She is working on a model classification system that would include sensitivity to others, trust and confidence, responsibility, accountability, leadership and consistency. The traditional one dimensional definition of job performance as equal to task performance overshadows the importance of personality and interpersonal skills and accentuates the importance of intelligence, according to psychologist Stephan Motowidlo, PhD, of the University of Florida at Gainesville. His research shows that task performance and contextual performance contribute independently to overall job performance. Furthermore, job experience predicted task performance better than it predicted contextual performance. In contrast, personality predicted contextual performance better than it predicted task performance.
Personality affects the two facets differently.
Conscientiousness predicts job dedication, while extraversion and agreeableness predict interpersonal facilitation. Interestingly, job dedication appears to affect both task performance and interpersonal facilitation. But the model also indicates the importance of extraversion, agreeableness and interpersonal skills. Today's emphasis on teams, service jobs and treating colleagues as customers promotes the importance of looking at the softer side of job performance, said Motowidlo. And although people disagree on exactly how personality fits in, they're all heading in the same direction.