Personality types, impeding or progressing performance in public sector organisations

A number of scholars who are affiliated with the field of Psychology have done empirical research on the concept, personality (Do a cursory online search or consult any management text to interrogate their findings). Much of this research have been applied to the world of business organisations and work as it is believed that personality type is a good predictor of performance on the job.

It has been reported in the literature on management that, as a result of the work done by scholars in the area of personality, personality tests have been developed which have been used by a number of business corporations to screen potential staff. The research has indicated that there may be a link between personality and job fit. So to achieve effectiveness and efficiency in the work place these businesses are attempting to match personality types with ideal jobs.
What are the personality types which have been isolated by these scholars? The Myers-Biggs Type Indicator (MBTI) shows us sixteen personality types. If we peruse the descriptions of these types, we may recognise ourselves in a number of them. Then there is the Five-factor model which, as the name suggests, shows us five categories of personality types. These categories are based on extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience.

Other scholars, and no doubt laymen/women, have identified personality traits/characteristics which we as human beings exhibit. For example, we are described as being quiet, passive, loud, aggressive, ambitious, extroverted, highly strung, sociable, controlling, and so on. Other scholars go as far as to classify personalities according to whether they are Type A or Type B. Type A personalities according to them are characterised by an excess of competitiveness and constant hurry. Type B personalities, on the other hand, are characterised as being easy going, gregarious and accepting of change. Many of these scholars have not neglected to mention that environmental among other factors impact personality.

From reading the work of scholars in this area of study, we get the sense that personality refers to a person’s character as defined by a number of dominant traits which this person is believed to possess. We infer personality type based on the nature of the person’s interaction with others.

Does personality type impact performance in the public sector and how? A number of scholars on Caribbean Public Administration have posited that the institution of slavery which existed overtly for more than three hundred years in the English speaking Caribbean has left deep psychological scars on its people which are impacting every facet of their life today. Other scholars and non-scholars within and outside of the region have disparaged this notion saying that continuously blaming our shortcomings on slavery is counterintuitive. It’s time that we take responsibility for our issues.

The latter may be right. I have not done any empirical research on the issue to prove otherwise. However, I am willing to engage in some “arm chair” theorising about it. I am agreeing with the former view that the psychological legacy of slavery still continues unchecked in the region. It manifests itself in the personality of many a Caribbean person who has found her/himself in positions of power (in the public sector). I will show how this is evident in the next instalment of this article.

 Read part 2 of this article. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teachers: 6 ways to maintain a "good" relationship with your students

Image
Photo credit: pixabay.com You are in a noble profession, or so you've been told. Your job is very important. You are charged with moulding young and not so very young minds to accept and nurture what is "good" and so be a credit to society. Because, society needs "good" people if it is to surge upward in its development.  You're supposed to achieve this noble goal, in spite of whatever resistance/challenge that you meet in the classroom - students who are aggressive, disrespectful, resistant to learning what you are teaching them in the classroom... Some days the challenge of finding the right balance between allowing your students to be students, thus keeping them always happy, and getting them to perform up to the standard that you know they can perform weighs heavily on you. I have been a teacher for more than 25 years and I have survived many of these days. On one such day, I thought up this "tongue in cheek" list, intended to stir
Read more

Improving School Leadership in Ten Easy Steps

Image
Robert Frost, late American poet aptly said,  "education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence". Recently, the news media in a society that will remain unnamed reported that a male school principal was in a fight with a female student. Witnesses, however, reported that there were actually no blows thrown by the principal, in spite of his best efforts to box the student into oblivion. It was a super human effort by those who restrained the principal to keep him in check, as for a moment, he let his mask slip - the mask of being a decent, educated man, in charge of his faculties and who weilded much power - and became the man that the environment in which he grew up moulded, a base human being like many of us who does not turn the other cheek in the face of provocation. It would seem that the student does not respect anyone or anything. She has a reputation for being unruly, foul mouthed, aggressive,  uncooperative, am
Read more

TEACHING MATHEMATICS

  A teacher of Mathematics once told me that if I could add, subtract, divide and multiply, I could master Mathematics because these skills were the foundation of Mathematics. Well, I can add, subtract, divide and multiply, quite well, as a matter of fact. But I wouldn’t say I mastered Mathematics. My memories of Math classes are not great, but they do not leave me depressed. One of my Math classes in third form stands out in my memory to this day. It is the only one that holds a position of prominence in my mind. The teacher was quite pleasant. I remember her sitting at her desk for most of the class, waiting for us to bring our work to her for correction after she had “taught” us the fundamentals of whatever topic was introduced. (Sitting is not a bad thing to do. I like the idea of having a chair at the ready in my classroom so I can rest my weary legs, if I choose to). So, back to my third form Math class. I can still see a “stick man”, standing at the top of an incline. Our job as
Read more