Understanding People at Work

We are now moving on to the topic of understanding people in the workplace. This article will introduce you to the differences you will see in the workplace and help you understand these differences better. You'll also read about the concept of perception, which we will cover more in-depth in the next unit.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in this chapter we have reviewed major individual differences that affect employee attitudes and behaviors. Our values and personality explain our preferences and the situations we feel comfortable with. Personality may influence our behavior, but the importance of the context in which behavior occurs should not be neglected. Many organizations use personality tests in employee selection, but the use of such tests is controversial because of problems such as faking and low predictive value of personality for job performance. Perception is how we interpret our environment. It is a major influence over our behavior, but many systematic biases color our perception and lead to misunderstandings.