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1.

Executive Summary
The key factor for success of any organization lies in the performance of their employees. As
organisations grow and mature, managements try to adopt measures to improve the
performance of their employees and a lot of questions arise on the best way to go about.
Managing Director of Green Curve Interiors, an established interior design and build
company, aims to implement an organizational behaviour aimed at ensuring improved job
performance of their employees. This paper tries to answer one of his question, How does
personality affect job performance among various occupational groups?, by investigating
the relation of the Big Five personality dimensions (Extraversion, Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness) to job performance for three occupational
groups (Mangers, Skilled Workers and Sales).
Office based employees at Green Curve Interiors were administered a widely acknowledged
Big Five personality online test to obtain their personality trait score. Regression line and
scatter charts were the tools used in our study to find the relation between the results of
personality test score and job performance ratings. In our study we categorised green curve
employees according to their occupational groups.
From our analysis we found that conscientiousness was the best predictor for overall job
performance among different occupational groups. We also found that extraversion and
openness traits did not predict overall job performance, but they did predict success in
specific occupations like managers and sales staff.
We conclude our study by recommending Green Curve to incorporate the can do attitude
and continuous improvement as part of their organisational behaviour. Can do attitude
relates to the tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; while
continuous improvement relates to disciplined, rigorous and systematic ways to monitor
and improve; both these are facets of conscientiousness.

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Table of Contents
1.

Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 1

2.

Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1

Company profile - Green Curve LLC ................................................................................. 5

2.2

Key objective ......................................................................................................................... 5

2.3

Variables ................................................................................................................................ 5

2.4

Key Definitions and Abbreviation ....................................................................................... 6

2.4.1

Job Performance: ......................................................................................................... 6

2.4.2

Extraversion: ................................................................................................................. 6

2.4.3

Agreeableness: ............................................................................................................. 6

2.4.4

Conscientiousness: ...................................................................................................... 6

2.4.5

Neuroticism/Low Emotional Stability: ........................................................................ 6

2.4.6

Openness: ..................................................................................................................... 6

2.4.7

FFM: ............................................................................................................................... 6

2.4.8

P-E Congruence: .......................................................................................................... 6

2.4.9

Non zero correlation .................................................................................................. 6

2.5

2.5.1

Big Five Online Assessment ....................................................................................... 7

2.5.2

Job Performance Score............................................................................................... 7

2.5.3

Scholarly Journals ........................................................................................................ 7

2.6
3.

Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 7

Structure of the paper .......................................................................................................... 7

Research Methodology ............................................................................................................... 7


3.1

Measures ............................................................................................................................... 8

3.1.1

Personality ..................................................................................................................... 8

3.1.2

Job Performance: ......................................................................................................... 8

4.

Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 9

5.

Secondary Data Literature Review ........................................................................................ 9


5.1

Personality ............................................................................................................................. 9

5.2

Performance........................................................................................................................ 10

5.3

The relation between Personality and Performance ..................................................... 11

5.3.1
Relation of personality and job performance based on match of person with
environment................................................................................................................................. 11
5.3.2

Relation between personality traits and job performance in occupational groups


13

5.3.3

Big Five personality traits and expatriate job performance .................................. 14

5.4

Conclusion from Secondary Data .................................................................................... 14


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6.

Primary Data ............................................................................................................................... 16


6.1

6.1.1

Extraversion ................................................................................................................ 18

6.1.2

Agreeableness ............................................................................................................ 20

6.1.3

Conscientiousness ..................................................................................................... 22

6.1.4

Neuroticism ................................................................................................................. 24

6.1.5

Openness .................................................................................................................... 26

6.2
7.

Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 18

Conclusion from Primary Data ......................................................................................... 28

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 29
7.1

Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 29

7.2

Limitations ........................................................................................................................... 29

8.

References .................................................................................................................................. 30

9.

Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 31

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List of Tables and Figures


Figure 2.1 - Variables .......................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 3.1 - Big Five personality test instructions ........................................................................... 8
Table 3.1 Job Performance score scale ........................................................................................ 8
Figure 5.1 - Five-Factor Model Big Five Personality Dimensions ............................................ 10
Figure 5.2- Hypothised structural model of personality similarity and work-related outcomes
.............................................................................................................................................................. 12
Table 6.1 - Employee scores for Big Five personality traits and Job Performance ................. 16
Table 6.2 - Sales employee scores for Big Five personality traits and Job Performance ...... 16
Table 6.3 - Employee Performance Rating .................................................................................... 17
Figure 6.1 - Performance vs Extraversion for all employees....................................................... 18
Figure 6.2- Performance vs Extraversion in Managers ................................................................ 19
Figure 6.3 - Performance vs Extraversion in Skilled Workers ..................................................... 19
Figure 6.4 - Performance vs Extraversion in Sales Staff ............................................................. 20
Figure 6.1 - Performance vs Agreeableness for all the employees ........................................... 20
Figure 6.2 - Performance vs Agreeableness in Managers .......................................................... 21
Figure 6.3 - Performance vs Agreeableness in Skilled Workers ................................................ 21
Figure 6.4 -Performance vs Agreeableness in Sales Staff .......................................................... 22
Figure 6.5 -Performance vs Conscientiousness for all employees ............................................ 22
Figure 6.6 -Performance vs Conscientiousness in Managers..................................................... 23
Figure 6.7 -Performance vs Conscientiousness for Skilled Workers ......................................... 23
Figure 6.8 -Performance vs Conscientiousness in Sales Staff ................................................... 24
Figure 6.9 -Performance vs Neuroticism for all the employees .................................................. 24
Figure 6.10 -Performance vs Neuroticism in Managers ............................................................... 25
Figure 6.11 - Performance vs Neuroticism in Skilled Workers .................................................... 25
Figure 6.12 - Performance vs Neuroticism in Sales Staff ............................................................ 26
Figure 6.13 -Performance vs Openness for all the employees ................................................... 27
Figure 6.14 - Performance vs Openness in Managers................................................................. 27
Figure 6.15 - Performance vs Openness in Skilled Workers....................................................... 27
Figure 6.16 - Performance vs Openness in Sales Staff ............................................................... 28

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2. Introduction
2.1 Company profile - Green Curve LLC
Established in 2006, Green Curve is an interior design and build company which has
developed a successful synergy between innovative interior design solutions and
professional and on-time delivery of projects. The company aims to amalgamate the various
faculties involved in the realization of building interior, from design through project
management, contracting & execution, under a single umbrella.
At Green Curve, they offer their clients, a broad spectrum of services, which are projectspecific and sensitive to the budgetary and programming requirement of the job. These
include Interior Design & Consultancy Services, Interior Project Management, Interior
Contracting and Turn-key Solution.
The Corporate Office for Green Curve Interiors, located in the heart of new Dubai, embodies
a design brief encapsulating the image and corporate vision of the client.

2.2 Key objective


Green curve managing director would like to set a direction for organisation behaviour and
find out how he should go about adopting measures to improve the performance of his
employees. He would like to understand which key behaviour of his employees has an
impact on their job performance. To address this, our approach was to understand the
relationship between personality traits of employee and their job performance rating. Also
examine if job types (occupational group) has an impact on the relationship between
personality type and job performance. Thus our research question is How does personality
affect the job performance among the various occupational groups like managers, skilled
workers, sales etc. at Green curve.

Occupational
groups

Dependant Variabke

Personality

Mediating Variable

Independant Variable

2.3 Variables

Job
performance

Figure 2.1 - Variables

The independent variable for our case study is Personality and the dependant variable is
Job Performance. The role of the employee in the organizational (i.e. in which occupational
group) is a mediating variable as it could influence the effect of personality trait on
performance.

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2.4 Key Definitions and Abbreviation


2.4.1 Job Performance:
Job performance referred to in this report is the individual employee annual rating for the
year 2012. This is referred to as Performance as well in this paper. The company uses a
rating scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest and 4 being the lowest.
2.4.2 Extraversion:
The broad dimension of extraversion encompasses the more specific traits such as
friendliness, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity Level and cheerfulness in personality
assessment that is used in this case study.
2.4.3 Agreeableness:
The broad dimension of agreeableness involves the more specific traits such as trust,
morality, altruism, cooperation, modesty and sympathy in personality assessment that is
used in this case study.
2.4.4 Conscientiousness:
The broad dimension of conscientiousness involves the more specific traits such as selfefficacy, orderliness, dutifulness, achievement-striving, self-discipline and cautiousness in
personality assessment that is used in this case study.
2.4.5 Neuroticism/Low Emotional Stability:
The broad dimension of neuroticism involves the more specific traits such as anxiety, anger,
depression, self-consciousness, immoderation and vulnerability in personality assessment
that is used in this case study.
2.4.6 Openness:
The broad dimension of openness involves the more specific traits such as imagination,
artistic interests, emotionality, adventurousness, intellect and liberalism in personality
assessment that is used in this case study.
2.4.7 FFM:
FFM stands for Five Factor Model which is also commonly referred to as the Big Five
personality model.
2.4.8 P-E Congruence:
P-E Congruence stands for Person Environment Congruence or Match
2.4.9 Non zero correlation
Non-zero correlation is the relationship between 2 things can be expressed in terms of a
number/score called a correlation coefficient. This number ranges from 0 to 1, where 0
means no correlation and 1 means a perfect correlation. Therefore, the closer the score is to
1, the stronger the correlation (or the closer the link between 2 things) and the closer the
score is to 0, the weaker the correlation (or the more distant the link between 2 things).

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2.5 Data Collection


2.5.1 Big Five Online Assessment
The online 120-item version of the IPIP-NEO (International Personality Item Pool
Representation of the NEO PI-R) was used to obtain the personality dimensions
(Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness) of the
employees. This data forms one part of the primary data.
2.5.2 Job Performance Score
In this case study the 2012 annual performance score of the employees are obtained from
the organization. This is the current performance rating system used by the organization and
the employees are rated by their managers. Employee job performance score is the second
part of the primary data.
2.5.3 Scholarly Journals
The secondary data source is the scholarly journals that have analyzed the relationship of
Big Five Personality dimensions and job performance. Scholarly journals that investigates
the effect of moderating variables such as occupational groups(managers, sales and skilled
workers), person-environment congruence and expatriate employees on Big Five personality
traits and job performance is used as a secondary data source. We have analysed journals
and books from the years: 1966, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006,
2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 in this report.

2.6 Structure of the paper


The paper first analyses, using secondary data, the relation of the Big Five personality
dimensions to job performance in general as well as to job performance in managers, sales
and skilled workers. Next similar analysis is done using the primary data followed by
conclusion and recommendation.

3. Research Methodology
Green Curve LLC has 18 office based employees and 30 field workers. Our study was
focussed on the 18 office based employees. The office based employees work in teams
comprising of Interior Design & Consultancy Services, Interior Project Management, Office
Administration and Sales & Marketing.
83% of the office based employees participated in our study by responding to the Big Five
online questionnaire. Of the employees who participated in the study, 80% were male, 20%
females; 93% ranged in age group of 21 to 40 years and 7% above 40 years.
Employees were categorized into three occupational groups, namely Manager, Sales &
Skilled Workers. The percentage of each occupational group is as follows:
Managers 40%
Skilled workers 60%
Sales 27%
Note that employees in the sales occupational group were also included in the skilled group.
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3.1 Measures
3.1.1 Personality
The employees were administered the Big Five personality test. The below instruction was
send to all employees:
Please find below step by step instruction to do the online personality test and how to print
the results. (Ensure you have internet access before you start)
1. Got to the URL - http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/ipipneo120.htm in your
browser.
2. On the 1st page you need to tick two check boxes (
) as agreement of
terms and conditions and then click on send button (
) at the bottom left on
the page.
3. On the next page you will need to enter your Nick Name, Gender, Age and Country
first and then answer 60 questions.
a. In the nickname field we recommend you to enter your initials (1st letter of
your first name, middle name & last name)
b. In the country field please select your nationality.

4.

c. After completing all 60 questions click on send button (


) at the bottom
left on the page.
Next page is the last set of 60 questions. After completing all 60 questions click on

send button (
) at the bottom left on the page.
5. Now you are on the final page which shows the results. Do NOT close this page or
close the browser window. Take a printout of this page and record your name on
the top of the print out.
6. We will collect this report from you on Thursday, 4th April 2013.
Note:
1. Once you complete the personality test you can save the page or keep an extra copy
of the print out if you need a personal copy of the results. You will not be able to
come back to page once you close it or navigate out of the result page.
Figure 3.1 - Big Five personality test instructions

3.1.2 Job Performance:


Individual employee performances were collected from Green Curve. The rating used by
them is as follows:

1
2
3
4

Performance score scale


Outstanding (over achieving)
Satisfactory (meeting targets)
Average (meeting 80% of targets)
Under performer (well below targets)
Table 3.1 Job Performance score scale

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4. Data Analysis
Regression line can be used as a way of visually depicting the relationship between the
independent (x) and dependent (y) variables in a graph. A straight line depicts a linear trend
in the data. The linear trend line can be calculated using the least squares fit for a line with
following equation, where m is the slope and b is the intercept:

y = mx + b
A trend line is most accurate when its R2 value is at or near 1. MS Excel automatically
calculates both the slope and R2 value in a scatter chart. The slope of the graph varies with
the strength of the relation, thus lines almost horizontal to the x-axis shows the relation is
weak or almost nil.
Scatter charts were generated in MS Excel by placing the dependant variable-job
performance, on y-axis verses the independent variable-personality trait score, on x-axis.
Linear trend line is derived using MS Excel graph tools for each graph to analyse the
impact of personality type on job performance. The slope m and R2 values are displayed on
the graph as well.

5. Secondary Data Literature Review


5.1 Personality
Personality is the independent variable used in our case study and hence a brief description
on this variable is provided before proceeding to understand the relationship between
personality and performance of an employee.
Robbins and Judge (2013, p.167) says that Personality is the sum total of ways in which an
individual reacts to and interacts with others. We most often describe it in terms of the
measurable traits a person exhibits. One of the most impressive ways to describe
personality is through the Big Five Model. This is the model which we use in our case study.
From our research, we have been able to conclude that Big Five traits emerged as the
culmination of many years of analyses. Zhang states that The five-factor personality traits
model (FFM) resulted from several decades of factor analytic research focusing on trait
personality (2006, p 3).It is also mentioned in the journal by Zhang that Digman (1990)
concluded that the Big Five is a fundamental model for describing personality (2006, p 2).
McShane and Gilnow (2009) has defined the Big Five dimensions represented by the handy
acronym CANOE as below:

Conscientiousness: Conscientiousness is the trait which defines those who are


careful, dependable, self-disciplined and have the will to achieve. People with low
conscientiousness tend to be careless, less thorough, more disorganized and
irresponsible.
Agreeableness: Agreeableness includes the traits of being courteous, good-natured,
empathetic and caring. People with low agreeableness tend to be uncooperative,
short-tempered and irritable.
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Neuroticism/Low Emotional Stability: This trait characterizes people with high levels
of anxiety, hostility, depression and self-consciousness. In contrast, people with low
neuroticism (high emotional stability) are poised, secure and calm.
Openness to experience - This dimension is most complex and it generally has the
least agreement among scholars. It refers to the extent to which people are sensitive,
flexible, creative and curious. Those who score low on this dimension tend to be
more resistant to change, less open to new ideas and more fixed on their ways.
Extroversion Extroversion characterizes people who are outgoing, talkative,
sociable and assertive. The opposite is introversion, which refers to those who are
quiet, shy and cautious.

Figure 5.1 - Five-FactorModelBigFivePersonalityDimensions


Source: McShane and Gilnow (2009)

The five personality traits are not independent of each other. Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness and low neuroticism represent a common underlying characteristic
broadly described as getting along. The other two dimensions share the common
underlying factor called getting ahead(McShane&Gilnow 2009).
In addition to the Big Five, a number of personality traits (e.g., negative affectivity, locus of
control, Type A behavior pattern) etc are present as well, but in our analyses we only
considered Big Five as the Big Five personality traits are often described as broad and
provide a comprehensive description of personality (Petrou et al. 2011). Furthermore,
behaviour of people in a variety of real-life situations are predicted in a good way by the test
scores of these traits.

5.2 Performance
Performance is the dependant variable used in our case study. Performance is defined as
behaviors or actions that are relevant to the goals of the organisation in question.
Performance is not the outcome, consequence, or result of behavior or action; performance
is the action itself (McCloy, Campbell, Cudeck 1994).

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A journal by J.P. Campbell (1990a) and J.P. Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, and Sager(1992)
assumes that performance in virtually any job is multidimensional and that the substantive
content of performance can be discussed in terms of basic dimensions, such as might be
identified in job description with task analysis or the critical incident procedure.
The performance of employees is very crucial for any organisation and forms the base of its
growth. To perform any task an employee should have the pre-requisite knowledge, master
the pre-requisite skills and work on the job task for some period of time with at some level of
effort (McCloy, Campbell, Cudeck 1994).

5.3 The relation between Personality and Performance


The relation between personality and job performance is a topic that is frequently researched
upon in industrial-organisational psychology in the past century (Barrick et al
2001).Throughout our readings, it has been noticed that personality traits and job
performance have a strong relation. Organisations often administer a personality test to its
prospective employees as such tests aid the hiring decisions and help managers forecast
who is best fit for a job as they believe this method of selection ensures better job
performance. Robbins and Judge (2013, p.170) states that Individuals who are dependable,
reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan, organized, hardworking, persistent and
achievement-oriented tend to have higher job performance in most if not all occupations.
Employees who have a high score on conscientiousness develop higher levels of job
knowledge which in turn leads to higher levels of job performance. Such people also
maintain high performance even when faced with negative feedback (Robbins & Judge
2013).
A journal by Tett, Jackson and Rothstein (1991) reveals that several of the personality
dimensions, in particular, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness, have
meaningful relation to job performance. However Barrick and Mount (1991) found that
validity was associated with only two factors, Conscientiousness and Extraversion.
5.3.1

Relation of personality and job performance based on match of person


with environment
According to Hollands (1966) theory of personality types and model environments,
outcomes such as job performance are a function of congruence or match between an
individuals personality and psychological environment. According to this study, people tend
to perform better when the environment matches their personalities and they will also remain
in those environments because of reinforcements received. In the studies which followed
later using this approach for example Muchinsky and Monahan (1987) proposed different
models of person environment congruence (P-E congruence) : Supplementary and
Complementary. Supplementary congruence is the match between an individual and existing
members of an environment setting (e.g., an organization). According to this model, people
seek to join specific environments because they perceive themselves as possessing
characteristics (e.g., personality traits) that are similar to individuals within the environments.
Complementary congruence is the match between the characteristics of an individual and
the corresponding needs of an environment. The complementary basis of P-E congruence is
the placing of individuals with certain knowledge, skills and abilities in specific jobs that
requires these characteristics for successful coping. Complementary P-E congruence is the
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basis for most employee-selection decisions (Day&Bedeian 1995). The same journal also
states that Personality is a relevant element in supplementary P-E congruence since it is
the attraction of similar types of people to the same work setting that that begins to
determine the setting. Also, people with similar personalities are not likely to be attracted to
each other but also likely to behave in similar ways thus ensuring better performance for the
organization. A hypothised relation was drawn among few Big five traits and several
representative work-place variables (viz., psychological climate, role stress , job satisfaction,
job performance and organization tenure). Role stress was hypothised as a mediator
between the exogenous variables of personality similarity and psychological climate and the
endogenous variables of job satisfaction, job performance and organization tenure(1995,
p.3). The relation is represented as below:

Figure 5.2- Hypothised structural model of personality similarity and work-related outcomes
(solid lines indicate significant paths; dashed lines indicate nonsignificant paths)
Source : Day and Biedman (1995)

The variables are positioned as shown in the figure to be consistent with the outlook that
certain antecedents such as interpersonal alikeness and psychological environment (as
measured by personality similarity and psychological climate, respectively) lead to stress
reactions. In turn stress has been shown to lead to specific behavioral e.g., job performance
outcomes. Day and Bedeian (1995) goes on to mention that The model in Fig.1 estimated
direct paths from personality similarity to job performance, job satisfaction and organization
tenure. These paths follow from the predictions of Muchinsky and Monahans (1987)
supplementary congruence model, as well as Hollands research. The fit of the data to the
model depicted in Fig. 1 was tested using a structured equation modelling and they
concluded that only agreeableness significantly predicted job performance(1995, p4). From
the findings, our research question on how personality affects job performance has been
answered by the conclusion that only agreeableness significantly predicted job performance.
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One explanation provided by Day and Bedeain (1995) for this effect is that employees who
are noticeably disagreeable than their co-workers or those who are noticeably so friendly
and agreeable as to appear to be disingenuous, receive unfavourable evaluations from
better-established organization members (i.e., supervisors) than employees who are closer
to the norm set by others. Thus, being substantially different in terms of agreeableness might
result in the employee being less liked and lead to higher negative effect on the part of a
supervisor/rater.
The supplementary model of P-E congruence (Muchinsky&Monahan 1987), along with
predictions from Hollands (1996) theory of personality types and model environments
suggest that similarity in person characteristics like personality will express itself in
enhanced job performance.
5.3.2

Relation between personality traits and job performance in occupational


groups
As mentioned earlier in our literature review, a study by Barrick and Mount (1991) reported
Extraversion to be a valid predictor of job performance for occupations involving social
interaction, management and sales. Conscientiousness (which includes achievement and
dependability constructs), is a valid predictor of job performance for all occupational groups
and all job related criterion types studied.
In 1993, Barrick and Mount examined whether moderators would affect the relation between
the Big Five and performance within various job categories (e.g., professionals, police,
managers, sales and skilled or semiskilled). Since then, a lot of meta-analyses have been
conducted along these lines. The study by Hurtz and Donovan (2000) tries to validate these
analyses. The initial part of their study reinstates the fact that Conscientiousness construct
does seem to be logically related to job performance. In the later part, they have treated two
characteristics viz.: Type of worker occupation and type of performance criterion and
conducted studies to find out their relation to Big 5 traits
Hurtz and Donovan (2000) categorised worker occupation type as sales workers, customer
service representatives, managers and skilled and semi skilled workers. The categories of
type of performance were analyzed in two separate ways:

First they used a two category classification of job performance as either measures
of job proficiency or measures of training proficiency
Second they performed an analysis by partitioning job performance criterion into task
performance, job dedication and interpersonal facilitation.

The findings from study by Hurtz and Donovan (2000) can be summarised as follows:
Validity by Occupation:
For all four occupational categories, Conscientiousness exhibited the highest estimated true
validity. For jobs involving customer service, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience and
Emotional Stability had low levels of validity. Similarly for sales and managerial jobs,
Emotional stability and extraversion had rather low but stable validities.

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Validity by performance criterion


After partitioning performance into task performance, job dedication and interpersonal
facilitation, Hurtz and Donovan (2000) found that Conscientiousness predicted all three
performance dimensions equally well and the same was found for Emotional Stability.
Agreeableness also emerged as a valid predictor predicting interpersonal facilitation as
strongly as did Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability. Thus when one considers
validities and credibility from findings, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and
Agreeableness seem to have a rather stable impact on interpersonal facilitation criteria,
suggesting that personality traits may have a more stable impact on jobs that are more
interpersonal in nature (e.g., customer service, sales, and management).
We have also based our study on similar lines as Hurtz and Donovan (2000). We analysed
the relation between personality traits and job performance of skilled workers, sales persons
and mangers.
5.3.3 Big Five personality traits and expatriate job performance
We found a study by Rose et al (2010) which looked at the role of Big Five personality in
expatriate performance in overseas assignments worth mentioning as part of our literature
review because the employees of the organisation who participated in our survey were all
expatriates as well. The study was conducted on 322 expatriates working in Malaysia and
personality factor was found to be a significant determinant of expatriate job performance in
international assignments. Their study revealed that the expatriates with greater
conscientiousness personality performed better on their task and contextual performance.
The ones with greater openness to experience performed better in their task, contextual and
assignment-specific performance. However they found that Agreeableness and extraversion
had no support in predicting the job performance of expatriates.
The study conducted by Rose et al (2010) is especially beneficial for organisations and
individuals considering international assignments. They state that if personality is considered
in relation to host country culture, then this can have an impact on job performance. For
example, their studies have found evidence that individuals high on openness to experience
and Conscientiousness perform better in their job when assigned to host culture
predominantly collective in nature such as Malaysia. They also state that cross-cultural
training is likely to improve expatriate performance and suggest that MNCs should select the
person with the required personality characteristics and the give cross-cultural training to
improve their performance.

5.4 Conclusion from Secondary Data


From the above secondary data analysis, we can conclude that though there is a low to
moderate strength in the relation between Big Five personality traits and job performance,
the different personality dimensions were found to affect performance in different types of
jobs.
Barrick and Mount (1991) from their research concluded that conscientiousness was the only
strong predictor of job performance across different occupational groups and criterion types.
In contrast, Tett et al (1991) concluded that only emotional stability has a non-zero
correlation with performance and agreeableness and openness showed higher correlations
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with performance than conscientiousness, whereas another study by Anderson and


Viswesvaran (1998) emphasised that emotional stability and conscientiousness showed non
zero correlation with performance.
We are more interested in the case study by Hurtz and Donovan (2000) which examined the
relation between job performance and personality traits in different types of jobs. They
concluded that Conscientiousness dimension was found to have strongest relation to overall
job performance. Those who believe that they are hard-working, reliable, organized and so
on, seemed to perform a bit better than do those who believe they are less strong in these
characteristics. Their studies showed that Emotional Stability showed an almost stable
influence on performance throughout all of their analyses and hence concluded that being
clam, secure, well adjusted, and low in anxiety has a small but consistent impact on job
performance. And last but not the least, being extraverted was found to influence sales and
managerial jobs and Openness to experience appears to affect performance in customer
service jobs. One interesting conclusion of their study is that if selected facets of
Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Agreeableness are combined, then this can
facilitate the prediction of performance in jobs involving interpersonal facilitation.
As a final note to our secondary data and to answer our research question which tries to
examine the relation between Big Five personality traits and job performance, we find it
fitting to quote from the study by Barrick et al (2001) which analysed 15 prior meta-analytic
studies. They agree with the previous findings which support the validity of
conscientiousness being able to predict the performance in all occupations analysed. Their
journal states that emotional stability is also a generalizable predictor on considering overall
work performance, but had less consistency than conscientiousness when specific
performance criteria and occupations were considered. According to Barrick et al (2001),
Extraversion, agreeableness and openness to experience did not predict overall work
performance, but they did predict success in specific occupations.

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6. Primary Data
Online Big Five test results of employees collected from Green Curve was entered in to a
table grouped by occupational groups : manages and skilled workers along with respective
job performance score for each employee, as shown in Table 5.1.
Role

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Neuroticism

Openness

Manager
Manager
Manager
Manager
Manager
Manager
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled
Skilled

74
73
86
22
70
75
80
38
72
66
48
74
25
36
68

9
59
57
65
25
80
54
52
62
38
65
35
91
50
46

53
96
81
45
95
98
58
97
48
65
79
53
4
21
95

56
1
23
30
56
8
43
25
60
69
26
10
94
60
41

42
60
56
46
42
15
21
73
19
5
16
15
24
19
54

Performance
Score
2
1
3
3
2
2
3
2
3
2
2
2
2
2
3

Table 6.1 - Employee scores for Big Five personality traits and Job Performance

Further emplyes in sales were idnetified and entered into a sepatare table, i.e. Table 5.2
Role
Sales
Sales
Sales
Sales

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Neuroticism

Openness

Performance
Score

68
86
70
75

46
57
25
80

95
81
95
98

41
23
56
8

54
56
42
15

3
3
2
2

Table 6.2 - Sales employee scores for Big Five personality traits and Job Performance

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Table 5.3 Below is the employee job performance rating for 2012 provided to us by Green
Curve management.
Name
Sameer
CP
Vinson
Antony
Rajeev
Kumar
Aahad
Sayed
Rakesh
Pillai
Thanseer
Attassery
Ragil
Raj
Sonal
Jakkal
Sanjai
Kumar
Noor
Mohammed
Nisha
Amith
Shakir
Abdul Wahab
Hani
Ishaque
Gail
Ponce de Leon
Rosanna
Carasig

Designation
Manager-Sales&Marketing
Senior Account Manager
Account Manager
Operations Manager
Project Manager
Office Manager
Sales Executive
3D Designer
Architect
3D Designer
Interior Designer
Public Relations Officer
Accounts Officer
Project Engineer
Admin Assistant

Performance
2
2
3
2
3
1
3
2
2
2
3
2
2
3
2

Performance score scale


1

Outstanding (over achieving)

Satisfactory (meeting targets)

Average (meeting 80% of targets)

Under performer (well below targets)


Table 6.3 - Employee Performance Rating

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6.1 Analysis
Table 5.1 and Table 5.2 were used to generate scatter graphs using MS Excel showing
linear regression formula for slope and R2. For each personality traits four graphs were
generated: one for all employees and one each for three occupational groups (Managers,
Skilled Workers and Sales). Analysis of each of these graphs is discussed below. Please
note that Green Curve has 1 as the maximum rating and 4 as the least.
6.1.1

Extraversion

Performance vs Extraversion
4
Performance

Performance Score

3
Linear
(Performance)

2
y = 0.0022x + 2.136
R = 0.0058
1

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

Extraversion
Figure 6.1 - Performance vs Extraversion for all employees

The slope of the linear trend line in the Figure 6.1 indicated employees with higher
extraversion level has lower job performance. However the slope is very low (0.002) and the
accuracy is very low (R = 0.0058) as well, hence we conclude that there no indication of
extraversion impacting job performance on considering employees as a whole.

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Performance vs Extraversion
Managers
4

Performance Score

Performance

3
Linear
(Performance)

y = -0.0125x + 2.9967
R = 0.1392

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

Extraversion
Figure 6.2- Performance vs Extraversion in Managers

However as seen in Figure 6.2 managers with higher extraversion seem to have higher job
performance. It can be stated with better level of accuracy (R = 0.1392) that extraversion in
manager has a positive relation to their overall job performance.

Performance vs Extraversion
Skilled Workers
4

Performance Score

Performance

3
Linear
(Performance)

y = 0.0162x + 1.4207
R = 0.4131

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

Extraversion
Figure 6.3 - Performance vs Extraversion in Skilled Workers

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 5.3, there is strong evidence (higher accuracy, R =
0.4131) that extraversion has negative impact on skilled workers overall job performance.

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Performance vs Extraversion
Sales

Performance

Performance Score

3
Linear
(Performance)

2
y = 0.0231x + 0.7728
R = 0.104
1

0
60

70

80

90

100

Extraversion
Figure 6.4 - Performance vs Extraversion in Sales Staff

According the Figure 6.4, extraversion has negative impact on overall job performance for
employees in sales; however its not a strong relation as in skilled workers.
6.1.2

Agreeableness

Performance vs Agreeableness
4
Performance

Performance

3
Linear
(Performance)

y = 0.0025x + 2.1347
R = 0.0076

0
0

20

40

60

Agreeableness

80

100

Figure 6.1 - Performance vs Agreeableness for all the employees

Similar to extraversion there no evidence that agreeableness is related to overall job


performance when employees are considered as a whole. From figure 7.1 its clear that the
slope is negligible (0.002) and accuracy is very low (R = 0.0076).
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Performance vs Agreeableness
Managers

Performance

Performance

3
Linear
(Performance)

y = 0.0039x + 1.9754
R = 0.019

0
0

20

40

60

Agreeableness

80

100

Figure 6.2 - Performance vs Agreeableness in Managers

In managers too there no evidence that agreeableness is related to overall job performance.
Similar to the overall values Figure 7.2 shows a negligible slop and very low accuracy.

Performance vs Agreeableness
Skilled Workers

Performance

Performance

3
Linear
(Performance)

2
y = -0.001x + 2.3902
R = 0.0012
1

0
0

20

40

60

Agreeableness

80

100

Figure 6.3 - Performance vs Agreeableness in Skilled Workers

From Figure 6.3 there no evidence that agreeableness is related to overall job performance
in skilled workers as well.

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Performance vs Agreeableness
Sales

Performance

Performance

3
Linear
(Performance)

2
y = -0.0006x + 2.533
R = 0.0006
1

0
0

20

40

60

Agreeableness

80

100

Figure 6.4 -Performance vs Agreeableness in Sales Staff

Similarly in Figure 6.4 as well there no evidence that agreeableness is related to overall job
performance in sales employees.
6.1.3

Conscientiousness

Performance vs Conscientiousness

Performance

Performance

Linear
(Performance)
y = -0.0027x + 2.4449
R = 0.0178

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Conscientiousness
Figure 6.5 -Performance vs Conscientiousness for all employees

For the full set of employees analysed, conscientiousness have a positive impact on overall
job performance.
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Performance vs Conscientiousness
Managers

Performance

Performance

Linear
(Performance)
y = -0.0175x + 3.5351
R = 0.2972

0
0

20

40

60
80
Conscientiousness

100

120

Figure 6.6 -Performance vs Conscientiousness in Managers

There is strong evidence that in managers increase in conscientiousness score increases


job performance and hence conscientiousness has a positive relation to overall job
performance. In Figure 6.6 the slope (0.0175) is high and there is good level accuracy (R =
0.2972).

Performance vs Conscientiousness
Skilled Workers

Performance

Performance

Linear
(Performance)

y = 0.0036x + 2.1281
R = 0.0491
1

0
0

20

40

60
80
Conscientiousness

100

120

Figure 6.7 -Performance vs Conscientiousness for Skilled Workers

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However in skilled workers there is no evidence that conscientiousness affects overall job
performance.

Performance vs Conscientiousness
Sales

Performance

Performance

Linear
(Performance)
2
y = -0.0486x + 6.9871
R = 0.4134
1

0
60

70

80
Conscientiousness

90

100

Figure 6.8 -Performance vs Conscientiousness in Sales Staff

Similar to managers, for employees in sales too there is strong evidence of positive impact
of conscientiousness on overall job performance.
6.1.4

Neuroticism

Performance vs Neuroticism

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)
y = 0.0038x + 2.1142
R = 0.0273

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

Neuroticism
Figure 6.9 -Performance vs Neuroticism for all the employees

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From Figure 6.9 the slope of the line indicates that higher the score of neuroticism lower is
overall job performance; however the accuracy of this very low.

Performance vs Neuroticism
Managers

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)

y = 0.0085x + 1.9214
R = 0.0686

0
0

10

20

30
Neuroticism

40

50

60

Figure 6.10 -Performance vs Neuroticism in Managers

From Figure 6.10, for managers, there is slightly more accuracy that neuroticism has a
negative effect on overall job performance.

Performance vs Neuroticism
Skilled Workers

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)
y = 0.0002x + 2.3215
R = 0.0002

0
0

20

40
60
Neuroticism

80

100

Figure 6.11 - Performance vs Neuroticism in Skilled Workers

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From Figure 6.11, there is no evidence that neuroticism is related to overall job performance
in skilled workers.

Performance vs Neuroticism
Sales

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)
y = 2.5
R = 0

0
0

10

20

30
Neuroticism

40

50

60

Figure 6.12 - Performance vs Neuroticism in Sales Staff

Similar to skilled workers, for sales employees as well there is no evidence that neuroticism
is related to overall job performance.
6.1.5

Openness

Performance vs Openness

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)
y = 0.0001x + 2.2621
R = 2E-05

0
0

20

40

60

80

Openness

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Figure 6.13 -Performance vs Openness for all the employees

As seen in Figure 6.13 there is no evidence that openness is related to overall job
performance when all the employees are considered.

Performance vs Openness
Managers

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)
y = -0.0012x + 2.2188
R = 0.0006

0
0

20

40
Openness

60

80

Figure 6.14 - Performance vs Openness in Managers

The observation for the entire set of employees is valid for mangers as well i.e. there is no
evidence that openness has any affect on overall job performance as seen from Figure 6.14.

Performance vs Openness
Skilled Workers

Performance

Performance
Score

Linear
(Performance
Score)
y = 0.0032x + 2.2462
R = 0.0191

20

40
Openness

60

80

Figure 6.15 - Performance vs Openness in Skilled Workers

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The observation remains same for skilled workers too.

Performance vs Openness
Sales

Performance
Score

Performance

Linear
(Performance
Score)

y = 0.0248x + 1.4648
R = 0.6571

0
0

10

20

30
Openness

40

50

60

Figure 6.16 - Performance vs Openness in Sales Staff

However for sales employees its interesting to note that there is strong relation between
openness and overall job performance. From Figure 6.16, slope of the linear regression line
indicates as higher the score in openness lower is the overall job performance. The accuracy
of the slope is high as well (R = 0.6571).

6.2 Conclusion from Primary Data


Based on the above analysis of the primary data (collected by us from Green Curve), we
conclude that only conscientiousness trait from Big Five personality traits have an effect on
employee job performance. However for the different occupational groups namely Manager,
Skilled Workers and Sales Employees, two other behaviour traits, Extraversion and
Openness, are also related to job performance. While extraversion has a positive effect for
manager, it has a negative effect for skilled workers on job performance. Also for sales
employees it is observed that higher openness score relates to lower job performance and
vice versa. Agreeableness was found to have no relation to performance and only for
managers, Neuroticism showed a negative impact on overall job performance. However it is
good to note that accuracy levels for these findings are moderate to low.

28 | P a g e

7. Conclusion
The primary data analysis concluded that conscientiousness was the only predictor of job
performance across different occupational groups and this is in line with our scholarly journal
findings. Thus those who are self-disciplined, act dutifully, aim for achievement, are
organized, dependable and planned rather than having spontaneous behaviour, perform a
bit better than those who believe they are less strong in these characteristics
Similarly, from our findings in the analysis of primary data we saw that extraversion and
openness traits did not predict overall work performance, but they did predict success in
specific occupations and this is also in agreement with our scholarly journal findings.
Although accuracy was moderate, we found that emotional stability predicted performance
among managers. However we did not find a relation that agreeableness could predict
success in specific occupations unlike our finding in scholarly journals.

7.1 Recommendations
After analysing the primary and secondary data to find the relationship between personality
traits and job performance of employees we conclude that conscientiousness is a good
predictor of job performance across different occupational groups. Based on this conclusion
we recommend Green Curve to incorporate the can do attitude and continuous
improvement as part of their organisational behaviour that the management is targeting to
drive throughout the organisation. Both these are facets of conscientiousness; can do
attitude relates to tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement,
while continuous improvement relates to disciplined, rigorous and systematic ways to
monitor and improve.
We can also recommend Green Curve to conduct trainings like Time-management workshop
for their employees to help them become more conscientious in their work. They can also
encourage their employees to take up stress relieving exercises like Yoga or start a laughter
club which will help to gradually improve their emotional stability.

7.2 Limitations
On hindsight, we realise that our study has few limitations. The personality traits in the study
were measured using a small survey of 120 questions. Some researchers argue that the use
of a wider mix of questions would offer more precision and better prediction (Mount et al
2006). Also, we felt that if we administered multiple personality surveys which measures the
various Big Five traits, then we would have a better accurate measure of the employees
personality traits score. We also have concern with the use of self-evaluation survey to
measure personality. External observers would provide valid insight into a persons
behavioural or externally observed traits (Barrick et al. 2001). The same journal states that
Big Five traits are relatively behavioural traits and because job performance is an externally
observed behaviour, measures of the Big Five given by external observers like managers
and co-workers would co-relate more with job performance than self-evaluation. Finally we
have considered the full the data set for our analysis and thus the outliers i.e., extreme
values could affect the analysis.

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8. References

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Day, David V, Bedeian, Arthur G (1995), Personality Similarity and Work-Related


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Hurtz, Gregory M & Donovan, John J 2000, Personality and Job Performance : The
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McShane & Gilnow, Von 2009, Organisational Behavior McGraw Hill, New York

Munchinsky, P M, Monahan, CJ (1987), What is person-environment congruence?


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Robbins, Stephen P & Judge, Timothy A 2013, Organisational Behavior Pearson,


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9. Appendix

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