Final answer:
Personality drawbacks like procrastinating, lying, or being prejudiced can negatively impact job performance, leading to missed opportunities, damaged trust, and reinforcing negative stereotypes. Employers use academic qualifications and references to screen candidates; they also value a positive attitude and the ability to fit within the company's culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
Personality “bugs” like procrastinating, lying, or being prejudiced can negatively affect performance in the workplace in various ways. Procrastinating may lead to missed deadlines and a perception of unreliability, lying could destroy trust with colleagues and supervisors, and prejudice can result in discrimination and lack of cooperation in a team. Examples include a potential employer who, holding a stereotype that gay people are incompetent, may treat a gay applicant negatively, leading to a weaker interview performance and reinforcing the employer's prejudice, or an employee who begins well but starts procrastinating as they become comfortable, which could risk their employment. To screen for desirable attributes, employers may rely on academic qualifications and references as signals of a candidate's ability, work ethic, and other soft skills.
Employers also value a positive attitude highly, seeking individuals who contribute to a positive work culture. Demonstrating personal traits and soft skills in line with the job's requirements is part of the hiring process, as employers usually seek examples that demonstrate your skills rather than general statements.