Personality types can be traced back to a five-factor model developed by Lewis Goldberg of the Oregon Research Institute in the 1980s and codified into the following five dimensions:
- openness - curiosity, creativity, intellect,
- conscientiousness - self-control, organisation of tasks, punctuality, reliability, efficiency, orderliness,
- extraversion - sociability, communicativeness, friendship, energy, optimism,
- agreeableness - helping others, cooperation, sensitivity, kindness,
- neuroticism - anxiety, moodiness, temperament.
These five factors form the basis for most current personality assessments.
Recent research conducted during the pandemic by British psychologists Shaun Biggs and Simon Toms with 177 participants shows strong positive and negative correlations between personality types and employee involvement. It also reveals the influence this has on the balance between work and private life and personal well-being.
The findings reveal that individuals with high ratings on the extraversion scale remained very active and involved even during the sudden transition to long-distance work during the pandemic. Furthermore, respondents who had lower scores on the friendliness scale in the five-factor personality model were more prone to feelings of loneliness and anxiety due to working from home. Finally, those who scored higher on the openness scale also felt more lonely when working out of the office.
The results show that while work-life balance may seem well supported by building teleworking competencies, one's personality traits lead to a stronger positive/negative attitude towards this new way of working.
The research thus has practical implications for organisations, teams and the relationship between managers and subordinate employees. Although there are many current best practices in the traditional office environment, there are some adjustments and emphases to help translate them into our current reality.
If you want to take into account the different preferences of different personalities, take a broad view.
- Communicate more regularly and predictably at both organisation and team level.
- Involve multiple communication channels to create understanding and alignment.
- Listen as much as possible to employees' questions and concerns and gather information for future use.
At the same time, in every organisation, front-line managers have the greatest influence on subordinates and day-to-day operations. Teleworking increases the importance for managers of regularly reviewing their teams, recognising that some personality types may face stronger feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
If ever there was a time to focus on clear expectations, then we have all long since adapted to the new way of working. If we are able to distinguish between different types of personalities, then it is clear we will also place more emphasis on flexibility in how results are achieved. This requires the relationship between manager and subordinate be based as much as possible on mutual trust due to the absence of close working proximity.
Although we are all constantly adapting in these unprecedented times, personality assessments and team audits can be genuinely helpful.
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