“Organizational behaviour can be defined as the actions and attitudes of people in organizations. (Source: Ronald.R.Sims, 2002)
Personality
Personality can be defined as the characteristics and behavioural patterns of people that differentiate them from one another. It is the qualities, traits and behaviours that are peculiar to a specific person. “It is a unique and relatively stable pattern of behaviour, thoughts and emotions shown by individuals.
(Source: Ronald.R.Sims, 2002)
Personality can be divided into five types based on these dimensions-
Conscientiousness
This dimension measures the reliability levels of people. People who score high on this are generally considered to be very dependable, responsible, organized and persistent. They like all their work to be planned and have the drive to complete it as expected. They do not relent until the work that they planned to do is not completed. People who are low on this quality are not reliable and are disorganized. They cannot be trusted with any responsibilities or deadlines. They do not believe in planning or scheduling their work.
Extroversion
This dimension looks at the compatibility traits of individuals. There are two types of people under this dimension Extroverts and Introverts. Extroverts are more of the open types. They easily get along with others and will have no difficulty in communicating their thoughts. Introverts are mostly to themselves. They are very reserved and quiet. They do not get into conversations with other people that easily and even if they are coaxed into one, they find it impossible to speak their mind and express their thoughts effectively.
Agreeables
This dimension divides people into two types based on their ability to agree with others. There are people who can easily agree with others and there are people who like to disagree with others. Agreeable people co-operate easily with other people, they are warm and can be trusted. The second type, like to disagree with the opinion of other people regardless of their feelings. These types of people are stubborn to put their point across even if it is not relevant.
Emotional Stability
This tests the mental strength of a person. It calculates the level up to which a person can withstand stress. People who are emotionally stable are calm, self confident and feel secure about everything. They think straight during any crisis and do not panic that easily. They are confident of delivering the desired results. People who have low emotional stability are always nervous, anxious to know if they are doing the right thing and are always worrying about what might happen. They can easily get depressed and are never sure of themselves.
Openness To Experience
This dimensions differentiates people by checking the person's interest in trying out new things. They are the types who tend to be a little adventurous in their work style. They do not like to stick to a set path. They are open to innovative and creative ideas. They are also extremely curious and love to explore new horizons. The opposite type are the conventional type who are comfortable in doing something that is familiar to them or when in familiar surroundings. They are very rigid to any kind of change. They prefer to stick by their usual routine.
(Ronald.R.Sims, 2002)
Some of the other ways in determining types of personality are:
Locus Of Control
This trait differentiates people into two types. People who feel they control the consequences of their actions and people who feel that the results are controlled by external forces. People with internal locus of control tend to perform better in most situations. They tend to be more successful in their respective jobs. They make better leaders than people with external locus of control. They take independent decisions and are confident of achieving the desired results. They motivate themselves and are easily motivated by any kind of performance based reward system. People with external locus of control give up very easily and have a tendency to leave everything to fate and destiny. They do not have it in them to motivate themselves and require a lot of external stimulus to achieve the desired results.
Machiavellianism
People who score high in this trait tend to be manipulative. They do not have any problem in using unethical techniques to achieve their desired goals. They give very little importance to values such as honesty. Their main focus is to reach their personal goals by any means. They are not very emotional people and are very detached from others. They maintain a distance with everyone. These types of people are motivated only if it involves achieving their personal goals. External motivating factors have little effect on them.
Overcoming Resistance To Change
Change is a constant process that is vital for the success of any organization. Managers must be able to take the role of a change agent to be able to overcome the inevitable resistance to change. The reasons for resistance depend on the individual's personality traits. Some of the best ways to overcome resistance to change are-
Careful Planning
The managers must keep in mind the different personalities of his employees. The process of initiating change should be done very slowly. The manager must explain the reasons behind why the change is essential. The culture of the organization plays a key role in deciding the level of success of the change process.
Target Individuals
Change process means changing the behaviour of the people in the organization. Managers must target key people who have an influence in the organization. People who have power, credibility and experience must be targeted. If these people can be made to understand the importance of the change then the work is made easier as they can influence the other employees into accepting the process.
Reward Positive Change
Managers must point out the positive aspects of change. The employees must be provided with resources to integrate the change into their work. People who respond positively to change can be rewarded to encourage the others into accepting the process.
Discourage Resistance
Resistance to change is inevitable. Prior planning is will prove very helpful in implementing the process. Resistance must be discouraged as much as possible. Managers can point out the bad effects of resisting change.
Momentum
There should be adequate communication between the managers and the employees even after the initial part of the process. A break in communication might make the employees sceptical about the process of change and in turn increase the resistance to it.
(Source: http://www.employeeselect.com/pr21.htm)
The process of change does not happen overnight. It takes time for the force of change to overcome the resistance to change. The initial stage and the continuity of implementation are vital to the successful completion of the change process. The process of change can be termed successful once the desired level of performance is achieved
Managers must also understand that satisfying the needs of the employees during a change management process will gradually reduce the resistance to it. This also motivates the employees to work towards the goals and objectives of the organization. To satisfy the needs managers must understand the personalities of their employees and by using the appropriate techniques they can implement the change management process smoothly.
Motivation
“Motivation refers to the forces within a person that affect his direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behaviour. (Source: McShane.L.Steven, 2005)
When an employee feels motivated they are willing to work harder and are persistent towards the targeted goal. Every individual is motivated by different factors based on his/her personality. Managers must be able to identify the individual's personality to be able to effectively motivate him/her to achieve the desired results.
Abraham Maslow has identified 5 levels in his Hierarchy of needs theory-
Physiological Needs
This refers to the most basic needs for any individual such as hunger, sleep, thirst, etc. This need does not differ much from person to person. Once these needs are satisfied the individual will not be motivated by them until they arise again. In an organizational environment the most basic need for any individual would be compensation (salary). This basic need must be fulfilled for the employee to be motivated to work towards the targeted results. Once this level of need is satisfied the employee can be further motivated only by satisfying the next level of needs.
Safety Needs
This level refers to the security needs of individuals. Every employee in the organization should be made to feel safe and secure. This need can be fulfilled by providing benefits such as contracts, pension plans, insurance, etc. Satisfying this need will go a long way in motivating people who are emotionally unstable as they tend to worry a lot. This assures them of their safety in the organization. Satisfying this need also gives way to the next level of needs.
Social Needs
Man is a social animal. There is a need for interaction with others. When a person trusts some of his co-workers then he feels comfortable in that workplace. Every person needs to be able to confide in someone. Extroverts and agreeable people are the types who easily get along with others. They need to be amongst people who they like and are affectionate towards. To effectively motivate them managers can make this type of people work in groups or teams to satisfy their social needs.
Esteem Needs
This level represents the higher needs of people. This is not considered as a basic need but nevertheless it has to be satisfied in order to motivate the employees. Every person will want to be respected by others. This need is important for people with internal locus of control as it increases the respect they have for themselves. People Managers can make them feel important by giving them appropriate titles and promoting them when required. This need should be satisfied regardless of the personality of the employee. When this level is not satisfied, the employee feels unimportant and as a result will be de-motivated.
Self Actualization
This is the highest level of need for a person. This need arises only after all the previous needs are fulfilled. People who have Machiavellian traits and people who are in position of power tend to rate this need as very important as they are basically self-centred and power hungry. Satisfaction of this need helps the person realize his potential and avail utmost personal satisfaction. Satisfaction of this need motivates the person to target greater levels of achievement which reflects positively in their performance.
