The Big-Five personality traits as predictors of involuntary turnover

Abstract

Minimising involuntary turnover is essential for any company and organisation in order to decrease costs and use their human resources wisely. Involuntary turnover can be minimised by recruiting more qualitative candidates that fit in to the specific role and to the culture of the specific organisation. Many companies have adopted personality tests as a part of their employee selection processes to improve the recruitment decisions and reduce risks. The impact of different personality traits on employee performance have been studied by multiple researchers and despite diverse findings there have been various studies that have pointed out that certain personality traits could predict better job performance. In this study we aim to answer the question whether involuntary turnover could be predicted during the selection process by looking at the personality test results. To answer the question, we are analysing the personality questionnaires of 21 employees of a specific company operating in the logistics sector. A causal-comparative research is conducted and analysis of the descriptive numbers and correlations of the variables is performed. Finally we find out that personality traits agreeableness, stability and conscientiousness seem to have an impact on involuntary turnover and these traits could predict the outcome of the employment already during the selection process.