Login

Logo
Weekly Tools and Tips to Improve Any Relationship

March 14, 2017

Do Personality Tests “Profile?”

As more and more companies are using personality tests as recruitment and management tools, the question arises, “Do these tests profile?”

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of profile includes, “…the extent to which an individual exhibits traits or abilities as determined by tests or ratings.”

So, in the very strict sense of the word, the answer is yes.

However, the way in which the question is asked often indicates that personality testing is negative and intrusive — a violation of our most personal self, and perhaps that is the issue that should be addressed.

What Color Code profiles is a person’s innate personality and, in fact, we go deeper to profile a person’s driving core motive. In other words, we identify the needs and wants, instincts and preferences based on what driving core motive they were born with.

Why is this positive?

There are many very positive reasons companies use personality assessments as an integral part of their recruitment model and management training process. These valuable tools benefit not only the company using them, but their future employees as well.

Corporate Culture

Businesses, like people, have personalities that shape their corporate culture. It is important for both the company and the employee to ensure a good cultural fit. In fact, Harvard Business Review states that according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “Culture fit is the glue that holds an organization together. That’s why it’s a key trait to look for when recruiting. The result of poor culture fit due to turnover can cost an organization between 50-60 percent of the person’s annual salary.”

As an example, imagine that you run a company with a proven laid-back style. You don’t have a time clock or dress code. You trust that your employees will put in their time whenever. Creativity is important, and you provide a room with a Ping-Pong table and beanbag chairs to stimulate brainstorming. Now imagine that one of your job candidates has all of the qualifications you require, but believes in the adage “dress for success” and thinks employees should adhere to a strict timetable and should buckle down to work “while on the clock.” It is unlikely that he will change his personality and accept the laid-back style — leading to a very real possibility of conflict and discontentment, leaving everyone unhappy.

Management

Studies abound on the subject of employee retention. Without exception the saying “employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers” is the main theme. Forbes Magazine states, “Wherever the macro trends are headed, the ability to engage and retain talented employees is a critical skill for managers.”

Providing managers with the tools to facilitate the communication style required with each personality is of great value. Knowing the needs and wants—what makes them tick—is integral in the communication process. If, for example, you have an employee who is a smart, hard-working problem solver but likes to work by himself and avoids interoffice conflict at all costs, you would know that rewarding him with a management position might not be what is best for him or the company.

Employee Engagement

A Gallup study of 7,272 U.S. adults revealed that one in two had left their job to get away from their manager to improve their overall life at some point in their career. According to the same study, and equally troubling, is that employees who have a bad relationship with their boss can be up to a staggering 70 percent disengaged.

That means that for every employee who is engaged nearly three are not! The cost of employee disengagement and employee attrition can have a huge and negative effect on a company’s bottom line.

Color Code believes that any color can do any job, but based on the innate motive of an individual, we can also pinpoint the likelihood that person WANTS to do that job — and therefore will be content doing it. We can determine, based on the employees’ needs and wants, the likelihood that they will fit comfortably within the corporate culture — a win/win for the company and the employee.

Personality assessments have been used in the Western civilization since the time of Hippocrates—whose own personality assessment determined that we are not homogenous personality-wise, and there is nothing negative about that.

Teresa GlennTeresa Glenn has been working with the Color Code since 2006, where her main focus is product development. She has been in the publishing and product development field for over 20 years. Teresa is a core Red with a strong Yellow secondary.