An employee's personality is a crucial factor when it comes to hiring the best talent for your company. How does personality influence the work environment, teamwork ability and job success? In this article, we will explain how to evaluate an employee's personality before hiring and how this can help improve your organization's performance.
What is Personality in the Workplace?
Personality in the workplace refers to an individual's ability to adapt to the demands and expectations of their role, team, and organization. Understanding personality helps us know how employees react to different situations, communicate with others, and organize themselves. While personality patterns are relatively stable, they can be modified through learning and experience.
Personality can affect many aspects of work life, such as motivation, performance, satisfaction, and well-being. For instance, some individuals tend to be more extroverted, creative, and assertive, while others are more introverted, analytical, and meticulous. These differences can influence how they manage time, solve problems, pay attention to details, and handle stress.
Why are Personality Traits Important?
Personality traits are important in the workplace because they can influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and outcomes. These traits define a person's distinctive and consistent way of being. Some traits can benefit employees in specific situations, while others can be detrimental.
A study by the University of Illinois found that personality traits help employees advance in their careers, have a positive impact on individual and team work, overcome obstacles, increase motivation, and improve human relationships. Conversely, some traits can hinder the ability to supervise, solve problems effectively, and adapt to change. These are the reasons why it is essential to know and catalog both employees' and one's own personality traits.
Find out what recruitment software is with this comprehensive guide.
How Personality Traits Affect Performance
Certain traits can foster the development of specific skills, competencies, and attitudes necessary for performing well at work. For example, people with an open personality are usually more creative, curious, and willing to learn new experiences. These characteristics can be very useful for jobs requiring innovation, adaptation, and flexibility.
On the other hand, some traits can hinder employee performance if they do not align with the job's demands or the environment. For example, people with a neurotic personality are prone to anxiety, insecurity, and pessimism, which can be problematic for jobs involving stress, pressure, or risk.
Personality also influences collective work, communication, and leadership. Extroverted individuals tend to be more sociable, enthusiastic, and persuasive, which can be very beneficial for jobs involving interaction with others, motivating people, or leading teams effectively.
There is no ideal personality category for all jobs; it depends on each job's characteristics and requirements. Moreover, personality is not fixed and unchangeable but can vary depending on the context and situation. Ideally, understanding the different degrees of each personality trait and how they can be modified or compensated with other skills or resources is crucial.
Does Personality Influence Professional Development?
Personality is a factor that influences individuals' professional development. It refers to the set of psychological traits that characterize a person's way of thinking, feeling, and acting. These traits are relatively stable over time and manifest in different contexts and situations.
Some aspects of personality influence career progress depending on the type of job, work environment, and personal goals. For example, analytical capacity, initiative, perseverance, flexibility, and self-confidence are traits that can enhance daily performance, continuous learning, leadership, and career development. Conversely, impulsivity, rigidity, shyness, apathy, and perfectionism are traits that can impair performance, adaptation to change, and interpersonal relationships.
Employee Personality Characteristics
These characteristics define how individuals behave in the workplace. One of the most known and used models is the Big Five, which groups personality into five dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Types of Employee Personalities
The Compliant Worker
Characterized by a high level of agreeableness and understanding, this worker is cooperative, helpful, and flexible with others. They avoid conflict and seek harmony within the team. However, they can also be overly dependent, submissive, and lacking in assertiveness, making them vulnerable to toxic or manipulative individuals.
The Conscientious Worker
Distinguished by a high degree of responsibility, this worker is organized, diligent, and efficient in their work. They fulfill their obligations and deadlines and strive for excellence. However, they can also be overly perfectionist, rigid, and demanding, which can cause stress or difficulty adapting to changes.
The Chatty Worker
Defined by a high level of extraversion, this worker is sociable, communicative, and enthusiastic. They have good relationships with colleagues and clients and enjoy working in teams. However, they can also be impulsive, distracted, and superficial, causing them to lose focus or make mistakes.
The Motivating Worker
Identified by a high degree of openness to experience, this worker is creative, innovative, and curious. They bring original ideas and novel solutions to problems and are willing to take risks and challenges. However, they can also be overly idealistic, nonconformist, and rebellious, which can cause clashes with rules or authorities.
The Frank Worker
Recognized by a low level of agreeableness, this worker is direct, honest, and critical. They say what they think without beating around the bush and are not influenced by others' opinions. However, they can also be overly aggressive, offensive, and insensitive, generating conflicts or hurting others' feelings.
The Insecure Worker
Characterized by a low degree of conscientiousness, this worker is disorganized, lazy, and irresponsible. They fail to meet their duties and deadlines and do not strive to improve their work. However, they can also be overly dependent, conformist, and fearful, needing others' approval or support.
The Irascible Worker
Expressed by a low level of extraversion, this worker is reserved, shy, and solitary. They prefer working alone or with few people and do not enjoy attracting attention or participating in social activities. However, they can also be overly withdrawn, dull, and indifferent, causing them to miss opportunities or connections.
The Malicious Worker
Characterized by a low degree of openness to experience, this worker is conventional, conservative, and routine-bound. They strictly follow rules and traditions and do not like experimenting or changing. However, they can also be overly closed, dogmatic, and intolerant, rejecting or criticizing everything new or different.
The Empathetic Worker
Possesses a high level of emotional intelligence, making them aware, sensitive, and understanding of their own and others' emotions. They have a good capacity to listen, understand, and help others and adapt easily to situations and people. However, they can also be overly emotional, vulnerable, and dependent, suffering or being influenced by others' moods.
The Unstable Worker
Distinguished by a high degree of neuroticism, this worker is anxious, nervous, and restless. They have low self-esteem and a high tendency to stress, depression, or anger. However, they can also be overly impulsive, unpredictable, and extremist, acting erratically or dangerously.
These are just some examples of employee personality types found in the workplace. It is essential to remember that no type is better or worse than another; each has its strengths and weaknesses. Everyone can learn to improve their skills and attitudes to achieve better performance and well-being at work.
How to Evaluate Personality Traits in the Hiring Process
The video resume, also known as video CV or presentation video, is an increasingly used tool in recruitment and selection. It is a short video where the candidate introduces themselves, explains their education, experience, and skills, and shows their interest in the position they are applying for.
This tool has many advantages for the recruiter. It allows HR personnel to get to know candidates better, not just by what they say but also by how they say it, and evaluate personality traits relevant to job performance.
How to Evaluate Personality Traits with a Video Resume
Some aspects to consider when evaluating a candidate's personality through a video resume include:
- Video Length and Format: A video that is too long or too short may indicate a lack of planning, organization, or synthesis. An overly elaborate or simple video can reflect the candidate's creativity, innovation, or adaptability.
- Content and Language: What the candidate says and how they say it can reveal their level of education, experience, and skills, as well as their honesty, confidence, and assertiveness. It also shows whether the candidate fits the job profile and company culture and if they express interest and enthusiasm for the job.
- Tone and Expression: How the candidate speaks and expresses themselves can show their level of extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Observe if the candidate is sociable, communicative, and positive, or reserved, shy, and negative. Also, note if the candidate is empathetic, cooperative, and flexible, or aggressive, individualistic, and inflexible.
- Appearance and Body Language: How the candidate dresses and moves can indicate their level of responsibility, professionalism, and self-esteem. Evaluate if the candidate presents an appropriate image for the job and company and pays attention to presentation details. Also, analyze if the candidate has an open, relaxed, and confident posture, or a closed, tense, and doubtful one.
The importance of the video resume lies in observing not only what the candidate can do but also who they are and how they are. You can request this type of resume through Cazvid and prepare a questionnaire with specific objectives.
Improve Your Decisions and Workplace with Cazvid
Would you like to improve your decisions and workplace with Cazvid by evaluating candidates' personalities through video resumes? Cazvid is an innovative platform that lets you better understand applicants through a short video where they introduce themselves, explain their education, experience, and skills, and show their interest in the position.
With this app, you save time and money in the selection process and make better-informed decisions. You can see how candidates express themselves, communicate, and behave, evaluating personality traits crucial for job performance.
Conclusion: Seek a Healthy Work Environment
Remember that the most important thing is to create a healthy work environment where employees feel comfortable, valued, and motivated. Such an environment fosters respect, trust, and collaboration among team members, recognizing and enhancing each one's talent. Therefore, as an employer, evaluating and understanding both your personality and that of candidates is key to achieving an optimal work climate, improving performance, and fostering good human talent management.