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The importance of personality in the workplace

The importance of personality in the workplace

Personality by definition, according to Cambridge English Dictionary is the type of person you are, shown by the way you behave, feel and think.” Therefore, it can be assumed that personality will undoubtedly impact the functionality of a workplace. Notably, the fact that employees behave, feel and think differently, adds factors to consider when looking to recruit. 

This article articulates how personality types may affect the structure of a workplace.

Firstly, personality determination in the recruitment process will be analysed. Secondly, it will be explored how personality variation can increase innovation. Lastly, how diverse personalities can encourage growth of communication skills in the workplace.

Determining personality in the recruitment process

The interview process should involve consideration of candidate personality types. There are tools to assist employers in understanding various candidates’ personality types. The MyRecruitment+ psychometric assessment is an excellent tool to enhance candidate selection in the recruitment process. The purpose of the psychometric assessment is to provide HR and management with a diversified understanding of a candidate’s soft skills. According to Deakin University some of the important soft skills in a workplace are communication, innovation, listening and teamwork. 

The MyRecruitment+ psychometric talent assessment is conducted through a video interview that utilises organisational psychology & testing to extract psychometrics. This tool has the capacity to determine deep cognitive insights allowing understanding of personality, skills and traits. User workflow modules, encourages candidate convenience through a more time-effective system . Candidates video record their answers within 3-5 minutes as a part of the interview process. They can do this from anywhere at any time as it is a mobile-first platform. 

Management and HR in collaboration with a psychologist develop the questions required for the video. The perfect candidate is decided through the psychologist determining the attributes of the “perfect candidate.” These ideals are curated through the understanding of the current team and what they require of a new hire to effectively fulfil the requirements of this role.  

MyRecruitment+ AI Technology

AI technology analyses the “Big 5 personality traits” for the specific candidate. Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and neuroticism, (OCEAN) are the segments of the “Big 5 personality traits” The score the candidate receives is not “right” or “wrong”, in fact different organisational departments will be seeking diverse results for the various job roles. The purpose of this metric is to decipher the candidate’s soft skills. The psychologist will then compare the desired candidate profile that has been allocated for the relative role. 

Candidates should complete a personality examination through the interview process. Personality examinations come in various formats. Another personality examination could be a face to face meeting with a psychologist  to conduct a personality test  for a few hours. However, this is very costly and time consuming. The online application process could implement a questionnaire. Consequently, this poses the risk of losing candidate engagement and may result in loss of applications. With all this considered, video psychometric talent assessments are seemingly the way of the future. The employer and candidate benefit from these modules as they are cost-effective and time efficient. 

How personality can encourage innovation in the workplace

There are many different types of personalities in the workplace. To withhold from limiting individuals to a specific type of personality it is important to understand that one can not be purely one type of personality. In exemplification, a quote extracted from BrainyQuote, Psychologist Carl Jung stated, “There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert, such a person would be in a lunatic asylum.” However, individuals have a tendency to display more traits from one or the other.

 It is notable that extroverts in collaboration are generally at their most effective. Extroverts are likely to feel rejuvenated in the presence of people. This showcases that extroverts are likely more suited to jobs that require human interaction such as sales, marketing and social media management. Introverts contrast this concept, they generally prefer less human interaction and likely less suited in collaborative roles. They commonly have a tight knit circle, are thinkers and are more productive in absence of company. Jobs involving more individual tasks like accounting and software might be more suited to their personalities. A company can benefit from both personality types to successfully fulfil different business objectives. A company, through mixed personalities can complete tasks and projects more diversely.

Introverts working in a company might be in charge of product or service management and the extrovert may be in charge of client success and customer satisfaction. These two elements together are an impactful duo, and in many cases the recipe for success. 

How diversity in workplace personalities can develop individual communication skills 

If an introvert is working with extroverts, they will begin to understand the most effective ways to communicate with them. Extroverts working with introverts can likewise increase communication skills upon collaboration . Hence, workplace communication becomes more efficient through collaboration of both personality types. The collaboration has the potential to enhance the businesses outbound communication. Consequently, customers can be provided a better experience from the company as the employees understand how to work and communicate with different personality types. This will likely increase business success.

No matter the role an employee works in, they will need to communicate with others. However, the level of communication will vary depending on the role. Different types of individuals allow for people skills to be developed through understanding how to speak to different types of personalities. Conclusively, a working environment can be an excellent place to increase communication skills. 

Personality diversity can be a huge advantage in the workplace. Teams bringing different skill sets together encourage business transactions to be completed efficiently. Innovation can increase, through a collaborative effort of utilising diversified skill sets. At the beginning of the recruitment process utilisation of a psychometric assessment can allow identification of Candidates’ soft skills. Effectively, working collaboratively enables both introverts and extroverts alike can increase their communication skills and learn to converse more effectively with other team members, managers and clients. 

Learn how MyRecruitment+ HR Technology can streamline recruitment processes!

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