hr personality traits that influence intrinsic career

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HR personality traits that influence intrinsic career success in international organizations

Ayoub Chengachi 10002334

Amsterdam, June 13, 2014

Bachelor Thesis Science – Business Studies

Faculty Economics and Business

Supervisor: M. De Haas

Academic year: 2013 - 2014

Semester 2, Block 3

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Table of Contents 1.Introduction............................................................................................................4.

1.1 Definitions of Human Resource Management…………………......……...……......4.

1.2 Importance of Human Resource Management.....................................................5.

1.3 Professional characteristics regarding HRM.........................................................6.

1.4 Personality characteristics in general...................................................................7.

1.5 Contribution of this research.................................................................................8.

2. Theoretical Framework.......................................................................................10.

2.1 The Big Five personality traits.............................................................................10.

2.2 Hogan’s personality traits....................................................................................13.

2.3 HEXACO-PI.........................................................................................................14.

3. Methodology & Research Design......................................................................15.

3.1 Qualitative study..................................................................................................15.

3.2 Data collection and respondents.........................................................................16.

3.3 Data Reporting....................................................................................................17.

4. Conceptual Framework 4.1 Career success...................................................................................................18.

4.2 Predictions..........................................................................................................18.

4.3 Conceptual model...............................................................................................21.

5. Results.................................................................................................................22.

5.1 Summary and evaluation interview 1..................................................................22.




5.5 International Personality Item Pool (IPIP)...........................................................31.

6. Discussion 6.1 Predictions and results.......................................................................................32.

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6.2 Limitations and further research..........................................................................37.

7. Conclusion...........................................................................................................38.

8. Reference list.......................................................................................................39.

9. IPIP questionnaires and results.........................................................................45. 9. List of codes........................................................................................................52.

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1. Introduction “Sometimes the only thing worse than having an HR department is not having one” (Weber & Feintzeig, 2014).

It has been concluded by many empirical and theoretical studies that sustainable

competitive advantage can be achieved by having the right people within the

organization (Chan et al., 2004). Finding the right people is one of the many fields

where Human Resource Management (HRM) comes into play. Highly specialized

HRM professionals are now finally having the opportunity to obtain a special

certificate due to an initiative of the Dutch association for personnel management and

organizational development (the NVP) (PW de Gids, 2014). This association is

aiming at the professionalization of human resource management. A study was

conducted about the possible improvement of HRM activities. It turned out that 79

percent of line managers thought that HRM could be improved significantly and even

52 percent of professionals in this field themselves thought that the quality of HRM

could be improved (HR Strategie, 2014). From April 2014 onwards HRM

professionals in the Netherlands may choose to be certified as Certified HR

Professional (CHRP). It is important to get to know what HRM actually is.

1.1 Definitions of Human Resource Management It is important to discuss the concept of HRM in order to understand the purpose of

this paper. The role of HR within a company has changed immensely over the past

decades. HR professionals kept themselves busy in the past doing activities

regarding recruitment, payments, coaching employees and other activities regarding

their workforce (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). Over the past years HR professionals

became more aware of the importance of their field and the necessity of coordinating

HRM with the overall business strategy of the organization. Nowadays they work

close together with almost every department of the firm (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005).

HRM focuses on human resource practices such as recruitment, selection and

evaluation (Jackson & Schuler, 1995). It is defined as a strategic activity that

manages recruitment and understands and directs people’s capabilities in order to

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create a sustainable competitive advantage, which is achieved by well-designed

policies and practices (Bratton & Gold, 2007). Thus HRM focuses on personnel

management and building trust, work engagement, involvement and teamwork

(Business Essentials, 2010: 12). Another description of Human Resource Management is that it is concerned

creating and implementing policies and activities regarding the human capital of a

firm, in order to positively influence the objectives of the organization. It includes

recruitment, selection, training and compensating (Huselid, Jackson & Schuler,

1997). Human capital refers to the workforce’s collective knowledge, skills and

capabilities.

1.2 Importance of Human Resource Management Now having made clear what Human Resource Management actually is, it is

essential to look at the importance of HRM within organizations. It is essential for an

organization to keep their competitive advantage in order to gain sustained

performance success. In former times this was mostly done by creating barriers to

entry in order to diminish the amount of competitors, applying for patents and by

government regulations (Ulrich, Becker, Huselid, 2001). However, due to expeditious

(technological) innovation and deregulations those ways of creating competitive

advantage are less likely to succeed completely. Currently, it is more important to

focus on internal resources and capabilities in order to gain competitive advantage.

This includes attracting and coaching a committed, well-trained and high performing

workforce (Ulrich, Becker, Huselid, 2001). Organizations that effectively use HRM are achieving a competitive advantage

since their workforce most likely will excel in their performance (White & Bryson,

2013). Thus job performance increases when HRM is applied adequately. According

to Gagné and Deci (2005), employees have a higher personal motivation when they

are more satisfied, interested and involved with their job. This means that satisfaction

increases motivation, which in turn increases job performance. This satisfaction can

be strongly influenced by HRM.

A meta-analytical study found that overall job attitudes are a major factor

influencing work engagement (Harrison, Newman & Roth, 2006). Overall job attitudes

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refer to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Harrison defined work

engagement as delivering great task performance, being on time, not being absent

and never giving up. A correlation between overall job attitudes and work

engagement of 0.50 was found. This indicates that HRM can play a major role when

it comes to job performance.

Boxall and Steeneveld had some doubts regarding the effectiveness of HRM

(1999). They stated that while HRM may give the organization competitive

advantage, there would be little chance of making HRM activities non-substitutable,

rare and inimitable. Thus according to them it could be a problem to create a

sustained competitive advantage through HRM. However, when competitors imitate

HR activities, they most probably will face a problem of inadequacy of the workforce’s

qualities (Wright, McMahan & McWilliams, 1994). The competitors would lack the

qualities that the workforce has and the organization would therefore remain with a

competitive advantage. Furthermore, copying HRM activities may lead to competitive

advantage in theory, but in fact, it is extremely difficult to copy these activities due to

the complexity of it (Bae & Rowley, 2002). Hence, to gain a prime mover advantage

of HRM it is essential for the organization to focus on recruiting and maintaining a

highly skilled workforce (Kamoche, 1996).

1.3 Professional characteristics regarding HRM It is clear by now that HRM can play an import role when it comes to motivating

employees, which in turn increases business performance. Since business

performance can be influenced by HR activities, it is important to look at the factors

that are essential for people who function in the HRM field. Six domains, regarding

competencies that people who work in HRM should master and demonstrate in order

to influence business performance, are determined in a study conducted by Ulrich,

Brockbank and Younger (2012). These factors are all related to professional behavior

and characteristics. These domains are: Strategic Positioner, Credible Activist,

Capability Builder, Change Champion, Human Resource Innovator and Integrator,

Technology Proponent. These six domains concerning the competencies of HRM

professionals are also divided into three categories, namely, the context-, the

organization- and the individual- category (Ulrich, Younger, Brockbank & Ulrich,

2013, p.464-465). However, not only professional characteristics influence the

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success of HR professionals. Personality traits can play an important role on career

success as well (Bakker, Van der Zee, Lewig & Dollard, 2006). This study focuses on

the personality traits and thus will expand Ulrich’s research of professional

competencies.

1.4 Personality characteristics in general Besides the professional behaviors and characteristics, there is ample research

studying the relationship between personality characteristics and overall job

performance. The Big Five Model was established to describe these personality traits

(Bakker, Van der Zee, Lewig & Dollard, 2006). The big five include: extraversion,

agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience

(Barrick & Mount, 1991). These dimensions will be discussed in the next chapter.

This model has been an effective framework to examine the relationship between

personality traits and career success in general (Barrick & Mount, 1991). However, not all studies agree that the Big Five dimensions are sufficient. A

sixth dimension was added by the research of Hogan (Salgado, Moscoso & Alonso,

2013). These dimensions are: Sociability, Ambition, Adjustment (neuroticism),

Likeability (agreeableness), Prudence (conscientiousness) and Intellectance

(openness to experience). These factors are thus given another label, however they

can be matched with the Big Five categories. The difference with the Big Five is that

here the dimension of Extraversion is separated into 2 dimensions, Sociability and

Ambition (Barrick & Mount, 1991; p.3). Barrick and Mount also added another

dimension to it, namely School Success. All of these dimensions will be discussed

later in this thesis.

Another model that has been developed for the analysis of personality

differences is the HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI). A study had been

conducted in a variety of languages (Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian,

Korean and Polish), which showed that not just five factors (The Big Five) but six

factors are essential when it comes to analyzing personal traits (Perugini, et al.

2004). The dimensions of HEXACO-PI are: Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E),

Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to

Experience (O) (Lee & Ashton, 2004). Hence, it contains the Big Five dimensions

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plus a new category, the Honesty-Humility dimension. All of these dimensions

including the sixth dimension will be briefly analyzed in the next chapter.

1.5 Contribution of this research The contribution of this research will concern the relevance of personal

characteristics of HRM-professionals for the contribution of HRM. HRM can be a way

to obtain sustainable competitive advantage (White & Bryson, 2013). An analysis of

professional characteristics regarding HRM has been made in the existing literature

(Ulrich, Brockbank, & Younger, 2012). Analyses of personal characteristics have also

been made in the past. However, there is a gap in the existing literature when it

comes to linking personal traits to the specific field of Human Resource Management.

It may contribute to our understanding of the relation between HRM and

performance, to investigate what competencies, including personal traits, actually

benefit HRM professionals. After all, HRM plays a significant role in organizations.

Thus this study extends Ulrich’s study about the professional characteristics. I will focus my research on multinational firms due to the importance of HR in

these particular organizations. Many researchers have emphasized that HR plays an

essential part in the corporate strategies of firms that compete globally (Dutton,

Dukerich & Harquail, 1994). For more than 20 years, globalization increased

immensely due to changes in trade barriers, diminishing international transport costs

and more accessible communication tools (Wiersema & Bowen, 2008). The HR

departments of these firms all have a clear and specific strategic contribution to their

organization due to this globalization (Bae & Rowley, 2002). The feeling of

connection and belonging, often referred to as ‘Organizational Identification’, within

an organization is especially important within multinationals because they operate in

different parts of the world with a culturally diverse workforce (Reade, 2001). By

sharing the same values and goals the workforce will have a sense of belonging,

which is a positive input for positively working together. According to Reade,

organizational identification, which can only be achieved through HRM, increases the

chances of organizational success immensely (2001).

Multinationals highly depend on their employees, which can be attracted both

inside and outside the country of origin. Any organization highly depends on the

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quality of recruiting and motivating people, activities that belong to the many tasks of

HRM professionals (Bae & Rowley, 2002). Obviously HRM is also important to small

national companies, but I am focusing on multinational companies in this thesis

because multinational firms also play a major, if not the biggest, part in the world

economy (Navaretti & Venables, 2004). Thus it is essential to understand how

successful HRM can be achieved within these firms. This research will try to yield

new insights on the relationships between various personal traits and successful

HRM professionals. In this thesis HR success is defined as job satisfaction of HR

managers themselves and coworkers’ satisfaction with the HR department.

HRM may use the results of this study, the characteristics of effective HRM

professionals, to recruit people who excel in these traits (and of course who excel in

other factors as well). My results therefore may contribute to the quality of the

recruitment of HRM professionals and thus the quality of the HR department within

organizations.

The next section describes the research method and design, explaining how

this research will be conducted. Then I will discuss the theoretical framework. In this

section Ulrich’s HRM characteristics, the Big Five model, Hogan’s dimensions and

the HEXACO-PI model will be described briefly. After this literature review the

conceptual model follows and the propositions that this research will investigate. The

results of the research will then be discussed briefly and will be followed by the

conclusion and discussion.

In summary, the following research question will be answered: “What personal

traits/characteristics of human resource management professionals are important for

their performance in multinational organizations and intrinsic success?”

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2. Theoretical Framework

Ulrich, Brockbank and Younger (2012) did a study about the professional

competencies that human resource managers should posses in order to do the job

successfully. Their research, based on more than 20.000 respondents consisting of

HR professionals and co-workers (Chouhan & Srivastava, 2014, p.19), concluded

that six professional dimensions/characteristics are essential for successful HR

professionals: (Strategic Positioner, Credible Activist, Capability Builder, Change

Champion, Human Resource Innovator and Integrator, Technology Proponent).

Extending this study, this research will focus on personality characteristics. In this

manner, a more general and overall view of competencies that may lead to HR

success (professional and personal) can be reached by combining these studies.

2.1 The Big Five personality traits

Experts, in various countries with dissimilar languages, have done research in order

to categorize different personality traits (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen & Barrick, 1999).

This led to the Big Five personality dimensions. Various studies found that these

dimensions are timeless and generalizable across basically all cultures (Pulver, Allik,

Pulkkinen & Hamalainen, 1995). This model has been an effective framework to

examine the relationship between personality traits and career success in general

(Barrick & Mount, 1991). The big five include: extraversion, agreeableness,

conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience (Bakker, Van der

Zee, Lewig & Dollard, 2006). Each of these personality traits will be described next.

1. Extraversion

This construct is often linked to a person who is very social, active and intuitive

(Watson & Clark, 1997, p. 769). Hence, extravert persons are usually considered

very outgoing, companionable, social, assertive and talkative (Komarraju, Karau,

Schmeck & Avdic, 2011). Nonetheless, they also tend to be very determined about

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their future (Judge et al. 1999). According to Watson and Clark (1997) these traits

are very useful for leadership careers. Furthermore, extraversion is often linked to

happiness and positive attitudes (Bakker et al. 2006). This in turn leads extravert

people to be more open and accessible to other people (Costa & McCrae, 1992).

Due to these positive attitudes there is a higher chance of solving problems more

easily (Watson & Hubbard, 1996), and a higher chance of accepting others’ help

(Bakker et al. 2006). This dimension has also been called the Surgency dimension

because it indicates that these persons are willing to help others (Barrick & Mount,

1991).

2. Agreeableness

This dimension is often thought of as being kind, humble, not self-interested,

trustworthy and very flexible (Watson & Hubbard, 1996). Thus cooperation and

altruism are important aspects of agreeableness. Agreeable persons are usually very

helpful, affectionate, sensitive and sympathetic to others (Komarraju et al. 2011).

There has been some evidence that agreeableness is also related to social support

(Bakker et al. 2006). The opposite of an agreeable person is someone who is very

self-centered and hostile (Judge et al. 1999). This dimension has also been labeled

as Likability, Friendliness and Social Conformity (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Being

flexible is a requisite of agreeableness since it requires a person to be tolerant to

changes and open to ideas of others (Judge et al. 1999).

3. Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is commonly considered the dimension that is most strongly

related with job performance in general (Salgado, 1997). It can be divided into three

components (Costa, McCrae, & Dye, 1991). The first component is Achievement-

Orientation, which indicates dedication and consistency. The second component is

Dependability, this means being careful and responsible (Judge et al. 1999). This

component indicates that conscientiousness may lead people to complete

assignments quicker and successfully (Bakker et al. 2006). Finally, the third

component is Orderliness, which indicates being organized and planning ahead

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(Judge et al, 1999). Due to the first component, Achievement-Orientation, several

researchers linked conscientiousness with problem solving, since it indicates that

conscientious people are consistent in their work and are very dedicated (Bakker et

al, 2006). Thus due to the high consistency and dedication level of this trait there is

higher chance of conscientious people solving problems than non-conscientious

people. Being disciplined, organized and focused on results are also elements of this

personality trait (Komarraju et al. 2011). This personality trait has often also been

called Conformity, Will to Achieve and Dependability (Barrick & Mount, 1991).

4. Neuroticism

Neuroticism can be separated into two factors (Judge et al, 1999). The first indicating

anxiety, which means the predisposition somebody has to get stressed out and their

instability. The second factor indicates the well-being of someone, which means the

predisposition to depression, vulnerability and personal insecurity. This dimension

implies that the higher the score on Neuroticism, the higher the chance of someone

being emotionally instable (Komarraju et al, 2011). Scoring high on this construct will

most probably be associated with problems like fear, irritations and even psychical

problems (Judge et al, 1999). People scoring high on neuroticism in contrast to the

other personality traits, are most prone to a burnout (Bakker et al, 2006). This has

obviously a lot to do with the higher chance of getting stressed. Barrick and Mount

relate this construct to keywords like anxiousness, depression, angriness,

embarrassment, low self-esteem and insecurity (1991). Scoring high on neuroticism,

and thus low on emotional stability, indicates that one may not be very good in

problem solving and participating proactively (Bakker et al, 2006). Heppner, Cook,

Wright and Johnson (1995) linked high emotional stability with goal oriented people

who want to achieve realistic goals, whereas neuroticism is linked to setting

extremely high goals which are very hard to achieve. The latter leads to insecurity

and self-criticism. Being emotionally instable may also lead to physical and mental

issues (Komarraju et al, 2011).

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5. Openness to experience

The final construct of the Big Five, openness to experience, indicates being visionary,

creative, original, broad-minded and knowledgeable (Barrick & Mount, 1991).

Komarraju et al. (2011) describe this personality trait as a characteristic that allows a

person to be innovative, interested in diversity/variety and also very studious (2011).

Openness to experience is a great manner to deal with stress, for this reason a

person scoring high on this characteristic is less likely to score high on neuroticism

(Bakker et al, 2006). In order to be open to new experiences a person has to able to

cope with stress and fear. This fifth personality trait has also been called

Intellectence (Judge et al, 1999).

2.2 Hogan’s personality traits

Hogan conducted a study of personality traits, because he thought that the Big Five

dimensions were not sufficient enough (Salgado, Moscoso & Alonso, 2013). The

Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) was established to determine personality traits

that have an influence on professional success (Warren, 2009). He came up with the

following six dimensions: Sociability, Ambition, Adjustment, Likeability, Prudence and

Intellectance. These dimensions can be placed within the Big Five personality traits,

however with one exception, namely extraversion. The construct extraversion has

been separated in two by Hogan (Barrick & Mount, 1991; p.3). He divided it into the

Sociability dimension and the Ambition dimension. Later on he added the dimension

of School Success (Salgado et al, 2013). The other variables are actually similar to

the Big Five personality traits but have been labeled differently. According to Salgado

et al. (2013), openness to experience falls under the Intellectance dimension,

emotional stability under Adjustment, conscientiousness under Prudence and

agreeableness under Likeability. And thus the dimension of Extraversion is changed

into Sociability and Ambition. High scores on the former dimension, Sociability, fit

people who are very approachable, outgoing and communicative; they are team

players (Warden, 2009). The latter, Ambition, fit people who are very competitive,

vigorous and very studious (Salgado et al, 2013).

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2.3 HEXACO-PI

The HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI) has been developed for the

analysis of personality differences. The study that led to this model was conducted in

different languages, to increase the validity, and it resulted in six dimensions

(Perugini, et al. 2004). Five of these dimensions are similar to the Big Five model,

and thus one dimension was added. The dimensions of the HEXACO-PI are:

Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A),

Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to Experience (O) (Lee & Ashton, 2004).

Thus the first dimension, Honesty-Humility, was extended to the Big Five personality

traits. The other dimensions are similar to the Five Factor Model. According to

Ashton, Lee and Son (2000) this dimension is the main part of the model that

distinguishes itself from the Big Five model. This domain is mainly concerned with

being able to create and cope with interpersonal relationships (Lee & Ashton, 2007).

To get a high score on Honesty-Humility, it is required to be trustable, modest and

generous (Perugini, et al. 2004). Furthermore, a high score on this dimension

indicates that these people are aversive to fraud and corruption (Ogunfowora, Ashton

& Lee, 2005). According to Ashton, et al. this dimension is also often called

Truthfulness, Morality, Sincerity, and Integrity (2004). Furthermore, this dimension

requires a great amount of fairness as well (Lee & Ashton, 2007). On the other hand,

scoring low on Honesty-Humility indicates that someone is very self-centered, mostly

interested in money, leisure and social status (Ogunfowora et al, 2005). Thus the

lower the score, the more superior people perceive themselves (Perugini, et al.

2004).

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3. Methodology & Research Design The goal of this thesis is to identify the main personal traits that are relevant for a

successful career in human resource management. The main research question is:

“What personal traits/characteristics of human resource management professionals

are relevant for their performance in multinational organizations and intrinsic

success?” This research combines an analysis of current literature and interviews. In

order to answer this research question and gain new insights about these personal

characteristics, a qualitative study will be conducted.

3.1 Qualitative study A qualitative study is a research that is aimed at finding answers to specific questions

by collecting evidence and producing results that were not determined beforehand

(Bricki, 2007). This kind of study has been chosen because it is needed for this

particular research to acquire descriptive and in depth answers from the interviewees

that would otherwise not be obtained when doing a quantitative study. The most

efficient way of finding out the inner experiences of the respondents is by using

interviews (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). A quantitative study, for example by using a

survey, would contain structured questions that should be answered by pre-

determined possibilities of answers. This would waste much useable information and

restrict the extensive answers that could be given by respondents. Furthermore, due

to the time limitation of this research there would be little chance of successfully

conducting a quantitative research regarding the research question since it would be

necessary to find, contact and interview many HR professionals who are willing

cooperate. In contrast to quantitative data, that exist of numbers, frequencies and

scales, qualitative data are related to characteristics and values of the variables that

are being researched, in this case personal traits. Qualitative data are suited to

identify specific behaviors, characteristics and/or the social context (Lindeman &

Reulink, 2005). Thus these qualitative data are most appropriate when researching

everyday behavior of people (Silverman, 2013). This study focuses on researching

everyday personality characteristics of HRM professionals. Therefore a qualitative

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approach, preceded by theory-driven literature study is used, since this study is most

appropriate to study everyday personality characteristics of HRM professionals. This

thesis is providing insights in the personal traits that are considered important for

HRM professionals.

3.2 Data collection and respondents This research will be conducted by doing interviews. These interviews will be held

with three HRM professionals and three (line) managers. As mentioned in the

introduction this study will focus on professionals in multinational organizations in

order to cope with the impact of today’s globalization on HRM. By interviewing both

HR professionals and managers it would be possible to compare their answers and

reduce biases. The goal of interviewing is to obtain information from the people who

are being interviewed, in order to answer the research question (Lindeman &

Reulink, 2005). Letting the interviewees talk about their profession and giving them

the freedom to discuss their profession is an effective way to obtain detailed

information about their own experiences and their personalities.

Nevertheless, it is important to have some kind of structure to be sure to

obtain answers to specific questions, which are critical for the research. These

specific questions/themes have to be answered/discussed during the interview. The

meetings will be semi-structured, since this is the best way to gain as much

knowledge as possible. The questions will be based on the descriptions of all the

personality characteristics that will be discussed in the following section. Another

advantage of semi-structured interviews is that it allows some preparation in contrast

to unstructured interviews and it allows respondents to articulate their perspectives

on their own pace and comfort (Cohen & Crabtee, 2006). For this reason a topic list

will be made to have some structure. Furthermore, the conversations will be held in a

comfortable/informal setting to make the respondents feel calm and this will help

them to open up. However, in order to reduce distractions it will not be an overly

crowded area.

Compared to quantitative methods, the flexibility of qualitative research is better

suited to obtain valuable qualitative data (Lindeman & Reulink, 2005)

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At the end of the interviews the respondents will fill in the International

Personality Item Pool (IPIP) questionnaire, which measures the Big Five personality

traits. The use of this questionnaire has increased immensely over the past years; it

has been translated into twenty-five other languages due to its popularity (Goldberg,

Johnson, Hogan, Ashton, Cloninger & Gough, 2006; Goldberg, 1999). By using this

questionnaire some extra information can be collected and analyzed in order to get

clearer and more profound data.

After the interviews, the audio-recorded materials will be transferred into

written documents, thus the data will be transcribed. I will analyze and code these

interview transcripts by assigning the answers.

3.3 Data Reporting After the establishment of the transcripts a thematic analysis will be used. Thus

identifying the overall themes that include the perspectives of the interviewees

(Bricki, 2007). Furthermore a coding scheme will be developed. After the first

interview an analysis will be conducted in order to shape the other interviews in a

more efficient manner. Relevant citations will also be presented to make the results

more clear.

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4. Conceptual Framework

4.1 Career success

First of all in order to answer the research question it is important to understand the

meaning of career success in this study. Career success is defined by Sturges as a

situation wherein an employee develops a feeling of personal achievement and

recognition (1999). Career success can be divided into two components, namely

objective success and subjective success (Heslin, 2005). The former consist of

success that can be measured in numbers and recognized immediately by others,

examples are salary, promotions and status. The latter form of success can only be

recognized by the person involved and consists of his or her experiences of career

and job satisfaction (Nicholson, 2000; Freund, Wiese & Baltes, 2002). These two

forms of success are obviously related since a higher salary, higher rank and

promotions increase job satisfaction to a certain degree (Abele & Spurk, 2009).

This research focuses on subjective success, which is also often called

intrinsic success (Judge et al., 1995; Gattiker & Larwood, 1988). Thus this study

focuses on the career satisfaction of the HR managers. Success is also measured by

the satisfaction of other managers about the HR professionals of the organization

they work in. Many studies, including a study conducted by Hall and Chandler (2005),

have shown that having objective success, thus measurable success, and not having

intrinsic success is usually perceived as not having a successful career. However

having intrinsic success, and not having objective success is often perceived as

having a successful career (Colakoglu, 2011). Employees with high intrinsic success

tend to have more positive attitudes, which in turn might lead to a more productive

workforce (Nabi, 1999).

4.2 Predictions

Now that the meaning of career success in this particular study is clear, the next step

is to make predictions about the personality characteristics that might have an impact

on career success of HR professionals. According to a meta-analysis conducted by

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Salgado, neuroticism is negatively related to intrinsic success (1997). Thus in order

to have a high intrinsic success it is important to be emotionally stable. This is

probably especially important for HR professionals since they have to manage

employees within the guidelines of the organization’s overall strategy, which requires

being highly structured. In order to be able to cope with different working conditions

and problems it is essential to score low on neuroticism (Seibert & Kraimer, 2001).

Hence, it probably is difficult to solve problems of the company’s employees if the HR

managers are not emotionally stable. The first proposition is that Neuroticism is

negatively related to the career success of HR professionals.

Another personality trait that is expected to have an influence on intrinsic

career success is Extraversion (Watson & Slack, 1993; Watson & Clark, 1997).

Extravert persons tend to face problems and solve them as soon as possible, also

concerning their career (Komarraju et al. 2011). This is a result of ambitiousness. If

extravert persons are not happy with their position they immediately try to fix it and

start looking for another position/job. Thus they are focused on following their own

wishes and following the goals of the organization; they create a fit between their

needs and the needs of their organization. This eventually leads to job satisfaction

and thus to intrinsic success. Over the past years HR professionals became business

partners, working closely with general managers and managers in sales, marketing

and manufacturing (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). This requires HR professionals to

score high on the dimension of sociability. Thus according to Hogan’s Personality

Inventory both Sociability and Ambition have a positive influence on intrinsic career

success. The second proposition is that Extraversion, and thus both Sociability and

Ambition, are positively related to the career success of HR professionals.

Agreeableness is also expected to have an influence on the subjective

success of HR professionals. A HR manager has to be unbiased in order to recruit

the right people and assign the right rewards to the employees of the organization

(Komarraju et al. 2011). If HR professionals score high on this dimension, they are

more likely to be manipulated and employees could take advantage of their

sensitiveness (Seibert & Kraimer, 2001). This leads to the third proposition, namely

that Agreeableness is negatively related to the career success of HR professionals.

The dimension Conscientiousness is often related to career success. Scoring

high on this dimension appeared positively related with work performance (Kern,

Friedman, Martin, Reynolds & Luong, 2009). HR professionals focus on the training

20

of the employees of the organization among many other things (Ulrich & Brockbank,

2005). This obviously requires a lot of discipline and the ability to organize effectively

and plan ahead. These are aspects of conscientiousness (Komarraju et al. 2011).

Some researchers related Conscientiousness with the ability to solve problems as

well (Bakker et al. 2006). This is a major attribution of HR within an organization,

since it focuses on using and changing its human capital in the most efficient way

regarding the firm’s strategy and goals (Huselid, Jackson & Schuler, 1997). The

fourth proposition therefore is that conscientiousness is positively related to career

success of HR professionals.

As mentioned before, HR professionals kept themselves busy in the past

doing activities regarding recruitment, payments, coaching employees and other

activities regarding their workforce (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). Over the past years

HR professionals became more aware of the importance of their field and the

necessity of coordinating HRM with the overall business strategy of the organization

(Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). This all requires creativity and originality since every

situation and problem calls for an authentic solution. Thus openness to experience is

expected to be an important characteristic for a HR professional. This personality trait

in turn requires the person to be very studious considering that creativity and

originality comes from learning form past experiences (Komarraju et al, 2011). The

fifth proposition is that openness to experience, thus including School Success, is

positively related to career success of HR professionals.

The final construct, Honesty-Humility, is expected to be negatively related to

HR career success. An effective HR manager should focus on the organization goals

and be aimed at results, that is the main task of HR professionals (Barrick & Mount,

1991). According to Ogunfowora, Ashton and Lee (2005) scoring low on this

dimension indicates that someone is very results-oriented. This is expected to be an

essential characteristic of a successful HR professional. Furthermore, scoring high

on Honesty-Humility implies that there is somewhat less commitment to their own job

(Zettler, Friedrich & Hilbig, 2010). In order to be highly satisfied with ones career, and

thus have intrinsic success, there has to be a full commitment to their own job.

Thus the final proposition is that Honesty-Humility is negatively related to career

success of HR professionals. This leads to the next conceptual model.

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4.3 Conceptual Model

Personality Traits

Extraversion (+)

Ambition (+)

Sociability (+)

Neuroticism (-‐)

Agreeableness (-‐)

Conscientiousness (+)

Openness to Experience (+)

Honesty-‐Humility (-‐)

Job Satisfaction HR Managers

HR Satisfaction of other Managers

HR Career Succes

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5. Results The results of each interview will be discussed separately since the results are all

about very personal experiences, believes and values. By this manner the interviews

can be summarized briefly while directly being linked with the personality traits that

can be found in the conceptual model. Therefore it gives us an overall and clear

understanding of the linkage between their experiences and the personality traits.

5.1 Summary and evaluation interview 1:

The interviewee started at a small organization that just started operating. This

person had to build the entire human resource department of this firm. After learning

a great deal about the HR field, this person felt that there was not much challenge left

and decided to look for another job. Thus self-development was a key element for

her career. She decided to work at an organization that focuses on recruitment,

consultancy and the interim field. The interviewee found this job especially interesting

because of the development opportunities and education it offered. This indicates

that the person has a highly ambitious and studious attitude:

“Gaining new experiences is extremely important for me, and the complexity of an

international organization therefore is very appealing. Having global headquarters

challenging us to implement their plans and ideas within the firm in the Netherlands.

It is up to us to make that work even though that their ideas might be really hard to

implement. It makes our work very challenging and dynamic”.

Furthermore, especially within the field of interim management, it is essential

that you create relationships by communicating in the right manner and position

yourself within the company you work for. Being open and transparent to others in

the organization is also essential to produce high quality work. This can only be

achieved by effectively communicating and by being easily approachable. Thus

sociability is also of great importance according to his interview. Hence, both

ambition and sociability (extraversion) are positively related to performing at full

potential.

23

Another characteristic that this person put an emphasis on was sensitivity,

because this could increase the chances of being approached by the workforce if

problems occurred. This creates a feeling of trustfulness, modesty and more

importantly sincerity. It makes others in the organization feel that the HR professional

is there for them, to help them in the best way that they can and has a sincere affinity

with both the employees and the organization. Sensitive people are usually not

willing to fraud and corrupt others; this increases the level of trust from employees

toward the HR professionals. Therefore it is positively related to honesty-humility.

However, HR professionals should always have the organizational goals in mind and

work very results- and organisational- oriented.

“Many people believe that HR professionals work for the people within the

organization. However, in order to be a successful HR manager, you should be able

to implement the organization’s policies and make these policies work fluently within

the workforce. Thus always being results-oriented, but in a sensitive and people-

oriented manner.”

The interviewee started working at her current employer in a position that did

not fit her ambition. Eventually she did get the position that fit her ambition due to her

perseverance, determination and consistency. The interviewee preferred an open

organizational culture wherein everybody can give their input and have a voice. A

prior experience with a highly structured organization, thus very hierarchical, made

the interviewee realize that in order to give full potential it was essential for her to

have some space for creativity. It is therefor essential to focus on what you desire as

a person, how to get there and being aware of every step that you take. If you are not

aware of the context and culture of the organization there might be a misfit between

the firm and you as person, which in turn will have a negative impact on job

performance. Thus it is positively related to conscientiousness.

However, she experienced several situations wherein she felt that managers

took advantage of her enthusiasm and willingness to work hard and assigned her

tasks that actually did not fit her job requirements. A main reason for doing

everything that she got told to do was trying to impress others and also had to do

with some lack of self-confidence. The biggest lesson she has learnt over the past

years is to work hard, do everything she can to help others but watch her limitations

24

and stay true to herself and the HR responsibilities. This indicates a negative

relationship with neuroticism and a positive relationship with conscientiousness. It

also indicates that a successful HR professional should not score too high on

agreeableness, and stay focused on themselves and their personal values and

opinions.

This interview highlighted the importance of being able to cope with different

problems and a changing environment, especially in international organizations

where you have to work closely with people with different backgrounds and cultures

from all over the world. Asian organizations for example are usually very hierarchical

and when going to a business meeting overseas it is important to adapt to that

culture. This requires a great amount of flexibility and being open to new

experiences.


The second interviewee worked as an interim HR manager as well, but then got

offered a job at an international organization and decided to accept the offer. This

decision was made because she felt that the international organization offered

enough variety and challenges to keep the work exciting. It is of great importance to

her to get new and fresh opportunities and challenges. This organization offers her

many growth opportunities. The ability of self-development and the offering of a

variety of challenges is a main prerequisite for this interviewee when searching for a

job. This demonstrates a highly ambitious personality.

“This organization provides so many growth opportunities. When I first started I only

focused on Europe, but two years later we had 3000 people in Asia. Thus there are a

lot of growth opportunities which keeps my work very dynamic and interesting”.

Regarding her career, the interviewee is especially focused on personal

development, leadership, talent development, innovation and communication. A

major part of her tasks is focused on communication, connecting people world wide

in her programs. This requires effectively using social media as a communication

tool. Especially in an organization that operates worldwide, it is essential to have

some technological knowledge to build and sustain those (virtual) relationships. This

25

requires a great amount of communicative skills and being approachable.

Stakeholder management appears to be extremely important as well. This consists of

building relationships with stakeholders and helps the organization with obtaining its

goals, which in turn keeps stakeholders satisfied. Communication is an important tool

in order to understand their expectations, and hence that requires building

relationships. Thus both sociability and ambition (extraversion) are positive related

with HRM. In order to build and sustain those international relationships virtually it is

crucial to be studious. This personality trait would allow a HR manager to cope with

technological changes.

“Relationships and communication skills are extremely important within HR, from

listening to others, asking questions to stakeholder management. It is crucial to have

a good relationship with the most important people of the organization. This also

means building virtual relationships worldwide”.

Furthermore she emphasized that it took a lot to get where she it right now.

Some moments were very difficult to get through, but because of her commitment,

dedication and perseverance, she overcame those moments. She actually felt that

those moments were highly educational and had a positive influence on her. It is also

important as a HR manager to always keep the organization in mind and try to

improve the organization as a whole. In order to do so it is extremely important to

score high on conscientiousness.

Looking at her tasks in the company, it was surprising to see that many of her

tasks did not fit the traditional HR role, thus it requires a great amount of flexibility.

According to the interviewee flexibility is especially crucial in international

organizations, since HR professionals in these firms have to work closely with people

all over the world. An example given was that this person went to the Philippines for

business and had to adapt to the top down, hierarchical, structure that Philippines’

organizations have. This requires a great amount of both flexibility and cultural

awareness. It is important to learn about the organizations context and culture.

Hence, it is positive related to both honesty-humility and openness to experience.

26


The interviewee has abundant working experience regarding the human resource

field in different kinds of organizations, for example international law firms,

international consultancy, IT and health care organizations. He found that working in

a simple organization did not challenge him sufficiently and that he was consistently

looking for new challenges. One thing that he has learnt over the past years is that it

is extremely important to get to know yourself, your own ambitions and preferences.

He lead a session with six top leaders who all emphasized the importance of HR

managers to have involvement with the organization that they work for and a passion

for the products and/or services it delivers.

“I often ask HR professionals what would you do if you become the director

tomorrow? Usually they already have a list of possible things they would want to do,

and that has everything to do with having affinity with the organization you work in.

To be successful in what you do it is important to love your job, your career en your

organization. Work should be fun”.

This simply means that for example you should only work in a hospital if you have

affinity with curing ill people. This implies being passionate, trustable and sincere

about your work. Thus it has a positive relationship with both ambition and honesty-

humility.

This also indicates that a HR manager should do a little research concerning

the organizational culture before working in that specific organization. The

interviewee explained that someone who is highly creative and needs to express this

creativity should not work in an organization with a strict hierarchy and a top down

structure. That person should choose an organization with a very open structure that

allows imagination and gives HR managers the space that is needed to express that

creativity. Thus it is important to make a conscientious and very well thought of

decision regarding the organization someone is applying to work for. This requires

knowing exactly who you are and the ability to be confident about yourself.

27

“If you found out who you are and are able to formulate exactly what your want, then

you can prevent yourself from getting in the wrong position or organization. It is not a

prison; you are choosing for it, if you do not like it, then leave!”

However, it is also important that you develop yourself in order to reach the level of

your ambition, thus this demands persistency and curiosity. He mentioned that HR

professionals are very service minded and enjoy helping others with their problems.

This increases the risk of being taken advantage of by for example managers, thus

becoming a servant in some way and an increasing risk of stress. This is also a

reason to be strong and highly confident about yourself and your responsibilities,

which indicates a negative relationship between HR professionals and neuroticism.

“What I often get to see is that HR teams become so caught up by the demand of the

organization, that they forget to take care of themselves. My car needs a touch every

once in a while as well. Thus it is essential to make time for yourself and your HR

team and put an effort to focus on your own wishes”.

Another aspect that the interviewee was highly concerned about is to

understand the context of the organization, thus becoming a valuable business

partner of the firm. This necessitates HR professionals to look together with

managers at the entire business and translate these obtained findings into HR

activities. According to the respondent becoming a truly successful HR professional

requires first to research the context and then focus on HR based on that context,

thus being very aware of the organization’s context. He gave an example of a

manager that looked closely with his HR manager to the context of his organization.

Because he did this together with him, he believed that his HR manager knew the

context sufficiently enough to make his own decisions in favour of the company.

Therefore he trusted him and gave him the complete freedom for creativity and to do

what he thinks is best. Thus due to studying and understanding together the context

of the organization, a relationship based on trust is built between managers and HR

professionals. This makes a HR manager a true business partner that can translate

his obtained knowledge into HR activities. Therefore honesty-humility and

conscientiousness are positively related to HR professionals.

28

“Human resource management is more than only HR. It is also about knowing and

understanding what is happening in the market, in politics, in the changing economy

and so on. Its my job subsequently as a HR manager to translate that understanding

to HR. HR professionals should first be involved in getting to know the context and

only then being involved with HR within that context”.

Considering that looking closely with managers to the context is extremely

important, the interviewee finds it paramount to be able to build and sustain

relationships and to be highly studious. Thus sociability has a positive influence on

HR quality. His experience in international organizations made him realize that being

flexible and having cultural awareness is extremely important for a HR professional.

He has worked in many different countries with all very distinctive cultures, and he

realized that adapting to cultures is essential to work closely and successfully with

them. Due to the flexibility that is required for being successful it is important to be

open to new experiences. Lastly the interviewee emphasized the importance of being

objective and always keeping the organizational goals in mind.


The interviewee, an account manager who works in an international organization,

had a positive experience with the selection procedure at his current employer

positively. However, he thought that the HR professionals could be more clear and

specific about the job itself and what was expected from them. He indicated that in

prior selection procedures he experienced the interviews as more personal and

informal. At his current employer it was quite formal and impersonal. He preferred the

former interview methods, because he experienced it as a more natural conversation.

Thus this indicates the importance of building relationships by HR managers and

focus on sociability skills. After entering this international organization he became

very satisfied with the HR department of the organization.

The satisfaction with the HR department of the organization that he is active

in, has mainly to do the fact that the HR professionals are very easily approachable.

The organization for example has a special HR phone line and an intranet website

that can be used anytime for any problem that one may have. The interviewee even

29

compared the phone line to a call centre, where you may ask questions regarding

anything.

“I really appreciate the fact that when I am struggling with something I can always

contact HR to give me advice and help me, they are very easily approachable. I find

that very important, that you can always count on HR managers”.

In order to be that approachable online it is essential to gain some technological

knowledge, thus willing to learn about various communication tools and how to use

them most appropriately. For this reason sociability and studiousness are positively

related to the quality of HR work.

Another element that was experienced by the interviewee as extremely

positive is that the organization’s HR department give the managers a learning

roadmap. This roadmap explains every step that needs to be taken in order to get

further and grow to another position. Thus for example in order to become a medior

account manager it is required to follow and complete three different courses

successfully. This gives a clear image about what to do when a manager wants to

follow his or her ambition. The interviewee found that this distinctness motivated him

to be more studious and develop himself more. He started as a junior account

manager, but due to this roadmap he decided to follow the three courses in his first

year and completed them successfully. Therefore he got promoted and became a

medior account manager. Thus being transparent, clear and distinctive as a HR

manager may lead managers to challenge themselves more. This will most probably

result in a higher job quality of these managers, which is a major goal of HRM.

However this requires working very conscientiously and being actively involved with

everyone in the organization.

“I find it really important that people like HR managers, who have an influence on all

employees, should be actively involved with those employees. Thus HR managers

should be walking around on the workplace, so to speak”.

The interviewee mentioned his prior work experiences, and found that one of his

employers had a highly dissatisfactory HR department. The main reasoning for this

viewpoint was that HR in this organization was not well organized, for example the

30

contract had a lot of mistakes, there was a lack of development opportunities and the

HR department was not very approachable and open. He considered it important that

human resource professionals deliver very consistent work and are conscious of

everything that goes on in the organization.

The interviewee also thought that it is highly important for a HR manager to

have sympathy for employees. This signifies that HR managers should be able to

understand what managers and other employees aspire and help them to achieve

their ambitions. Thus scoring high on agreeableness is important in order to do so.

Agreeableness has been described as being kind, humble, not self-interested,

trustworthy and very flexible. For this reason agreeableness is an important

characteristic of good HR managers. For example, the respondent was highly

satisfied that HR offered a variety of courses in order for the managers to be able to

develop themselves. This indicates a trust and generosity; thus a positive relationship

with honesty-humility and the quality of HR work.

“A good HR manager should be able to turn wishes of the employees into reality.

Thus if a manager want to grow within the company and let HR managers know what

he is desiring, I believe HR should be able and willing to help that person achieve his

wishes. It sounds very basic, but I have had experiences where HR managers did

absolutely nothing with those wishes”.

Summary of the interview results According to the respondents success in HRM is positively linked to

conscientiousness, ambition & sociability (extraversion), school success

(studiousness), openness to experience, honesty-humility and negatively linked tot

neuroticism. When it comes to agreeableness it is important to find the right balance

with helping others, being humble towards them and also focusing on your own

career and wishes. It is also important to solve problems and that does not always

allow a HR manager to be agreeable, sometimes a HR manager has to be strict and

harsh. The most important personality traits that were emphasized in all interviews

were conscientiousness, sociability, studiousness and honest-humility. Thus

especially these four characteristics appeared to have a very positive influence on

HR success.

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5.5 International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) questionnaire: The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) measures the Big Five personality

traits. The HR managers who were interviewed finished this questionnaire. These

completed questionnaires and their analyses can be found in the attachment. Each

question measured a specific personality trait. For example at the end of the first

question/situation a number 1+ was denoted. This indicates a positive relation (+) to

extraversion (which was number 1) if the respondent agreed with the situation, thus

that means that the person scores high on extraversion. After adding up the total

scores for every personality trait of the Big Five, similar results to the interviews

emerged. The only dimension of the Big Five that these HR professionals scored

significantly low on is neuroticism. Extraversion turned out to be the most appearing

personality trait in all three questionnaires. The actual results obtained and the

completed IPIP questionnaires can be found in the attachment.

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6. Discussion

6.1 Predictions and results According to the results of this study success in HRM is positively linked to

conscientiousness, ambition & sociability (extraversion), studiousness, openness to

experience, honesty-humility and negatively linked to neuroticism. When it comes to

agreeableness it is important for a HR professional to be very open, trustworthy,

humble, not self-interested, flexible and to focus on being helpful and sympathetic

with employees. However, a HR manager should also be able to point out to

someone if that person is not productive enough or if someone makes a mistake.

Thus in order to be successful in human resource management a HR manager

should be able to play both roles, to switch between high and low agreeableness

according to the situation. These findings are also supported by the International

Personality Item Pool (IPIP) questionnaire. Each prediction about the personality

traits that was made in the conceptual model will be discussed next.

6.1.1. Extraversion (Sociability and Ambition)

The prediction was made that this personality trait would have a positive influence on

HR intrinsic career success. Extravert persons tend to face problems and solve them

as soon as possible, also concerning their career (Komarraju et al. 2011). This is a

result of ambitiousness. Thus they create a fit between their needs and the needs of

the organization they function in. This eventually leads to job satisfaction and thus to

intrinsic success. This prediction is highly confirmed by this study since all

respondents believed that ambition is extremely important in HR. As to sociability,

building and sustaining relationships is one of the most important tasks of HR

managers. Not being able to do so would lead to failure in your work, and thus

intrinsic dissatisfaction. Over the past years HR professionals became business

partners, working closely with general managers and managers in sales, marketing

and manufacturing (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). Working closely with these people

and departments requires high social and communicative skills.

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6.1.2. Neuroticism

According to a meta-analysis conducted by Salgado (1997), neuroticism is negatively

related to intrinsic success. In order to be able to cope with different working

conditions and problems it is essential to score low on neuroticism (Seibert &

Kraimer, 2001). HR managers are constantly trying to solve problems and especially

in international organizations that require coping with different cultures and

structures. Hence in order to have a high intrinsic success the prediction was made

that neuroticism is negatively related to intrinsic career success. The results confirm

this prediction; a HR manager should be able to help others in stressful situations

and give structure to the employees. It is impossible to deal with everyone in the

organization when someone stresses out easily. Thus having anxiety, the first factor

of neuroticism, would have a negative impact on HR quality. From the interviews it

can be concluded that the second factor of neuroticism, one’s well being, and thus

lack of confidence, would increase the chances of being a servant for other

managers who might take advantage of that insecurity. Hence, a neurotic HR

manager would probably perform tasks that are perceived as unenjoyably and this in

turn would lead to intrinsic dissatisfaction. It is therefore essential that a HR manager

can stand up for him or her self and have a clear idea of the requirements of their job

in combination with their personal interests.

6.1.3. Agreeableness

A HR manager has to be unbiased in order to recruit the right people and assign the

right rewards to the employees of the organization (Komarraju et al. 2011). If HR

professionals score high on this dimension, they are more likely to be manipulated

and employees could take advantage of their sensitiveness (Seibert & Kraimer,

2001). This theory led to the third proposition, namely that agreeableness is

negatively related to the career success of HR professionals. This proposition is only

partly confirmed. Success in HR requires on the ability to switch between highly

agreeable and less agreeable behavior. All the respondents agree with the fact that

HR managers should be able to understand what managers and other employees

aspire and help them to achieve their ambitions. The results also indicated that HR

professionals should be easily approachable, flexible, kind and helpful towards the

employees of the organization. Thus scoring high on agreeableness is important in

order to do so. However, it is also important to keep the organization’s goals in mind.

34

Hence, if an employee causes problems, makes many mistakes or even more

dramatic situations arise wherein for example an employee commits fraud, it is

crucial that HR professionals put aside the humbleness, kindness and helpfulness

and respond strictly and if necessary dismiss those employees. Besides this, the

interviews indicated that managers may have the tendency to take advantage of HR

professionals, thus a HR manager should be confident and should be able to say no.

This requires having a low score on agreeableness. Hence, overall a good HR

manager should score high on agreeableness. This is supported by the results of the

IPIP questionnaires. HR managers should be helpful, very flexible, approachable and

kind. These are all characteristics of being highly agreeable. However, a good HR

manager should be able to switch to less agreeable behaviour when problems occur.

This in turn requires HR managers to cope with these problems, and be emotionally

stable: scoring low on neuroticism.

It is defined as a strategic activity that manages recruitment and understands and

directs people’s capabilities in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage,

which is achieved by well-designed policies and practices (Bratton & Gold, 2007).

Thus HRM focuses on personnel management and building trust, work engagement,

involvement and teamwork (Business Essentials, 2010: 12).

6.1.4. Conscientiousness

Bratton and Gold (2007) define HRM as a strategic activity that manages recruitment

and understands and directs people’s capabilities in order to create a sustainable

competitive advantage, which is achieved by well-designed policies and practices.

This requires a lot of discipline and the ability to organize effectively and plan ahead.

These are all elements of the personality trait conscientiousness (Komarraju et al.

2011). Some researchers described conscientiousness as the ability to solve

problems (Bakker et al. 2006). This is an important attribution of HRM in an

organization, since it focuses on using and changing its human capital in the most

efficient way regarding the firm’s strategy and goals (Huselid, Jackson & Schuler,

1997). Only conscientious HR managers are able to develop and sustain a unified

workforce of high quality. This in turn will lead to organizational success and

profitability. The interviewees emphasized that HR managers should establish a

35

satisfied workforce consisting of people who fill a position that fits them best. The

people in the organization should be able to trust the HR manager and know that he

or she will only do things that are good for them and the organization, and thus not

be self-centered and only caring about him- or her-self. The fourth prediction

therefore is that conscientiousness is positively related to career success of HR

professionals. This prediction is confirmed in this study. All the respondents thought it

is crucial for HR managers to score very high on this dimension. What stood out in

these interviews was that HR managers should be very aware about everything they

do and that goes on around the organization, thus also about the context it operates

in. Only then can a HR manager can become a valuable business partner. The

challenge for HR managers is being able to translate knowledge and understanding

of the context into HR activities. This would allow the HR manager to optimally do his

or her work. According to the respondents, without knowing and understanding the

context, a HR manager is not able to maximize his or her work performance.

6.1.5. Openness to experience

HR managers focus on coaching employees in an efficient manner (Barrick & Mount,

1991) and coordinating HRM with the overall business strategy of the organization

(Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). HR managers should be able to see and understand the

overall picture of the organization, and should try to maximize performance of the

workforce. Openness to experience is expected to be an important characteristic for

a HR professional. Openness to experience consists of being a visionary, creative,

original, broad-minded and knowledgeable (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Komarraju et al.

(2011) describe this personality trait as a characteristic that allows a person to be

innovative, interested in diversity/variety and also very studious. The interviews

confirm this prediction. All of the HR interviewees needed to be free in making their

own decisions; they did not appreciate hierarchical structures. They need this

freedom to bring out their creativity. Being knowledgeable is especially emphasized

in the third interview. This interviewee found it crucial to know the context before

starting with HR activities. He found that having this knowledge would make a HR

professional a valuable business partner. To obtain this knowledge it is essential to

be open to learn and understand everything that goes on around the organization.

This requires being emotionally stable (Bakker et al. 2006). Thus especially within the

HR field it is essential to learn about every aspect of the organization; learning about

36

general factors like the economy and politics but also about the marketing-, sales-,

operations- department and so on. This would make a HR manager feel more

respected and knowledgeable within an organization and hence would increase ones

self-esteem. This personality trait requires the person to be very studious considering

that one should learn form past and current experiences or from experiences of

others (Komarraj et al. 2011). Furthermore, especially in international organizations it

is crucial to be open and willing to learn about various cultures since there is a major

chance that you will have to work closely with those people of different cultures.

6.1.6. Honesty-Humility

Being trustable, modest and generous are all elements of this personality trait

(Perugini, et al. 2004). Furthermore, a high score on this dimension indicates that

these people are averse to fraud and corrupting others (Ogunfowora, Ashton & Lee,

2005). An effective HR manager should always bear the organization goals in their

minds and be results oriented (Barrick & Mount, 1991). A HR manager should

therefore always put the company’s interest first, and thus not be self-centered.

Managers should be able to trust HR managers when it comes to always acting in

favor of the company. According to Ogunfowora et al. (2005) being results-oriented is

expected to be an essential characteristic of a successful HR professional.

Furthermore, scoring high on Honesty-Humility implies that there is somewhat less

commitment to their own job (Zettler, Friedrich & Hilbig, 2010). In order to be highly

satisfied with the career, and thus have intrinsic success, there has to be a full

commitment to their own job. Therefore it was predicted that this construct is

negatively related to HR career success. The results of this study however indicate a

positive relationship tot HR career success. One of the main characteristics that are

very important when it comes to HR professionals according to the respondents is

building relationships based on trust. It is essential for a HR manager to be trustable,

only then managers are willing to look to the context closely with the HR manager,

and subsequently give them the freedom to be creative; this makes it more attractive

for employees to approach them.

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6.2 Limitations and further research

The HR respondents that are interviewed in this study all have a background in the

field of interim management, this might have biased the research since people who

are active in this field tend to always look for challenges and are usually very open to

new experiences, they enjoy working in different organizations. Thus future research

might add HR respondents to this study who do not have experience in the interim

field. Furthermore the respondents that are used all have the Dutch nationality. Dutch

people tend to favor sensitiveness and an open organizational structure rather than

hierarchy. It would be interesting to interview HR professionals with different

nationalities who prefer hierarchy and investigate what they believe is important to

achieve HR intrinsic career success.

38

7. Conclusion “What personal traits/characteristics of human resource management professionals

are relevant for their performance in multinational organizations and intrinsic

success?”

The findings of this study indicate that important HR personality traits and HR

intrinsic success is positively linked to conscientiousness, ambition & sociability

(extraversion), school success (studiousness), openness to experience, honesty-

humility and negatively linked tot neuroticism. When it comes to agreeableness it is

important to find the right balance with helping others, being humble towards them

and also focusing on your own career and wishes. It is also important to solve

problems; this does not always allow a HR manager to be agreeable, sometimes a

HR manager has to be strict and harsh. The most important personality traits that

were emphasized in all interviews were conscientiousness, sociability, studiousness

and honest-humility.

Acknowledgements This thesis was written to obtain my Bachelor’s degree in Business studies at the

University of Amsterdam. My supervisor, Maarten de Haas, was very helpful in the

process of writing this paper. His knowledge, feedback and suggestions allowed me

to carry out this research correctly. I am very thankful for his help. Furthermore I

wish to thank the interviewees for the time they gave up for me to conduct this

research. They shared their knowledge briefly, which increased my understanding

about the topic of this paper. The interviewees and my supervisor made it possible

for me to write this paper; hence I would like to emphasize my gratitude to them.

39

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45

9. IPIP questionnaires and results + Keyed items à

Very Inaccurate = 1 point

Very Accurate = 5 points

- Keyed items à

Very Inaccurate = 5 points

Very Accurate = 1 point

1. Extraversion points: Interview HR 1 à 4 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 45

Interview HR 2 à 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 40

Interview HR 3 à 3 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 43

2. Agreeableness points: Interview HR 1 à 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 46

Interview HR 2 à 4 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 4 = 40

Interview HR 3 à 5 + 2 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 41

3. Conscientiousness points: Interview HR 1 à 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 3 = 35

Interview HR 2 à 2 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 3 = 30

Interview HR 3 à 2 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 33

4. Neuroticism points: Interview HR 1 à 2 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 24

Interview HR 2 à 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 20

Interview HR 3 à 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 2 = 18

5. Openness to experience Interview HR 1 à 3 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 36

46

Interview HR 2 à 2 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 38

Interview HR 3 à 5 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 41

HR manager 1

48

HR manager 2

50

HR manager 3

52

10. List of Codes

Interviews 1, 2 and 3.

Geel gemarkeerd:

Uitdaging à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR professionals

op zoek zijn naar uitdaging. Dus nieuwe ervaringen op willen doen, en niet standaard

werk.

Groen gemarkeerd:

Ontwikkeling à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het belangrijk vinden om zichzelf te ontwikkelen. Dus dat HR een

continue leerproces is.

Lichtblauw gemarkeerd:

Relaties aangaan à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het belangrijk vinden in hun baan om relaties op te kunnen bouwen.

Met zowel werknemers als de organisatie en zakenrelaties.

Magenta gemarkeerd:

Flexibiliteit à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals flexibiliteit belangrijk achtten. Hier valt ook innovatie onder. Dus aan

kunnen passen aan verschillende omstandigheden en creatief kunnen denken.

Rood gemarkeerd:

Sensitiviteit à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals gevoeligheid belangrijk vinden. Dus of een HR gevoelig, mensgericht,

of juist hard moet zijn.

Donkergroen gemarkeerd:

53

Afstandelijkheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals afstand moeten nemen van hun werkgevers, of dat ze juist helemaal

geen afstand moeten nemen. Dus de mate van afstandelijkheid.

Donkergrijs gemarkeerd:

Hiërarchie à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals hiërarchie een positieve of juist negatieve invloed heeft op HR

activiteiten.

Groenblauw gemarkeerd:

Benaderbaar zijn à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het belangrijk vinden dat mensen binnen hun organisatie contact met

hun kunnen en willen opnemen.

Violet gemarkeerd:

Transparantie à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals duidelijkheid moeten bieden aan de werknemers. Dus of ze

werknemers bij alles moeten betrekken of juist toch een afstand behouden.

Donkergeel gemarkeerd:

Informeel à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR professionals

het positief of juist negatief ervaren op gebied van HR praktijken als er een informele

werksfeer ontstaat.

Lichtgrijs gemarkeerd:

Ruimte nodig hebben à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals ruimte nodig hebben om het optimale uit zichzelf te halen om zo goed

mogelijk hun werk uit te voeren.

Oranje letterkleur:

Doorzettingsvermogen à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het belangrijk vinden om niet op te geven wat betreft carrière maken,

ook in minder leuke tijden.

54

Donkerblauwe letterkleur:

Ambitie à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR professionals

het belangrijk achtten om ambitieus te zijn en dromen te blijven volgen.

Beige letterkleur:

Focus à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR professionals

het belangrijk achtten om je te focussen op je eigen baan en verantwoordelijkheden

als HR professional. Dat je weet wie je bent en wat je doet, heel bewust daarvan zijn.

Pastelgroen letterkleur:

Communicatief vermogen à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de

HR professionals communicatie vaardigheden belangrijk vinden. Dus ook dat je

duidelijk je verhaal kunt doet zodat iedereen alles begrijpt.

Roze letterkleur:

Oplossingsgericht à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals op zoek zijn naar oplossingen voor bestaande problemen. Of dat ze

juist niet bezig zijn met problemen.

Bordeauxrood letterkleur:

Sterk in schoenen staan à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de

HR professionals zeker moeten zijn van zichzelf en weten wie we zijn en wat hun

specialiteiten zijn. Dus ook zelfkennis hebben.

Hemelblauw letterkleur:

Onzekerheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het vinden dat onzekerheid het HR werk kan belemmeren.

Lavendel letterkleur:

Organisatiegericht à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het essentieel vinden om altijd de focus te leggen op de organisatie.

Dus resultaatgericht te werk gaan.

Meloen letterkleur:

55

Cultural awareness à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals bewust zijn van verschillende culturen en hiermee om kunnen gaan. Dit

vereist internationaal georiënteerd te zijn.

Zalm letterkleur:

Context kennis à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals bewust zijn van de context waarin zij werken. Dus ook de context van

het bedrijf, welke markt het bedrijf zich op richt en de cultuur van het land waarin het

bedrijf is.

Banaangeel letterkleur:

Affiniteit à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR professionals

affiniteit belangrijk achtten om HR werk uit te voeren. Dus kan iedereen heel

succesvol HR verrichten of moet je affiniteit hebben met de branche van het bedrijf.

Mandarijn letterkleur:

Behulpzaamheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het belangrijk vinden om medewerkers te helpen als ze problemen

hebben.

Dikgedrukt lettertype:

Actieve leerhouding à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de HR

professionals het belangrijk vinden om altijd leergierig te zijn en actief te zijn hierin.

Interview 4:

Blauw gemarkeerd:

Duidelijkheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager het

belangrijk vind dat HR duidelijkheid bied, dus dat HR structuur bied.

Geel gemarkeerd:

Formeel à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager het

prettig te vinden om formeel met HR te werken

56

Groen gemarkeerd:

Afstandelijkheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

het prettig vind om een afstand te hebben van HR of dat de manager juist prettiger

werkt als HR een band met de manager opbouwt.

Magenta gemarkeerd:

Ontwikkeling à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager het

belangrijk vind dat HR ruimte creëert voor de ontwikkeling van de

werknemers/managers. Dus de juiste trainingen op de juiste momenten aanbieden.

Lichtgrijs gemarkeerd:

Toegankelijkheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

graag snel en makkelijk contact op kan nemen met HR als dat nodig is.

Donkergrijs gemarkeerd:

Virtualiteit à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager graag

HR activiteiten en regels online zou kunnen opzoeken. Dat HR dus zich

technologisch ontwikkeld.

Oranje letterkleur:

Tevredenheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

tevreden is met de HR afdeling/activiteiten van het bedrijf waarin hij werkzaam is.

Rood gemarkeerd:

Zelfstandigheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

graag zelfstandig dingen zou kunnen regelen zonder steeds naar HR te stappen.

Dus dat HR ook ruimte creëert voor de werknemers.

Groen/blauw gemarkeerd:

Zorgvuldigheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

het belangrijk vind dat HR zorgvuldig is, dus geen fouten maakt.

Donkergeel gemarkeerd:

57

Structuur à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager het

belangrijk vind dat alles met regels werkt, ook kwa loon en bonussen etc. Dus dat

alles zwart op wit staat

Roze letterkleur:

Onzekerheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

onzekerheid over hun baan hun werk belemmerd. Dat zou dan betekenen dat HR

moet proberen die onzekerheid weg te nemen.

Meloen letterkleur:

Betrokkenheid à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de manager

vind dat HR binnen zijn bedrijf betrokken is bij de managers en of het als prettig word

ervaren als dat zo is.

Cayenne letterkleur:

Inlevingsvermogen à In dit onderzoek wordt hiermee bedoelt in hoeverre de

manager het belangrijk vinden dat HR iets doet met zijn wensen. Dus bijvoorbeeld

als een manager naar het buitenland wilt, dat HR dan gaat rondkijken of het bedrijf

in het buitenland nog vacatures heeft staan.

Thema’s

Ambition

HR professionals interview:

• Uitdaging (geel gemarkeerd)

• Ontwikkeling (groen gemarkeerd)

• Dromen volgen (donkerblauw letterkleur)

Manager interview:

• Ontwikkeling (magenta gemarkeerd)

Sociability


58

• Relaties aangaan (lichtblauw gemarkeerd)

• Afstandelijkheid (donkergroen gemarkeerd)

• Benaderbaar zijn (groendblauw gemarkeerd)

• Communicatief vermogen (pastelgroen letterkleur)

• Informaliteit (donkergeel gemarkeerd)

Manager Interview:

• Duidelijkheid (blauw gemarkeerd)

• Formeel (geel gemarkeerd)

• Afstandelijkheid (groen gemarkeerd)

• Toegankelijkheid (lichtgrijs)

• Onzekerheid (roze gekleurd)

Neuroticism

• Sterk in schoenen staan (bordeaurood letterkleur)

• Onzekerheid (hemelblauw letterkleur)

Conscientiousness


• Focus op echte baan (beige letterkleur)

• Organisatiegericht (lavendel letterkleur)

• Doorzettingsvermogen (oranje letterkleur)

• Context kennis (zalm letterkleur)

• Cultural awareness (meloen letterkleur)

• Oplossingsgericht (roze letterkleur)

Manager interview:

• Duidelijkheid (blauw gemarkeerd)

• Zorgvuldigheid (groen/blauw gemarkeerd)

• Structuur (donkergeel gemarkeerd)

Agreeableness


59

• Sterk in schoenen staan (bordeaurood letterkleur)

• Focus op eigen baan (beige letterkleur)

• Behulpzaamheid (mandarijn letterkleur)

Manager interview:

• Zelfstandigheid (rood gemarkeerd)

Openness to experience


• Uitdaging (geel gemarkeerd)

• Flexibiliteit (magenta gemarkeerd)

• Hierarchie (donkergrijs gemarkeerd)

• Ruimte nodig (lichtgrijs gemarkeerd)


• Actieve leerhouding (dikgedrukte lettertype)

• Ontwikkeling (groen gemarkeerd)

Manager interview:

• Virtualiteit (donkergrijs gemarkeerd)

Honesty-Humility


• Sensitiviteit (rood gemarkeerd)

• Transparantie (Violet gemarkeerd)

• Behulpzaamheid (mandarijn letterkleur)


• Affiniteit (banaangeel letterkleur)

Manager interview:

• Toengankelijkheid (lichtgrijs gemarkeerd)

• Betrokkenheid (meloen letterkleur)

• Inlevingsvermogen (cayenne letterkleur)

hr personality traits that influence intrinsic career

Documents