Personality at Selection Interview

Assignment constitution Personality stool be defined as those relatively invariable enduring aspects of an man-to-man that distinguish him/her from other mess and at the same time form a basis for our predictions concerning his/her future behaviour. (W right on et al cited in Rollinson 2005) This commentary represents the view that it is possible to identify an individuals stable and unchanging genius and characteristics, and that if the characteristics are identified they r reveal out be purposed to predict the mortals future behaviour.Organisations differ greatly in their cultures and acceptable behaviours which means that some individuals naturally vista in better than others. (Rollinson 200585) Job roles themselves also differ in footing of the suitability of an individuals soulality in beingness successful in that job role. Therefore in find out the importance of constitution at selection oppugn we need to determine what both the role and the organisation requir e. (Rollinson 200585) In the work environment the fit of a soul has to be right in terms of skills and get word as well as values and needs. Holbeche 2002). Person-organisation fit refers to the extent to which individuals and organisations share similar characteristics (personalities) or meet each others needs. The mensuratement of personality is carried break through to determine desirable or un-desirable traits of candidates to assess their suitability for a role and/or organisation (Arthur2005) Getting this right can lead to job happiness and organisational commitment. (Kristoff2000) When an employer is recruiting the psychological contract has some importance.The psychological contract implies a series of mutual expectations and satisfaction needs arising from the P-O relationship (Mullins2010) P-O fit is likely to be to a greater extent consequential than P-J fit in satisfying the psychological contract (Morley2007) in that employees will be required to adapt to convert s in tasks and gain new skills. It is argued that greater emphasis should be position on the P-O fit as opposed to the more traditional method of P-J fit because firstly individuals will hold some(prenominal) roles within an organisation in that locationfore their P-O is more important than the possibly less lexible P-J fit, they will hold the organisations values and culture closer and will pass long-lasting good therefore lowering recruitment costs. (Ree and Earles 1992) Secondly the changing nature of work requires individuals to be better at teamwork and more flexible. I believe that when recruiting graduates P-O fit is more important as opposed to P-J fit. Graduates are recruited to provide organisations with a potential pool of future managers and enhance succession possibilities. Morley2007) Graduates have little experience in the work environment so are less able to translate their skills, qualifications and experience into the working universe of discourse. If an emp loyer has a clear understanding of their organisations culture, personalities of other employees and can accurately determine the personalities and beliefs of the graduate they can base their stopping point on the graduates enthusiasm, motivation and eagerness to work rather than skills, qualifications and experience.In a study by Wheeler et al (cited in Rollinson 2005) it was embed that job satisfaction could be change magnitude by change magnitude P-O fit, that is recruiting employees with similar values to the organisation. However, Wheeler also found that even though an ill-fitting individual resulted in job dissatisfaction, they would not leave the organisation unless suitable alternative work presented itself. This could lead to them being de-motivated, having poor proceeding and impact on relationships with colleagues.This shows the importance of getting personality right at selection interview. Person-job (P-J) fit refers to the correlation between the individuals skill s, qualifications and experience with the requirements of a job. (Edwards1991) and is a traditional method of employee selection (Werbell and Gilliland1999) P-J fit is most widely determined through proof of an individuals skills, qualifications and experience through certificates and references and questioning around their friendship on a topic.I have personally heard colleagues question the importance of personality on some roles such as accountants which would initially affect you as being weighted heavily on their skills, experience and qualifications however how well would an accountant perform if they did not have the personality traits to communicate in effect with colleagues and customers? Differing roles do also require different personalities in order to be successful irrespective of the organisation. Receptionists, sales person or customer service illustration require the ability to cope with stress and deal with individuals with differing priorities. Gatewood et al200 5) In thinking the importance of personality in selection interview it would be sensible to consider how stable and unchanging a persons personality is. Are we seeing a current snapshot of the individuals personality or will it change overtime? Rollinson (2005) writes that if personality is an ongoing developing process it would be almost impossible to develop valid ways to measure it and would be pointless in attempting to predict future behaviour.Idiographic, one of the two major theories on personality, focuses on personality developing and changing as a result of ongoing experiences. However, rib and McCrae (1992) wrote that personality is relatively stable after the age of 30 therefore using personality in making selection decisions would be possible cod to the stability of personality. Looking at Nomotheic theory, the other of the two major theories of personality, which light upons personality is stable and un-changing, it was noted that there are 5 distinct differences be tween great deal kn deliver as the grownup Five and often referred to as OCEAN.These are Openness (perceptive, sophisticated, knowledgeable, cultured, artistic, curious, analytical, liberal traits) Conscientiousness (practical, cautious, serious, reliable, organised, careful, dependable, hard-working, ambitious traits) Extraversion (sociable, talkative, active, spontaneous, adventurous, person-orientated, assertive traits) Agreeableness (warm, trustful, courteous, agreeable, cooperative traits) Neuroticism (emotional, anxious, depressive, self-conscious, worrying traits) The Big Five can be split into type theory and trait theory.Mullins cites Hans Eyesneck work in which he identified four-spot main personality types. These are stable extraverts,(talkative, responsive, easygoing, lively carefree) unstable extraverts,(impulsive, changeable, excitable, restless) stable introverts (calm, even-tempered, peaceful, thoughtful) and unstable introverts. (anxious, moody, reserved, pe ssimistic) Mullins writes that if managers can predict future behaviours through an individuals personality type then it is not surprising that psychometric tests to measure personality are growing in popularity.Trait theory is then broken shore again into surface traits (those which are observable) and source traits (which can only be inferred) In theory surface traits could be observed through assessment centres. Mullins writes that the Big Five form the basis of standard personality questionnaires and of these five conscientiousness has the highest link with high levels of job knowledge and performance across a eye socket of occupations.So, according to this, it would be beneficial to an organisation to determine candidates personality in order to recruit an individual who has a good stigmatize in conscientiousness. However, Maltby et al (2010) writes that if we were to employ the conscientious person with their practical, cautious, serious, reliable, organized, careful, depen dable, hard-working and ambitious traits, would they be suitable for a role requiring innovation and creativity and are they flexible and pliable to cope with the rapidly changing world of work?He questions the applicability of conscientiousness across all job roles. In considering the impact of personality on our relationship at work with colleagues I believe that emotional intelligence has a strong link with aligning personality with successful performance and relationships at work. Emotional Intelligence is defined as a persons ability to manage themselves as well as their relationship with others so that they can live their intentions (Adele20087) and can be broken down into five specific areas.These are Self awareness, empathy, social expertness, personal influence and mastery of purpose and vision. from each one of these areas could have an impact on our relationships with colleagues. Self awareness is an understanding of how our behaviours or words affect others. If we have self awareness we are able to break self control to change our actions should they be having a negative effect on colleagues. A self aware individual would know when their mood is impacting on others and alter it accordingly.Self awareness is an area looked for in the emotional intelligence of sales people and interview questioning based around the impact of preceding experience of their positive and negative impacts on co-workers would be useful in identifying this area. (Adele 200817) Empathy is an understanding of others feelings and perspective and the ability to experience what someone else is feeling therefore prominent a better understanding of our colleagues. It is the ability to respectfully listen rather than listening to refute or build our own case.A customer service representative who empathises with an irate customer rather than just demanding their account number will better diffuse a volatile situation. (Adele 200854) Marshall Goldsmith (The world authority in he lping successful leaders get even better) described not listening as the most passive-aggressive form of neglectfulness shown to colleagues. Social expertness is the building of social bonds which allow us to work with others, share thoughts and ideas, build trust and resolve conflict. The reason that top executives fail is because of their trial to build interpersonal relationships rather than their technical competence.Personal influence is our ability to influence other towards goals or missions and to influence ourselves in taking initiative and displaying confidence. A recruiting manager would be looking for signs at interview that a candidate can prove they have got people to previously follow them irrespective of their differing levels. instruction of purpose and vision is our ability to understand what our purpose is and therefore determine what types of emotions help us to live our life purpose. It allows us to manage our emotions and relationships.This is also the deter mining factor as to whether the organization and role is fit for us. Interview questions based around a candidates worst and ideal job as well as what inspires and bores them at work can help identify the fit of an individuals personal purpose to an organization. (Adele2008131) Candidates demonstrating emotional intelligence at interview take responsibility for their actions rather than blaming others or playing the victim. (Adele2008146) Studies carried out by Grimsley and Jarrett (cited in Adele2008) concluded that managers displaying higher emotional intelligence were more successful.Anderson and Shackleton (1993) carried out a study on the comparison of the strength of different variables in predicting eventual job performance at the point of selection. Their findings show that personality assessments have a 0. 38 correlation, intelligence a 0. 54 correlation, and structured interview 0. 62. Previous experience and the CV came in lower than all these at 0. 18 and 0. 37 respectiv ely. (0. 1 being small, 0. 3 being medium and 0. 5 being large correlation) Showing in this study that personality assessment has an important role in predicting job performance, above that of the CV and previous experience. Maltby et al 2010) When putting the theory of personality into practice within the work environment, organisations must be clear on why they are assessing personality and what personality characteristics they are they are looking for. (Torrington et al2011) A clear job description and person specification which requires skills, qualifications, experience and personality traits relevant to the job role is key, according to the CIPD, in creating a fair selection process.Should an applicant who is unsuccessful in being selected for interview threaten or indeed commence tribunal proceedings, the organization has a clear framework on how selection for interview and workplace was made. Torrington et al also write that a method of defining the person specification is to focus on the characteristics or competences of individuals who have previously performed best in the role. This has positives in that these characteristics are producing individuals who perform well for the business however this method could produce employees who are very similar to one another and address problems with the same mindset.Personality questionnaires are based on the Nomotheic theory that personality is stable and unchanging. The most recognized personality questionnaire is the Myers Biggs Type Indicator (MBTI) based on the theories of Carl Jung. The questionnaire is developed on the understanding that it is of benefit to people to recognise their individual personality types, and how these differ from those of other individuals. The MBTI is an untimed questionnaire which asks respondents to choose between two opposing courses of action, or two words, depending on what they feel is closest to their natural preference.The MBTI measures 4 preferences Extraversion or In troversion, Sensing or Intuition, Thinking or Feeling and Judging or Perceiving. Peoples four preferences classify them into one of 16 types. Descriptions are accustomed of the characteristics of people of each of the 16 types. Each type is described as having positive qualities and strengths, as well as possible development needs. The questionnaire receives 4 stars from the psychological testing centre. (The British Psychological Society2011) An employer using MBTI can use the information given on the individuals type to further question them at selection interview.Toplis et al (1997) have concerns that the lack of involvement of psychologists in marketing and selling personality testing packages results in too m some(prenominal) tests being released for general use without the required intellectual support. He is also troubled by the increasing use of computer-based tests, particularly to score and interpret results, believing that the accuracy of some systems is not particularl y high. Personality assessment is based on the belief that current roles require particular personality and that tests can identify them.The use of ability tests and competence based interviewing as opposed to personality tests are more tardily defendable in an employment tribunal due to the tangible results being right or wrong whereas with personality tests there are no right or wrong answers and are not as easily defendable should the need arise. There are questions over their lustiness in so a good deal as practitioners can be trained with a basic knowledge of administering tests and interpreting their results. The British Psychology Society give an overall rating for validity and objectivity of tests.There is the argument that candidates may be able to manipulate their results to perform in a way they believe the employer requires. (Furnham1990) therefore invalidating the results and potentially basing a recruitment decision on in-accurate information. In my experience this is where the face to face interview is of vale in verifying and questioning further the results of any personality testing. i. e. Do the results of the personality testing match the behaviours and characteristics of the person sat in front of me? Recruiters may be influenced by striking characteristics or similarities to themselves called the resplendency Effect.The Halo Effect can be defined as a cognitive bias whereby the perception of one trait (i. e. a characteristic of a person or object) is influenced by the perception of another trait (or several traits) of that person or object. (Mullins 2011) An example would be judging a good-looking person as more intelligent. The Halo Effect can have a positive or negative effect. For example, someone who attended the same college or university as the recruiter could be at an advantage but someone who attended a college or university the interviewer perceives to have a poor reputation could put the candidate at a dis-advantage.Solomon Asch (1945) carried out a study that discovered that the presence of one trait often implies the existence of other additional traits and that certain traits can be characterized as central traits. For example, an individual described as warm is perceived to have positive traits such as happy and generous. An individual described as the cold would have the opposite perceived traits. Another example is when individuals believe that a happy person is also friendly or that quiet people are timid. On the other hand, people who are irritable may be seen as in disarray in their daily life.Therefore, people assume other individuals personalities are in doubt using little information. It is often the case that people judge more favourably those individuals with whom they have something in common. An audition carried out at the Penn State College of Medicine asked 35 interviewers and 135 interviewees to complete the MBTI. The results were not shared prior to face to face interview. The expe riment concluded that there was a significant association between similarities in personality type and the rankings that individual interviewers assigned to each interviewee.In this circumstance it is important to be remindful of the effect an individuals personality may have on the outcome of the interview. Employing more than one selection tool does not eradicate the possibility of recruiting an unsuitable candidates. The use of personality data in the selection process, when gathered appropriately, can be valid information in making a contribution to the selection decision however it should not be used in isolation. Personality tests results can be used at interview for the basis of further investigation into applicant abilities.Skills, experience and qualifications are important criterion. Dependent on the role and organisation for which selection is being made will determine the weighting placed on each. If using any form of testing in the selection process employers need to p re-determine the worth of testing and weigh up the benefits, such as increased productivity, with the cost including purchasing a reliable and validated resource and training recruiting managers to correctly interpret reports.There is, therefore, in my opinion an importance to be placed on personality at selection interview which for me slightly outweighs the importance of skills, qualifications and experience especially when considering the knock on effect that a mismatch of person-job or person-organisation could have on the relationship with colleagues. An organization needs to be clear in what personality traits they are looking for before even advertising a role as the wording of an advertisement could attract and alienate certain personalities.Once at selection interview, managers should consider how they are fairly going to assess personality if using their own judgment. Do they have a fail safe scoring system to measure personality against that cannot back-fire in the event of an employment tribunal? Thought should also be given to how a candidate has completed any personality test i. e. to what extent have they thought slightly themselves in the work situation when completing it? Are they naturally nervous when asked to complete any test and therefore put at a dis-advantage? If personality is un-stable and changes over time, would it be wise to re-test individuals?Organisations are fluid and changing constantly. Teams, managers and individuals change. , What was once a good fit may not be in the future. 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