Research

Who Does That Job? A Look at Style & Occupation

by David C. on Monday, November 30, 2009 7:15:53 PM MST

I have been part of SOCIAL STYLE and Versatility training for thousands of people and it's always interesting to see people's reactions when they receive their Social Style Profile.  Receiving this information inevitably will either confirm their assumptions about themselves, or more likely give them new information to consider as they realize that others view their behavior differently than they view it themselves. Being an insider I get to see the research and it consistently shows that more than half of the time, people see their Social Style differently than others do and it plays out this way in almost every single class I have been a part of. 

What most people don’t fully realize is that these differences in perceptions aren't limited to just our own view of our behavior. Inevitably in every training program the topic of occupation and Social Style comes up. When the conversation starts and opinions are expressed you typically find that most people assume that certain job functions are dominated by a particular Social Style. You will hear people say things  like "Almost all accountants are Analytical Style people and of course all sales people must be Expressive Style."

 While this is a common thought, TRACOM’s research has never found an occupation where more than 50% of the people have a single Social Style.  For example, our research shows that 37% of engineers have an Analytical Style.  And while that is the most common Style, it still leaves nearly two-thirds of Engieers with one of the other three Styles.  

What is true, is that people can be attracted to roles that require behaviors that are comfortable for them. It is, however, very important to understand that all Styles can be successful in any given occupation. An individual's success is far more dependent on how they use their Style (Versatility) when they interact with others than by their specific Style itself. 

This research also shows the need to watch for behavioral clues to identify a person's Style rather than making assumptions based on a person's job. 

Here are the results from our latest Occupational Breakout by Social Style research.  What do you think? Con

         

   

   



Patricia K. 1 (posts) Wednesday, December 09, 2009 1:56:50 PM MST

My question regarding career choices & social style would be which social style type is more sucessful in their career choice?

Pamela K. 1 (posts) Wednesday, December 09, 2009 2:47:19 PM MST

This data is very helpful and will be of interest to our clients. Do you have information about design professions? Architecture, interior design, urban planning, etc?

TRACOM Note:  Our next round of occupational and industry research will be conducted in the first half of 2010.  We will share data as it becomes available. 

 

Sean E. 17 (posts) Wednesday, December 09, 2009 3:44:55 PM MST

The question about "which Styles are more successful" is an interesting one that comes up often.  Research going back nearly 50 years has shown that success is not related to a particular SOCIAL STYLE.  This is true for both the broad population and within specific industries or job functions.  What does relate to success is Versatility.  People with higher Versatility consistently are rated on higher on a wide range of performance areas and achieve higher compensation than low-Versatility people. 

Read TRACOM's Managerial Success Study for more on this topic.

Allan John D. 2 (posts) Thursday, December 10, 2009 1:54:59 PM MST

About 20 years ago one of our clients in the coal mining industry was running with Style throughout their org. Their results as I recall it ,were not too different from the above for the different professions. What was interesting though was that in their case they found that a high proportion of their mining engineers were A line assertive i.e. prepared to take more risks particularly when it came to meeting production targets and bonuses. In the mining industry 'safety' is paramount. The HR Manager was starting to pull together stats comparing individual's safety record with their Social Style. His initial observations began to reveal that there was a possible correlation between A line - risk-takers with low versatility and their safety performance record. Unfortuntaely the HR Manager took ill and retired so we were never able to follow through with the exercise. Allan D. Network of Training (Cape).

Brian T. 1 (posts) Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:58:07 PM MST

Question: What is the percentage style breakup across ALL the population regardless of occupation?

Sean E. 17 (posts) Monday, February 22, 2010 3:49:19 PM MST

In response to the question about Style distribution for all occupations, the SOCIAL STYLE Model is such that large populations of diverse individuals will be evenly distributed into the four Styles.  Approximately one-fourth of people are in each of the four Styles.  This is one reason that TRACOM offers a variety of country and geographic norms.  People are compared with others in their own geography.