Traitify Career Assessment

Traitify Career Assessment was very educational. The results showed that I am a planner/action-taker. Planner/Action-taker is someone that everyone turns to get things done, don’t like to waste time, pay attention to every detail within the project, assist friends with home projects, prefer small groups versus large group.

My personality breakdown was 87% Planner, 72% Action-Taker, 64% Analyzer, 63% Visionary, 62% Mentor, 60% Inventor, and 44% Naturalist. Personality breakdown showed I was 100% Compulsive – compelled to behave a certain way, Conventional was 100% - concerned about acceptable things, Particular 93% - exact and detailed,  and Likes Familiarity 90% - prefer known and routine, Goal-Oriented 85% - value the end-results, Realistic 84% - real sense of practical and workable, Deliberate 83% - slow in deciding, and Serious 83%. Reading these responses was an eye-opener. There were some personalities that I thought would be higher but after reading the assessment it makes sense why the percentages were log.

Environments assessment is interesting as well. The results showed that I foster autonomy, is routine-oriented and structure, offers tangible results, and outlines clear goals to be accomplished. The environment assessment aligns with the personality assessment results of the planner/action-taker.

The career path match is an impressive feature as well. The best matches were Procurement Clerks, Billing and Posting Clerks, Document Management Specialists, Social and Human Service Assistants, Clinical Data Managers, etc. I was surprised that the Executive Assistant and Secretarial was 77%. I’ve been an administrative assistant for over 13 years and was always searching for more. The assessment makes sense.

Webb, Repetto, Seabrooks-Blackmore, Patterson, & Alderfer stated there are several components of career development: 1 – Self-determination and person-centered planning, 2 – Career assessment, and 3 – Career planning. They also stated that “often, academics are considered more important than assisting students to learn about the areas in which they excel and what they might like to do as adults (Webb, Repetto, Seabrooks-Blackmore, Patterson, & Alderfer; 2014)”. Career development helps students understand themselves and help them determine which career path to take. This should be implemented within organizations to help employees who feel stuck in their department/career find the best fit within the organization. This could eliminate a lot of turnover rates.

O’Toole and Lawler analysis of workplace changes showed several areas of career opportunities: 1- insufficient creations of new “good jobs”, 2 – increased choice and risk of workers, 3- change nature of careers, 4 – reduction in community and commitment, 5 – Unrealized opportunities to make more efficient use of human capital (Feller, 2011). Workplace preparation demands and job forecast or hard to project. Using the right tools can assist a student or organization in the right career path. In the words of Webb, Repetto, Seabrooks-Blackmore, Patterson, & Alderfer “As professionals, we owe it to them!”

References

Feller, R. (2011). Advancing the STEM Workforce through STEM-centric career Development. Technology & Engineering Teacher, 71(1), 6–12. 

Webb, K., Repetto, J., Seabrooks-Blackmore, J., Patterson, K. B., & Alderfer, K. (2014). Career development: Preparation, integration, and collaboration. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 40(3), 231–238. 

Evaluation model for the components of organizational identity

Organizational identity is both an internal and external concept that has input from a multitude of factors. It is dependent on an “organizational value system and culture and…is a part of organizational philosophy” (Kazlauskiené et al., 2017, p. 120). Internally, organizational identity begins with the company’s origins to include its mission and values statements. These statements establish the foundation of expectations for all future employees regarding the company’s beliefs and behaviors. In the most basic sense, it explains the “who” and “what” of the company – “who are we and what do we do?”. If the company is to continue along the path for success, it must adhere to this structured roadmap, and only adjust to meet changes within its market(s). Externally, the business image is the key factor of organizational identity. This relies heavily on marketing and product quality, being the most visual and tactile representations of the business.

Superior marketing provides the company with a positive image in the eyes of consumers. Exemplary production process gives the market what it requires and places the company in good standing with consumers. These are just a few of the more pivotal factors describing organizational identity.

References:

Kazlauskienė, E., Tamulienė, V., & Skačkauskienė, I. (2017). Evaluation model for the components of organizational identity. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 13(3), 119-133. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.14254/1800-5845/2017.13-3.10 

Determinants of organizational performance

Organizational performance is a crucial factor in the success of a business. At the center is the leadership or role models within the organization. Employee performance also effects organizational success but correlates directly from leadership competency. Therefore, a leader’s ability to cognitive, social, and emotional intelligence is vital for company success. Cognitive competencies include expertise within the field, allowing individuals to think critically and convey organizational ideas effectively. Social competencies describe the ability of a leader to understand the hierarchy and capabilities of the employees. Delegation of tasks to lower level employees provides a sense of value and allows leaders to focus on other tasks. Emotionally intelligent leaders can detect changes in mood(s) within the company and successfully implement change, or at least continue to drive workers to perform to company standards.

Reference:

Almatrooshi, B., Singh, S. K., & Farouk, S. (2016). Determinants of organizational performance: A proposed framework. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(6), 844-859.

Pooling Knowledge through Artificial Swarm Intelligence

Evidence-based decision making it is important to understand the company, culture, and consumers. Companies would want to make decision based on past data or evidence. If it is proven to be unsuccessful time after time, I would not want to waste my time and try to do it again. I would look towards making decision based on the evidence and data that has proven to be successful. A lot of companies are now moving to make decisions with a group or team in a face-to-face interaction using their knowledge as evidence for making important decisions. It is a pool of knowledge and they are able to collaborate on past experiences such as should we enter a new market space or what areas were most successful in the past. Combined with prove data pulled from computers and historical data.

Reference:

Metcalf, L., Askay, D. A., & Rosenberg, L. B. (2019). Keeping Humans in the Loop: Pooling Knowledge through Artificial Swarm Intelligence to Improve Business Decision Making. California Management Review, 61(4), 84–10.

Enhancing Knowledge Management through Effective Leadership Styles

Effective leadership is extremely important, and a company will not survive if the leadership is not aligned with the mission, values and strategic plan. Communication and interactions are important starting with leadership down. A good leader leads by example. To gain a competitive advantage of rivals it is extremely important for a company to use knowledge and resources effectively. That includes knowledge sharing from all leaders and employees. The success or failure of a company depends on the support level of top management (Ullah, R., Khattak, S. R., Khan, R., & Sana, A., 2019). For example, my company just merged with another company and I just became second in command on the leadership team. The prior management there had a problem communicating with the team, she did not do it intentionally but none of the team members at the company respected or cared for her, just based of her communication style. I came in and I always lead by example and treat the team how I want to be treated, I don’t except the, to do anything I wouldn’t do. I take the time to listen to their concerns and address the issues that they bring to me, so we now have a great understanding and production has been at a all-time high. I just have a different way of communicating with the team.

References:

Ullah, R., Khattak, S. R., Khan, R., & Sana, A. (2019). Enhancing Knowledge Management through Effective Leadership Styles: Evidence from Pakistan. Dialogue (1819-6462), 14(3), 23–29.

Is Authentic leadership more than Emotional Intelligence?

Kaiser & Craig stated two basic propositions affect how management performs. The first proposition that effects management performance is management behavior as their organizational level changed. The second proposition that effects management behavior is how significant they feel within their role. Managers who feel a significant sense of effectiveness will behave differently than Managers who do not feel valued. Managerial behavior plays a key role in how employees view the culture of the organization from top to bottom. An organization that holds managers accountable to ensure an engaged, effective, trusting, etc. environment will see the organization growth not just monetary but also in value. Setting the tone from day one is important.

In 2017 the newest leadership theory is authentic leadership. A new questionnaire/model (Authentic Leadership Questionnaire) was created due to “measure authentic leadership” and leaders' emotional intelligence such as self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing (Duncan, Green, Gergen, & Ecung; 2017). Research showed that authentic leadership “weakly negatively correlated with employee burnout (-.27), deviance (-.25) and employee turnover intention (-.21)”. Research also showed authentic leadership was weak in job performance, task performance; moderate in organizational citizenship engagement, job satisfaction and empowerment; strong in trust, satisfaction, and transformational leadership.

References

Duncan, P., Green, M., Gergen, E., & Ecung, W. (2017). Authentic leadership--is it more than emotional intelligence? Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice & Research, 7(2), 11–22.  

Kaiser, R. B., & Craig, S. B. (2011). Do the Behaviors Related to Managerial Effectiveness Really Change With Organizational Level? An Empirical Test. Psychologist-Manager Journal (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 14(2), 92–119. 

ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

When investigating the relationship between organizational resilience and organizational performance both directly and indirectly, with resilient leadership and organizational culture play mediating roles the finding revel that organizational resilience was positively associated with organizational performance. Effective leaders mean someone who uses integrated styles of transformational and transactional leadership. This kind of leadership is needed to execute organizational resilience because transformational leadership will make changes to the whole organization's systems quickly and adjust to the changes in the external environment. 

References:

Suryaningtyas, D., Sudiro, A., Eka, T. A., & Dodi, I. W. (2019). ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EXAMINING THE MEDIATING ROLES OF RESILIENT LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18(2), 1-7.    

Leadership in the New Era of Convergence

Oftelie discussed how “Convergence—the combination of social, economic, and technological factors—will be a pivotal phenomenon in this quest for capacity”. He also mentions how “Convergence will increasingly affect virtually every public policy domain—from healthcare to human services, to environmental management, to public safety”. Strategically convergence will get leaders to look at how their management strategy is affecting the organizations' culture and changes culture to where the organization values management more. “Going forward, convergence will not only drive new ways of creating private value but also compel public institutions to deliver new forms of public value.” At a high level of convergence, companies will have to think of ways to bridge the gap between the community and the organization. Bridging that gap will grow the organization.

References:

Oftelie, A. (2015). Leadership in the New Era of Convergence. Harvard Kennedy School Review, 15, 113–119.