Professor Stephen Woods

This article presents a critical review of the use of cognitive ability testing for access to graduate and higher professional occupations to promote further debate and reflection in both the academic and practitioner community. The main contentions are that the practice of applying cognitive ability testing in these contexts has strong potential to both maintain and exacerbate social inequality in access to higher occupations and professions, and that validity evidence does not justify this to the extent that has previously been presumed. Five critical observations are examined, namely (1) evidence of adverse impact in test outcomes; (2) the tendency to position cognitive ability testing early in selection processes in high-volume recruitment; (3) recent evidence challenging the meta-analytic validity of cognitive ability tests; (4) weaknesses in historical primary validity studies; (5) conceptually flawed examination of differential validity evidence in the literature. Implications for practice are discussed, contrasting strategies that involve modifying selection systems that include cognitive testing, versus removing and replacing cognitive tests.

PurposeA specific area of interest in the coaching literature is focused on exploring the intersection of personality and coaching; however, research has yet to explore whether coaching exerts reciprocal effects on personality traits (i.e. if personality trait change can accompany coaching). Utilizing the explanatory theoretical framing of the Demands-Affordances TrAnsactional framework (Woods et al., 2019), we propose that coaching may indirectly facilitate personality trait change by firstly enabling the coachee to reflect on their behaviors, second, implement desired behavioral changes which consequently facilitate personality trait change.Design/methodology/approachA quasi-experiment was conducted to explore coaching and personality trait change. Students participating in a demanding, work-based team simulation (N = 258), were assigned to either an intervention group (and received one-to-one coaching) or a control group (who received no intervention). Personality traits were measured before and after coaching and positioned as the dependent variable.FindingsResults indicate that participants in the coaching group exhibited significant changes in self-reported agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and core self-evaluations, which all significantly decreased after coaching; however, no change was observed for the control group.Originality/valueWe provide the first exploration of coaching and personality trait change, contributing to both the coaching literature, by providing evidence regarding the efficacy of coaching to facilitate personality trait change in coachees, and the personality literature, by highlighting coaching as an important tool for those interested in personality trait change. Our research also has implications for other interventions such as mentoring, as we provide support for the notion that interventions can support personality trait change.

This study examines potential negative human resource consequences of leadership development. Applying theoretical perspectives on job demands and resources, we argue that leadership development may result in potential negative outcomes by introducing new and different demands on workers, requiring adjustment and adaptation. We further argue that the pervasiveness of this risk increases as leadership training is distributed across an organisation. We examine the effects of the implementation of a leadership development programme across a whole organisation (N = 9471), analysing data on incidences of withdrawal (absenteeism) and conflict (formal grievances) over a four-year period. We analyse data using fixed-effects modelling, and our findings indicated that increases in the proportions of leaders undertaking development in nineteen service units of the organisation over this period predicted increases in absenteeism and grievances raised by staff. Implications for theory in leadership development, and the management of development initiatives are discussed.

This study examined self-leadership, an integrative concept in organisational behaviour and psychology, that represents a person's ability to manage themselves and improve their own performance through a combination of behavioural, cognitive and motivational strategies, in the context of learning and development outcomes. Change in three aspects of self-leadership (termed the Doing-self, Thinking-self and Energising-self) following a short development intervention was examined in a sample of management school students in a pre-intervention and postintervention design. The study also expanded upon the role of personality traits in moderating self-leadership change. The data additionally provide evidence of the association of self-leadership with learning attainment. The findings of this study underline the potential benefits of self-leadership learning and development. Implications for theory and practice in organisations are discussed.

Studies of personality at work have made significant contributions to theory and applied practice in work and organizational settings. This review article proposes that there are also reciprocal influences between core personality science and research on personality in work and organizations, each drawing on insights from the other. Following this tradition, the objective of this article is to review key foundations of research in a way that informs and critically reflects on state-of-the-art evidence in four main themes: (1) conceptualization and structure of personality at work, (2) personality assessment in work settings, (3) personality processes and dynamics at work, and (4) impact of situations on personaliy at work. Critically reflections on key implications, and directions for future research are presented, anticipating how the field may adapt to the changing nature of work and society. Relevance Statement The objective of this review is to set out key tenets and foundations of research in the area of personality at work in a way that informs and critically reflects on its development, and continued contributions to core personality science. Combining input from twelve researchers in the field, the article proposes that the development of research in personality science and in the area of personality in work and organizational settings is interdependent, each drawing reciprocally on insights from the other. We aim to review key findings in well-established literatures around the conceptualisation of personality and its role in assessment at work. However, our review also presents contemporary developments examining personality dynamics and the role of situations that are advancing understanding in the literature. This positioning leads us to set out future research questions and directions, which we believe are relevant for scholars shaping and contributing to this area in the coming years, reflecting changes to work and its place in society. Key Insights Core personality science and research into personality in work settings influence each other reciprocally through their development. Personality has been found to be important for understanding a wide array of organizational behaviors and outcomes. Recent developments examining personality dynamics and situations at work are challenging and advancing research findings. Studies of personality at work should continue to bridge different disciplines of research, responding to changes to work and its place in society.