Module 1 – Case
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORKPLACE
Assignment Overview
Strong cognitive abilities are usually considered a very
important and positive trait to seek when hiring new employees. However, one
police department decided not to hire those who scored too high on a cognitive
skills exam on the grounds that people who are too intelligent will not be
satisfied with their job as a police officer and will end up quitting (Naish,
2013). This of course is a controversial policy that resulted in at least one
lawsuit.
For this assignment we will be looking at individual
characteristics that may predict job satisfaction, organizational commitment,
and job performance for police officers. Being a police officer is a demanding
job that requires strong physical capacity, sharp mental capacity to deal with
difficult and life threatening situations, and strong interpersonal skills in
order to effectively work with the communities they protect and serve. The
issue of what traits to look for in police officer recruiting is a controversial
one.
Review the background materials on individual traits,
personality, and attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational
commitment. Then read these articles on law enforcement recruitment with the
issues in the background materials in mind:
Naish, R. (April, 2013). Too clever by half. E.Learning Age,
8.
Means, R., Lowry, K., & Conroy, D. (2011). Hiring:
Background investigation, part 3. Law & Order, 59(3), 12-13.
Reaume, S. (2009). Improved hiring for child protective
investigators. Law & Order, 57(2), 19-20,22,24.
Case Assignment
Now suppose a police department has hired you as a
consultant to come up with an exam to assess personality and other traits of
applicants to the department. The department is looking to hire applicants who
meet the following criteria:
Are likely to have strong job satisfaction and
organizational commitment to the police department after they are hired.
Will be able to work effectively under stressful and
sometimes life threatening situations, can make good decisions under pressure.
Will be able to present a positive image of the police
department in the communities they serve and maintain strong relations with
community leaders.
Using what you’ve learned in the background materials about
personality traits such as the Big Five Personality traits and factors that
influence job satisfaction and organizational behavior, come up with a four to
five page paper addressing the following issues:
Do you think cognitive abilities should be part of the exam?
Do you agree with the police department mentioned in Naish (2013) that there
should be an upper limit to cognitive abilities, or should the department try
to hire those with the highest cognitive abilities? Consider the concepts of
ability testing in Chapter 3 of Nair (2010) as part of your answer.
What personality traits do you think will best predict a
police officer’s ability to handle stressful situations in the field and make
decisions under stress? Consider the Big Five traits as well as any other personality
traits that you read about in Chapter 6 of Nair (2010). Be specific about what
traits the department should consider and why these traits will be associated
with an ability to work under stress.
What personality traits will best predict an ability to work
cooperatively with their coworkers as well as with members of the community
they serve? Again, be specific about which traits the department should
consider and why these traits will be associated with a good ability to work
with others. Use Chapter 6 of Nair (2010) as your source of information about
Big Five and other personality traits to consider.
Assignment Expectations
Answer the assignment questions directly
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials
Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your
references. Articles published in established newspapers or business
journals/magazines are preferred. If you find an article on the internet, make
sure it is from a credible source.
Reference your sources of information with both a
bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a
High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations.
Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide”, which is found under “My
Resources” in the TLC portal.
Module 1 – SLP
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORKPLACE
Assignment Instructions
For the Session Long Project, you will be applying the
concepts from the background materials to your own personal workplace
experiences. For this assignment, think of two former or current coworkers that
had unique personalities. Choose two people that you worked with closely enough
that you were able to get a good idea of their personality traits and workplace
attitudes.
Review the main personality traits and attitudes from the
background materials, and think about how these apply to your two coworkers.
Then write a three-page paper addressing the following issues:
How would you describe the personalities of these two
coworkers? Use the Big Five Personality traits and other personality traits
discussed in Chapter 6 of Nair (2010) to find the personality traits that best
describe your coworkers. You must use specific personality traits that you
found in the background readings for your answer.
How would you describe their workplace attitudes including
job satisfaction and organizational commitment? Use the concepts from Chapter 4
of Nair (2010) in your answer.
Do you think their personality traits impacted their
workplace attitudes, or did other factors such as the work environment, job
characteristics, etc. have a greater impact on their attitudes?
SLP Assignment Expectations
Answer the assignment questions directly
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials
Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your
references. Articles published in established newspapers or business
journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make
sure it is from a credible source.
Reference your sources of information with both a
bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a
High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations.
Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My
Resources” in the TLC portal.
