People can be similar but there is a huge variety of features that can create different combinations and bring something unique to each personality. Being unique, we all tend to see this world in our way and sometimes we do not even realize that our personality has a significant influence on the way that we live, love and work. Individual differences seem to appear the most when the person is in a stressful situation (Pinder, 2014, p.7). According to this, observing the habits of a person at work is one of the best ways to see his or her true colors.
My first job was connected to promotion and I had to spend much time with two of my co-workers during my working hours. Their personalities had nothing in common and it was hilarious when they were trying to communicate because they could not find at least one common point to start a conversation. They had a significant difference in the way they looked, they were of different ages and it had an impact on their work. If we keep in mind “Big Five Personality Factors”, I must say that the younger one was quite moody and nervous but at the same he possessed a positive energy and vivid imagination (Nair, 2009, p. 145). We were telling jokes to each other or developing new concepts or ideas and I believed that he had no defects in character besides being irresponsible. Anyway, he was very good at creative thinking and this is why I appreciated his work. My older co-worker was at odds with him. He was quite reserved and his main value in this life was stability. He was not really sociable and open but at the same time he possessed responsibility that made him bring everything to a conclusion. Due to that, he was one of the most appreciated workers in the company.
As for their workplace attitudes, I can say that they were different as well as their personalities. The younger one did not show a great job satisfaction when was in a bad mood. The job satisfaction is likely to be connected to the level of stress (Hulsheger, 2013, p. 310). Furthermore, his fingers were all thumbs when he had no inspiration and it did not make him a worker who had a constant high capacity of work. As for the older one, he seemed to be satisfied with the job even if had some problems and it made me respect him as I saw him as a man inapprehensive to difficulties. If we talk about the degree of their organizational commitment, I must say that it was higher in my older co-worker’s behavior. Having higher qualifications, he really appreciated the role of team spirit in working process whereas the younger colleague did not put so much effort into activity management. The difference between them was obvious to everyone who was looking at their desks. Older colleague preferred to work sitting at the desk where everything was put in order and the desktop of his computer was well organized. The younger one believed it to be boring and this is why his workplace was creative chaos. In defense of his skills, he was able to work this way and it made us all wonder.
To conclude, I am convinced that it was their personality traits that most shaped their workplace attitudes because there was nothing unexpected about their behavior. I knew them well in everyday life and their behavior was similar to the one they usually had at work.
References
- Hulsheger, U. R. (2013) Benefits of mindfulness at work: the role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology 98(2), 310.
- Nair, S.R. (2009). Organisational behaviour [ProQuest ebrary version].
- Pinder, C. (2014). Work motivation in organizational behavior. New York, NY: Psychology Press.