If you’re looking for a new blog to add to your daily reading, I’d like to suggest Eric Barker’s, Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Besides being listed on both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal blog roles, he has 45,000 email subscribers (it is very difficult to get to this subscription level) and his columns regularly appear in Wired magazine.
In addition to being a great writer, Eric collects and presents research-based content in a way that is easy to digest. He generally does this by picking a topic of interest and then summarizing the research on the issue with short, pithy paragraphs that make the case for his point of view.
He recently published a blog on the character trait of conscientiousness that I found both interesting and compelling. Upon reading his insight, I immediately copied the content and sent it to all four of my teenage sons! I challenged them to start asking themselves, “How conscientious am I being as I do __________?”
While this information was helpful to my children, it is also a key trait that should be part of every hiring decision you make. Why? Because conscientiousness is highly correlated to success in all parts of life. Eric explains:
"Conscientiousness is the fundamental personality trait most closely tied to self control and it tracks with nearly every type of success across your lifespan.
It’s pretty crazy really:
Money and job satisfaction? – Check.
“Measured concurrently, emotionally stable and conscientious participants reported higher incomes and job satisfaction.“
Finding a job? – Check.
“…the personality traits Conscientiousness and Neuroticism have a strong impact on the instantaneous probability of finding a job, where the former has a positive effect and the latter has a negative effect.”
Long marriage? – Check.
“…our findings suggest that conscientiousness is the trait most broadly associated with marital satisfaction in this sample of long-wed couples.”
Healthier life? – Check.
“Among adults over age 45 (n = 2,419), Neuroticism and low Agreeableness were associated with metabolic syndrome, whereas high Conscientiousness was protective. Individuals who scored in the top 10% on Conscientiousness were approximately 40% less likely to have metabolic syndrome…“
Long life? – Check.
“Conscientiousness, which was the best predictor of longevity when measured in childhood, also turned out to be the best personality predictor of long life when measured in adulthood.“
And let’s not forget good grades and staying out of jail.
Via How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character:
…conscientiousness was the trait that best predicted workplace success. What intrigues Roberts about conscientiousness is that it predicts so many outcomes that go far beyond the workplace. People high in conscientiousness get better grades in school and college; they commit fewer crimes; and they stay married longer. They live longer – and not just because they smoke and drink less. They have fewer strokes, lower blood pressure, and a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease."
So, since conscientiousness is such an important trait, it might be helpful to know what it is! Here is the definition I sent my kids:
Conscientiousness is the trait that denotes being thorough, careful, or vigilant; it implies a desire to do a task well. It is manifested in characteristic behaviors such as being efficient, organized, neat, and systematic, also including such elements as self-discipline, carefulness, thoroughness, self-organization, deliberation (the tendency to think carefully before acting), and need for achievement. Conscientious individuals are generally hard working and reliable.
With this research as a backdrop, it only makse sense that you'd want to hire conscientious people. In fact, if you were to rank the importance of other traits, this may be the most important characteristic that leads to successful hiring outcomes.
Here is a quick application for this information: Ask some open-ended questions about conscientiousness during your upcoming interviews. For example:
Was your manager in your last job a conscientious person? How did that make you feel?
In your previous position, were your co-workers conscientious in accomplishment of their work?
Are there situations in the past where you were rewarded for your being conscientious?
These questions should spur some discussion and hopefully give you some insight into your candidate’s perspective on this important character trait.
In our next WorkPuzzle, we’ll discuss the capacity a person has for improving his/her level of conscientiousness. I know I could use some improvement!
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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.
