Study on likeable and unlikeable workers.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois and University of Pennsylvania shows that while happier workers are nicer to work with, grumpier workers ultimately get more work done.
The study took place over the course of a week, and the whole point of the research was to determine how activity in the workplace ultimately affected productivity. The results showed that about 15% of the differences that were found in the types of activities people engaged in had to do with whether or not they were “likers†– those who have happier and friendlier dispositions – and those who are “haters†– the grumpier workers who tend to keep to themselves as much as possible.
The main reason for the findings, says the report, is that people with more pleasant dispositions are willing to try their hand at more diverse things, therefore making it so that they became adequate at a number of different tasks without actually becoming highly skilled at any of them. Meanwhile, less pleasant workers tend to isolate themselves and focus on fewer things at a time. This apparently has the effect of making them far less friendly to be around, but also makes it so that they become very strong at a small number of things by spending so much time on them.
Participants were monitored for an entire week – a somewhat small span of time, all things considered – and also took tests to measure their attitudes throughout the week. These tests were used by researchers to determine whether or not a person was a liker or a hater. Overall, two groups of people were used for the study, and the results from both were compiled into a single study.
The data found from the study can be used to help companies optimize their workforces, and could help in the hiring process if they want to find people who are generally haters, to get more work done, or likers, who can adapt to new tasks and jobs quickly and efficiently. Larger corporations, in particular, would be able to determine if they could, or should, hire grumpier people for more labor-intensive departments, while hiring likers for certain kinds of other jobs.