A Sample Thesis Positive Synthesis
 

Chapter 6: Positive Synthesis

            The findings derived from primary research clearly indicate that personality questionnaire has a certain degree of reliability. The use of this instrument in hiring and appraising employees can also result to several other advantages. Nonetheless, the downsides of this tool affect its reliability level. In this chapter, more literatures and case examples are discussed in connection to the obtained findings from the survey. This chapter will focus on the quality, advantages and disadvantages of personality questionnaires. 

Quality

            The obtained findings from the survey indicated that the reliability of personality questionnaire lies considerably on its known ability to determine personal attributes of an individual or applicant. Aside from this, the instrument is also reliable for companies that intend to hasten their hiring processes. Literatures had indicated that these reliability factors of the personality questionnaire are supported by the personality standards used to interpret the test results. Through these standards, personalities can be identified easily and rapidly. A number of researches had already verified the usefulness of personality questionnaires in identifying various personal attributes and its important role in the recruitment practice. For instance, the ability of a personality questionnaire called the Five-factor model in defining job-relevant personality traits such as customer service orientation, proactivity and integrity has long been recognized. The validity of personality questionnaires within occupational setting had also gone through large meta-analyses where researchers were able to conclude that job-related personalities can be used to predict an individual’s job performance aspects (Tett, Jackson & Rothstein, 1991; Barrick & Mount, 1991).

            The reliability of personality questionnaires is also supported by a myriad of tried and tested tests used for identifying the personal attributes of the applicants. In a study done using New Zealand companies as sample, the researchers concluded that a considerable number of these organizations use personality tests in their employee selection processes for non-management positions, management positions or both (Keelty, Macdonnel & Taylor, 2002). Among the most commonly used personality test was Saville & Holdsworth's Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ). Other selected firms stated other kinds of personality questionnaires including the 16 Personality Factor (16PF), Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Adult Personality Inventory, in-house developed tests, the Omnia Environment Compatibility Rating and the Californian Personality Inventory. Some organizations however were not aware which type of personality tests is used for their hiring procedures as the selection is carried out by an external consultant.  

            In order to understand the role of personality standards in the employment of personality tests, certain examples can be taken into consideration. In the United States, the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most common personality questionnaire used by companies. This questionnaire attempts to relate an individual’s personality with one of 16 types based on four main traits. During the 1940s, Katharine Briggs and daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers invented the test based on the original ideas of Carl Jung. While Jung divided personalities into eight different types, Briggs and Myers expanded these categories; thus, a total of 16 profiles are now used for the test.  

The personality test is basically comprised of 25 questions that aim to identify the person’s style and preference within four dimensions. The first dimension is between extroversion and introversion. This dimension mainly categorizes a person based on the source of his energy. For instance, extroverts derived their energies from the outside world, whereas introverts obtain their energies internally in the form of emotions, ideas and impressions. Stereotypical images of extroverts (talkative) and introverts (quiet) are not enough to define these dimensions. This is because once extroverts have been with people long enough, they have enough energy to be by themselves. In the same way, introverts can be quite talkative in social settings once revved up (McGarrity, 2003).  

            Sensing and intuition is the focus of the second dimension. In this case, people categorized as sensors that see what is in front of them; they have a keen sense for catching details and facts. Moreover, they are more interested in past or current events rather than those that will happen in the future. On the contrary, people who are intuitive are those that could pick up on the realities of relationships that surround them. They are quick to realize the wider implications of complex matters or explanations. The third dimension is concentrated on thinking and feeling personalities. In this case, the aim is to determine whether the individual is generally ruled by emotion or by reason. Those who are considered as thinkers prefer to be detached, analytical and logical when subjected to a decision-making process. They are basically driven by objectives and are more after clarity and justice. On the other hand, the decisions made by feelers are typically influenced by their emotions and interpersonal involvement in the situation, making decisions more subjective (McGarrity, 2003).  

            Finally, the fourth dimension is focused on judging and perceiving qualities of an individual. The judges are the types of people that are very organized, neat and on time. They are the ones who want everything planned ahead of time. The perceivers on the other hand are not as organized as the judges; however, they have a very flexible personality, enabling them to deal with unexpected turn of events. They are very spontaneous and do not plan things in advance. They are not affected either if things do not go as planned. In terms of formulating decisions, both personalities are also different. The judges tend to be quick in making decision and often stick to their initial conclusions; perceivers on the other hand would rather keep their alternatives open as they find it very difficult to make concrete decisions right away (McGarrity, 2003). Through this personality standards HR staff can easily analyze the answers of the applicant and determine whether he or she can comply with the requirements of the job.  

Advantage

            One of the identified advantages of employing personality questionnaires is its ability to identify the applicants’ personal attributes in relation job being offered. Major companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Pepsi and Sara Lee have made use of personality questionnaires for hiring and management training; the companies themselves confirm that this HR instrument is capable of discovering important employment issues such as the applicants’ experience and credentials. Moreover, as the companies are able to assess the applicant’s aptitudes, character and weaknesses, they are able to assign them to job positions where they are likely to excel and succeed (Frieswick, 2004). Other than hiring, these companies are also employing personality questionnaires for the training and development of the employees. This function of the personality questionnaire is said to be an important key in enhancing executives and staff that lack certain social skills. Through personality tests, the company is able to give the right feedback that will encourage them to strive harder.  

            The multi-functionality of personality questionnaires is yet another important advantage of this HR instrument. This feature also enables the flexible nature of personality tests. Recruiting employees is perhaps the most popular purpose of personality questionnaires. As stressed by a manager of a recruitment agency, the use of personality tests allows them to find diamonds in the rough. The recruiters do not initially ask applicants to undergo the test for recruitment. Usually, recruiters would screen applicants; once the applicants pass the initial screening, recruiters will use the personality tests to verify their instincts. In this case, the tests are used to ensure that the judgment of the HR professionals is correct; this feature is then how personality tests can be used for selection, development as well as retention (Krell, 2005).  

            Recruiting will not be effective if the applicants do not fit to the position being offered. In this case, personality tests are also useful for finding employees with the credentials that suit the job. In some cases, companies use personality questionnaires not to establish a personality pattern within the company but to ensure that each employee can give their best performance to their respective job assignments. Personality questionnaires are also useful in gauging the comfort level of the applicants with job; at times, assessing attitudes of potential applicants can be helpful in adjust the job requirements and responsibilities in order to establish a better match (Krell, 2005).  

In other companies, personality tests are used not only to strengthen but also to diversify their hiring process. In a group of executives for example, balance should be observed in terms of personalities. Thus, rather than creating a team that is dominated by growth-minded members, executives with personalities that can manage the team should also be included; in this way, a department is not congested with leaders or any other single type personalities. Through a diversified and balanced workforce, companies have higher chances of overcoming future challenges and achieving greater progress (Krell, 2005). 

            The employment of a diverse workforce and its advantages has been supported by several literatures. Despite the many issues and problems related to workforce diversity, literatures claim that this is an important element of an effective organization as well as provides several advantages (Benibo, 1997). According to Dobbs (1996), the recruitment of a highly diverse workforce is very useful as it provides the organization a larger pool of skills and talents. This also increases the opportunity of the organization to hire employees that are highly appropriate for specific company needs and requirements. In actual company operations, workforce diversity can also help in generating a multitude of useful ideas for decision-making. In other words, workforce diversity broadens the company’s perspectives and increases its options for developing decisions. Cox (1991) noted that the quality of decisions is significantly improved through workforce diversity. 

For companies who intend to operate globally, workforce diversity is an important factor. In the marketing aspect, success is more attainable if diverse employees will conduct marketing efforts to ethnic minority and foreign communities (Cox, 1991). Moreover, using locals to handle some of the activities in the organization can help in developing more appropriate international strategies. In general, diversity in the workplace can help organizations in adapting to the challenges of global operations (Benibo, 1997). According to Lockwood (2005), the ability of workforce diversity to combine different perspectives, ideas and cultures together is an important asset that brings forth creativity among the employees. Specifically, the differences in the employees’ experiences, views and education all contribute to the formation of mixture of ideas, allowing the formation of innovative solutions. As this helps in improving organizational performance, some organizations have become increasingly interested in developing a diverse workforce. Sonnenschein (1999) has stated that creativity and innovation is achieve in diversity as differences in way of doing and looking at things enable the formation of something that is unexpected. Through this, creativity from workforce diversity will be able to develop products or services that would both please and surprise customers. From this perspective, it becomes apparent that while diversity can result to difficulties, it also opens several avenues of opportunities.  

If the company matches the job with the applicants’ personality also help in reducing the turnover rate within the company. Through this advantage, companies are able to reduce hiring and training costs. There had been actual cases where companies were able to achieve reduction in employee turnover rate. In an article written by Dina Berta (2002), the author focused on citing various American restaurants that use personality questionnaires and were able to achieve significant reductions in their employee turnover rate. One of these food establishments was Garcia and Pepperoni Grill; its management uses personality questionnaires in screening the applicants. According to the company’s human resource director, with the help of the personality tests, management turnover in the company has dropped from 46% to 25%. Aside from the reduced turnover, the HR director also noted that personality tests are advantageous as it improves management training efforts. It also makes the company more selective with the employees that it hires, ensuring that all applicants who passed fit in the organization.  

The respondents of the survey stressed that personality questionnaires does not only reduce the costs due to turnover, but the employment of the test itself is relatively cheaper as compared to other HR tools. Initially, the utilization of personality questionnaires can be both tedious and expensive. However, with the use of internet, computer programs and various communication technologies, the process of taking the test as well as interpreting the results have significantly improved. One of the American restaurant operators who have described the old process of using personality test was Doug McKendrick, co-operator of a steak house located in Atlanta (Berta, 2002).  

The entrepreneur noted that managers before used to send in personality questionnaires through mail; the response of the applicants will arrive usually after a week. This is then the only time when the employer will make a decision to employ the applicant or not. In reality, applicants do not have a long time to wait for companies’ replies regarding their application. They would usually refer to look for jobs continuously until they are hired (Berta, 2002). Thus, if potentially good applicants will apply for companies with faster and more efficient hiring procedures, other companies will lose valuable assets.

Nonetheless, the old procedure of giving out personality questionnaires is long gone. Nowadays, companies integrate computer programs and technologies to make the process faster and easier, both for the HR personnel and the applicants. This development then allowed organizations to avail a cost-effective tool for employee recruitment and selection. In the McKendrick’s Steak House for instance, the food establishment uses a program known as CheckStart in order to screen their applicants through personality assessment.  

The CheckStart program can be loaded easily to the companies’ computers or websites. The applicants on the other hand can accomplish the test through the computers and accomplish them within 15 to 30 minutes. The program can then easily present the results in tables with analysis; questions related to the applicant’s results are also provided to guide the interviewer (Berta, 2002). The integration of computer technology in administering personality questionnaire also supports the respondents claim that this tool is also easy to use.  

It has been stated by the selected respondents that personality questionnaires are also advantageous as it helps bring the employees together and prevent conflicts. According to Krell (2005), personality tests allow the concept known as onboarding where new employees are given the opportunity to become comfortable with their new work environment and colleagues. Through personality assessments managers are able to led both existing and new staff towards change. In actual application, the company can provide managers with the four dimensional personality assessments whenever new employees are hired; the results of their assessment can then be used to understand each personality type in order to help them adapt change effectively. Through personality tests, the innate feature of each employee is obtained; this can be helpful in resolving and preventing conflicts. In particular, personality questionnaires help in depersonalizing conflicts among employees. The knowledge on individual differences through personality tests helps employees in understanding each other’s differences rather than on the conflict itself (Krell, 2005). Through this, good relations among the employees will be developed and maintained.  

The use of personality tests is also useful for HR managers particularly in helping out line managers who are to coach their subordinates. By means of personality assessments, coaches within the company are able to understand the needs and preferences of their subordinates; better coaching relationships are then developed through the use of personality questionnaires. If the subordinates need to be coached, the coaches or leaders should also be trained. 

For this requirement, personality tests are also useful. In order for employees to be promoted and developed, companies must consider their potentials, skills and attitudes. The information on the employees’ personality will then help employers to determine their potential business leaders. Pitt Ohio Express, a trucking company in the United States, is focusing on the personality attributes of the key people the company would need in the future. This then would help the company develop proper training programs for potential leaders among its existing employees. Moreover, this can also help in improving the company’s recruitment standards (Krell, 2005).  

Disadvantage

            Although personality questionnaire is a reliable tool and has several advantages, it also has certain disadvantages, which have been pointed out by the respondents. One of which is tendency of the applicants to fake their answers in the questionnaires in order to make themselves more appealing to the employers. According to software developer, Steve Prelack, the main downside of personality questionnaires is that they are easily tampered or manipulated. He himself tried the MBTI test while interviewing some applicants for a food service company.  

He noted that applicants usually have an idea on what the companies are looking for in applicant for certain positions; with personality questionnaires patterning ones answers based on the personality of an ideal employee is not very difficult to do. The software developer also noted that personality questionnaires are not exactly adaptable to all types of job specifications. For instance, it is understandable why personality tests are given for applicants applying for customer-oriented jobs. However, in the case of controller positions where skills are more essential, personality questionnaires become insignificant (Frieswick, 2004).  

            In the study conducted by Drakeley (2000), the researcher investigated whether individuals taking a personality questionnaire can really alter their scores in the testing. For this study, the researcher chose to use students as the sample participants. In this procedure, the actual test scores of the students were compared with their self-estimated scores. Descriptive statistics and explanations of every personality dimension assessed were provided. The results showed that students do have the tendency to overestimate their personality scores. Despite this finding, the researcher also concluded that the respondents were reasonably good in predicting their personality test scores.  

The analysis also revealed that the tendency of the students to overestimate their test scores was because some items in the questionnaire were easy to predict. In particular, personality factors that relate to sociability and ambition were the ones that are easy to predict. In terms of school success and prudence, questions that relate to these factors were not as easy to foresee. The researcher noted that this finding is probably attributed to the fact that some personality factors are more commonly discussed among students as compared to others; for example, the ambition factors is more commonly discussed than prudence. The researcher also correlated the tendency of the students to overestimate the test scores with the ranges included in the questionnaire. The choices in the questionnaire restrict the students in making the right answers, thus, the tendency to overestimate the scores increases (Drakeley, 2000).  

In the research done by Hough and associates (1990), the researchers believed that the issue of applicants distorting their scores in the personality test is not a grave concern as was initially believed; though, this issue is constantly debated and investigated. Furthermore, based from the findings of the research done by Drakeley, it is clear that although there is a tendency for the applicants to intentionally or unintentionally give the wrong choices for their personalities, this issue is mostly correlated to the questionnaire’s quality and validity. If the personality questionnaire used by the company has not gone through initial tests for validity, it is likely that the applicants could easily fake their answers.  

Although it was not indicated in the survey results of this study, one of the common disadvantages of personality questionnaire is its correlation with various legal issues. In particular, some companies or areas do not employ personality tests in their hiring or appraisal procedures due to its tendency to discriminate applicants. Specifically, other critics question the practice of screening applicants based on their religion, gender, origin, religion, age and other personal factors; critic claimed that with personality questionnaires, some employers have the authority to reject applications that do not meet their personality standards. Aside from discrimination issues, the personality questionnaire has also been criticized for its tendency to delve into private matters that do not seem to help the hiring or appraisal process (Frieswick, 2004; O'Meara, 1994). These disadvantages, while observed in some personality questionnaires can be addressed. In order to avoid these problems, the company using the personality test must ensure that the questionnaire has been validated. Moreover, the companies must ensure that the items in the questionnaire do not have any discriminatory effect to the applicants, especially among minorities.