Is Personality Important On the Job? Reasons For Cracking The Personality Code

Why do top companies like Kraft and General Mills use personality testing as part of their hiring process?  Because they want to minimize hiring mistakes, resolve conflict within the organization, build teams and retain good people when they hire them.

How can personality assessments help you hire effectively, manage employees better and deal with difficult people?

1.  They give you the real picture.  Every candidate puts their best foot forward during an interview, but a personality test can show you a different side—about their ability to work well with other people, their problem-solving abilities, their thought processes and their ability to tolerate stress. This can help you make an informed decision as to whether someone is a good fit for your job or team.

2.  They help you find your employees’ potential.  Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and an objective measurement system can help you identify them. Once you pinpoint the good and the bad, then you can place them in the right position and coach them on where to improve.

3.  They help you communicate and inspire. Personality testing can give a manager and employees a common language for interaction. The assessments can help you train future managers on how to get the best out of their team.

4.  They help you manage difficult people...  The best way to deal with a problem is to prevent it in the first place. There will always be difficult people in every workplace, but you can use objective personality assessments to diagnose potential sources of conflict.

5.  … and not-so-difficult people. Members of different departments have to interact to make the company run smoothly. But even the most easygoing employees can get frustrated with their co-workers and wonder why everyone doesn’t act like them. Through the use of personality profiles, managers can coach employees how to interact better with peers.

6.  They can make managers better leaders  When managers understand what makes their people tick, then they can be better leaders.  Knowing personality traits can help with motivating teams, communicating change and delegating authority.

7.  … and help them pick better teams.  Today, work is often done by ad hoc teams that come together for a specific purpose. Before assembling a team, it pays to know the strengths and weaknesses of its members.  Sometimes this can be the difference between a productive team that gets the job done, and one that pulls apart at the seams.

8.  They can improve retention.  Sometimes we hire the right employee and put them in the wrong job.  Understanding preferred work styles, and where a person would be happiest, goes a long way to improving retention and productivity.

Want to know more about pre-employment testing and how it can help you choose the right hires? Contact CornerStone Staffing today, to take advantage of our knowledge and experience. We’re happy to assist you!

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