Ready to Work!

I am pleased to announce that my life as PhD candidate is coming to an end and I soon will be able to do nothing but focus on working with leaders and organizations.

My dissertation is submitted with the title:

The Ideal Employee

The influence of work context, personality and organizational culture 

on the development of leaders' prototypical implicit follower theories

Following up on my previous posts, my research involved 2 studies with 320 leaders in the USA and Germany/Austria who were asked ..

a) about the qualities and behaviors of (their) Ideal Employee

b) if and how their perceptions of the environment is linked with their Ideal Employee image

Other questions the dissertation deals with:

c) the impact of an Ideal Employee image on leadership behavior, interactions, personnel processes 

d) possible consequences on personnel selection and hiring

e) impact on organizational change and diversity efforts

In a nutshell:

Overall, the results suggests that leaders' Ideal Employee is similar, instead of different or complimentary, to leaders' work environment. This means, that leaders' personnel-related decisions may be guided by their perception of 'fit' between an employee and the work context, corporate culture or their own personality. Seemingly "non-ideal" (non-conforming) employees may be weeded out or receive different treatment from those who seem to conform. 

The emphasis on traits similar to the prevailing work context can make change and diversity in organizations very difficult. Organizations why are worried about their diversity and inclusion efforts, or are planning change projects are advised to consider their leaders' implicit Ideal Employee image and their links to the work environment.

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Publication:

Derler, A., & Weibler, Juergen. (2014). The ideal employee: context and leaders’ implicit follower theories. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 35(5), 386–409.