3. Conclusions and recommendations

Considering the fact that currently majority of managers are not familiar with Personality and Traits theories and another fact that personality is taken into account when assigning a task and making a hiring/dismissal decision, we recommend to use MBTI for the former case and Big Five Model for the latter due to the theories’ relative simplicity in application (test) and future usage.

Kazakhstan’s can be described as a relationship oriented, where informal relationships are very much valued in the society which is supported by collectivistic mentality. However, in organizations the primary focus in on official qualifications, status and symbols, and people are measured by personal characteristics, skills and abilities, and competency in the second place.

In Kazakhstani organizations personality is perceived to be one of the important performance factors, which contributes to organizational behavior in general. Managers take into account personal characteristics of employee in the first place when assigning tasks and also when making a hiring/dismissal and promotion/demotion decision – and in these cases personal characteristics is among top 5 important employee evaluation criteria that managers consider. Thus, we recommend to use MBTI and Big Five Model to enhance the effectiveness of these decisions. Usage of these models could help managers enhance the effectiveness of their decisions of hiring/dismissal and in case of MBTI help managers assign tasks that could be performed by employees that could handle them better. The other advantage of using these theories is that they are simple to apply (a test) and straightforward in terms of decision making (manager evaluates criteria and makes a decision). Managers in Kazakhstan possess an adequate educational background in the area of management, however, they do not widely practice or apply managerial theories and models and Personality and Traits theories as well, so the simplicity and low time consumption of these models can prove to be really valuable and convenient for Kazakhstani organizations. Potential disadvantages could be that managers in Kazakhstan do not widely practice any theories and may feel reluctant to change. Another risk could be not correct application of the proposed models which will cause managers to refuse to use them in future because they were not effective. However, the biggest disadvantage towards the use of the theories is that there is no clear means of how to motivate managers to use these theories or how to educate them – managers have to be initiative to learn how to apply these theories, but they must be motivated to do this and most of the time in Kazakhstan managers work as they are used to and do not rely on theory or experiment or broaden their managerial skills.

The advantages and disadvantages of application of Personality and Traits theories in Kazakhstan are summarized in the table below:

Table 2 – Advantages and Disadvantages of application of Personality and Traits theories in Kazakhstan

Advantages	Disadvantages
Relationship oriented country	No culture for practicing management theories
Personality factor is considered to be important	Very low familiarity with Personality and Traits theories
Could be used in task assigning, hiring/dismissal, and promotion/demotion decisions	No means of motivating/educating managers on implementation of Personality and Traits theories
Theories are simple to understand and implements	Incorrect implementation of theories
Managers possess adequate educational background in management

Despite the disadvantages and potential obstacles for usage of Personality and Traits theories in Kazakhstan, they have many advantages and Kazakhstani managers express their interest and desire to implement the theories if they are effective, which means that there is a lot of potential for application the theories if they are given due attention and practical guidance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barrick, M., & Mount, M. (1991). The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1-25.

Hogan, J., & Holland, B. (2003). Using theory to evaluate personality and job-performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 100-112.

Hogan, R., DeSoto, C., & Solano, C. (1977). Traits, tests, and personality research. American Psychologist, 6, 255-264.

Judge, T., Klinger, R., Simon, L., & Yang, I. (2008, January 5). The Contributions of Personality to Organizational Behavior and Psychology: Findings, Criticisms, and Future Research Directions. Social and Personal Psychology Compass, 00136, 1982-2000.

Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1966). The social psychology of organizations. New York: Wiley.

Royce, J. R. (1973). Multivariate analysis and psychological theory. London: Academic Press.

Schneider, B., & Smith, D. (2004). Personality and Organizations. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wiggins, J. S. (1996). The five-factor model of personality: theoretical perspectives. New York: Guilford Press.

APPENDIX

Questionnaire

Personality in organizational context

1. Your company industry

Accounting/Banking/Finance

Administration

Agriculture/Environmental

Arts/Entertainment

Automotive

Communication/IT

Consulting

Consumer Products

E-Commerce/Business

Energy

Engineering

Entrepreneurship

Government

Health Care

Hospitality

Industry

Journalism/Broadcast

Law

Logistics

Management

Marketing

Politics

Public Relations/Advertising

Public Sector

Real Estate/Construction

Sales/Retail

Science

Sports

Travel/Tourism

Other

Education

2. Your current or last position

_______________________

3. Length of your managerial experience (years)

1-3

3-5

5-10

10-20

more than 20

4. Number of your direct subordinates (people who directly report to you)

1-5

5-10

10-15

15-20

more than 20

5. What is your educational background in management?

I have a degree in management

I have attended management courses

I have attended management seminars/workshops

I read management books

I have no educational background in management

6. In you opinion to what extent does personality and personal traits impact employee performance?

Personality is a critical performance factor

To a certain extent personality affects performance

Personality is not critical

7. Do you apply any personality evaluation metrics with respect to your subordinates?

I use systematic evaluation approaches (theories, models, tests)

I use my personal evaluation criteria

I don’t apply any evaluation metrics

8. Do you take into consideration personal characteristics of employee in any of the listed situations?

When making hiring/dismissal decision

When assigning a task

When considering a promotion/demotion

I usually don’t take personal characteristics into account

9. If yes, what priority does personality assessment has in overall evaluation of employee?

I consider personality in first place

Personal characteristics are one of top 5 important factors to consider

I consider personal characteristics after other factors

10. Do you believe personality-task and personality-organization fit may lead to better performance, job satisfaction, leadership, motivation and team effectiveness?

Yes

It may have a certain impact

No

11. Are you familiar with any of personality traits theories listed below?

Big Five Model (OCEAN)

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Jung's Model

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

Not familiar

12. If yes, do you use any of personality trait theories at your workplace?

If Yes, please specify

­________________________________________________________

No

13. If no, would you use personality traits theories at your workplace if they prove to increase employee performance?

Yes

May be

No

14. If yes to Q12, do you find them helpful?

Yes, they help improve employee performance

Yes, they help increase employee satisfaction

Yes, they help increase employee motivation

Yes, overall they provide good impact on organizational behavior

No, they didn’t prove to be helpful

Thank you for participating!

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