OCEAN Personality Testing for Employee Recruitment and Retention

The challenges faced by international pharmaceutical companies and their Human Resources departments involving effective recruitment, selection, and retention of employees have become a central focus in competitive international VUCA markets. Personality-informed interventions may be critical in international companies’ efforts to optimize selection and recruitment, as well as addressing work and well-being-related challenges faced by current employees in order to achieve sustainable retention. However, caution should be exercised when implementing personality assessment models, particularly when automated with the use of technology. This case study provides (1) an evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of OCEAN personality testing in critical areas of employment, such as recruitment, selection, and retention; (2) an exploration of key workplace challenges, opportunities, personality traits, and domains; and (3) considerations of workplace-level adoption of novel technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Large Language Models, in employment practices and ethical considerations for their fair implementation, with the goal to inform evidence-driven action plans.Keywords: personality assessment, employee recruitment, employee retention, ethical AI implementation, OCEAN personality model, VUCA markets, workplace challenges, Artificial Intelligence