivational factors for employee turnover. With the established determination of personal aspects, the ability to predict the successful or negative outcome of a possible employment opportunity is quickly becoming a reality (Bakker, Boyd, Dollard, Gillespie, Winefield and Stough, 2010). Incorporating emerging components that include the level of neuroticism and extroversion present in an employee will provide a data field that allows the illustration of a long term prediction model.
The development of determination of emotional ties to job turnover will continue to create an opportunity for future expansion based on modern theory (Bakker, Boyd, Dollard, Gillespie, Winfield and Stough, 2010). With predictors that can illustrate an employee’s long term health or satisfaction, there is a very real potential to aid both the person and the industry.
In Conclusion
Personality has a tremendous influence on the rate of job turnover. This study has examined personality and emotional influences related to job turnover allowing many interesting results to be demonstrated.
An employee cannot be separated from their emotional base. Every aspect of the job and the world around them plays a factor in the long term retention of employment. Social factors such as the rate of acceptance with the other staff add to the variables that must be taken into account when determining long term viability. Emotional factors can provide the fundamental impetus to stay in an employment position or the drive to leave that position. This factor can be aided or hindered by the actions and attitude of the business itself. With this finding yet another layer of emotional and social behaviour must be considered.
In the end, this study has provided evidence that clearly demonstrates the fundamental impact the personality plays in the workforce. It will be the diligent, ethical and responsible actions of the modern business world in tandem with the employee work force that combine to create and implement the next step in workplace satisfaction.
References
Bakker, A., Boyd, C., Dollard, M., Gillespie, N., Winfield, A. and Stough, C. (2013). he role of personality in the job demands-resources model: A study of Australian academic staff. Career Development International, 15 (7), pp. 622-636.
Felps, W., Mitchell, T., Hekman, D., Lee, T., Holtom, B. and Harman, W. (2009). Turnover Contagion. Academy of Management Journal, 52 (3), pp. 545-561.
Garrosa, E., Rainho, C., Moreno-Jimenez, B. and Monteiro, M. (2010). The relationship between job stressors, hardy personality, coping resources and burnout in a sample of nurses: A correlational study at two time points. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 47 (2), pp. 205-215.
Jang, J. and George, T. (2011). Untitled. Ohio State University, 1 (1), pp. 1-5.
Valentine, S., Godkin, L., Fleischman, G. and Kidwell, R. (2010). Corporate Ethical Values, Group Creativity, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention. Journal of Business Ethics, 98 (1), pp. 353-37
