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The Bright Side and Dark Side of Personality: How does this affect job performance and how can we manage this? Richard Brady , C Psychol Chief Executive Officer Mentis , UK & Middle East www.mentis-consulting.com. What’s Life About?. Freud: Overcoming your neurosis.
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The Bright Side and Dark Side of Personality: How does this affect job performance and how can we manage this? Richard Brady, C Psychol Chief Executive Officer Mentis, UK & Middle East www.mentis-consulting.com
What’s Life About? • Freud: Overcoming your neurosis. • Jung: Overcoming your neurosis. • Maslow: Overcoming your neurosis. • Hogan's: Getting along and getting ahead.
Socioanalytic Theory Group Living Animals Needs Get Along Get Ahead Find Meaning Hogan & Hogan, 2001; Hogan, 2007
Socioanalytic Theory • These needs are met through interactions at work • Social contact (get along) • Status and power (get ahead) • Gain purpose for their lives (find meaning)
What is Personality? Two Perspectives Perspective 1: From the Inside Personality from the inside, or actor’s view, is defined in terms of a person’s identity. • How a person sees him/herself • Defined by hope, dreams and aspirations • Difficult to measure • Difficult to study • Not always reflected in behaviors
What is Personality? Two Perspectives Perspective 2: From the Outside Personality from the outside, or observer’s view, is a person’s reputation. • Defined in terms of traits (e.g., calm, ambitious, careful, etc.) • Reflects how a person’s behavior has been evaluated after repeated interactions with others • Used to predict a person’s performance • Easy to study -- most of what we know about personality and job performance is based on observer’s perspectives
Why Personality Matters World-wide research of employment issues General Reasons People Fail • Poor fit with job • Poor fit with organisation General Reasons Managers Fail • Inability to build and motivate a team • Inability to develop or adapt • Poor working relations • Lack of vision or “big picture” • No strategic execution
HPI HBRI HDS MVPI
Hogan inventories concern dimensions that are crucial for getting along and getting ahead: • Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) • concerns strengths that enhance an individual’s career • characterises the person at his/her best • Hogan Development Survey (HDS) • concerns dysfunctional dispositions that can derail a person’s career • these tendencies appear when people let down their guard—fatigue, illness, frustration • Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) • concerns personal drivers and fit with organisational culture
Cost of a New Hire • Year 1 Costs of a $50,000 Employee • Salary $ 50,000 • Bonus at 30% $ 15,000 • Benefits at 40% $ 20,000 • Recruitment / Placement at 25% $ 12,500 • Selection Process at 10% $ 5,000 • Relocation at 15% $ 7,500 • Development / Training at 50% $ 25,000 Total Cost of New Hire $ 135,000 • Year 1 Costs run between 1.8 and 2.5 Times Base Salary • It is expensive to make a mistake
Two Views of Leadership • Leadership is either a function of circumstances (Enron) • Or leadership is a function of personality (GE) • We believe leadership is related to personality
How to Define and Evaluate Leadership • Leadership should be defined in terms of the ability to build and maintain a high performing team • Leadership should be evaluated in terms of the performance of the team relative to the other teams with which it competes • This is rarely done
Implicit Leadership Themes People want to see four things in their leaders: • Integrity: keep their word, don’t play favorites • Decisiveness: make good decisions quickly • Competence: be good at the business • Vision: explain why it matters
Good to Great Themes Characteristics of CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies with 15 years sustained superior performance: • Amazingly persistent • Humble
Competency Models: I Every well-run organization has a competency model. Every competency model contains the same four themes: • Intrapersonal skills: • Integrity, emotional stability, self-control • Interpersonal skills: • Able to build and maintain relationships, compassion, empathy, humility • Business skills: • Analyzing data, allocating resources, forecasting budgets • Leadership skills: • Vision, empowering staff, being a good role model
Competency Models: II Any competency model can be translated into an assessment model: Competency Theme Assessment Dimension • Intrapersonal skills Adjustment, Prudence • Interpersonal skills Interpersonal sensitivity • Business skills Cognitive ability • Leadership skills Ambition, Inquisitive
Personality and Leadership Research shows overwhelmingly that personality (reputation) can be defined in terms of five broad dimensions: • Adjustment – core self-esteem • Ambition – social potency • Interpersonal Sensitivity – social charm • Prudence – conscientiousness and rule-following • Inquisitive – curiosity and vision
Dimensions of Managerial Incompetence (HDS) • MOVE AWAY FROM • Excitable: Erratic emotional outbursts • Cautious: Risk averse, won’t make decisions • Skeptical: Mistrustful and vindictive • Reserved: Poor communicator, insensitive to morale issues • Leisurely: Passive-Aggressive meanness • MOVE AGAINST • Arrogant: Narcissistic feelings of entitlement • Mischievous: Careless about commitments • Colorful: Manages by crisis to be center of attention • Imaginative: Bad ideas and decisions • MOVE TOWARDS • Diligent: Over-controlling micro-manager • Dutiful: Too concerned about pleasing superiors
Leadership and Business Unit Performance A recent and definitive meta-analysis (Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002) shows five important things: • The personalities of managers directly influence employee satisfaction. • When employee satisfaction is high, positive business outcomes result. 3. When employee satisfaction is low, negative business outcomes result. • The link between leadership and unit performance is mediated by staff morale. • People don’t quit organizations, they quit their boss.
Results - 1 • Fortune 25 Telecommunications Company • 8 weeks: Attrition rate decreased from 25.7% to 5.9% • Stable or increased performance trends • 14 weeks: Attrition rate decreased from 27% to 14% (nearly 50% lower), with savings over $750,000 • Employees selected with assessment earned company $50,000 more per pay period than those not selected by assessments • HIREBETTER EMPLOYEES
Results - 2 • HIREBETTER EMPLOYEES
Results - 3 • SAFETY CONCERNS • PIPELINE DEVELOPMENT
Thank you Questions please?