Employee Loyalty and Personality Traits – A Conceptual Study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of research on personality traits and employee loyalty. The objectives are as follows. The paper introduces the concepts of employee loyalty and personality trait. In the second part of the paper, the researcher expands the horizon of the study describing the evolution of the impact of personality traits on employee loyalty from a theoretical perspective in private sector organizations. Research gaps are identified to consider the study for future research. Design/Methodology/Approach The conceptual paper is in the form of literature review in the areas of employee loyalty and personality traits in a private sector organization. The paper focuses on the research on emerging concepts of employee loyalty, Eight Motivational Forces of Attachment and Withdrawal, the personality traits of the employees, the research gaps, a conceptual model of the study and the summary. Findings With resurgent interest in trait theories of personality and the conceptualization of the development of the link between the personality and employee loyalty, research in this area has flourished. A literature review revealed a surprising fact that even though this theory is much accepted and widely used not much of research is done in integrating Employee Loyalty and the Five Dimensions of Personality. Although, the inherent six facets of each of these five dimensions have not been individually dealt with a summation of each of the responses gives a distinctive view of the individual traits. The gaps identified through the literature survey calls for theory-driven and systematic research. Originality/Value Acknowledging the importance of identification of the employee's personality traits in private sector organization, this paper provides a compilation of literature review with its focus on employee loyalty and personality traits.