The Big 5 at Work Part 1: Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is a key component of the Big Five model and one of the strongest predictors of success across life and work. This article digs into the science behind conscientiousness, exploring what it is, how it functions, and why it matters for both individuals and organizations.

Key Takeaways on Conscientiousness at Work

• Conscientiousness is one of the five broad domains in the Five-Factor Model of personality and is defined by facets such as goal orientation, self-discipline, orderliness, and dependability.
  
• Conscientiousness is the strongest personality predictor of occupational success and is linked to job performance across a wide range of roles and industries.
  
• Higher levels of Conscientiousness are associated with reduced procrastination, greater integrity, and fewer counterproductive work behaviors.
  
• Employees who are high in Conscientiousness are more likely to be engaged and go beyond formal job requirements through organizational citizenship behaviors.
  
• Individuals with the same overall Conscientiousness score may have very different profiles at the aspect and facet levels, which can influence behavior in nuanced ways.
  
• For best results, personality assessments should be interpreted in context and used as part of a comprehensive approach to selection and development – not in isolation.

Background on Conscientiousness

Oxford Languages defines Conscientiousness as “the quality of wishing to do one’s work or duty well and thoroughly,” and this captures some of the key parts of the personality domain quite well. However, like the other Big Five domains, it’s more complex than that.

The Conscientiousness domain of personality is comprised of two aspects immediately below the domain level: Industriousness and Orderliness. Industriousness consists of individual differences in the ability to “prioritize non-immediate goals” and “work hard and effectively without being distracted before tasks are completed” (p. 13). Orderliness consists of individual differences in “neatness, perfectionism, and attention to rules”. Note that the rules that govern orderly people are set not only by others but also by themselves and include rules of conduct and organization” (p.13).

At the level below the two aspects, there are a larger number of more specific facets. While the exact number is unclear, some of the most commonly identified ones are:

• Achievement Orientation (setting challenging goals and striving for excellence)
• Self-discipline (the ability to avoid procrastination and persist through setbacks or distractions)
• Reliability (dependability in keeping commitments to others)
• Self-control (the ability to manage impulses)
• Order (keeping one’s surroundings neat and doing things methodically)

Interestingly, while factors similar to Openness/Intellect, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Steadiness have been observed in many species, Chimpanzees are the only non-human species that have displayed a factor resembling Conscientiousness. This suggests that the part of our brain responsible for regulating this domain is relatively new from an evolutionary standpoint. It may have developed as an adaptation to help us manage behavior over long periods of time and may also support our ability to function effectively in a complex culture where following rules is important.

Thus, more than any of the other domains, Conscientiousness is part of what makes us human.

Conscientiousness and Work Outcomes

Conscientiousness Is the Strongest Predictor of Occupational Success

It should come as no surprise that those who work hard and follow the rules tend to be better employees than those who do not. What may be surprising, though, is that “Evidence from more than 100 [years] of research indicates that Conscientiousness is the most potent noncognitive construct for occupational performance” (p. 23004). As far as the Big Five and the world of work go, then, Conscientiousness is king.

High Conscientiousness Strongly Reduces Procrastination

If you are interested in hiring employees who get things done, then you would be well-served by hiring those who are higher in Conscientiousness. That’s because it has an impressively large (as far as social science research goes) negative relationship with procrastination (-.60).

Conscientiousness Is Linked to Integrity and Fewer Harmful Work Behaviors

Want to hire people who you can trust? Hire those who are Conscientious, as it has a very large negative relationship with Counterproductive Work Behaviors directed towards the Organization (-.42). CWB-O consists of intentional actions that go against the interests of the organization and its members. Examples include theft, shirking, sharing confidential information with unauthorized persons, and tardiness.

More broadly, Conscientiousness is a key part (along with Agreeableness and Emotional Steadiness) of what contributes to integrity.

Conscientiousness Encourages Going Beyond Job Requirements

In addition to CWB, another part of non-task job performance is Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB). These consist of discretionary behaviors that are not formally part of one’s job but benefit the organization and its members. Examples include putting in extra hours, helping coworkers, proactively offering improvement ideas, and volunteering for committees or charitable functions that the organization supports.

While not as strong as its relationship with CWB, Conscientiousness still displays a solid ability to predict OCB (.21).

The Link Between Conscientiousness and Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is an important metric to many companies. All too often, they target situational factors to try to improve it and overlook selecting for it by hiring those who are more likely to be engaged. This is a mistake, as Conscientiousness has a large relationship with employee engagement (.36).

Hiring more Conscientious individuals is one of the most effective ways to increase engagement at the source.

Conscientiousness Predicts Overall Job Performance Across a Range of Roles

The list wouldn’t be complete without covering the ultimate outcome that a selection process tries to predict: overall job performance. Here too, Conscientiousness performs well across a range of roles, showing consistent and meaningful predictive value:

Healthcare Job Performance (.33): strong relationship, likely due to the importance of following rules in such jobs

Sales Job Performance (.27): moderately strong relationship, likely because of the importance of being goal-oriented and persistent

Clerical Job Performance (.25): similarly strong, probably due to the importance of being detail-oriented

Supervisor Performance Ratings (.27): fairly large relationship, consistent across jobs

Managing Those Who are Low in Conscientiousness: The Importance of Goal Setting

While it is not advisable to make a habit out of hiring those low in Conscientiousness, there are many other characteristics that matter when it comes to determining an individual’s fit for a role. Thus, there will certainly be times when it makes sense to hire a candidate who may be lower in this personality trait. The good news is that there is something that you can do about it that capitalizes on two maxims in psychology.

First, every behavior that a person displays is not just a function of what is inside the individual, but also the situation that they are in.  The weaker the situation, the more influence personality has, whereas the stronger the situation, the less influence that personality has. Second, there is a difference between personality states and personality traits. A personality trait is how people tend to think, feel, and act over time and averaged across situations. This is what is measured by personality tests and is the stronger predictor of work outcomes. On the other hand, personality states are how someone is acting in a given moment in time and may or may not be consistent with their standing on a trait. A useful analogy would be to think of the climate of a region (personality trait) versus the weather in that region on a specific day (personality state).

If you have someone who is low in trait conscientiousness, you can create a strong situation to induce state conscientiousness in that individual. This is the logic behind goal-setting theory. While there are important moderators to consider, the gist is to set specific and challenging performance goals for people, which has been shown to a very large relationship with their subsequent performance on that objective.

Other Factors to Consider

Why Conscientiousness Can Look Different from Person to Person

It’s important to note that while the Conscientiousness facets tend to be correlated with one another (which is why they all fall under that personality domain), they also each have a unique component. Thus, it is possible for an individual to be high on some, low on others, and anywhere in between. Scores on facets, aspects, and the domains range from the 1st to the 99th percentile. The same is true for scores on the two aspects within Conscientiousness: Industriousness and Orderliness.

When you consider that there are also four other domains of personality, each with five or more facets, there is an endless number of different combinations of trait levels. This is part of what makes people unique and unable to be categorized into personality “types.”

Also, when measuring personality, facet-level scores are combined to create scores for the two aspects above them, which are then combined to produce an overall score for the domain above them. As a result, two individuals may have the same exact score on the domain of Conscientiousness, but drastically different scores on the aspects and facets beneath them.

When Certain Conscientiousness Combinations Create Risk

This is important because certain combinations of scores can be problematic, even if the overall level of Conscientiousness is not low. For example, if an individual is really high on the Orderliness aspect, which happens to have a negative relationship with the domain of Emotional Steadiness, and low on the Industriousness aspect, which happens to be positively related to Emotional Steadiness, this may be an indication of perfectionism. And if the achievement-oriented facet of Industriousness is also low, it may mean they have the failure-avoidance kind of perfectionism, which has a strong relationship with several negative outcomes, including burnout.

Even very high scores on both aspects and the overall domain could be problematic, as it could lead to workaholism. This creates a risk for burnout, particularly when accompanied by lower levels of energy and positive emotions (facets of the Extraversion domain), or a low standing on the domain of Emotional Steadiness.

Why a Holistic View Is Essential

This highlights the importance of not only considering an individual’s standing on a single trait, but also evaluating their scores across the other facets, aspects, and domains of the Big Five. An individual’s traits can interact in complex ways and may either mitigate or exacerbate certain tendencies.

Moreover, there is much more to a person than just their personality. Therefore, personality scores should never be used in isolation to determine someone’s suitability for a role or to support their development.

The Importance of Thoughtful Application

That said, a Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality measure is a critical component of any well-designed and comprehensive selection and development system. And, when used properly, it can lead to powerful, positive results for both the individual and the organization.

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