When recruiting new employees, two things that probably stay at the top of your priority list are the right skills and experience. However, these factors can only predict whether a candidate will be technically equipped to do the job well. They don’t help you determine how well the candidates will fit in with your workplace’s culture or how well they’ll work in a team.
A mismatch between a company’s culture and an employee’s personality can result in miscommunication, poor productivity, and disengagement. Moreover, from an organizational standpoint, this oversight can be costly and inconvenient.
With stakes that high, it’s no wonder many employers today look for ways to ensure that a candidate complements the workplace culture. One method that’s gained traction in many companies is professional personality assessments in the recruiting process.
What are Personality Assessments?
Personality tests are questionnaires, surveys, and assessments that utilize pre-determined questions and exercises to classify people into one of several ‘types’ based on their attitudes, preferences, and behavior patterns. They provide insights about an employee to identify:
– where in an organization a person might be best placed
– how well-rounded – or not – different teams are
– what skills gaps might be present
– what management style you might adopt to get the most out of people.
Why are Personality Assessments Tests Helpful in the Workplace?
Apart from enhancing the way you communicate with your candidates and employees, here are five other reasons why personality tests are instrumental in the workplace.
Understand strengths, weaknesses, and style of thinking
Knowing your candidate’s strengths and weaknesses is essential in the working environment, particularly for productivity reasons, which is where personal growth assessments can be helpful. In addition, they can indicate a candidate’s interpersonal skills and motivation factors.
Make managerial decisions based on the personality of your prospects
Personality assessments are valuable in helping you adapt your management style to your candidates and employees. For example, it helps you know if you should take a more hands-on management approach or whether your candidate works better independently.
Find if an individual’s personalities are compatible with your team’s culture
A personality development assessment will help you understand how your candidates’ personalities correspond with your team culture.
Use personality tests to create training programs
A personality test can also help you create training programmes, in addition to determining your management style. For example, it may assist you in determining how to deliver feedback to your content writer throughout training.
Help employees and successful candidates avoid burnout
Your candidates’ personalities can help determine which working conditions lead to burnout. So, you can create working situations that align with them.
How Should Personality Tests be Used?
You might be wondering whether personality tests should be used in the hiring process. To offer a quick response, yes, they can.
It can be challenging to evaluate your applicants, but you can utilize personality tests to your advantage. However, it’s pointless to hire someone solely based on their personality. Therefore, remember to:
- Personality tests should be used at the start of the employment process.
- Personality tests might help you prepare for the interview stage.
- Do not rely solely on the exam findings to make a hiring choice.
- Personality tests can be combined with a variety of different skills assessments and bespoke inquiries.
- Avoid bias by selecting only specific candidates.
In a nutshell, personality assessment tests offer valuable insight into your employees’ behaviors and preferences, which helps in making work life more positive and productive. Partner with a reliable assessment platform like Discover Assessments to explore more about your candidates and enhance your hiring process.
