Introduction:
What are the Most important personality traits 5 to have at work?
There are thousands of personality traits to explain the personality and behaviour of human beings. Some personality traits are help people grow, some restrict their growth.
Experts have noticed that all the traits are not relevant in an organisational setting. Only few are required so that your career takes a ‘J’ Curve to success.
Researchers agreed upon the below mentioned Personality Traits 5 Top, Affecting Organizational Behavior:
- Extroversion
- Conscientiousness
- Agreeableness
- Emotional Stability
- Openness to Experience
Concept and Application:
Put together these traits are called The BIG Five! I have explained more about them below:
Extroversion:
This trait can be described as the person want to engage with other socially. People with this trait are not satisfied with their own self, but want others to be with them most of the time.
This means that the person is outgoing and gets his/her motivation from people around them.
In short, they enjoy being with people. As they understand the importance of growing together, they are warm towards others.
You will not find them quiet in a group setting like a meeting or over lunch / dinner. They make the environment cheerful and exciting.
Always enthusiastic and spread enthusiasm in the people around them. Research suggests that extroversion is directly proportional to job satisfaction.
Also read: How to Build Confidence and Overcome Social Anxiety
Conscientiousness:
This personality trait refers to orientation towards the goal. A person can be greatly talented, but if fails to follow the process and does not have a SMART goal, then the person has planned to fail.
As the old saying says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. The person needs to be organised to do all tasks without hassle.
The person should be a goal setter and should have the ability to keep himself / herself on track.
People who are on track and have a set goal are more reliable and possess a drive for success.
An organized person who has a SMART goal set and is following it thoroughly has the time and space to be an effective and focused thinker.
Research shows that people who possess this trait of conscientiousness perform better at their work. There is a high probability for them to get to higher positions faster.
People at leadership levels and Managers need to have this trait of conscientiousness.
Agreeableness:
Somebody who will put other’s needs before his/her own need. This trait refers to the persons quality to be helpful towards others.
A person who has this trait is straightforward in a good way, to make sure that nobody is hurt. The person who believes that people around him/her are honest in whatever they do and say i.e. does not doubt people’s intentions.
Always tries to help everyone who needs help in the team. The person who possesses this trait will always yield under pressure i.e. will act like a pressure releasing point. People feel secure when you have someone like this in the team.
In the corporate environment one can feel that people around are being harsh and competitive. Leaders who exhibit the trait of agreeableness show humility and sensitiveness towards others.
Agreeableness is necessary to work into Teams.
Emotional Stability:
It is said that the one who feels ecstatic in a favourable situation and the one who feels miserable in an unfavourable situation both cannot be called a Saint! Emotional Stability relates to a person not getting freezed in an unfavourable condition.
The one who is relaxed in a bad situation and knows how to manage his/her emotional being is said to have the trait of Emotional Stability.
Handling stressful situations for this kind of a person is easy as compared to someone else who might have better knowledge but gets freezed of tries to run out of such a situation.
The one who can handle anger can maintain a calm environment for people to work into. As a leader who wants to exhibit this trait should give his/her team a productive environment.
Just imagine that everybody in your team is very good at the work assigned, but there is a conflict and nobody in your team is emotionally stable! Do you see how having the skills and knowledge takes a back seat when you have to work in a team? Emotional Stability is driving it all the way.
Openness to Experience:
Do you like when something changes in your job? Do you resist it? Or you are looking forward to it and try to understand how this can benefit the speed and quality of your product or service?
If you are seeking new experiences and love change, then you possess the trait of Openness to Experience. The person who has this trait is more imaginative, is constantly looking for new ways of doing things in a better way.
These people appreciate beauty and Art. Also, respect other and value their emotions. As I said earlier if you are more curious about the change rather than resisting it, then you have the trait.
People with this trait are open to any new changes in the system. Individual with this trait tend to do well at a creative job setting like media, fashion designing and advertising etc. but is not limited to that as all jobs need you to have a creative side especially when you have a wish to grow.
Conclusion:
How they lead to meaningful workplace behavior?
Below are the Five Major Personality Traits and how they lead to meaningful workplace behaviour:
- Extroversion
- As they enjoy being with others it helps better with Teamwork
- As they are warm towards other this helps people to trust them, and work happens smoothly without any resistance
- Conscientiousness
- They are organized and take time to complete a task with minimal mess
- Being Goal Oriented helps them to be on track and achieve the target faster
- Agreeableness
- Being tolerant helps the team to express without the fear of judgement
- The quality of being helpful creates a secure environment for the team to work into
- Emotional Stability
- Being relaxed and capability of handling stressful situations gives the team a productive environment to work in
- Openness to Experience
- Being open to new experiences helps the team adapt to change quicker and get to faster pace of productivity