Personality Profiling

Paul in Cannon Beach · March 2002

This past year I have spent a great deal of time studying how our personality styles affect our relationships, communications style, work attitudes, etc. Several of our departments have asked me to come in and "profile" their crew. I have the employees take the personality test and then we discuss the four personality profiles and how it affects the way we work.

This has been a lot of fun and provided some great discussions. Several times I have seen the "light bulb" go on in an employee's face as they begin to understand themselves.

Anyone else using personality profiling? I use a system that has four profiles - sanguine (talker), choleric (controller), phlegmatic (peacemaker),and melancholy (perfectionist).

I am going to make the personality profile a standard part of the orientation process.

[email]paulknoch@hotmail.com[/email]

Mike Maslanka · March 2002

Paul,this is the coming thing.I also speak on this subject when i talk to lawyers about the art of counseling.There is a hunger for this type of information.A point I try to get across is that one style is not more moral or better than another.A good book on this is The Color Code and a very good test is the Birkman. I also suggest you take a look at Now,Discover your Strengths. Each book has its own pin number which lets you access a web site where you take a test(it's is written and sponsored by the Gallup organization)which tells you your top 5 strengths(out of 44) and gives suggestions on how to manage employees with those strengths.Finally a book entitled How To Mind Read Your Customers has a very good discussion on this topic.Regards from Dallas, Mike maslanka,michaelmaslanka@akllp.com.

Margaret Morford · March 2002

Paul,
I applaude what you're doing for your company. It will make a world of difference in how people relate to one another. For the last nine years, I have taught a behavioral styles course that companies say really revolutionized the way the employees relate to one another. They see huge improvements in communication and understanding between employees. This type of course can also give employees a non-threatening way to discuss differences in how they view situations at work. I took this training a step further and developed strategies for employees to use in dealing with those "other types" so that the material had even more meaning than just self awareness. The employees that have applied the strategies say that this has really inproved the quality of their work life. All of my clients say that it is one of the most valuable 3 1/2 hours they've ever spent in training. Keep teaching everyone this kind of material. This type of training will pay huge dividends for your organization in the long run.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

Mike Maslanka · March 2002

one other thought....you may not want to call it profiling---too much negative baggage...try communication styles or something along those lines...Regards, mike maslanka

Gillian · April 2002

Correct, don't call it "profiling". This type of activity is an integral part of out supervisor and management training programs.

Paul in Cannon Beach · April 2002

Good point! "Profiling" has alot of negative associations that go with it. An interesting thing I have found is that certain types of people really love to talk about this subject and others are very uncomfortable. So its a really good idea to avoid any words that could cause more concern.

The personality information has made me more accepting of different styles. For example, I am more patient with the staff who have introverted melancholic personalities. I understand now they need time to process information before they give an answer. I used to think they were just afraid to speak their minds.

Thanks for all the encouraging e-mails!

[email]paulknoch@hotmail.com[/email]

ljba · April 2002

We have used a program called Predictive Index (PI) that is very similar in nature to what you speak. We use it as a tool in our hiring and promoting process. I, too, have done department meetings reviewing the departments' individual PI's. Ours refers to four behavior factors - but very simply....we look at degrees (high and low) of dominant behavior, extroverted behavior, patience level and detail levels. Our program allows you to 'profile' a position and decide what behavior types would be best suited to a particular position. We look to fill the position with individuals who have similar traits.

It has been a grand tool. It is simple and easy to administer and is very accurate. As I said, it is called Predictive Index and we learned about it from a company called Augur, Inc. in Massachusetts. It has been wonderful. I even recommended it to a non-profit board that was hiring a new executive director. The program helped determine what behaviors were required to fill the position and how the personalities/behaviors of the management team would work with the individual we hired. It is a muli-use tool that is worth its weight in gold.

Anyone interested in additional information, I'd be glad to provide a contact person.

Gillian · April 2002

While these are great tools, care needs to be taken when they are used for hiring purposes. When used in hiring they are tests, which, if there is adverse impact in hiring different groups, could give rise to the need to prove that they are valid. The technical side of validity is a lot more than thinking that they do a good job. In essence, it means that you must prove that the test, the majority or the time, predicts success and in the alternative, poor performance will mean a lack of success. Another problem with them in the hiring stage is their appearance to the applicants. Sometimes they do not seem to fit the job, thus generate objections from candidates. This is mitigated somewhat if the profile is just one of the selection methods and is not the final decisionmaker. Personally, I prefer to use them for developmental purposes as a communication training tool.

Paul in Cannon Beach · April 2002

I agree. I have not used them as a screening tool. I really wonder if applicants would be honest if they felt the results of their personality test could influence the hiring decision.

What I do is have the new hire take the test during their orientation process and I explain that the point of the test is to give them feedback on how they will interact with their co-workers and supervisors.

For example, we recently hired a tech guy who is a easy-going, detailed type (phlegmatic/melancholy). His boss is a powerful perfectionist (Choleric/melancholy). I explained to this new employee how his personality is really well suited to his position. I also explained how he will need to remember its "ok" to speak up - especially when it comes to communicating with his more extroverted, aggressive supervisor.

Now, I still use my sense of the personality types when meeting applicants but I do not have them take a test. For example, if I sense that an applicant is very introverted and the position requires a great deal of public interaction, I may ask pursue questions in the interview that relate to the applicant's experience in being up front.

But I agree that to test applicants may be asking for trouble.

[email]paulknoch@hotmail.com[/email]

Rockie · April 2002

Gillian is absolutely correct. These are great training tools for groups of employees in what personality types they may fall into and how they can better understand their co-workers and how to work better in groups..but you are traveling a "slippery slope" if you use them as a screening tool in employment. They must meet validity tests and also be jermaine to the job that you are hiring for. There are cases upon cases where verdicts have been won on adverse impact of certain groups of employees.

Otherwise, for training....they are fun and great!

Personality Profiling

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