Personality as a Predictor Of Job Performance in an All-Remote Workforce: A Study of Workers Within the Canada Pension Centre for the Federal Public Service

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated that the Big Five dimensions of personality (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Openness, and Agreeableness) can significantly predict overall job performance in traditional office settings where employees work in person (Barrick & Mount, 1991). The arrival of the recent pandemic has required many organizations to rethink their service delivery models in response to public health threats and safety measures. Transitioning to remote work was a popular organizational response. The pandemic has likely changed service delivery models for good, with some organizations considering permanently shutting down in-person office space as a cost-saving measure. Remote work has also been viewed as a hiring tool as more employees are showing an interest in working from home. However, despite this interest, remote work may not be suitable for all employees.Unlike previous research, this study investigates the relationship between the Big Five dimensions of personality and eight job performance criteria (job knowledge, organizational skills, efficiency, persistent effort, cooperation, organizational conscientiousness, interpersonal and relational skills) in an all-remote work environment.The research consists of 201 responses from employees in the Canada Pension Centre who transitioned to fully remote work as a response to public safety measures. It centres around a survey designed to collect personality and job performance data. Semistructured interviews were conducted with members of the management team to bolster research findings. Conclusions from this research confirmed, as with prior research where employees were situated in offices, a positive relationship exists between personality and job performance in fully remote work environments. As with previous iii research in this area, findings demonstrated that Conscientiousness and Openness to new experiences are associated with higher organizational outcomes in a remote work environment. The study also concluded that employees with access to outdoor spaces, such as yards or balconies, reported higher overall job performance.This research combines past research on personality, job performance, and remote work. It examines the relationship between personality and job performance in a fully remote workforce, specifically the use of personality to predict job performance measured in terms of task and contextual productivity. The findings add to the current literature on personality, job performance, remote work, and the research on the effects of the pandemic on organizations. Results reaffirm a one-size-fits-all approach to organizational design may not improve overall organizational outcomes. Organizations can use these findings to aid in recruitment and productivity decisions and designing the workplace of the future.