Selecting Employees for Fit: Personality and Preferred Managerial Style

Abstract

Today's workplace is changing. Organizational structures and the role of first-line managers within these structures are undergoing a transformation (Boyett and Conn, 1991; Lawler, 1992). As the roles of first-line managers change, so may the methods that are used to select these managers. The current study investigates whether differences in personality are systematically related to stated preferences for first-line management jobs requiring different approaches to work. Knowledge of such a relationship could prove beneficial to an organization that desires to select managers that with its unique organizational culture. The traditional American workplace has consisted of a pyramid-shaped organization with multiple layers of managers. At the bottom of this pyramid workers labored at their tasks under the watchful eye of their supervisor. The supervisor was responsible for ensuring that the work of his or her subordinates was completed in a timely manner and at a satisfactory level of quality. In essence, supervisors planned and issued orders while employees followed instructions (see for example, Taylor, 1947). Today, we increasingly see work organized in ways which require workers to plan and think for themselves, with little direction from a supervisor. Currently, first-line management situations in organizations range from the traditional supervisor-subordinate relationship to situations where managers are coaches or facilitators for self-directed work teams (Boyett and Conn, 1991; Fisher, 1993; Lawler, 1992). Given this range in types of organization, the tasks performed by first-line managers (supervisors) vary widely. While a first-line manager in a traditional organization may spend most of his or her time directing and controlling, the same manager in an organization with a more participative culture may spend most of his or her time facilitating, coaching, or consulting. Likewise, the tasks performed by rank-and-file workers within an industry will vary widely depending on the way that organizations have structured work. While a worker in a traditional organization may not participate in the planning and organizing of his or her work and has a narrowly defined job, the same worker in an organization with a more participative culture may be empowered to make planning and organizing decisions and may have a broadly defined job. Because of the differences in the tasks performed by first-line managers and rank-and-file workers in differently structured organizations, different knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors are required of them. Consequently, the selection methods and criteria that may have proved effective for selecting first-line managers and workers for jobs in traditional organizations may not be equally effective in organizations with various levels of employee empowerment. In fact, as the traditional finds its boundaries expanding and diminishing, many researchers have suggested the necessity of hiring for the organization, not the job (Bowen et al., 1991; Chatman, 1989; Pfeffer, 1998). When hiring for the organization, firms are not only interested in selecting individuals with appropriate knowledge, skills and abilities, they are also interested in selecting individuals with personalities that fit well with the unique culture of the organization (Kristof, 1996). The advantages of successful pers on-organization (P-O fit) include increased job satisfaction, organizational commitment, feelings of work group cohesion, organizational tenure, and individual performance (Boxx et al., 1991; Bretz and Judge, 1994; Chatman, 1991; O'Reilly et al., 1991; Van Vianen, 2000) and decreased turnover and intentions to quit (Chatman, 1991; O'Reilly et al., 1991; Vandenberghe, 1999; Van Vianen, 2000). The current study represents an attempt to further the P-O and selection literatures by investigating whether differences in personality (i.e., characteristics of the individual) are systematically related to stated preferences for first-line management jobs requiring different approaches to work (i. …