People often believe that rewards and punishments are all that dictate performance. However, a new study from the University of Iowa suggests that personality is also an essential factor. They found that an employee's personality and high-order goals are the determining factor of an employee's motivational forces and not external situational factors.
Professors Mick Mount and Ning Li have found that if an individual's personality does not match the job requirements, he will not be affected by external factors regardless of their intensity. "The Theory of Purposeful Work Behavior" in the Academy of Management Review explains, "Individual motivation is generated by the pursuit of high-order goals that emanate from one's personality traits." Mount and Li's theory utilizes the Five Factor Model, which depicts the five dimensions of personality, to understand the interaction between personality, the work environment, and the nature of the job. They have concluded that a worker's personality traits create a high-order goal - status, autonomy, achievement, or communion - that he or she strives toward in life, and when this goal can be fulfilled at work, the employee is more productive.
These new findings stress the importance of selecting the right worker for the right job through a thoughtful hiring and training process. It is imperative that an individual is motivated intrinsically and not solely by external factors, such as the promise of a raise or the threat of being fired. More motivated workers can help boost a company's efficiency. Correctly matching a worker to a job is therefore beneficial for both the employer and the employee.
References: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130709123923.htm
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