Use personality traits to get the most out of staff

Employee job performance is the backbone of any institution or organisation as it shows how well workers carry out their tasks, if they take the initiative and use their problem- solving skills. Photo/FILE 

By GLADYS MWITI

In Summary

• Job performance is a multi-faceted concept and employee wellness ensures that they are facilitated to give their best towards realisation of the company’s goals and objectives.
• Big Five Personality factors find their application among workers because employers are becoming more aware that employee productivity directly impacts on company effectiveness.
• The “Big Five Personality Factors” are broad categories of personality traits such as openness, which relates to a person’s imagination and insight; conscientiousness, which refers to the drive to succeed; extraversion, which relates to how outgoing someone is; agreeableness, which is tied to someone’s levels of compassion and warmth; and neuroticism, showing how secure someone feels.

Employee job performance is the backbone of any institution or organisation as it shows how well workers carry out their tasks, if they take the initiative and use their problem- solving skills.

It also indicates the extent to which employees complete tasks, how they utilise the available resources and the time and energy they spend on these tasks.

Research has shown that personality factors are valid predictors of job performance. It is therefore common practice to consider personality during selection (when a company is deciding whom to hire) in order to find the most suitable personality for a particular job.

The “Big Five Personality Factors” are broad categories of personality traits such as openness, which relates to a person’s imagination and insight; conscientiousness, which refers to the drive to succeed; extraversion, which relates to how outgoing someone is; agreeableness, which is tied to someone’s levels of compassion and warmth; and neuroticism, showing how secure someone feels.

This theory founded by researcher D. W. Fiske (1949) and later expanded upon by other studies has been widely used all over the world across various cultures in selecting or promoting suitable personnel.

But how practical is it in a culturally diverse country such as Kenya?

There is no well- founded research on the effectiveness of using “Big Five Personality Factors” in Kenya, a state experts refer to as “W.E.I.R.D.” (western, educated, industrial, rich, democratic). The theory lacks the combined emicetic approach that is necessary for a transcultural perspective.

Employee productivity

Big Five Personality factors find their application among workers because employers are becoming more aware that employee productivity directly impacts on company effectiveness.

Job performance is a multi-faceted concept and employee wellness ensures that they are facilitated to give their best towards realisation of the company’s goals and objectives.

Although there are many other factors that affect output, including company leadership, co-workers and so on, some of the most important ones are the employees emotional wellness, relationship acuity, resourcefulness in problem-solving and focused work ethics.

It follows then that personnel who are able to best deliver are those who can use their Big Five factors well. Employees struggling with stress, conflict at work, personal emotional challenges, depression and substance abuse, among other things, would find it difficult to use their Big Five Personality Factors.

Kenya is a communal society where culture largely affects personality, especially in instances where the individual has not been widely socialised. Beyond the Big Five we seek to identify positive indigenous resources that contribute to efficacy and resilience in the work place.

During the selection process for example, consider picking a counselling psychologist for a company with employees from Kenya’s diverse cultural backgrounds from two candidates.

A liberal woman who has strong agreeable personality trait would be the best choice. But in our society, a man would be more comfortable discussing his concerns with another man of the same age or older, regardless of personality.