What are the Top Five Personality Traits Employers Seek?

Meghan Casserly of Forbes reports on some interesting new research byUniversum, an employer branding firm.   The company surveyed over 400,000 people over the past year, and they tried to identify the top five personality traits that companies desire in job candidates.   The top five are:

1. professionalism
2. high energy
3. confidence
4. self-monitoring
5. intellectual curiosity

What does self-monitoring mean?  It refers to the ability to work independently.  Can a candidate figure out how to plan and complete a project without being told what to do each step of the way?  Interestingly, we know that many employees value autonomy.   Having control over the work you do can lead to higher intrinsic motivation, and ultimately, higher productivity.  However, many employees have a hard time working independently when they are given autonomy for the first time.  They are accustomed to being provided lots of direction and guidance.  Employers rightfully look for candidates who have had some experience working on their own.  They want people who have already worked through the kinks of having autonomy for the first time.

For students entering the workplace after graduation, showing that you can work independently is crucial.  Students should consider the types of projects that they have done at school.  Have they completed a major independent study or thesis?  Have they led a campus organization or planned a major event on campus?   Did they complete a project during an internship?  

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Devil's Advocates: Improving Information Sharing

Garold Stasser and his colleagues published a series of influential studies in the 1980s and 1990s regarding information sharing in groups.  Stasser's research examined groups in which members possessed a mix of shared and unshared information.  Shared information represented data which all members of the group possessed.  Unshared information proved to be unique to a particular individual.  Stasser created a series of experimental studies to examine how groups behaved in this type of shared/unshared information circumstance.  

For instance, in one study, he created a murder mystery with a series of clues.  If people put the clues together successfully, they could identify the culprit and exonerate the other suspects.  Stasser compared how individuals and groups performed when trying to solve this murder mystery.   He found that individuals actually outperformed groups.  Stasser argued that groups struggled because members tended to not share, discuss, and integrate privately held information effectively.  

Recently, Brian Waddell, Sukki Yoon, and I conducted a new study using Stasser's murder mystery.  Our research will soon appear in the academic journal, Management Decision.  Our control groups worked on the same mystery using the same instructions provided by Stasser.   In our experimental condition, we assigned one member to play the role of devil's advocate.  We asked that person to question assumptions, probe lines of thinking, and encourage people to think differently.  We compared the results of the two types of groups.  We found that groups with a devil's advocate performed much more effectively than the control groups.  Here is a chart summarizing our results:

B. Waddell, M. Roberto, and S. Yoon, (Forthcoming). "Uncovering Hidden Profiles: Advocacy in Team Decision Making." Management Decision.

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Flattery Can Lead You Nowhere

Sun Hyun Park, James D. Westphal And Ithai Stern have conducted some interesting research on "flattery" in the workplace.  We all know that some folks like to kiss up to the boss.  We can debate whether it helps the subordinate's career or not, but another interesting question is whether such flattery has any impact on the boss.  These scholars find that it may have a detrimental effect on firm performance, because of the effect it has on the boss' mindset.  In their research, Park, Westphal, and Stern don't find a direct link between flattery and firm performance.  Instead, they found that flattery can boost a CEO's self-confidence (or what they call self-enhancement).  As a result, CEOs can become less likely to change a firm's strategy when performance begins to suffer.

In a strange sort of way then, flattery can make leaders stubborn.  They become more entrenched in their existing positions, because they believe that they can work things out without any major changes in strategy.   Perhaps the finding is not earth shattering, but it is thought-provoking.  Moreover, the rigor of the research should be applauded.

What's the practical implication?  I think the advice for leaders goes beyond "surrounding yourself with people who are not just yes-men."  Leaders need to recognize that they are likely to receive many accolades, even from those who may be willing to challenge them on occasion.  Compliments come with success, formal authority, and status.  I've worked for a number of leaders with whom I've had disagreements at times (and with whom I've felt comfortable expressing dissent), yet I'm quite sure I've also complimented them quite a bit on their successes.  Leaders need to recognize that a steady stream of compliments can begin to affect their decision-making moving forward.  It may make them more reluctant to change.  Therefore, leaders need to always stimulate a robust dialogue about new strategic options, even when the current path seems the right one. 

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Argo: lessons in planning?

I'm reading the new Tony Mendez book called Argo.  The Ben Affleck movie based on the book comes out soon.  Mendez, a former CIA agent, describes the amazing rescue of six diplomats from Tehran in 1980, after they had remained hidden and protected by the Canadian embassy while so many Americans were held hostage in Iran.  I think the book offers some interesting lessons in planning and preparation.  The plan was creative and bold, yet they prepared for many scenarios.  It was careful AND creative, meticulous AND adventurous.  I recommend the book and look forward to the movie.

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Can Redbox Disrupt The Ticket Business?

For years, Live Nation Entertainment's Ticketmaster business has held a dominant position in the ticket retailing business.  In fact, many artists and consumers have explained about Ticketmaster's power in this market.  Now, a new rival appears to be emerging.  Redbox has announced plans to sell tickets through its ubiquitous kiosks.  At first, Redbox plans to focus on selling surplus tickets.  In other words, the company will be trying to help unload tickets that otherwise aren't selling for key events (bad seats, leftover tickets, etc.).  

The question, of course, is whether the move to sell surplus tickets will eventually translate into a broader ticket retailing business.  We know that many disruptive innovators start out at the low end of the market, selling what appears to the dominant incumbent players to be "inferior" products or services. Gradually, however, the disruptor begins to improve its product, and it gains traction outside of a fringe consumer segment.  At that point, the disruptor becomes a major threat to the incumbent players.  We saw this happen as Redbox and Netflix disrupted Blockbuster.  Could Ticketmaster be facing a major threat in the coming years? 

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Do Leaders Experience Less Stress Than Front-Line Workers?

A new study by Gary Sherman and colleagues at Stanford and Harvard offers some interesting insights regarding how people experience stress in the workplace.   The scholars note that the conventional wisdom suggests that people feel more stress as they achieve higher levels of formal authority in an organization.  However, they found the opposite to be true.  The researchers discovered that leaders had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower self-reported anxiety than non-leaders in the organizations they studied.  The scholars argued that leaders may feel less stress because they have a greater sense of control.  Because they have more autonomy regarding the type of work they do and decisions they make, leaders may not experience the same type of anxiety that other workers do. 

For more information on stress, I highly recommend a new book co-authored by my Bryant University colleague Jim Segovis.  The title is:  Work Stress and Coping in an Era of Globalization.  The book offers a sound scholarly treatment of the subject of stress in organizations. 

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The Washington Post Enters the Healthcare Business?

Reuters reports this morning that the Washington Post has acquired Celtic Healthcare, a home healthcare and hospice services provider here on the east coast of the United States.   I have to admit to being puzzled by the move.  I'm curious to learn more about the rationale for this acquisition.   As many of my readers know, the Washington Post has moved away from a reliance on the newspaper business given the disruption that has taken place in that industry.   For a number of years, the company generated strong growth from its other major line of business - the Kaplan education unit.  However, that unit has been plagued by the controversies surrounding for-profit educational institutions in the past couple years.   Therefore, perhaps the Washington Post is looking for another new line of business from which it can generate the growth that is lacking in the core newspaper business.    The question, though, is how investors will react to what looks like a strategy of unrelated diversification.  Why would the Washington Post be better at operating a healthcare company that a firm focused in that industry?  

Reuters offers a brief statement by Donald Graham, CEO of the Washington Post, explaining the deal:  "Our acquisition of Celtic Healthcare is part of the Post Company's ongoing strategy of investing in companies with demonstrated earnings potential and strong management teams."  While that may be true, strong earnings and great management talent alone do not justify an acquisition in an unrelated business (in most circumstances).  The question is what value can the Washington Post add to this business.

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