There are myriad personality profiling tools on the market, each with a slightly different focus, price point, and marketing message. Some may be big fans of this type of tool, others may be more cynical. What’s for certain is that they all tend to give accurate and worthwhile insights to those that take it seriously, undergo the testing and study the reports. But can personality profiling really help your organisation long term?
The short answer to the above question is – not if you all just go on a course for half a day, no.
Personality profiling needs champions. It needs top management support, it needs to find its way into systems and processes, and into everyday conversations and interactions. To be truly effective, it ultimately needs to be an artefact of an organisation’s culture. But if you do decide to take it and run with it in your own business, the results can be startling.
What are the benefits?
The most obvious benefit to an organisation is a greater understanding of how employees tick; what drives them, what they value, and how they prefer to communicate. The upshot of this can be fewer conflicts, greater productivity, and the ability to put teams together with complimentary skills and styles. There is also a benefit from a recruitment perspective. Having a clear idea of what styles are required in the business as well as skills can lead to a better recruitment process and a shorter bedding in period, as well as a reduction in staff turnover.
From a consultant’s standpoint, one of the ways we look at organisational cohesion and whether an organisation operates effectively within its environment, is by using the McKinsey 7S model. One of the factors of this model is Styles, namely how people interact with each other, what the leadership and followership behaviours are, and whether this is effective in the right areas. Personality profiling can certainly enhance this part of the model and positively impact the others, leading to a more cohesive organisation.
Increases in top and bottom line can also be traced back to team harmony (as a result of better performance, higher productivity, lower attrition, better communication etc.) which emphasises its importance. Team harmony comes from an understanding of each other. Understanding comes from knowing how to communicate well with others; personality profiling can supercharge this knowledge.
How can I introduce it effectively?
So, how can you weave a true understanding of personalities into the fabric of your organisation? Like most things, if you give personality profiling cursory attention by simply sending a few people on a course, don’t expect any return on investment whatsoever. Introducing personality profiling into your business is essentially another change project, and so the same rules must apply. Seeking rationale for the change, seeking stakeholder feedback and involvement, and securing buy in before any training takes place.
Given that personality profiling and various other iterations of measuring social interaction have been around for a long time, it is likely that many of your employees will have experienced some form of personality assessment or team workshop, with varying results. Some may have had a good experience and will vaguely remember their profile, others will dismiss it out of hand, possibly because of the lack of impact it had in a previous organisation. Others still may remember it being used in a negative way, to justify behaviour rather than to understand an individual’s communication style and adjust accordingly. So, you may find that you have an uphill struggle to implement what sounds like a positive change into your organisation without some resistance. It is important therefore to consider the following:
Why are you introducing it? Are there any examples of communication failures (there will be!) that you can use as a lever for change? Perhaps start with a survey about communication within the organisation and share the results. This will hopefully lead to a sound rationale that makes sense to employees.
Don’t force it upon people. Ideally, let an influential employee champion it and approve a pilot test within a certain team. Get them to share the results (which will hopefully be evident and informally evangelised throughout the organisation) and then seek to expand the pilot. If you adopt a cautious, participative approach, then buy in is more likely to be gained.
Use it in planning – evidence to employees that you are using it to good effect in meetings and planning for projects. This will show that there is a logic behind your desire to implement it in the organisation.
Use supporting artefacts – If people see something enough times, then at the very least it will elicit intrigue in that item. For example, if you have a break room, or communal area, put a poster up that describes different personality types. Get team members to put their name in the appropriate box. Put your profile at the bottom of internal emails as a constant reminder that it is part of the organisation’s day to day.
Model behaviour that emphasises the benefits. If there is an opportunity to have a conversation with an employee or team member, be intentional in communicating in their preferred way. If you pay attention to employee’s preferred communication styles when interacting with them, they will recognise this and the prospect of learning the same skills may be appealing.
Train your leaders – if you have a leadership programme, include it in one of the modules on communication.
What is the right product to use?
There are literally hundreds of personality profiles out there. Get staff to rate them so you can gauge buy in. Maybe try something new that no one has experienced. This may help to address any previous negative experiences and to limit any preconceived bias.
Some of the most popular tests that you may have heard of are Myers Briggs, Insights, Everything DiSC, Belbin, and Hogan Development Survey. Each has their merits, but you need to pick one and stick with it.
Should I use it in recruitment?
Not if it isn’t a key part of your organisation. Yes, it may be a good idea to use it initially to identify the personality types that are best suited to the role, but don’t make a thing of it unless you intend to use it in the everyday. You’ve also probably not used it to recruit previous employees, so it might seem a bit discriminative. The best thing to do before using it in recruitment is to implement it effectively in your organisation first. If you succeed in this and are enjoying the benefits of better communication, then by all means make it part of your recruitment process.
Conclusion
Personality profiling can be a huge benefit to your organisation, both from a productivity and cultural perspective. But it has to be introduced carefully. However, if you treat it like a critical change project by planning effectively and introducing it in the right way, it may well lead to a more cohesive organisation, that is happier, more productive, and a better place to work.
