It is a common misconception among human resource departments that proper remuneration is the most significant motivating factor among employees, but job design affects employee motivation. In addition to this, job design also helps improve the workers’ satisfaction with their job and outstandingly, their commitment to the organisation, thus reducing turnovers and absenteeism (Krishnan et al., 2017).
Personality Traits and employees’ motivation
It is crucial for organizations‘ human resources departments to appropriately design jobs to improve the workers’ quality of life while within or outside the premises. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to accomplish a task and aspiration to enjoy the process. This desire can be stimulated by line personal ambition, financial gain, the urge to improve the world they live in, and job design (Krishnan et al., 2017). The self-motivated employee will often keep delivering their mandate even when their environment is constantly changing.
For example, they continue to effectively accomplish their tasks regardless of whether they have an office or not, and even a complete change of task cannot affect their level of enthusiasm. This is very common when individuals are driven by personal ambition or just their desire for public recognition. Motivated employees are a vital asset to any organization; when they meet their personal role for their specific role, the organization’s overall performance improves (Oldham & Fried, 2016).
Organizations should there invest in their employees’ motivation then reap the benefits of their high performance. This can be achieved by increasing their job satisfaction and hence enhancing their loyalty to the organization. The employees are engaged, and their retention over the long-term significantly increases (Murtza et al., 2020). The employees’ efficiency improves, and less time is wasted; thus, they focus on delivering their duties. Organizations can invest in their human capital by granting them training opportunities and helping them develop their skills.
As a result, the employees become more innovative during times of uncertainty, which is an essential factor in the workers’ career development, something that improves while working within the organization or growing the industry. The employees waste less time engaging in non-job tasks, which improves the organization’s general efficiency. Motivated workers save the organization’s time and resources by focusing more on delivering their duties (Oldham & Fried, 2016).
The employees’ personality plays a vital role in their duties and involves a variety of physiognomies that affect their distinct Personality Traits. This personality is most significant when they directly shape the organizations’ directions and achieve their goals. Various behaviors scientists have created models that attempt to explain people’s performance at work and the role of their personality in their professional life (Krishnan et al., 2017).
According to the theory, employees perform better when their duties are matched with their personality and if their assigned duties allow them to achieve higher-order goals like status, fame, communion, autonomy, and achievement. This makes them more energetic due to the pursuit of more psychological fulfillment. The model uses five factors to describe human personality: introversion or extroversion, the employee’s agreeability, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and openness to experiences (Oldham & Fried, 2016).
By helping the employees achieve these goals, organizations stand to benefit from their significantly improved morale, enhancing their performance, and hence more productivity (Beck, 2020).
Employee’s motivation has more to do with their personality type than practical skills. The organizations need to identify the unique things that motivate an individual employee based on their personality type and assign them duties accordingly. There are various criteria for categorizing personality employee personality type; one includes three distinct categories, which include personality Type A, B, and a moderation of the two.
Employees with personality Type A are more aggressive and intense. They are competitive and focus on getting things done right away. These people are best motivated by being assigned leadership and managerial positions at different levels. Their goal-oriented point of view is essential in the achievement of the organization’s goals.
On the other hand, an individual with personality Type B has a more analytical approach to life and their performance at work. This cohort s best motivated through constructive criticism, which does not work on personality type and does not appreciate being micro-managed (Murtza et al., 2020).
Application in My Personality Type
Upon completing the personality test, I scored 40, which implies that and competitive and hurried to match Personality Type-A. I barely give up until I am sure that I am beaten. I work very hard and ensure that I achieve every goal I set and on time. Besides studying, I have two part-time jobs, and having only 24 hours in a day is never enough for me to achieve all my goals.
I thrive in challenging circumstances and learn more about life in general, my specialization area, and nearly myself. However, I do not feel like my achievements surpass those of people around me and I need to work harder to achieve that. I am best motivated by being assigned problem-solving tasks and being mandated to form a group of colleagues to assist in resolving the issue with me as the leader (Beck, 2020).
Personality Traits and individual preferences for specific job design approaches
Human capital is one of the most diverse resources in any organization due to the differences brought by individual employees to work. A variety of attitudes, values, and personalities and their transient or stable attributes impact their behavior and, consequently, their performance at work. Organizations need to understand and leverage these personalities, skills, and abilities (Beck, 2020).
Personality encompasses an individual’s thoughts, behaviors, and all human beings with unique personalities, distinguishing them from the rest of humankind. Personality types A and A are among the most thoroughly researched personality contracts in psychology concerning individual work behavior. Personality Type, A individuals intend to be concisely accomplished while setting very high expectations and are self-critical. Type B individuals’ personality traits are, on the other hand, contradictory, and it becomes difficult for the two to work harmoniously (Beck, 2020).
Type A and B personalities have unique attributes that affect their working styles and impact career choice. There is much noticeable dissimilarity between personality Type A and B as personality Type A individuals tend to be more goal-oriented while personality Type B individuals, on the other hand, are focus on the present. Secondly, Type A individual is better at holding managerial positions while personality Type B, on the other hand, makes better teammates and co-workers.
Types of individuals have a strong personality, while Type B personalities are more agreeable and cooperative (Krishnan et al., 2017). The former makes better planners and implementers while the latter are more innovative and make better problem solvers. Another critical difference between the two is that Type B personality type individuals are more interactive and extroverted, while personality Type B individuals are more introverted and focused. Therefore in a work setting Type, A personality type, individuals are self-driven while type two individuals are best motivated by team spirit (Maslowski, 2018).
DiSC is a test used to detect an individual is in the work environment and is an acronym of dominance, influence, conscientiousness, and steadiness. Type B individuals are more steady and empathetic are the best to have as core workers, while Type A individuals are better in having as managers but cannot work efficiently in a group dynamic. Type B individuals also tend to be more spontaneous, enthusiastic, optimistic, and outgoing but are unfocused. Their steadiness and influence make to operate best in a collaborative rather than competitive dynamic (Beck, 2020).
Type A is conscientious, data-driven, work deliberate, accurate, and useful in communication. This makes the best suited for problem-solving asks dues to their diligent pursuit for factual accuracy. This personality types should be considered more while the organization makes the hiring and promotion decisions. The human resources department should keen on a vast and detailed personality profile inventory for all employees, those of various stakeholders in the industry, and even potential employees (Maslowski, 2018).
Application in My Personality Type
Being aware of my personality, I have assessed my nature and how it has affected my life’s choices so far. I am well aware that my personality type predisposes me to thrive more competitive rather than collaborative environments. Being a Type A personality individual, I am useful in thorough planning and implementation but not very effective in solving problems during the project’s period. Therefore, I must incorporate an individual with personality Type B while coming up with a team (Maslowski, 2018).
I am also aware that my competitiveness and desire for more make me hard to work with and try to be more agreeable. It is also important to have personality Type B individuals in my team to observe and learn from them. During the delegation of duties, it is preferable for me to handle tasks involving much communication and instead opt for more complex tasks that require more ambition and aggression.
It is also essential for me to utilize my leadership roles to raise awareness of the various personality contrasts relevant in the work environment. This ensures that all individuals are aware of their personalities and those around them (Krishnan et al., 2017). This awareness is also essential for them to understand the organization’s criteria for hiring, firing, and promoting the organization (Murtza et al., 2020).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the dynamic between Personality Traits and job design is fundamental in understanding employee motivation. Organizations need to take a more personalized approach when dealing with human capital. It is also imperative that the employee be aware of their personality traits and how organizations use them as leverage. They should instead use their personality traits as tools in the delivery of their mandate to the organization.
Personality Traits References
- Beck, J. S. (2020). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond. Guilford Publications.
- Krishnan, R., Ismail, S., Loon, K. W., Muthusamy, G., & Melaka, K. B. (2017). The Moderating Effect of Employee Personality in the Relationship Between Job Design Characteristics and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. The Social Sciences, 12(6), 1014-1023.
- Maslowski, J. (2018). The Relationship between Telework, Personality Type, and Job Satisfaction: A Quantitative Study (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).
- Murtza, M. H., Gill, S. A., Aslam, H. D., & Noor, A. (2020). Intelligence quotient, job satisfaction, and job performance: The moderating role of personality type. Journal of Public Affairs, e2318.
- Oldham, G. R., & Fried, Y. (2016). Job design research and theory: Past, present and future. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 136, 20-35.
