Abstract

This research studies the effects of personality on hiring practices and the relationships between employers and their employees within a small business context. In particular, we examine the small business owner's personality, and how it influences the type and number of recruitment and selection methods used in the hiring process. In addition, we propose that the selection methods used influences the relationship that forms between employers and their employees. These relationships create expectations of what employees feel is owed to them by their organization. Any violation of these perceived expectations may lead to a decrease in employee commitment and firm performance. Participants in the study were owners and employees of small businesses within the food industry. Owners and employees were surveyed using questionnaires which were distributed and collected at a later date. The thirty-one owner participants answered questions which would measure the big five factors of personality of the owners using existing scales and their hiring practices using a tailor made measure. The ninety-six employee participants answered questions which would measure employee commitment, psychological contracts and psychological contract breach. The results indicate that personality affects the types of methods used for recruitment, but not for selection. In addition, it was found that the type of selection methods used influenced the type of relationships developed between employers and employees. The results suggested that perceptions of violation in the relationships between owners and employees were less prevalent when owners used recruitment methods with a less social interactional component in it. In addition, it would seem that owners who are too high in extraversion actually reported lower net profits