Psych Educ, 2022, Document ID: PEMJ0, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.

6547994
Research Article

Personality Traits, Motivation, and Performance of Employees in a Pharmaceutical

Company in the Philippines: Basis for Performance Improvement Plan

Angelo Aga Silvestre*

For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.

Abstract
This descriptive correlational design study examined the relationship between employees' personality
traits, motivation, and performance of employees in the pharmaceutical company in the Philippines.
Corollary to this, it determined whether personality traits and motivation predict the work
performance of medical sales representatives. A total of 125 medical sales representatives assigned at
the NCR were selected for the study using stratified and universal sampling. Three instruments were
used in this investigation: The Big Five Personality Test by Mcrae and Costa (2003) to identify the
personality of the respondents; Work Motivation Questionnaire-A by Agarwal (2012), and the
Performance Appraisal Evaluation by Getz Pharma (2018). Motivation and job performance were
shown to be positively associated, as were personality traits and work performance, but motivation
and personality were found to be unrelated. The strength of the relationship for the first two
constructs, however, was weak. Further, results also suggested that material incentives and job
situations were significant predictors of work performance. The majority of the findings are
supported by the literature review, except for the link between personality traits and motivation in
the context of sales, which needs further investigation. Finally, a general work performance
improvement plan is recommended to further improve the performance of the medical sales
representatives.
Keywords: Motivation, Personality Traits, Work Performance, Sales Representatives, Predictors of
Performance

Introduction employee engagement. Their findings disclosed that

engagement has significant relations with in-role and
Performance has been a prolific topic of investigation discretionary performance.
in many studies covering business, psychology,
education, and almost every field. Since performance Personality is another factor investigated along with
is crucial to business organizations and the company's performance. Bakker, Tims, and Derks (2012)
overall success, business leaders have been trying to concluded that employees with a proactive personality
understand the factors affecting it to develop ways to crafted their own jobs in order to stay engaged and
further improve employees' performance. Thus, perform well Srivastava (2016). The most common
employee performance evaluations are necessary to variable correlated to performance is motivation. In the
help organizations determine the strengths, study of Srivastava (2016), she maintained that for the
weaknesses, and potential managerial gaps in the company to optimize employee performance, there is
company. need for the employees to be sufficiently motivated.

According to Ekundayo (2012), there exists a Investigations of employee performance have never
connection between leadership communication style been more essential in highly performance-based
and per sonali ty trait, and that l eadership occupations such as sales and marketing. In highly
communication style determines organizational performance-based occupations like sales and
performance. Personality traits and communication marketing, investigations of employee performance
styles have a combined effect on employee have never been more important. Employees in these
performance, according to his research. As the above firms must be highly competitive due to market
demonstrates, performance is influenced and competitiveness and a turbulent working environment.
influenced by a variety of circumstances. Employee retention in such firms is purely focused on
performance, which is monitored through employee
The study of Usop et al. (2013) correlated performance evaluations.
with job satisfaction. The result of the study suggested
that workers who were satisfied with their jobs have Among the sector that thrives on sales are
high performance. Meanwhile, Christian, Garza, and pharmaceutical companies. This sector is one of the
Slaughter (2011) also correlated performance to fastest-growing industries in the country and has
grown annually. Of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical

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companies, over 14 have manufacturing facilities in the in turn, could predict performance. The paper of
Philippines. Ranked 15th across the pharmaceutical Nuckcheddy (2018) likewise revealed a similar result
companies in the Philippines is the subject of this that personality predict motivation through personal
study. It is a multinational pharmaceutical company emotional stability, level of aggression, and extrovert
domiciled in Pakistan, with a presence in more than 25 or introvert characteristics of workers. It was also
countries worldwide. found that personality predict performance. The study
concluded that personality is a factor that should be
In the Philippines, this company is considered to be considered by management as they strive to improve
one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical companies. motivation of workers and optimize their performance.
It has earned this reputation due to its hardworking
sales workforce. This company is regarded as one of Moreover, Judge and Zapata (2015) suggests that
the fastest-growing pharmaceutical companies in the performance is strongly tied to personality. As
Philippines. It has achieved this reputation because to supported by the literature, it established that the Big
its dedicated sales staff. This pharmaceutical firm has Five, which was also used in this study, is a very
been seeking for ways to enhance its sales in order to strong indicator of job performance and productivity
become the most profitable pharmaceutical company (Ruiz et al., 2016). In addition, Judge et al. (2014)
in the country, despite stiff competition from a number looked at the five-factor model and its intricate
of local and foreign pharmaceutical companies. relationship with employee motivation and behaviors,
which was helpful to show the importance of this work
The company, therefore, banks on its sales in an organizational context.
representatives to perform well to keep the company
ahead of the competition. However, the work of sales This company has been striving to improve
representatives is quite challenging. Because the employees’ motivation and performance through
process of selling involves contacting potential various awards and incentives. Despite these efforts,
customers, identifying their needs, and persuading only a small percentage of medical sales reps receive
them to buy the products or services (rather than those an exceptional rating on their performance evaluation.
of competitors), medical sales representatives should While others are exhibiting personality traits that seem
possess certain personality traits that are likable by to match the job, they nevertheless perform less than
prospective clients. They should maintain a number of par. As Ruiz et al. (2016) and Nuckcheddy (2018)
these characteristics: professional appearance, good suggest, personality traits are one of the factors
communication skills, persuasive, people-person, necessary to qualify for a sales representative job, but
patient, and motivated. If sales representatives do not not all who were hired based on good personality traits
possess the personalities required of the job, there necessarily exceed expectation. Moreover, even the
could be a mismatch that would result in performance company benefits enjoyed by the employees could not
below par. hold them to the job.

In order to retain high sales performers, this In 2020, the company embarked on an ambitious goal
pharmaceutical company ensures to provide benefits to go further up its top 10 ranking. It is currently in the
and incentives to its employees to maintain and attract 15th spot. In order to achieve this, medical sales
highly qualified sales representatives and for them to representatives have to work harder and exceed sales
be motivated to perform. Employees' motivation has targets. However, this goal was never realized due to
become a popular driving force behind most successful the pandemic and restrictions in going out. It was also
companies. In a highly performance-based company observed that sale representatives’ seemed to lose their
such as the subject of this study, it can be seen as a momentum. Those who were extraverted and enjoyed
necessary factor in enhancing employee engagement, going out could not do so anymore as often prior to the
satisfaction, commitment, and performance in the pandemic. Thus, sales performance had been affected
workplace. Having a motivational work environment and motivation ran low.
is crucial especially in sales companies characterized
to have high levels of stress, pressure, and target to This year, the company again resets its goal for 2021
achieve (Yongsun, Barbara, & Christy, 2002). to get into the top 10. While the pandemic is still
raging, it has to find ways on how keep sales
The factors investigated in this present study are representatives motivated, raise performance levels,
s i m i l a r t o t h e w o r k of S e i b o k a i t e and put to good use the differences in personality types
and Endriulaitiene (2012) who found out that of sales representatives and make it work to the
personality type predicts employee motivation, which company’s advantage as suggested by Judge and

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Zapata (2015). Early organizational studies on personality concluded

that human behavior was so complicated that
Given this context, identifying personality traits that numerous different constructs would be needed to
are effective in predicting sales success has become sufficiently explain it (Chernyshenko, Stark, &
increasingly critical. Thus, this study investigated the Drasgow, 2011). The literature is replete with
relationship between employees' personality traits, hundreds of studies that examined many similar but
motivation, and performance. As Deeter-Schmelz and slightly different constructs. This variety resulted in
Sojka (2007) revealed, certain personality traits are different findings, which made it difficult to conclude
effective in predicting sales performance. Thus, this much of anything about personality's impact on
study aimed to prove the hypothesis that there is a performance.
significant relationship among these three factors
which are strongly examined by the pharmaceutical In a review article, Frazer (2018) argued that there was
company’s employees. Corollary to this, it determined little evidence of the validity of personality constructs.
whether personality traits and employee motivation As a consequence, there was an extended period
af f ect the per f or m ance of m edi cal sal es during which relatively little research was conducted
r epr esentati ves. on personality in organizations. However, researchers
did not stop with these findings. Several more recent
Research Questions review articles revealed that all personality constructs
could be organized into a limited classification of
This study examined the relationship between conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism,
employees' personality traits, motivation, and openness to experience, and extraversion (Costa &
performance. Corollary to this, it likewise determined McCrae, 1997).
whether personality traits and employee motivation
affect performance. Specifically, this study sought to The Big Five Personality Traits
answer the following questions.
1. How may the personality traits of the respondents The Big Five personality traits helped revive research
be described in terms of the following: on personality in organizations as they presented a
1.1 openness to experience; comprehensible and organized way to study
1.2 conscientiousness; personality. It originated from research regarding Trait
1.3 extraversion; Theory (Tupes & Christal, 2012) which stems from
1.4 agreeableness; and personality psychology and focuses on the individual
1.5 neuroticism? facets that facilitate behavior in individuals (John &
2. What is the level of motivation of the respondents in Srivastava, 2011). The application of this assessment
terms of: has been widely used across many different industries,
2.1 dependence; including use as a goodness-of-fit examination,
2.2 organizational orientation; leadership qualification, aptitude test, and measure of
2.3 work group relations; leadership efficacy (Cubel, Nuevo-Chiquero, Sanchez-
2.4 psychological work incentives; Pages, & Vidal-Fernandez, 2016).
2.5 materials incentives; and
2.6 job-situation? The reliability of any scientific instrument on
3. How may the level of performance of the applicability across the lifespan is a concern to
respondents be described in terms of: researchers (McCrae & Costa, 1997). Often used for
3.1 key performance indicator; and various reasons from adolescence through adulthood,
3.2 behavioral indicators? Klimstra, Bleidorn, Asendorpf, van Aken, and
4. Is there a significant relationship between Denissen (2013) set out to determine whether the Big
personality traits, motivation, and performance of the Five is a stable determinant to describe behavior
respondents? preferences over time. Using a longitudinal approach,
5. Do personality traits and employee motivation the researcher administered Big Five questionnaires to
predict the performance of the respondents? 174 independent subjects at ages 12 and 17.

Klimstra et al. (2013) analyzed historical data for

Literature Review 14,866 people aged 17 to 96 years old. The findings
revealed a substantial correlation between
agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism
Personality Traits qualities from ages 12 to 17 and from 70 onwards

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(Klimstra et al., 2013). However, there were no the lifetime. As it currently stands, the Big Five's
statistically significant correlated changes from ages reliability and validity over time lend to its widespread
18 to 69. The changes were associated with decreased use as a method for assessing and predicting interests,
neuroticism and an increase in agreeableness and performance, and personality preferences.
conscientiousness. This result suggested that wisdom
and experience contributed to observed changes Research has shown that the Big Five Personality
(Klimstra et al., 2013). However, the correlated constructs predict a wide variety of important
changes were of statistically low effect, demonstrating organizational outcomes (Oswald & Hough, 2011).
a Pearson r correlation of .15 or less. These findings Emerging as the most important in an organizational
echoed the research presented by Digman (2012), in context is conscientiousness. Although definitions of
which he conducted a six-year longitudinal study on conscientiousness tend to vary, the construct is most
the Big Five results to monitor personality changes often associated with thorough, careful, and detail-
throughout the years. This research yielded no oriented thoughts, behaviors, and feelings (Roberts,
statistically significant deviations. Chernyshenko, Stark & Goldberg, 2015).
Conscientiousness has been observed to be a
Research by Stoll et al. (2016) focused on referencing moderately strong predictor of future task
the predictive power of the Big Five in relation to performance, employee attitudes, team processes and
vocational interests of 3,023 secondary school students outcomes, counterproductive work behaviors, and
who reinforced the existing literature's claims that the leadership, among others (Dudley, Orvis, Lebiecki, &
Big Five remains a stable and reliable predictor of Cortina, 2016).
interests and life incomes for students from around 17
The other Big Five traits, particularly agreeableness,
to 27. These results suggest the utilization of the Big
extraversion, and neuroticism, are seen by many as
Five as a predictive tool for educational and vocational
"niche" predictors related to organizational outcomes.
interest. Stoll et al. (2016), in agreement with Klimstra
For instance, openness is the number one predictor of
et al. (2013) postulated that observed changes were
training outcomes (Barrick & Mount, 2011), while
recorded neuroticism, agreeableness, and
agreeableness is the number one predictor of team
conscientiousness categories.
processes (Barrick et al., 2013).
The foregoing finding supports Klimstra et al(2013) .'s
Many criticize the utility of personality in
claim that early adolescent personality characteristics
organizational settings, often citing low criterion-
are shaped by experience. Karwowski, Lebuda,
related validity. For instance, Muogbu (2013) argued
Wisniewska, and Gralewski (2013) looked at the
that the use of personality tests in selection should
impact of gender on Big Five assessment scores in
discontinue until the field can strengthen these
addition to age differences in personality development.
methods' predictive validity.
Karwowski et al. (2014) compared the Big Five results
to a similar personality assessment, the Short Scale of For this reason, Judge, Rodell, Klinger, Simon, and
Creative Self, in a study of 1,325 women and 1,349 Crawford (2016) took a step further by investigating
men (SSCS). To test gender bias and dependability, lower-level facets of each of the Big Five. They
Karwowski et al. (2014) used a ten-item Big Five discovered that combinations of the narrow facets
evaluation in conjunction with the eleven-item SSCS. predict overall job performance, task performance, and
contextual performance than broad traits. At present,
The results were consistent with existing literature and several researchers agree that personality traits should
measured no statistically significant bias between the be viewed as a hierarchy, with large constructs like the
results. Salgado et al. (2013) used the Big Five Big Five residing at the top and the more specific
assessment as a control for their research on a different constructs resting at the bottom (Judge, Rodell,
personality inventory, the Hogan Personality Inventory Klinger, Simon & Crawford, 2013). Previous research
(HPI). Utilizing the Big Five as a control method for has demonstrated that matching lower-level
other research lends to its dynamic applicability and components to particular criteria improves the validity
reliability. of personality assessments.

Because research demonstrates the Big Five's efficacy Personality Traits of Sales Employees
over an extended period, it remains an effective tool in
understanding personality in a broad sense. Stoll et al. The study of Wu-Chen et al. (2011) investigated the
(2016) suggested exploring individual events that may relationship between personality traits and the usage of
influence significant personality changes throughout technology by sales force employees. The study

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revealed that important personality traits in sales that individual's internal mental state related to the
contribute to good performance and high usage of initiation, direction, persistence, intensity, and
technology is conscientiousness. Conscientious termination of behavior. Meanwhile, the managerial
individuals do well in planning and territory meaning of motivation deals with the influence of
management which is crucial in a sales representative. leaders and managers on others to produce desired
It has also been found that conscientiousness is results. These results, outlined by the organization or
positively related to the efficient use of sales force by the manager, conforms to a relationship between
automation (SFA) for planning and territory motivation, ability, and performance.
management. Another personality trait that is essential
for sales people to possess is extraversion. Given that Motivation can be classified into two: intrinsic and
customer training, customer education and customer extrinsic motivation. The two motivations differ in the
service involves others, it is important for sales people source of pressure or pleasure that boost each type.
to be sociable and gregarious. Extraversion is Robins and Judge (2011) elaborate further by saying
positively related to a passion for administration and that people are intrinsically motivated when they find
external information. Furthermore, agreeable people enjoyment, interest, personal challenge, satisfaction,
with high interpersonal skills should have a positive and self-expression in work. Meanwhile, people are
interaction with administration and external extrinsically motivated when they work to obtain some
information. goal apart from work itself.

In the sales context, job tenure has been found to Intrinsic motivation comes out from an individual
impact on sales performance, particularly in terms of pleasure or interest in the task without seeking external
customer selling (O'hara et al., 2011). Since the study rewards. It rather necessitates the feeling of inner
participants in the work of Wu-Chen et al. (2011) were pleasure in the activity itself. Extrinsic motivation is
pharmaceutical sales representatives, job tenure refers the opposite of intrinsic motivation. It regards the
to the "experience" or the length of time the sales carrying out of action in order to achieve external
employee has at the current job in the current rewards. The source of extrinsic motivation is from the
organization, rather than job experience itself. physical environment. For example, bigger salary,
more job benefits, incentives, and job promotion are
The work of Barros et al. (2014) is consistent with Wu- some rewards that lead to extrinsic motivation. Reiss
chen et al. (2011) in suggesting that conscientiousness (2012) describes extrinsic motivation as money and
and general mental ability significantly predict job verbal reward, mediated outside of a person; whereas,
performance. In their study covering 156 sales intrinsic motivation comes from inside the person.
representatives in three large retail banks, they found
that the personality trait that is necessary of sales An intrinsically motivated person can do a task even if
people that predict good performance is there is no clear reward except for the feelings which
conscientiousness. originate from doing the task. Asim (2013) argues that
employees can either be intrinsically or extrinsically
In a similar study of pharmaceutical sales motivated or even both (Catalini, 2012). It is apparent
representatives, Freider et al. (2018) examined how that intrinsic and extrinsic motivators apply differently
and when salespeople’s job-relevant personality traits to persons. Locke and Vroom (2019) indicate that
relate to their performance. They found out that some employees concentrate on intrinsic outcomes
individuals with personality traits that fit outdoor sales while others are centered on extrinsic outcomes.
jobs are conscientious, extraversion, and openness to
experience. These individuals perceive their work as Motivation, no matter what the type, is crucial in sales.
more meaningful and as a result achieve heightened Neubert (2004) stated that studies of sales
performance. representatives had defined two aspects of
motivation—status striving and accomplishment
Motivation striving—and correlated with extraversion and
conscientiousness, respectively. These two subsets of
Motivation pertains to the process that accounts for an motivation lead to sales performance. However, the
individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of data imply that status striving leads to performance,
effort toward achieving a goal (Page, 2018). Tosi, and accomplishment striving leads to performance
Mero, and Rizzo (2011) argued that motivation has only indirectly via a relation between accomplishment
psychological and managerial meaning. The striving and status striving (Barrick, Stewart, &
psychological definition of motivation refers to an Piotrowski, 2002). However, this study focused on

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sales professionals, who are likely necessary to be Several factors can affect performance such as training
extraverted in order to succeed. This study does not and development opportunities, working conditions,
support a general model or theory associating the five- worker-employer relationship, job security, and
factor model with work success because extraversion company overall policies and procedures for rewarding
is such an important element of being a salesperson. employees (Hafiza et al., 2011). Among these factors,
the motivation that comes with rewards is of utmost
The importance of motivation is further highlighted in importance (Carraher, Gibbson & Buckley, 2016). The
the study of Story et al. (2009), who argued that reward factor is related to materials incentive, which is
individuals high in intrinsic motivation prefer one of the aspects of motivation that is measured.
challenging cognitive tasks and can self-regulate their
behaviors. Therefore, offering rewards, setting external A wide variety of methods are available for motivating
goals or deadlines will do little for them unless they staff. It ranges from recognizing employee's
are also high in extrinsic motivation. The same authors achievements by simply saying "thank you" to more
suggest that for employees high in intrinsic motivation, complex schemes that combine set targets with fixed
emphasis could be placed on the task's engaging nature rewards (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2014). Given this
and encouragement of self-set goals and deadlines. wide array of choices, the company should know what
motivates their employees. Employee motivation
Furnham et al. (2011) claimed that introverts are more remains one of the most sensitive subjects that
extrinsically motivated, and extraverts are more determine the level of input that employees will
intrinsically motivated. However, it does not seem that contribute in the organization to achieve good
persons are differently motivated, but intrinsic and performance. This means that intrinsic or extrinsic
extrinsic motivation also have an effect on each other motivation contributes to employee satisfaction and
(Story et al., 2009). thus enhances performance and productivity
(Bhattacharyya, 2017). As aptly expressed by Richard
Further, employee motivation has been established as a (2013), treating people right is not an option but a
major factor toward maximizing workers' performance necessity. This principle was emphasized by Dreher
and enhancing their productivity (Ekundayo, 2018). and Dougherty (2012), claiming that the way a
Thus, many organizations have examined this company manages its workforce determines its ability
construct relative to their employees' performance to establish and maintain a competitive advantage over
output (Mohamud, Ibrahim, Amp, & Hussein, 2017). other companies. In this study, the company's ability to
manage its workforce is an aspect of organizational
Moreover, employee motivation pertains to what orientation. It is one of the measures included in
drives an employee and enhances his productivity, determining the level of motivation of employees.
both internal and external, that can trigger his morale
and boost his output. The heterogeneity of human Villamor (2014) study on employee motivation in
needs has led to many factors being isolated as Montgomery Pacific Outsourcing Philippines Inc.
motivational. Some of the factors are inherent in the (MontPac) revealed that teamwork best motivates
person's personality, while others are external to the employees. The results established the need for
person. Whether these motivational factors are employees to bond. Moreover, it found out that the
intrinsic or extrinsic, the underlying fact remains that most effective way to fulfill this need is to create a
there is a basic need in the person that needs to be met. culture that harnesses teamwork, collaboration,
openness, and friendship. This aspect is considered
These needs drive the individual to seek some form of workgroup relations. In the current study, it is included
satisfaction. Thus, where there lies the propensity of as one of the dimensions measured in employee's
needs being met, the individual gets motivated to employee motivation.
achieve some basic goals. Employee motivation is one
aspect examined by managers to increase performance In Ontolan and Redondo's (2015) study of job
(Shadare et al., 2009). A motivated employee is motivation and achievement of organizational goals
responsive to achieving the goals and objectives of the revealed that employees are motivated when they are
organization. Thus, motivated employees contribute to recognized in the workplace, when they have career
the organization's success (Kalimullah et al., 2010). progression, and are rewarded for their achievement.
Because of this, organizations have been offering Employees are also motivated when the organization
various types of incentives for employees to become supports them in their professional development and,
motivated. finally, when they have flexible work arrangements.
Psychological work incentives are a type of

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motivational force. These include non-cash incentives, performance gauge the same dimension of
such as travel incentives, which particularly offer an performance. Organizational performance relies on a
exciting destination and unforgettable experience. The reliable efficient workforce, and maintaining that
uniqueness of non-cash incentives makes employees workforce at optimal levels is a top priority. Ensuring
feel particularly appreciated. A worker will most value that employees maintain this efficiency throughout
the reward that makes them feel most valued. their employment tenure is desirable, although
Therefore, incentives must take into account the things different organizations may use different managerial
that employees value and the things that make them styles across different companies. These organizations
feel appreciated. may have different mission and goals, which may
moderate the impact of performance through its pay
In another study, Goerge and Sabhapathy (2014) structure.
examined employee motivation and its relationship to
organizational culture. The results showed a positive In performance-based companies, the business
relationship between employee motivation and landscape's demanding and competitive nature
organizational culture. Further, teachers working in underscores the importance of ensuring high
organizations with high culture were found to be more performance through a careful and effective hiring
motivated. process (Schmidt & Hunter, 2014). An effective hiring
process is particularly imperative because it ensures
The aforementioned study is similar to the present that those individuals selected for employment are best
study in that both used Agarwal's (2012) instrument to suited for the specific organization and its leaders.
measure the employee motivation of respondents. In This ensures employee's individual growth and
addition, it also correlated employee motivation, albeit facilitates the organization's achievement of its goals.
with a different variable. This study correlated
employee motivation with organizational culture, Nevertheless, predicting performance—as hiring
while the present study correlated it with two other processes are meant to do—can be difficult because of
variables, personality traits, and performance. Because the wide variance in approaches for measuring and
of the complex nature of employee motivation, it has understanding this concept (Koopmans et al., 2011).
been examined in the context of its relationship with Given this variance, it is understood not as a single
and/or effect on other variables. unified construct but rather as an abstract and
multidimensional one, consisting of more than one
Performance kind of behavior (Campbell, 2012). This
multidimensional nature suggests that there are
Performance is measured by employees' perception of different performance standards for each job,
performance in achieving the organization's goals encompassing the full spectrum of expectations placed
(Lee, 2017). It depends on many factors like on employees based on their job position and
performance appraisals, employee satisfaction, description (Loi, Ngo, Zhang, & Lau, 2011).
compensation, employee motivation, training and
development, job security, and organizational In addition to its multidimensional nature,
structure, among others. Scholars suggest that performance can also be described at an individual or
performance is dependent on who is evaluating the task level (Ng & Feldman, 2014). Moreover, Campbell
performance rather than on whether performance is (2012) has identified specific dimensions that can be
evaluated by objectively verified measures (Connolly, used to evaluate performance, including task-specific
Conlon & Deutsch, 2012). Employee perceptions of and non-task-specific behaviors: written and oral
organizational performance, viewed as a "internal" communication, interpersonal assistance, effort,
constituency, provide important insight into how personal discipline, supervisory components, and
present employees—those tasked with carrying out managerial tasks.
tasks and programs for their organizations—perceived
changes in attaining their mission and goals (Lee, The study of Campbell is similar to this present study
2017). in that it defined performance as consisting of task-
specific and non-task specific behaviors. In the
There is a sufficient evidence that perceptual measures instrument that this study used to measure
are moderately or highly correlated with objective performance, it considered key performance indicators
measures of organizational performance (Boomer, and behavioral indicators, in which other elements of
Johnson, Rich, Podsakoff, & MacKenzie, 2015). The Campbells' dimension such as oral and written
correlation becomes higher if both measures of communication, effort, interpersonal assistance,

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personal discipline, components, and managerial tasks the organization (Battistelli et al., 2013). Personal
are subsumed. demographics such as age and tenure, in contrast, do
not affect employees' likelihood of engaging in
Further, in this present study, individual-based innovative behaviors (Ng & Feldman, 2013). Finally,
performance was rated, encompassing the dimensions career performance pertains to the effort employees
of task, organizational citizenship, innovation, and make to acquire the necessary skills and qualifications
career (Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2011). The task to progress professionally within the organization
component focused on meeting the key performance (Breevaart et al., 2015).
indicators of one's job description (Cohen-Charash &
Spector, 2011). Employees who are competent in their Career performance manifests by setting and pursuing
job deliver the expected quantity and quality of work career goals, engaging in skill development
output, perform accurately, and satisfy customers opportunities, making progress, and seeking
(John & Srivastava, 2011). professional growth opportunities (Shin, Taylor, &
Seo, 2012). According to Russell, Ferris, Thompson,
Although leaders and organizational culture play a role and Sikora (2016), opportunities for career
in the task performance of employees (Hamzah, advancement in an organization should be available to
Othman, Hashim, Rashid, & Besir, 2013), employee all employees. However, lack of organizational support
engagement is also a significant contributory factor and resources can be a barrier for many employees to
(Bothma & Roodt, 2012). Performance improves when
pursue career advancement (Ng & Feldman, 2014).
employees are more engaged in their work, which can However, it is employees' behaviors that remain the
manifest in self-leadership behaviors (Breevaart et al.,
most important determinant of career growth (Ng &
2015). The organizational citizenship dimension of
Feldman, 2014). Ng and Feldman (2014) have asserted
individual-based performance pertains to the
that career success is subjective and may be influenced
employee's initiative to perform tasks that are not
by different factors such as motivation and personality.
necessarily required (Breevaart, Bakker, Demerouti, &
Derks, 2015). All the factors mentioned in the preceding studies that
affect performance are the same components used in
Organizational citizenship behaviors are exhibited in
respondents' performance evaluation in this present
helping other employees, displaying courtesy, having a
study. As espoused by Campbell (2012), the task-
voice and initiative, and taking charge (Jiao, Richards,
based components reflected in the instrument are
& Hackett, 2013). These are extra-task behaviors that
termed key performance indicators: the achievement of
are not part of an employee's main job description
sales performance, program implementation, and reach
(Fox, Spector, Goh, Bruursema, & Kessler, 2012).
of sales, among others. Under organizational
According to Jiao et al. (2013), employees think that
citizenship behaviors as supported by Jiao, Richards,
organizational citizenship is part of their job when they
and Hackett (2013), the behavioral indicators are
are operationalized to help and have a voice in the
measured in the instrument with the following
organization.
components: advocacy, decision-making, resiliency,
In addition, employees' personal values and beliefs are quality of execution, relationship skill, among others.
significantly correlated with the organizational Moreover, performances are measured individually, as
citizenship behavior of helping peers, particularly advocated by Breevaart et al. (2015).
when compared to personality traits and job
satisfaction (Arthaud-Day, Rode, & Turnley, 2012). The Big Five Personality Traits and Performance
The innovation component of individual-based
performance pertains to the level of creativity Performance, as it relates to the Big Five, is a sensitive
employees display regarding their job (John & subject for many researchers (Judge & Zapata, 2015).
Srivastava, 2011). This performance aspect can This is because much of the research surrounding the
manifest by generating new ideas, being involved in Big Five's use has focused on personality preferences
implementing a new idea, searching for ways to and social interactions. However, the advent of readily
improve the organization, and developing strategies to available technology has helped spread the use of
improve routine and processes (Breevaart et al., 2015). inventories such as the Big Five beyond its regular
application.
Factors that include feedback from managers and
leaders, organizational inducement, and psychological Organizations use the Big Five to predict workplace
resilience have all been found to play a role in performance and goodness of fit (Cubel et al., 2016).
employees' engagement of innovative behaviors within

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Furthermore, the United States armed forces explored required them to interact with angry or unpleasant
the trait theory by examining emotional aptitude, people, the data predicted a strong relationship
which is very similar to the Big Five (McCrae & between the expressed trait and job performance.
Costa, 1997). Understanding the influence that the Big
Five has on work productivity is essential for the Similarly, when a person exhibits elevated levels of
following reasons. First, employers are interested in agreeableness, they negatively predicted performance
employing the best candidates they have access to, and in jobs that required attention to detail and critique
a personality inventory such as the Big Five is (Judge & Zapata, 2015). The findings suggested that
inexpensive to use; and second, organizational job performance strongly ties to personality more than
research indicates the importance of personality within previous literature suggested. As supported by the
an organization (Cubel et al., 2016). literature, the Big Five is a very strong indicator of job
performance and productivity (Ruiz et al., 2016).
To validate this claim, Cubel et al. (2016) recruited
359 university students to participate in an on-site As outlined by Judge and Zapata (2015), different
experiment that replicated the workplace environment. occupations correlate strongly with different prominent
Using a quantitative regression analysis, the authors personality traits. For example, high extraversion
concluded that neuroticism undermines performance, scores correlated strongly with public facing positions.
conscientiousness enhances work productivity, Meanwhile, more sedentary roles such as data entry
extraversion and agreeableness had no significant suited individuals with much lower extraversion scores
effect, and openness to experience had a very weak (Judge & Zapata, 2015). In both lab-based scenarios
and industry research, the Big Five has demonstrated
negative relationship on performance.
its ability to generate meaningful data for hiring
These results are consistent with 41 existing literature professionals in various industries (Cubel et al., 2016).
and bolster previous research claims that demonstrated
Specifically, Ruiz et al. (2016) determined personality
the Big Five as a reliable predictor of workplace
profile before offering a candidate a job may reduce
performance. Outside of the lab environment, Judge
turnover in the healthcare industry. Cubel et al. (2016)
and Zapata (2015) analyzed practical data to perform
suggested that specific instructor attitudes effectively
an in-depth examination of existing data about the Big
produce meaningful results from coworkers and
Five and workplace performance. Through the
students. Although the literature seems comprehensive,
compilation of 125 studies examining the Big Five in
there is still much to learn about the many potential
relation to task performance or overall job
applications of a tool with such strong predictive
performance, the results support previous existing
power (Cubel et al., 2016).
research spanning 50 years.
Personality and Motivation Interaction
Of the five personality traits, conscientiousness is the
strongest predictor of job performance (John & One study that established the interaction between
Srivastava, 2011). A high score of conscientiousness personality and motivation was the thesis by Parks and
has been shown to relate to high performance across Guay (2009) that looked at how personality might
all dimensions. The other traits have been shown to drive motivational processes. In this case, the
predict more specific aspects of job performance. For researchers took an orientation that one phenomenon
instance, agreeableness and neuroticism predict better drives the other. Some of the research in the literature
performance in jobs where teamwork is involved. review focused on the personality side of the
Individual proactivity, on the other hand, is adversely interaction or had a specific interest in the five-factor
associated to agreeableness. Individual proactivity is model (FFM).
positively connected to openness to experience,
whereas team efficiency is inversely related (Neal et In Olson and Weber (2014), the researchers
al., 2012). Extraversion is associated with leadership, investigated the relationship between the big five traits
as well as sales and managerial success (John & and motivation from the standpoint of the 16 Basic
Srivastava, 2011). Desires Model. Although not using the chosen
motivation model, this research revealed an excellent
In addition, Judge and Zapata (2015) found interesting example of how to study multi-trait personality versus
unintended results relating to agreeableness, multi-trait motivation. Another study by Paunonen and
conscientiousness, and job performance. For instance, Ashton (2011) again investigated the intersection of
when an individual exhibiting elevated levels of the two fields by looking at how the big five factors
conscientiousness and worked in a position that

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predicted behavior, which again helped to look at the are related in the workplace context (Furnham et al.,
possibility of personality driving motivation. 2011; Furnham et al., 2019).

In certain situations, the study was more focused, with Motivation and Performance
researchers examining how the five-factor model
influenced specific motives, such as the desire to play Motivation has been studied extensively, particularly
computer games (Shceck, Lee, & Pyo, 2015). In in relation to performance. Maslow's hierarchy of
another research, Judge et al. (2014) looked at the five- needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, and Vroom's
factor model and its intricate relationship with expectation theory were the most influential
employee motivation and behaviors, which was helpful motivational theories in the mid-twentieth century.
to show the importance of this work in an These studies looked at motivation in general and
organizational context. Finally, Sung and Choi (2009) employee motivation specifically. Different definitions
examined the big five factors on a specific aspect of of motivation have been proposed in previous years.
motivation and creativity. In all these studies, the five- Employee motivation, for example, is defined by
factor model or a similar model was shown to have Herzberg as executing a work-related action because
some level of connectivity to motivation. Similarly, the worker wants to. Employee motivation is typically
several research found specific relationships between divided into two categories: internal and extrinsic
personality traits and motivation assessments. motivation (Asim, 2013).

In Major, Turner, and Fletcher (2016) article, Asim indicates that one of the first efforts to make that
researchers discovered that motivation to learn related distinction was in Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory.
to proactive personality, to Extraversion (E), to However, the discourse on intrinsic and extrinsic
Openness (O), and to Conscientiousness (C). Judge motivation is more from the latter years (Asim, 2013).
and Ilies (2012) showed that there were multiple The work of Ramlall (2018) established that intrinsic
correlations with the Big Five factors. They also and extrinsic motivation could enhance performance.
showed personality related to three different Moreover, meta-analysis results revealed that extrinsic
performance motivation theories—expectancy, goal rewards correlate with a higher level of performance
and outcomes from employees seeking to obtain the
setting, and self-efficacy theories. In this case,
rewards. The studies revealed that material rewards
motivation is related to Neuroticism (N), Extraversion
were more effective in increasing performance, but
(E), and Conscientiousness (C). Other researchers
monetary offerings also positively affected
showed how each of the factors of personality related
performance (Catalini, 2012). While the relationship
to different aspects of a framework on motivational
between employee motivation and job performance
responses (Denissen & Penke, 2008), again showing
has been studied in the past, no high statistical
personality's potential to drive motivation.
relationship between the two were instituted.
Augustine, Hemenover, Larsen, and Shulman (2010) Notwithstanding, recent research resolved that
investigated personality from the standpoint of how it employee motivation and job performance are indeed
related to affective states. They found that mutually related.
Extraversion (E), Neuroticism (N), Conscientiousness
According to George and Sabhapathy (2014),
(C), and Agreeableness (A) are each related to an
motivation has an impact on employee outcomes; for
affective state that may be dependent on the interaction
example, motivated people are more oriented toward
of personality and motivation.
autonomy and self-driven than less motivated
employees.
Finally, the study of Frazer (2018) further established
the interaction between personality and motivation. In addition, motivated employees are highly engaged
The study revealed that those who are more agreeable and involved in their work and are more willing to take
and conscientious would be less likely to be responsibilities (Kuvaas & Dysvik, 2009).
competitive. Also, it appears that those who are more
extraverted will be more likely to be cooperative. In another study that investigated the relationship
Finally, it appears that those who show more openness between motivation and job performance of employees
to experience will be more likely to exhibit integrity of (Sirota et al., 2015), organizations implementing
self from a safety and security standpoint. These various motivation programs involving three constructs
results suggest that some personality factors are more as camaraderie, equity, and achievement were
likely to predict certain motivations in the workplace. considered more effective than organizations with no
This finding reinforces that personality and motivation or twice as many 'enthusiastic' employees.

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Moreover, a similar study was done to determine the equation modeling.

effect of employee motivation on performance. Results
revealed that if employees are more motivated, their Hart et al. (2007) also did a quantitative study that
performance increases (Asim, 2013). showed a relationship between the Big Five model and
a two-factor model of achievement motivation. Also,
Chowdhury (2007) examined the importance of Prabhu, Sutton, and Sauser (2008) made the link that
authoritarian and positive achievement motivation personality is related to intrinsic and extrinsic
behavior of the supervisors in enhancing salespeople's motivation related to achievement motivation, which is
motivation and performance. Survey data were related to creativity. Again, in a study by McCabe,
gathered from 105 sales employees in two retail Yperen, Elliot, and Verbraak (2013), the results
organizations. The findings indicated that to the extent showed a specific relationship between achievement
that supervisors engaged in positive motivational motivation and personality factors.
behaviors, salespersons' intrinsic motivations
increased, which, in turn, improved their performance. In this study, conscientiousness related to mastery
approach motivation, agreeableness related to mastery
Personality Traits, Motivation, and Performance and performance approach motivation, and neuroticism
related to avoidance and performance motivation. All
Studies on personality traits, motivation, and these studies came after and potentially could have
performance intersect. There are several studies where been predicted by the Taylor and Farquhar study that
personality traits and motivation produce a combined suggested that personality was related to achievement.
effect that influences performance. Other studies show With motivation represented by the Assessment of
the relationship of these three variables, while in Individual Motives-Questionnaire (AIM-Q), any
others, either personality traits or motivation singularly research on the AIM-Q and how it related specifically
affect performance. The following is a survey of the to personality was essential to this current study.
literature demonstrating the aforementioned
relationships. The Bernard (2010a) study was particularly important
for this study. It is the first and only study that looked
In a study by Wang and Erdheim (2017), the results at the AIM-Q and the five-factor model (FFM). It gave
suggested that extraversion and neuroticism are both an understanding of how fundamental motives might
related to goal orientation. Specifically looking at goal relate to the five dimensions of personality, but it did
orientation, researchers found that conscientiousness not use the latest personality inventories in its testing.
and goal orientation related to motivation to learn It was also done before the new formatting of the
(Colquitt & Simmering, 2014). Finally, Erez and fundamental motives into the three new categories.
Judge (2011) looked slightly more generally at However, it did give direction as to where new
motivation and personality and found a personality research such as this study could investigate the
structure based in self-evaluations related to intersection of personality and motivation.
motivation and performance.
Another study by Bernard (2013) examined the AIM-
The intention of both studies is the same: they both Q and personality. In this case, the author began to
wanted to know if personality traits and motivation redefine the framework of the fundamental motives.
affect performance. Another similarity is that Erez and He also looked at the importance of individual
Judge (2011) employed the Big Five Personality Test, differences and personality to evolutionary
which was also used in this study, to create a psychology. After the two studies above, Bernard
personality structure based on self-evaluation. (2014a, 2014b) rearranged the fundamental motives
into three new categories—competitive, cooperative,
Achievement motivation was also studied as it related and integrity of self. This new framework worked well
to personality. In the study "Personality and with other research into personality and motivation
Achievement Motivation," Bipp, Steinmayr, and that investigated motivation from the standpoint of
Spinath (2008) found that each of the five-factor achievement, power and affiliation (Engeser &
model (FFM) dimensions of personality related to Langens, 2010).
achievement motivation. They also posited that there
were biological and evolutionary reasons for this One interesting observation within the review of the
relationship. Diseth and Martinsen (2009) also studied literature into the intersection of personality and
achievement motivation and personality and found a motivation was the large amount of research that dealt
relationship by relating a personality model to the with academic motivation and the intersection with a
Achievement Motivation Scale by using structural

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five-factor model of personality. In the Chamorro- previous studies that shed light on the impact of
Premuzic and Furnham (2018) study, the authors personality and motivation, in combination, can also
showed a quantitative relationship between the five provide insight on its possible effect on performance.
dimensions of personality and academic motivation
and performance. Another focal point of the research into the intersection
of personality and motivation was how the intersection
Hazrati-Viari, Rad, and Torabi (2012) examined how related to the workplace. For example, Furnham et al.
the five factors of personality were correlated to (2012) investigated personality and employee
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as academic motivation. They investigated personality as measured
motivation. They found that intrinsic and extrinsic by the Eysenck Personality Profiler, while they
motivation were predicted by conscientiousness, and measured motivation using the work values inventory.
that openness predicted intrinsic motivation.
They discovered that between 20 and 30% of
Interestingly, they also found out that the effect of
performance variance may be attributed to personality
these two factors of personality on academic
factors. This finding is important in establishing the
performance was mediated by academic motivation.
link between personality and motivation in the
In a later study, Komarraju, Karau, and Schmeck workplace.
(2009) again found that these four personality factors
explained significant variance of intrinsic motivation, In later research, Furnham et al. (2009) looked at how
extrinsic motivation, and GPA. These studies showed much personality contributed to motivation and job
the quantitative relationship between personality and satisfaction. In this study, about 9 to 15% of the
motivation. In the study by Clark and Schroth (2010), variance of employee motivation was attributed to
the researchers found that all five personality factors personality factors. Also, Conscientiousness (C) was
had relationships with intrinsic motivation, extrinsic found to be a significant predictor of job satisfaction.
motivation and motivation. They interpreted their Templer (2012) confirmed these findings and extended
results to suggest that different students with different them to propose that Neuroticism (N), Extraversion
personalities had different motivations to pursue (E), Agreeableness (A), and Conscientiousness (C) all
degrees or academic goals. contribute to job satisfaction.

Other researchers have looked at whether personality Each of these articles provided additional information
and goal motivation could predict behavior such as on the intersection of personality and motivation in the
academic effort (Vasalampi et al., 2014). They found workplace, and all were important in advancing the
that there was a quantitative relationship which literature on the topic. Research into the intersection of
supported the concept that it was possible to predict personality and motivation also included research that
behavior on a more global scale. Finally, with all the was quite specific or applied. For example, Gohary and
studies mentioned above and other studies (Chamorro- Hanzaee (2014) used the five-factor model in their
Premuzic & Furnham, 2018), there were sufficient research to look at the specific field of shopping
studies to warrant a meta-analysis of personality and motivation. They found that conscientiousness,
academic performance. neuroticism, and openness were predictors of shopping
behavior. This study was also important as an example
McAbee and Oswald (2013) performed a meta-
of correlation analysis used to study personality and
analysis by looking at different ways of measuring the
motivation.
five factors of personality with relation to their ability
to predict GPA. They found that Conscientiousness
In the study by Sato et al. (2012), the authors studied
(C) was the only significant predictor of GPA
the relationship of the five-factor model of personality
performance over all types of personality
and motivation as it related to brain activity. They
measurement. All these academic performance studies
helped to show the usefulness of personality in this found correlations between neuroticism,
area of motivation. conscientiousness, and agreeableness and brain activity
depending on the motivational condition. These studies
In the present study, however, the intersection of suggested that research into the intersection of
personality and motivation was investigated as it personality and motivation is diverse and ongoing.
relates to performance, not academic performance, as
presented in many foregoing studies. However, it is
significant to note that performance, whether academic
or work-related, are both performance. Furthermore,

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called strata. In this study, the population is divided

Methodology
geographically. The NCR strata were considered and
participants were selected using universal sampling.
Method of Research
Description of Respondents
This descriptive correlational study examines the
relationship between employees' personality traits,
A total of 125 medical sales agents from the NCR
motivation, and performance. Corollary to this, it
responded to the survey. Females made up 56.8% of
likewise attempted to determine whether personality
the responses, while males made up 43.20 percent.
traits and employee motivation affects the performance
Their ages ranged from 20 to 41, with 4.80% between
of medical sales representative. The descriptive
the ages of 20 and 25, 47.80% between the ages of 26
correlational design of study described the variables
and 30, 36 percent between the ages of 31 and 35, 9.60
and the relationships that occur naturally between and
percent between the ages of 36 and 40, and 3%
among them.
between the ages of 41 and above.
Thus, in this study, the personality traits of respondents
In terms of marital status, 60% were single, 39.20%
were described as well as their level of employee
were married, and 0.80% was separated. Descriptive
motivation and level of performance. After each was
statistics of their demonstrated that 30.40% earn
described, relationships between and among the
20,000 and below, 56.80%, 21,000-30,000, 4.80%,
variables were examined. Aside from looking into the
31,000-40,000, further 4.80%, 41,000-50,000, and
relationships, this study further determined whether
3.20%, 51,000 and above. Meanwhile, at least 5.60%
personality traits and employee motivation predict
employees' performance. were employed in the company for less than a year,
43.20% for 1-3 years, 32.80% for 4-6 years, 8.80% for
According to a number of literature presented in this 7-9 years, and 9.60% for 10 years and above.
study, personality predicts employees’ performance.
The particular personality that predicts sales Research Instrument
performance is conscientiousness, extraversion, and
agreeableness (Barros et al., 2014; Chu-Chen et al., This study used three research instruments, each
2011). Moreover, motivation also predicts measuring the variable explored in this study. These
performance as established by Ramlall (2018) and are the Big Five Personality Test (Goldberg, 1992),
Bipp et al. (2008). Employee Motivation Questionnaire Agarwal (2012),
and the company’s Key Performance Indicators and
The researcher chose a quantitative method of analysis Performance Evaluation (Company’s HR).
because its purpose is to determine the relationship
among the variables of the study, which are Big-Five Personality Test
personality traits, motivation, and performance. The
type of research that seeks to establish relationships The Big Five Personality Test (Goldberg, 1992) is a
among variables is a correlational research, which is self-report inventory designed to measure the big five
under the quantitative design. Moreover, the nature of dimensions. It is a standardized test that consists of 50
the data gathered in this study were all numerical, items that asked how true the statements are about the
which requires a quantitative design. In addition, this rater. It is measured on a five-point scale where
study began with theories, which are deductive. It also 1=disagree, 2=slightly disagree, 3=neutral, 4=slightly
employs statistical treatment of the data, which are all agree, and 5=agree. It takes most people 3-8 minutes
characteristics of quantitative design. Thus, the most to complete. The big five factors are openness,
appropriate design of this study is quantitative, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and
particularly, correlation. neuroticism. The instrument has been tested for
reliability, with each domain posting a Chronbach’s
Population, Sample Size, and Sampling Technique. alpha not lower than .79, and an overall alpha of .84,
The pharmaceutical company employed a total which reveals that items exhibit internal consistency.
workforce of 550. At least 80% of the employees were
medical sales representatives, and 20% were office- Work Motivation Questionnaire – A
based. The National Capital Region (NCR) has the
largest concentration of sales representatives. For this The second instrument (See Appendix 4) used in this
reason, the researcher selected 125 medical sales study is entitled Work Motivation Questionnaire
representatives in the NCR using stratified sampling. (WMQ) by Agarwal (2012). It measures the level of

Stratified sampling divides the population into groups

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employee motivation and satisfaction of employees in assured of the confidentiality of the information they
an organization. It consists of 26 items grouped into provided, and that anonymity of the participants would
six motivational factors, namely: I. dependence, II. be observed. Participants submitted the Google forms
organizational orientation, III. work group relations, online, which were downloaded from the Google
IV. psychological incentives, V. material incentives Sheets for analysis.
and VI. job situations. The items are rated based on a
five-point Likert scale with 1=low, 2=below average, Statistical Treatment of Data
3=average, 4=above average, and 5=high. The
instrument has high internal consistency as determined The gathered data were downloaded from Google
by the Split-half method. The reliability co-efficient by Sheets and saved as Excel files. Data from the other
Spearman Brown formula was .994, which is two instruments were encoded in one Excel sheet in
significant at .01 level of significance. preparation for statistical analysis using SPSS version
23.
Performance Appraisal Form of the Company GPPI
In analyzing research question 1, How may the
The company has a unique performance appraisal personality traits of the respondents be described in
rating specifically intended for the sales representative terms of openness to experience, conscientiousness,
workforce. The instrument consists of two parts. Part 1 extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism,
covered the profile indicators such as name, job title, descriptive statistics such as mean and standard
years in service, location, division/department, and deviation was used.
appraiser name. The immediate supervisors serve as
the rate of employees under them. The same statistical treatment, mean and standard
deviation, was used in answering research question 2,
Part 2 is the evaluation per se. It was divided into two What is the level of employee motivation of the
areas: Key performance indicators (KPI) and respondents in terms of dependence; organizational
behavioral indicators. The KPI measures the ability of orientation, work group relations, psychological work
the employee to achieve the company's performance incentives, materials incentives, and job-situation.
goals. For example, hitting the sales target for the
period, attaining the required percentage of sales For research question 3, how may the level of
marketing initiatives, achieving learning and performance of medical sales representatives be
development goals. On the other hand, behavioral described in terms of key performance indicators and
indicators comprise relationship skills, behavior and behavioral indicators, descriptive statistics were like
actions that affect results, and resilience to challenges, used, specifically mean and standard deviation.
among others.
In order to determine if there is a significant
Data-Gathering Procedure relationship between personality traits, employee
motivation, and performance of the respondents,
A letter of permission to conduct the study among Pearson r correlation was used.
company employees was secured from the Office of
Meanwhile, in order to find out if personality traits and
Human Resource Manager. Then, a separate letter was
motivation predict performance, multiple regression
given to the respected managers in the selected
was used. This statistical treatment is appropriate to
districts in NCR. When the requests from both offices
use when there is more than one predictor variable. In
were granted, the researcher asked the Human
this study, personality traits and motivations were used
Resource Department for the list of medical sales
as predictor variables. These two predictor variables
representatives in the NCR. Systematic sampling was
predict performance. All analyses used the Statistical
then conducted such that every 4th of the names on the
Package for the Social Sciences version 23.
Excel file list was chosen as a participant. When the
respondents were identified using the sampling
technique, their email addresses were secured from the
HRD, and links to the questionnaires were sent to their
Result and Discussion
personal emails.
This research explored the relationship between
A cover letter discussing the purpose of the study was
employees' personality traits, motivation, and
sent together with the link, along with consent forms
that they signed. In the cover letter, participants were

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performance. It likewise determined whether level of agreeableness, company employees exhibit a

personality traits and motivation affect performance. healthy balance of this trait, meaning they play it safe
Pearson r correlation was used to determine the in terms of establishing relationships with others.
potential relationship between the variables.
Meanwhile, multiple regression was utilized to Agreeableness is one of the traits seen by many as
determine the effect of personality traits and "niche" predictors related to specific organizational
motivation on the performance of respondents. outcomes. For example, agreeableness has been found
to be the number one predictor of team processes
Table 1 presents the answer to research question 1 on (Barrick et al., 2001). The company’s medical sales
the description of personality traits of the respondents representatives usually work in a team. Having an
in terms of the Big Five Personality Traits. average level of agreeableness could therefore bode
well to the overall goal of the company.
Table 1
Personality Traits of Respondents Based on the Big The next highest mean is exhibited by
Five conscientiousness, with a mean of 3.13 (SD=1.28),
interpreted as average. Conscientiousness refers to
people's ability to control their impulses in order to
focus on goal-directed behaviors (Grohol, 2019).
Conscientiousness measures a person's control,
inhibition, and persistency of behavior. People who are
high on conscientiousness are organized, disciplined,
thoughtful, detail-oriented, and careful. Those who
exhibit low scores on conscientiousness may struggle
with controlling their temper, leading to difficulty in
completing tasks and fulfilling goals. They are thought
to be disorganized and despise structured
environments. They may also be more impulsive and
careless in their actions.

According to Shanks (2016), conscientiousness was

Table 1 describes the personality traits of respondents the trait with the highest correlation to sales
based on the Big Five. As shown, agreeableness got performance. Conscientious individuals are
the highest mean of (SD=1.23), interpreted as average. responsible, organized, achievement-driven, and work
Agreeableness refers to how people treat others. It hard. They respect leadership and pride themselves in
focuses on people's orientation and interactions with a job well done. However, the medical sales
others (Ackerman, 2017). It refers to an individual's representatives surveyed in the study manifested an
tendency toward being friendly and compassionate as average level of conscientiousness. People who are
opposed to analytical and detached (Costa & McCrae, average on conscientiousness have a normal level of
2006). need for achievement. They are able to set work aside
in pursuit of pleasure or recreation. They are
Those high in agreeableness tend to be compassionate, moderately well organized and fairly reliable, and have
trusting, and well-liked. They are sensitive to the needs an average amount of self-discipline. This means that
of others and are cooperative and helpful. On the other
medical sales representatives exhibit these
hand, those low in agreeableness may be perceived as characteristics. Having average to high levels of
manipulative, suspicious, and uncooperative. They conscientiousness is important because studies indicate
may be hostile and unfriendly when interacting with that the trait predicts work outcomes.
others, making them less likely to be well-liked and
trusted. Within workplace domains, of the five main
personality factors, conscientiousness is the most
People who score average on agreeableness are as consistent, significant predictor of workplace
good-natured as the average person. They can be performance (Barrick & Mount, 2011). Meta-analyses
sympathetic, but can also be firm. They are trusting but
conducted by Hurtz and Donovan (2000) and Barrick
not gullible, and ready to compete as well as to et al. (2001) have demonstrated that conscientiousness
cooperate with others. Having exhibited an average predicts overall job performance (Hough & Oswald,
2008). It also predicts valued workplace behaviors,

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such as leadership (Judge et al., 2012), as well as find it difficult to think creatively or abstractly.
undesirable behaviors such as procrastination (Judge
and Ilies, 2012). Because medical sales representatives The participants gained an average level of openness
display an average level of conscientiousness, their to experience which means that they are on either side
performance could likely be less impacted than when of the extremes. People who score average on
they exhibited a high level of conscientiousness. openness value both the new and the familiar, and
have an average degree of sensitivity to inner feelings.
Extraversion came in third with a mean of 3.06 They are willing to consider new ideas on occasion,
(SD=1.03), interpreted as average. This trait reflects but they do not seek out novelty for its own sake. This
the tendency and intensity to which someone seeks means that company employees exhibit these
interaction with their environment, particularly characteristics, having average level of openness.
socially. Those high on extraversion are generally fun-
loving, assertive, sociable, and outgoing. They enjoy It is worthy to note that medical sales representatives
social situations and feel comfortable voicing their require average to high level of openness in order to
opinions. On the other hand, those who are low in succeed in such a highly volatile and fast-paced
extraversion are regarded as introverts. market. They should be imaginative and creative in
order to close a deal. Because the market is highly
Company employees, having level of average on fluid, they should always think outside the box. Barrick
extraversion, means that they are neither a loner or a and Mount (1991) discovered that openness was
chatter. They enjoy time along as well as time with positively related to performance for managers and
other people. Extraversion had the second highest negatively related to performance for professionals. It
correlation with sales performance (Shanks, 2016). It is not correlated, however, with sales performance
has been positively correlated with occupations that (Shanks, 2016).
require social interactions (Barrick & Mount, 2011)
and leadership abilities. Extraverts seek social The personality trait that got the lowest mean was
relationships with co-workers, which results in neuroticism, with a mean score of 2.58 (SD=1.08),
improved performance (Mkoji & Sikalieh, 2012). interpreted as average. Neuroticism refers to the
overall emotional stability of an individual through
This is in line with the extraverted personality that how they perceive the world. It describes how a person
salespeople are expected to have. Salespeople spend interprets events as either threatening or difficult. It
the majority of their time talking to people, socializing, also includes one's disposition to experience negative
marketing their products, receiving and sending calls, emotions. Those who score high on neuroticism are
and performing a variety of other jobs that need anxious, insecure, and engage in self-pity. They are
interaction with others. Negotiation and persuasion often perceived as moody and irritable. They are prone
abilities are required. However, the result reveals that to excessive sadness and low self-esteem. Those who
medical sales representatives are neither extrovert nor score low on neuroticism are more likely to be calm,
introvert, having posted only an average level of secure, and self-satisfied. They have high self-esteem
extraversion. For salespeople, this should have been and remain resilient despite challenges.
average to high to influence performance.
Nevertheless, this valuable trait is not evident in the The company salespeople are in the middle of the
respondents, as exemplified in their mean score. spectrum. This means that they are average in terms of
emotional stability. They experience a normal amount
Meanwhile, openness registered a mean of 2.94 of psychological distress and have a typical balance of
(SD=1.26), interpreted as average. Openness to satisfactions and dissatisfactions with life. They are
experience refers to one's willingness to try new things neither high nor low on self-esteem. Their ability to
and engage in imaginative and intellectual activities. It deal with stress is as good as the average person’s.
includes the ability to "think outside of the box." Those
who are high on openness to experience are creative For salespeople, this means that the respondents may
and artistic. They are curious about their surroundings be described as resilient and find it easy to keep calm
and enjoy traveling and learning new things. They under stress. This personality trait showed a positive
prefer variety and value independence. People who relationship with sales performance. However, the
score low on openness to experience prefer routine. relationship was not strong enough to be statistically
They are uncomfortable with change and trying new significant. This demonstrates that although emotional
things so they prefer the familiar over the unknown. As stability is a positive trait for sales, salespeople are not
they are practical people, they often dependent on this particular trait to be successful at

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their jobs (Shanks, 2016). from his work, the extent he feels he is responsible for
the work, the extent he feels free to plan his own work,
Table 2 shows the level of motivation of the and the extent to which he feels he is doing useful
respondents in terms of dependence, organizational work. The result suggests that medical sales
orientation, work group relations, psychological work representatives have high satisfaction in terms of the
incentives, materials incentives, and job-situation. recognition they get from their work, which is a type
of extrinsic motivation. The company annually offers
Table 2 annual awards, namely: Ytd Sales Excellence Award,
Level of Motivation of the Respondents Service Award, Early Bird Sales Excellence Award,
Company Joseph Award, and Professional Medical
Representative (PMR) of the Year, to employees who
perform well, excel, and hit their sales target. This
result is similar to the findings of Catalini (2012) who
said that when employees feel satisfied with their work
and believe they are valued members of the
organization; they have an increase in motivation. In
addition, several research articles showed that praise
and recognition have a greater positive effect on
raising employee satisfaction and increasing
motivation than monetary rewards can provide
(Luthens, 2010).

Organizational orientation received the third highest

mean of 4.18 (SD=.03), interpreted as above average.
Table 2 presents the level of employee motivation of It is defined as an individual's predisposition toward
the respondents based on the Employee Motivation work, motivation to work, job satisfaction, and ways
Questionnaire by Agarwal (2012). As shown, job of dealing with peers, subordinates, and supervisors on
situation received the highest mean of 4.37 (SD=.03), the job (Papa 2008). In this study, items like “To what
interpreted as high. Job situation refers to how people extent the people who make decisions are aware of
work in the organization, the extent to which an problems at a lower level in this organization,” “Do
employee is given a chance to use his abilities in which you agree that the work assignments are well planned
he is best at, and the extent to which the performance in this organization,” and “If you had a chance to do
of a job leads to professional growth. This means that the same kind of work for the same pay in another
medical sales representatives are highly motivated in organization, would you stay here,” are clearly related
terms of their job situation; thus, they tend to work with organizational orientation.
hard due to the various affordances provided to them
by the company. Company employees are given The above average result suggests that medical sales
regular trainings, and material and non-material representatives have an above average motivation
incentives so that they can achieve sales target and when it comes to the dealings they have with their
thereby realize company goals. peers, subordinates, and supervisors on the job. More
than half (56.80%) of the 125 medical sales
The task itself, recognition, possibilities for promotion, representatives surveyed earn within the range of
money, benefits, and relationships with others at work, 21,000 to 30,000. Majority are single, below 30 years
according to Robbins and Judge (2011), comprise a old, and have been in the company for three years or
number of approaches to extrinsically and intrinsically less. This could be the reason why their attitude toward
motivate people. Furthermore, reward systems work, motivation, job satisfaction, and relationships
encourage employees to feel good about themselves with peers and supervisors are at an above average
and their work, which motivates them to perform even level.
better (Catalini, 2012).
Inceoglu, Segers, and Bartram (2012) revealed that age
Psychological employee motivation posted the next and motivation have a relationship. They further
highest mean of 4.26 (SD=.64), interpreted as high. claimed that older workers were less likely to be
Psychological work incentives refer to the satisfaction motivated by job features that require a high level of
that an employee feels with the recognition that he gets personal resource such as working under pressure, long
working hours, challenging targets, competition

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and having to cope with multiple demands. Since changed depending upon an employee’s relationship
majority of the medical sales representatives were with the superior or even with the group members.
relatively young and almost in the entry level of their
career, they are more motivated, can work under Various opportunities are provided to medical sales
pressure, can stay for long working hours, meet representatives to get to know each other and work
challenging targets and are open to competition as well comfortably with each other. This is done through
as to high demands. Thus, they posted an above monthly team meetings, business reviews, and national
average level for organizational orientation. conferences. Moreover, the company encourages a
family culture where a subordinate can approach a
Meanwhile, material incentives gained a mean of 4.15 superior and talk to him about his personal problems.
(SD=.77), interpreted as above average. These aspects This is practiced so that a culture of trust and openness
refer to tangible rewards, often monetary such as could be enhanced as employees can better understand
wages, fringe benefits, patronage (Al-Qudah, 2016). where each one is coming from and could better
This means that the respondents have above average handle situations that may arise in the near future.
level of motivation in terms of the material incentives
they are receiving from the company. Company According to Hodson (2019), when a company wants
employees are motivated because of the materials to develop its organization and foster high-
incentives they receive from the company. Among the performance, it should establish an atmosphere that
materials incentives that the company provides its values employees' input, shares their values and
employees are a per diem allowance, free car which ambitions, and looks out for their best interests. As a
will be owned by the employee after five years, free result, creating a family culture will assist their
gas, and a sales bonus of 33,000 when 100% of the organization on all levels. This is the goal of the
sales target is hit. organization, to foster a sense of family via shared
values, goals, mission, and vision.
The above average level of motivation shown by
employees are supported by the findings of Catalini Lastly, dependence got the lowest mean of 3.33
(2012) that extrinsic rewards correlated with a higher (SD=.05), interpreted as average. Dependence
level of performance and outcomes from employees addresses the statements, “How often does your
seeking to obtain the rewards. Further, she revealed immediate superior appreciate or encourage you,”
that material rewards were more effective in increasing “How often does your immediate superior harass you
performance, but monetary offerings also had a or ask for your explanation,” “To what extend do you
positive effect and increase in performance. feel the immediate superior would be willing to go out
of the way to help you if you ask for it,” among others.
In terms of work group relations, the domain got a
mean of 3.81 (SD=.88), interpreted as above average. Dependence is a psychological process, not the
Work group relations answer the questions, “How do physical process. Role incumbents in the social system
you like the kind of work you do in your organization,” seem to depend very much on immediate superior for
“To what extent do you have confidence and trust in their jobs. They also depend on others for cooperation,
the people in your work group,” “To what extent do recognition and, perhaps, trust. This factor can be
people in your work group show you how to improve named supervision, but dependence appears to be
your performance,” and “How free do you feel to much true than mere supervision (Agarwal, 2012).
discuss your personal problems with your immediate Supervision may not really help role performance, but
superior?” It is concerned with the relationship of the in sales, supervisors and team leaders must be
employee with his work, with the people in the depended on everyone else so that the whole team can
organization, and with his superiors. achieve individual, district, and company targets.
Dependence, therefore, has to be prominent and hence
Medical sales representatives have above average level a dominant factor in role performance. Satisfaction
of motivation in terms of group work relations. This with dependence thus becomes a motivation to work.
means that they are motivated to work because of good
relations with team members. It also means that sales This result suggests that medical sales representatives
representatives can work well with their teams and are have average level of motivation in terms of
motivated to achieve their team goals. Group relations dependence. As experienced by the researcher, each
is important since it determines the kind of work one medical sales representative does not have to regularly
has to do. It should be noted that work assignments are report to their district sales manager. Because the
atmosphere is lax, there is no strict monitoring of staff.

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If any party has a concern, they communicate either As shown, key performance indicators (KPI) posted a
through call, text, or email. If reports are needed, then mean of 3.23 (SD=.44), interpreted as performing. KPI
the district manager can contact the sales person under is a measurable value that demonstrates how
him and request for it. However, reporting is not effectively a company is achieving key business
necessarily daily. Thus, dependence is not very much objectives. Organizations use KPIs at multiple levels
exemplified in the relationship. to evaluate their success at reaching targets. High-level
KPIs may focus on the business's overall performance,
In a study conducted by Sarniola (2015) where he while low-level KPIs may focus on processes in
investigated how managers influenced the way their
departments such as sales, marketing, HR, support,
workers used and developed their skills, it was
and others (Hussein, 2016).
revealed that employees’ dependence on their
superiors could boost their cooperation practices. The result indicates that medical sales representatives
Furthermore, employees' reliance on supervisors
are performing, which means they have achieved 96%-
encouraged them to collaborate both within and
105% of expectations for performance goal. According
outside their teams. Employees had just an average
to Lee (2017), performance is measured by the
level of motivation in terms of dependence due to their
employees' ability to achieve organizational goals
lack of reliance on their superiors.
(Lee, 2017).
The overall level of motivation posted a mean of 4.02
In terms of the behavioral aspect of performance,
(SD=.04), interpreted as above average. Taking all the
respondents registered a mean of 2.91 (SD=.57),
dimensions together, Gets Pharma medical sales
interpreted as performing. According to Campbell
representatives may be described as having above
(1990), behavioral indicators encompass an
average level of motivation.
employee's written and oral communication, effort,
Table 3 indicates the level of performance of the personal discipline, interpersonal assistance,
medical sales representatives in terms of the key supervisory components, and managerial tasks. Thus,
performance indicator and behavioral indicators. the result suggests that employees have achieved
96%-105% of expectations for behavioral competency.
Table 3
Level of Performance of Respondents The overall mean for performance posted 3.07
(SD=.50), interpreted as performing. This means that
medical sales representatives have achieved
96%-105% of expectations for both performance goal
and behavioral competency. The result is supported by
the findings of Welbourne et al. (2005) that employees
who are competent in their job deliver the expected
quantity and quality of work output, perform
accurately, and satisfy customers.

In the company, the result of the evaluation

performance would determine the merit increase of
employees. Thus, a high score would mean a high
salary increase, while a low score would mean low
salary increase. As a result, performance review also
functions as an external motivator for employees, as
the result would be a pay raise.
Table 3 presents respondents' level of performance
Table 4 answers research question number 4, which
based on two domains: key performance indicators and
asks if there is a significant relationship between
behavioral indicators. According to Sonentag and
personality traits, employee motivation, and
Frese (2005), "Performance comprises both a
performance of the respondents.
behavi or al and an outcom e aspect. It is a
multidimensional and dynamic concept" (p. 2). Thus,
in measuring performance, the company assessed these
two aspects.

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Table 4 conscientiousness (M=3.13, SD=1.28), and

Relationship Between Personality Traits, Motivation, extraversion (M=3.06, SD=1.03).
and Performance of the Respondents
Agreeableness and extraversion are traits seen by many
as "niche" predictors related to certain organizational
outcomes. For example, agreeableness has been found
to be the number one predictor of team processes
(Barrick et al., 2011). McCabe, Yperen, Elliot, and
Verbraak (2013) likewise found that agreeableness has
a specific relationship with motivation and
performance. The result, however, is contrary to the
findings of Cubel et al. (2016) which concluded that
extraversion and agreeableness had no significant
effect on performance. However, it is consistent with
the result of this study that conscientiousness enhances
Table 4 shows the relationship between personality
work productivity.
traits, motivation, and performance of the respondents.
To determine whether there is a relationship between In addit i on, S hanks (2016) cl ai med that
the three variables, correlation using Pearson r was conscientiousness was the trait with the highest
computed. Results show that there is a relationship correlation to sales performance. Within workplace
between motivation and performance (r=.335, p<.05). domains, conscientiousness is the personality trait that
Thus, the null hypothesis stating that there is no has been shown to be the most consistent, significant
relationship between motivation and performance is predictor of workplace performance (Dudley et al.,
rejected. The strength of relationship, however, is 2016). Meta-analyses conducted by Hurtz and
weak. This indicates that medical sales representatives Donovan (2010) and Barrick et al. (2011) have
who have a high level of motivation also have a high demonstrated that measures of conscientiousness
level of performance. predict overall job performance (Hough & Oswald,
2008), including the prediction of valued workplace
The result is consistent with the findings of Asim
behaviors, such as leadership (Judge et al., 2012).
(2013), which revealed that employee motivation
predicted performance. He further extrapolated that if Neubert (2004) stated that studies of sales
employees are more motivated, then their performance representatives have defined two aspects of
increases. Still, Chowdhury (2007) found out that motivation--status striving and accomplishment
supervisors' motivation enhances salespeople's striving--and they are correlated with extraversion and
motivation and performance. The findings indicated conscientiousness, respectively. These two subsets of
that supervisors who engaged in positive motivational motivation lead to sales performance (Barrick et al.,
behaviors increase their salespersons' intrinsic 2012). However, this study investigated sales
motivations which, in turn, increased their
representatives who are likely required to be
performance. Medical sales representatives are under
extraverted to succeed at their job.
district supervisors, regional supervisors, and national
managers. The motivation exercised by these leaders Lastly, the result showed that motivation and
on their employees likewise affects their intrinsic personality traits are not related (r=.061, p=.50).
motivation, which translates into increased Therefore, the null hypothesis stating that there is no
performance. relationship between motivation and personality is
rejected. This result is not consistent with Neubert's
Meanwhile, this study also found out that there is a
(2004) findings, which revealed that certain aspects of
relationship between personality traits and
motivation are correlated with extraversion and
performance. The result indicates that personality trait
conscientiousness. Likewise, the result is contrary to
is positively related to performance (r=.350, p<.01);
the findings of Erez and Judge (2001) who investigated
thus, the null hypothesis stating that there is no
motivation and personality, and found that personality
relationship between personality traits and
is related to motivation and performance.
performance is rejected. However, the relationship is
weak. This means that the higher the level of
Table 5 shows the result of the multiple regression test
personality trait one exhibits, the higher the
to test if personality traits and employee motivation
performance. It should be noted that of the big five
predict performance of the respondents.
personality traits, respondents got the top three highest
means for agreeableness (M=3.16, SD=1.23),

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Table 5 working. These are referred to as the work motivators

Personality Traits and Motivation Affect Performance in an organizational environment. Job situation is a
significant predictor of performance because
employees who are provided opportunities for growth
and career development such as training, support, and
organizational assistance help them achieve their
targets and contribute to their loyalty to the company.

The result illustrates that medical sales representatives

who have a high level of motivation in their job
situation also have high levels of performance
compared to those who have a low motivation in the
particular domain. Aside from these two motivation
constructs, all other domains are not significant
predictors of performance.

This result jibes with the descriptive result in Table 3

in which job situation received the highest mean of
4.37 (SD=.03), interpreted as high. Medical sales
Table 5 determines whether personality traits and representatives are described to have a high level of
motivation predict performance. A multiple linear motivation in their job situation because of the
regression analysis was performed to determine company's various affordances, which in turn, predict
whether employee motivation and personality traits their job performance.
predict performance. Result revealed that the model
for employee motivation is significant, R2 = .112,
Adjusted R2 = .067, F(6, 118) = 2.490, p<.05
Conclusions
Specifically, materials incentives are a significant
predictor of performance, B = 0.07, std error = 0.032, t The results are reviewed from two different
perspectives. The first perspective examined the results
= 2.29, p<.05, which indicates that respondents who
from the general standpoint of how the results relate to
have a high level of motivation in terms of materials
the previous literature in the field and how the results
incentives perform better in their jobs than those who
can be applied generally to the wider field of interest.
have a low level of motivation.
The second perspective is to interpret the results in
In Table 2, material incentives gained a mean of 4.15 detail to understand their meaning relative to what was
(SD=.77), interpreted as above average. This means expected and potential reasons for the actual results.
that the respondents have above average level of
1. The per sonal it y traits of medi cal sales
motivation in terms of the material incentives they are
representatives that predicted performance are
receiving from the company. Among the materials
agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion.
incentives that the company provides its employees are
Conscientiousness and extraversion are two of the
a per diem allowance, a car plan which the employee
most important traits to look for in hiring salespeople.
will own after five years, free gas, and a sales bonus of
33,000 when 100% of the sales target is hit.
2. Sales representatives’ level of motivation were
generally described as above average. However, they
This result is supported by the findings of Catalini
had high motivation in terms of job situation and
(2012), which revealed that material incentives
psychological work incentives. They have above
correlate with a higher level of performance and
average on organizational orientation, materials
outcomes from employees seeking to obtain the
incentives, and workgroup relations, while they have
rewards. Further, she said that material rewards were
average motivation on dependence.
more effective in increasing performance.
3. Medical sales representatives demonstrated that they
Likewise, job situation is a significant predictor of
had met 96 percent to 105 percent of their performance
performance, B = -.18, std error = 0.057, t = -3.24,
p<.05. In this study, job situation refers to the chance
to learn, chance to use abilities and general pattern of

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goals, including both key performance indicators and 2. Pharmaceutical firms, like any other organization,
behavioral indicators. should improve their employees' working conditions
by giving work incentives, training, assistance, and
4. There was a statistical relationship between other monetary and non-monetary incentives to keep
personality and performance, and motivation and employees' motivation high. Employees will perform
performance. This supports the literature reviewed well as long as they are motivated. As a result, it is
suggesting that personality and motivation interact to recommended that sales businesses offer the highest
affect job performance. The result is supported by remuneration package to employees and reward strong
various studies that revealed that if employees are performers in order to keep them motivated.
more motivated, then their performance increases.
Still, other studies also reinforce the result of the 3. To give a more accurate and true measure of a
present study that the motivation behavior of the medical sales representative's performance, HR and
supervisors enhances salespeople's motivation and other sales businesses adopt several forms of ratings
performance. As supported by the literature, the Big such as self-rating, peer rating, and supervisor's rating
on an individual during performance evaluation. This
Five is a very strong indicator of job performance and
will rule out favoritism and other forms of bias in
productivity.
performance evaluation.
5. Motivation and personality traits predicted
4. HR to place employees in appropriate positions that
performance. Aspects of motivation such as material
fit their personality and the type of work they
incentives and job situation predicted performance.
undertake in order to maintain their motivation and
This result is supported by other findings which
performance. This is because there is a link between
revealed that material incentives correlate with a
personality and performance, as well as motivation and
higher level of performance and outcomes from performance, according to this study. As employees
employees seeking to obtain the rewards. Further, mature and stay with the organization, career pathing
material rewards were more effective in increasing should be done to survey their personalities and job or
performance. Moreover, other researchers have position choices.
asserted that performance may be influenced by
motivation and personality. 5. Sales organizations and HR employees should
incorporate a personality test in the hiring process and
6.There was always room for improvement no matter hire only those who fit the desired personality and
how good employees’ performance are. As a result, have the best chance of succeeding. This will ensure
general improvement plans have been offered to that the company meets its sales targets and prevent
narrow performance gaps or boost the company's sales employee turnover. Furthermore, because motivation
representatives' performance and motivation. predicts performance, the company and HR should
assess incentive plans supplied to employees and make
them comparable to those offered by other
Recommendations pharmaceutical or sales organizations in order to keep
people motivated.
Based on the findings of this study, several
recommendations are made across four different areas. 6. HR may examine and study the proposed general
improvement for implementation. This will navigate in
1. HR and industrial psychologists consider maintaining high levels of motivation and performance
administering a personality test to medical sales by ensuring that people are performing at their best
representative applicants so that their personalities can and continuing to challenge them.
be matched to the needs and demands of the sales job
and companies can achieve the best possible results 7. Other recommendations for future researchers
from their sales representatives. Applicants with high include considering a different research design in
levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and conducting a similar study. This study’s research is
extraversion are projected to perform well in sales. As quantitative. Therefore, it is recommended that future
researchers who might want to conduct a similar study
a result, the two most crucial characteristics to look for
may use qualitative methods to provide a more
when employing salesmen are conscientiousness and
comprehensive and in-depth analysis of these
extraversion.
relationships. This will ensure understanding and
further exploration of the relationships between and
among the three variables of the study.

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