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
higher 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 required 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.
[Proquest]
Means, R., Lowry, K.,
& Conroy, D. (2011). Hiring: Background investigation, part 3. Law
& Order, 59(3), 12-13. [Proquest]
Reaume, S. (2009).
Improved hiring for child protective investigators. Law & Order, 57(2),
19-20,22,24. [Proquest]
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:
1. Are likely to have strong job satisfaction and
organizational commitment to the police department after they are hired.
2. Will be able to work effectively under
stressful and sometimes life threatening situations, can make good decisions
under pressure.
3. 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 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:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
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