The Office Environment is essentially an ecosystem. Like an Ecosystem, the office space is divided by functions and furthermore by roles, and HR is tasked with managing the different personalities that arise from the roles. Each personality offers something different to ensure the survival of the ecosystem.

Kay Vitee, a highly respected voice in the staffing solutions world, wrote an article that helped identify the three main personalities in the office space and how to manage them. ( http://hrpulse.co.za/health-and-safety/managing-your-office-environment/230092-how-to-manage-3-personalities-in-your-office-environment )

The article lists the personalities as “the workhorse”, “the creative” and “the smooth talker”. Although there are many different personality types most employees fall into one of these three.

The Workhorse is the person in the office who is the reliable one, they take pride in getting the job done and they are always willing to help. What this means it they often take on a too high workload and don’t voice their stress. Managing them will be letting them do their work but monitoring their workload and stress levels.

The Creative is the person full of ideas. Quick to the brainstorm and always useful at problem-solving. Being an idea generator often means that many of their ideas will take no fruition. They take being shut down personally and this ultimately means that they need you to listen to them, understand where they come from but also be firm on when ideas arent feasible. This is an open communication sort of management where they feel heard without being pandered to.

The Smooth Talker is the person who contributes to meetings and discussions and sells ideas. They sell you on themself. Management should not fall for their charm, but rather understand their strengths and weaknesses and let them flourish whilst reigning them in when necessary.

The fourth personality which I think should be included on this list is “The Chameleon”. They change tactics when it is best suited, they can talk to and relate to many different backgrounds and personalities. This person is ideally the person you should have in control of your office as they know how to balance personalities and work to people’s strengths.