1. Week 5: The relationship between work and identity Bus 651 Work Organisation and Management 1

2. Introduction This week we will be exploring identity and personality; We will define personality and identity and understand their importance in the workplace; understand how personality and identity are shaped; critically assess how individual identity affects and is affected by the organisation; and apply findings of personality research to the workplace; 2

3. What is Personality? …a relatively enduring pattern of thinking, feeling and acting that characterize a persons response to his or her environment. Refers to individuality and is influenced by social context and traits. Personality is not static. To study personality we need to find the causes of behavioural patterns – what is the enduring aspect of the personality? 3

4. Theories of Personality There are several main theories of personality: Trait Psychodynamic Socio-cultural 4

5. Personality and the workplace 5 Class question : Why are organisations interested in personality? Is this interest a good thing?

6. Personality and the workplace 6 Holland (1985) - Personality/job fit model Emphasised aligning personality to work characteristics Key points of Holland's model: Intrinsic differences in personalities exist. Different types of occupations and work environments better suited to certain personality types. Workers in workplaces and occupations congruent with their personality types are more satisfied and more likely to remain Important for the new forms of knowledge worker – the new human capital. Positive contributor to social integration in firms

7. Hollands Typology of Personality and Congruent work environments /jobs 7

8. Proactive Personality and Individual Job Performance 8

9. Personality Testing 9 Social capital and value of skilled employees means a more stringent selection process Modes of personality testing include: Interviews Inventories Behavioural assessment Personality tests E-assessment Personality tests should be reliable and valid. They are more subtle than earlier modes of Tayloristic work measurement but have limitations.

10. Measurement Approaches to Assess Personality 10

11. Personality: a few words of warning A few words of warning about personality in the workplace: o There is no one best personality type. Some personality characteristics are useful in certain situations. o organisations need to appreciate the value of diversity - homogeneity could hinder the organisations ability to adapt to change. o Although many organisations consider personality to be an important criterion for employment, personality tests are still considered to be a relatively poor instrument for selecting people for key positions, such as management roles. o The excessive classification of personality types may hinder appreciation of a persons potential to contribute to an organisation. 11

12. Personality: a few words of warning 12 Diversity of personality is important in a workplace. Establishing personality can involve testing, which is problematic.

13. Identity and Personality 13 A complex fusion of the interplay between the inner self and the outer communal culture and social interaction. – Mills and Tancred (1992) Individuals are socialised into a culture Giddens (2009) distinguishes Personal identity (self-identity) - Identity constructed through social relations and discourses (e.g. gender, sexuality, and race) Social identity - Sameness or belongingness (e.g. occupation, trade unionist, feminist, Asian) Significant to management in the workplace

14. The primacy of employment 14 Paid employment is a central feature of adult life. Paid work often defines who you are and how others see you. Given the importance attached to paid work, in this lecture we will be exploring how work shapes our identity.

15. A case study of unemployment 15 Money Stigma Feelings of rejection Lack of purpose Isolation Exclusion from broader community

16. A case study of unemployment 16 Given many of us have conflicting feelings about our jobs, how did work become of such importance to people? Please read pp. 60-63 of your text book. Money? (material necessity) Work ethic (moral necessity) How relevant is material or moral necessity to work today?

17. 17 As we shall see next week, many researchers have attempted to understand how both personality and identity are important factors shaping behaviour in the workplace. What this week has demonstrated is that this relationship works both ways and that work can play a role in shaping our identity outside of the workplace. This week provides a background for the following discussion of gender and the interconnections between paid and unpaid work