Introduction
Organizations operate in unpredictable and dynamic environment that is characterized with change in consumer behavior, price fluctuations, political instability and goodwill, and social unrest. All these factors have an effect on the daily operations of the business as they lower performance of the employees, productivity, and cost effectiveness and efficiency of the business. In order to address these challenges, organizations need to devise an effective mechanism that would enable them expand their market niche, increase productivity and profit margin, and integrate technology in the production process so that to remain relevant in the business arena. However, with the current stiff competition and fast-paced business environment, many organizations have resorted to the use of various marketing strategies in order to outdo their arch rivalries and expand their market space. Some of the organizations focus on empowering employees through vocational training, seminars, and fieldtrips; nurturing skills and talents, and embracing technology, while other organizations empathize on the use of competitive advantage strategies. Despite this variance, understanding employees’ personality traits coupled with integration of the discipline of industrial psychology remains key towards attaining organizational goals and objectives.
Importance of personality trait information in industrial psychology
Industrial psychology is a scientific body that examines the employees, workplace and other organizational constructs. Industrial psychologists play an integral part in examining employees’ emotions, attitudes, behavior, performance, productivity and the general well being of the workers. Additionally, industrial psychologists conduct researches on employees’ attitude, emotions, and job satisfaction and recommend ways to improve employee’s productivity via training, hiring and recruiting practices, and adoption of effective management system. More often, organizations fail to achieve their goals and objectives because they hire incompetent and unskilled employees. In certain instance, the employees may have the necessary skills and knowledge in a particular area, but their personality traits fail to match with their job description. In order to address this problem, industrial psychologists should use a suitable personality trait test that would provide accurate, reliable, and valid results. One of the most supported and used personality trait test in the Big Five test model, which has five personality trait dimensions. They include; Emotional stability/neuroticism, extraversion, orderliness, accommodation/agreeableness and inquisitiveness (Barrick, 2003). Personality trait scores vary from one employee to the other with some scoring high and low in certain areas. This infers that employees differ in the way they react to issues, interact with others, perform, and control their emotions, attitudes and behaviors because they have distinct personality traits.
Although employees differ in personality traits, industrial psychology uses the personality test findings in many ways. Firstly, in the recruitment, selection and hiring of new employees in an organization. In most cases, organizations hire and recruit employees based on their academic qualifications, experience and training, but it is important to hire employees based on their personality traits. Before hiring new employees, industrial psychologists should analyze job requirements, description, and content in order to establish criteria of selecting, classifying, and hiring the employees. In essence, only candidates who fulfill the requirement of the job should be hired in the organization. Secondly, industrial psychologist conducts research to examine the influence of the working conditions on employees’ performance and advise the management accordingly. Sometimes workers have the necessary skills and knowledge required in at the workplace, but they fail to achieve their performance targets because of poor working conditions. In such a situation, industrial psychologists should advise the management to provide favorable working conditions, which match with employees’ personality traits. Thirdly, develop employee training, capacity building and placement programs. More often, the management should organize seminars, vocational training and placement programs so that to improve workers skills and knowledge. For instance, an employee may be highly competent at work, but has low emotional intelligence level that lowers his/her interpersonal relation. In such a situation, industrial psychologists should help the employee develop a high emotional intelligence level that would enable the employee interact with other workers effectively. Based on these facts, it is clear that industrial psychologists employ personality test in selecting, hiring, and recruiting employees, developing, implement effective training and placement programs, and advice management on provision of favorable working condition.
Influence of personality trait on teamwork
As a result of the stiff competition in global environment, organizations have refrained from employing traditional approaches, which focused on organizational structures, hierarchical leadership, and individualism and adopted dynamic and networked approaches, which promote teamwork and productivity. In order to expand their market space, increase performance, and remain relevant in the business environment, organizations have established that use of groups or teamwork remains one of the most effective strategies towards utilizing the employees’ potential. The current business environment face numerous challenges ranging from political, economic, social to cultural factors; an idea that compel investor to retrench employees and downsize their operations. However, formation of groups and teamwork in organizations would play an integral role in reforming the business industry and improving employee performance at the workplace. Many organizations understand the importance of embracing teamwork in their respective line of production thus making it a common trend in the business cycle. Teamwork remains effective than individualism because the former tend to complete a given task timely and in a cost effective manner thus lowering the operation cost and enhance professionalism. This is one of the key advantages associated with establishment of groups or teamwork in a learning and dynamic organization.
With the increasing demand for team-based groups, managers have established and employed effective strategies in selecting team members. Most of the selecting strategies focus on the academic qualification of the team members, technical skills, competence, demographic characteristics, and their respective performance. Despite employing this scientific criterion, managers have failed to consider the influence of personality traits of the team members on the group or team performance. Although considering team members technical skills, academic performance and competence remains key in teamwork, it is equally important to consider personality traits of individual team members (Nguyen, 2013). Studies show that teamwork work effectively when team members are selected based on their personality traits and share common goals. In other words, highly performing teams encompass members who are ready to cooperate and interact freely with others in a group setting. For instance, a team made of members who score lowly in extraversion scale cannot achieve its goals and objectives because the members portray an aspect of individualism. This implies that the members are comfortable and satisfied when working alone and in a secluded place. In order for such a team to work effectively, the manager should ensure that the team members share a common personality trait-(extraversion).
On the other hand, a team made of extroverts achieves high performance because the members interact, cooperate, and associate freely. In such a scenario, team members share ideas, information, and opinions, which build the teamwork spirit. Research shows that team members become satisfied in environments, which match with their disposition and personality traits. This infers that extroverts work comfortably in teamwork or group setting while introverts are comfortably in a secluded environment. Variance in personality traits positively or negatively influences teamwork in an organization and managers should understand this aspect. Managers should form teams that share common goals and team members have almost similar personality traits; an idea that will enhance performance, comfortableness and cooperation (Schmitt, 2013). Understanding the influence of personality traits on teamwork performance help managers create motivated teams, which achieve organizational goals and objectives effectively.
Personality trait and staffing assignment
Personality trait information remains a crucial component when assigning duties, responsibilities, and other staffing assignments to employees in an organization. Normally, the management in collaboration with industrial psychologists have the responsibility of hiring, selecting, recruiting and staffing employees based on their academic qualifications, competences, technical skills and performance, but more importantly, based on personality traits. In so doing, employees feel motivated, rejuvenated, and valued; an idea that enables them execute their roles, duties, and responsibility diligently (Zimmerman, 2006). Based on personality trait test, various job descriptions dictate that an employee should hold certain personality traits, which compliment a given task and job description. Sometimes an employee should have two or more personality traits, which match and complement each other, in order to perform a particular task. The Big Five personality model has five distinctive dimensions of personality traits, which match with a particular task or job description. Firstly, employees who score lowly in extraversion scale imply that they prefer performing technical tasks, which require use of technical skills. For instance, such employees can be employed as machine operator and chemical analysts. However, they cannot work as managers or team leaders because they lack communication and interaction skills with other people. Secondly, employees who score highly in orderliness scale have a high sense of self- discipline and act dutifully to achieve organizational goals. Based on this trait, they best fit to work as secretaries, managers, managing directors, and leaders, to mention but a few. However, they cannot work as team leaders because they are perfectionists. Thirdly, employees who score highly in emotional intelligence scale can work as managers, managing directors and team leaders because they can control their emotion effectively. For instance, manager works in a stressful environment but they have a higher emotional intelligence.
On the other hand, employees with low emotional intelligence should work as police officers as they cannot contain their emotions. Fourthly, employees who score high on accommodation scale should work with humanitarian organizations as social worker, counselors, and human resource manager. However, they cannot work as doctors, nurses and health professionals because they have compassion to others. Finally, employees who score high on inquisitive scale should be assigned tasks, which involve creativity, generation of ideas and innovation. They can work as scientists, laboratory technicians, and chemical analysts in an organization. Based on these assertions, personality trait information help managers assign duties, responsibilities and roles to employees effectively thus enhancing performance and productivity.
References
Barrick, M. R. (2003). Personality and work reconsidering the role of personality in organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Nguyen, F. L. (2013). Predicting job performance and job satisfaction: an examination of the five-factor model of personality, polychronicity and role overload. San Diego, Calif.: San Diego State University.
Schmitt, N. (2013). Industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed.). Chichester: Wiley.
Zimmerman, D. (2006). Understanding the Impact of Personality Traits on Individuals' Turnover Decision. New York: ProQuest
