1. Extraversion—describes the degree that someone is sociable, gregarious, and assertive.
2. Agreeableness—describes the degree that someone is good natured, cooperative, and trusting.
3. Conscientiousness—describes the degree that someone is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.
4. Emotional stability—describes the degree that someone is calm, self-confident, secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative).
5. Openness to experience—describes the degree that someone is imaginative, sensitive and curious.

Traits that form the “dark side” of personality are assessed less frequently, but these can cause managers and executives to “derail”, particularly when they are under stress. A “dark side” personality trait found among some managers and executives is narcissism. Narcissism is the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement. For example, an executive at the software company Oracle once described the CEO Larry Ellison as follows: “The difference between God and Larry is that God does not believe he is Larry”. A case of narcissism? You decide…

A study found that while narcissists thought they were better leaders than their colleagues, their supervisors actually rated them as worse. Because narcissists often want to gain the admiration of others and receive affirmation of their superiority, they tend to “talk down” to those who threaten them, treating others as if they were inferior. Narcissists also tend to be selfish and exploitive and believe others exist for their benefit. Their bosses rate them as less effective at their jobs than others, particularly when it comes to helping other people.

So here is today’s Daily HR Tip: When screening candidates for key leadership positions within your organization consider using personality assessments that look at both the “bright side” and the “dark side” of personality. Contact an organizational psychologist who is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) who should be able to advise you. The SIOP consultant locator can be found at http://www.siop.org/consultantlocator/search.aspx

As the director of leadership at MIT’s Sloan School of Management put it, “MBA. students may get by on their technical and quantitative skills the first couple of years out of school. But soon, leadership and communication skills come to the fore in distinguishing the managers whose careers really take off.” Developing managers’ interpersonal skills also helps organizations attract and keep high-performing employees. Regardless of labor market conditions, outstanding employees are always in short supply. Companies known as good places to work—such as Starbucks, Adobe Systems, Cisco, Whole Foods, Google, American Express, Amgen, Pfizer, and Marriott—have a big advantage. A recent survey of hundreds of workplaces, with over 200,000 respondents, showed the social relationships among co-workers and supervisors were strongly related to overall job satisfaction. Positive social relationships also were associated with lower stress at work and lower intentions to quit. So having managers with good interpersonal skills is likely to make the workplace more pleasant, which in turn makes it easier to hire and keep qualified people. Creating a pleasant workplace also appears to make good economic sense. Companies with reputations as good places to work (such as the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America”) have been found to generate superior financial performance.

So here is today’s Daily HR Tip: Hire and train for interpersonal skills as well as technical skills. Using pre-hire assessments can help to identify people who may be derailed by their inability to get along with others. If you are unsure where to go to find out more about pre-hire assessments contact The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology at http://www.siop.org/ and they will be able to put you in touch with a reputable organizational psychologist.

Dr. Lachkar describes a condition she calls “Narcissistic Entitlement Syndrome” (NES) as people who:

• Disregard the feelings of others
• Continually inflate themselves while putting others down
• Are driven by fantasies of limitless power, achievement, and success – reaching the top is a relentless goal, and they will do anything and everything to achieve it.
• Lack empathy and are clueless to the needs and concerns of others.
• Envy others, need constant approval, and can not tolerate criticism or the success of anybody but themselves.

Sounds a bit extreme – but if you have not encountered such behaviors in corporate life (in varying degrees of severity) then count yourself lucky – it is out there in plentiful supply.

Of course some organizational cultures tolerate, or even encourage, such behaviors (Wall St. before the crash?). For most organizations, however, such behaviors are problematic and disruptive, and result in high staff turnover and low morale.

So what can organizations do to try and screen out these tendencies in job candidates or people up for promotion? A screening tool that is very helpful is the Hogan Development Survey (HDS). The HDS is a valid and reliable psychometric instrument that looks at the “dark side” of personality – behavioral tendencies that come out under stress and pressure.

For more information about the “dark side of personality” screening, and other pre-hire assessments that can help you make more informed hiring and promotion decision, contact an organizational psychologist, preferably a member of SIOP (The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology).

So as a recruiter how do you tip the odds in your favor? Here are a few suggestions:

• Make sure you have performed a thorough job analysis so you know the knowledge, skills, and attributes you are looking for in your candidates.
• Consider using validated assessments to check for personality traits and potential derailers.
• Look for career motivation and culture fit with the organization.
• Be extra vigilant about following up on references.
• Check out social media sites (Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, etc) for any additional information on the candidate.

You may find it beneficial to seek out the advice of an I/O psychologist who can advise on the finer points of assessing candidates for job and organizational culture fit. You can find I/O psychology consultants who are covered by the ethical standards of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the following web site http://www.siop.org/tab_default/findconsultant_default.aspx.