Personality, Cultural Values, and Ability, Essay Example

Selecting employees to match the values and vision of the company is – according to the authors (Colquitt, LePine & Wesson, 2010) should always be based on three main factors: personality, cultural values, and ability. While in the past, several companies mainly focused on ability, in order to increase the productivity of the organization, in today’s competitive environment, all three are equally important.

Choosing the right personality type would determine or indicate one’s future work related attitude. As an example: when someone has a “positive affectivity” and are usually cheerful and happy, they would be suitable for a customer-facing role. Serene, calm, and content people would make good researchers in laboratories, where it is important that one is able to focus on a task without distraction.

It was interesting to learn that Western European countries and the United States are generally “individualist” nations, where focusing on short term goals is common, while power distance is low. In countries with more autocratic societies, such as China, loyalty is more important than individual achievement. The power distance is high in Russia, China, and Indonesia, and many countries’ business culture focus on long term visions and goals.

Different abilities of employees also have a great impact on their potential future performance in the job. The authors define five different areas of ability: verbal, qualitative, reasoning, spatial, and perceptual. Measuring these at the selection process would increase the success rate of choosing the right applicants. Every industry would have their own preference: spatial abilities would be important for taxi drivers or delivery personnel. However, in banking, one’s reasoning and qualitative abilities would carry more weight. Leaders would benefit from possessing exceptional perceptual skills, in order to analyze trends and information fast, and effectively. One of the areas I have heard about recently is emotional intelligence, mentioned by Chapter 8. It enables people in the organization to understand and relate to each other, work together.

The main takeaway from this chapter is that Conscientiousness has a strong direct impact on job performance and organizational behavior. Employees who are organized, reliable, have ambitions, and work hard will be more motivated to do a good job and create value for the organization.