We have discussed many aspects of the applicability of personality assessments for the workplace, with most topics related to finding employees who are the right fit for the job. A little less than a year ago, we looked at how personality testing could be used to form effective teams within companies. But there is value in other areas, as well.
The value in understanding personality characteristics continues beyond the hiring process because changes are inevitable. Roles, tasks and teams evolve. Established employees leave, retiring or moving on to other companies, leaving spaces open for internal promotion.
When the deck gets shuffled, it’s useful to have a clear idea of how new combinations of personnel will work. Leadership can benefit from an in-depth understanding of the personalities involved.
One example is sharing personality trait assessment results directly with existing workers. However, we suggest providing feedback from career development reports instead. Supplying results from the reports will help employees gravitate toward experiences that increase their value to the company and strengthen their satisfaction with their jobs, while helping their managers and leaders understand more about them.
Here are three other areas where information gleaned from personality assessments can help workplaces run smoothly and productively.
Self-Understanding & Seamless Teamwork
When employees can view a mirror that accurately reflects their own traits back at them, they gain the opportunity to intentionally integrate their interactive style with that of their co-workers. It’s possible that they will seek out well-matched partners for projects as well as select projects that employ their strengths.
Understanding their own unique work style can help employees form better ad hoc groups composed of complementary members which can increase their overall productivity.
Growth & Productivity
The same dynamic can be turned inward, allowing workers to improve their knowledge and skills by seeking opportunities within the company that are in sync with their personality.
When employees thrive in a work setting, they benefit by gaining skills and experience. The company enjoys a boost in productivity as the employee has become more valuable than when they initially were hired.
Trust & Satisfaction
As employees come to know themselves better, they form strong and comfortable bonds with their fellow workers. The resulting harmony keeps stress levels low, allowing employees to focus on the work at hand and not on workplace tensions.
Job satisfaction itself has become an important element in workplace culture, affecting employee retention and recruitment. As employees get to know themselves and their co-workers and foster a positive culture, both workers and employers reap the benefits of a stable and productive workspace.
Use Personality Reports for Versatility & Value
Using information learned from personality assessments to hire employees or build well-matched teams — sort of a subset of hiring — is just the beginning of the possible uses of these tools within companies.
As a company and its employees evolve, RA’s developmental reports for individual contributors or managers can be used as versatile tools to help both companies and workers assess a wide array of valuable attributes for internal promotions and stronger teams.
The assessment for individual employees includes a basic set of personality measures from which a Career Development Report is produced. It can be used for an employee’s professional growth and development, or as a coaching tool for supervisors.
A separate Career Development Report is available for people in leadership positions.
Whereas the evaluative report we provide to the employer is not suitable for giving back to the individual test taker, developmental reports are designed to share personality information in a constructive way and provide good ideas for the individual or manager to use for coaching purposes.
Need hiring help? Resource Associates offers pre-employment testing and developmental reports for hundreds of positions. Simply search by job title or category right from our homepage. Can’t find a test specifically for your job? Try the Personal Style Inventory (PSI), which applies for almost any job role. If you want something more specific, contact Resource Associates to develop a custom personality test for you.
