Why does a person stay at their job? It could be the pay, benefits, or a positive workplace culture. Or, perhaps the person is afraid of change, doesn’t have the confidence to look elsewhere or is simply burned out. Believe it or not, one of the most important factors attaching people to their work is their personality-job match or fit.
Allow Your Personality to Choose
What makes a person attracted to a specific job, career or profession? Education could be one answer. Potential for growth and income potential is important as well. But, what about the personality traits inside that person that draws them towards certain areas of work? For instance, if you are a persuasive and confident person who is also energetic and ambitious you may want to manage others, sell houses, become an attorney or work with the public in some way. On the other hand, you may be shy and introverted and attracted to jobs that allow you to work behind the scenes. If you are kind and have an empathetic personality, you may end up in nursing, mental health, social work, or work with the elderly.
Why Is Personality So Important in Choosing Our Work?
Researchers in organizational psychology have examined the influence of personality on finding a job, choosing a career and fitting within an organization. Personality is important for a number of reasons. It acts as a predictor of success and adaptability within an organization, sometimes referred to as person-organization fit. Others call it person-environment fit, where personality drives motivation, efficiency and synergy. For example, some people enjoy working alone while others thrive in a team setting. There are multiple jobs and careers that would be good matches for those people.
Personality is Attracted to Company Culture
Sometimes people find a company whose culture makes them feel right at home, like they belong. Companies that have values and principles shared by the individual should in theory, make a perfect match. Shared values allow employees to flourish, take calculated chances, share ideas, and make a greater overall impact. The phrases “Birds of a feather stick together” and “You are the company you keep” ring true when it comes to personality-culture fit. The company culture is a strong influencer and will attract many like-minded people.
What Happens When Personality and Career Don’t Fit?
If going to work creates stress or anxiety, you might be in the wrong job. A bad fit can lead to many negative outcomes on one’s physical and mental health, job satisfaction, performance, and more. It’s difficult to fit into a job when your values, principles and personality traits clash with other employees and the company culture. A bad fit can lead to a lack of commitment, absenteeism, and higher turnover.
Final Thoughts on Your Personality Matching Your Career?
Finding a job, committing to a career, or working for an organization are major life transitions and greatly impact either positively or negatively, one’s quality of life. While money, benefits, vacation time and other factors are important, one factor associated with success and satisfaction is personality. Does your personality nicely match your job or career?