Definition of Biographical Characteristics
Personal characteristics – such as age, gender, race and length of tenure – that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records.
In other ways biographical characteristics are personalities or characters that influence a person. These characters normally affect a person in one way or the other within an organization or within the society.
Biography: A biography or simply bio is a detailed description or account of a person’s life.
Age:
Older workers are less likely to resign. The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of increasing importance during the next decade. Why? It is widespread that the job performance declines with the increase in age.
What is the perception of older workers? The positive qualities an older worker possesses are experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality. But older workers are also perceived to be lacking flexibility and being resistant to new technology. At a time when organizations actively seek individuals who are adaptable and open to change, such an attitude would clearly hinder the initial hiring of older workers and increase the likelihood that they will be asked to leave during cutbacks.
Gender:
Women have higher rates of absence. The question is whether women perform jobs as well as men do? There are, for instance, no consistent male-female differences in problem ability, analytical skills, competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning ability. Men are perhaps more aggressive.
Productivity: There are few, if any, important differences between men and women that will affect their job performance.
Absence: The research on absence, however consistently indicates that women have higher rates of absenteeism than men do.
Turnover: Research indicates that women quit rates are similar to those of men.
Race:
Individual favor race which affect employment decision. It is competition with others to see who is fastest at covering a set courses or achieving objective.
In employment settings, there is a tendency for individuals to favor colleague of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decision and salary rises.
Tenure:
The length of time in a person’s current employment.
Tenure is the act or length of time that something is held or the achieved status of having one’s employment position become permanent.
Negatively related to turnover, positively related to satisfaction.
Productivity: Extensive reviews of the seniority – job productivity relationship demonstrate a positive relationship between seniority and job productivity.
Absence: Studies consistently demonstrate seniority to be negatively related to absenteeism. Turnover: Studies demonstrate seniority to be negatively related to turnover. Job Satisfaction: Tenure and satisfaction are positively related.
