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Do complex and novel ideas excite you greater than easy and straightforward ideas? Are your living and working spaces clean and tidy? Do you discover the idea of networking or promoting yourself to strangers very intimidating?
These are just some of the questions you will face on the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. Spend half-hour and you’ll assign yourself to one of 16 personality categories, marked with 4 letters. These letters define yours Myers-Briggs Type Index (MBTI) – personality typeproviding you with insight into the way you see the world, make selections and connect with others.
You’ve probably heard of this test. If not, chances are you’ll have come across other popular ones akin to the Caliper Profile or the Enneagram. According to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of psychology and creator of the book I, Manpersonality testing is A $2 billion industry and still growing.
These tests are not just fun. They show up in the workplace, helping firms higher understand their employees. They want to know who is in the office, what motivates them to work and how to get the best out of them.
But are personality tests a good solution to understanding and optimizing workplace dynamics? But do these tests actually test workplace dynamics? Do they reflect the full spectrum of human behavior, or do they generally miss the mark? Let’s discover.
Benefits of using personality tests at work
Deloitte report that roughly 80% of Fortune 500 firms use personality tests to higher understand their employees. But why the widespread adoption? If these tests were completely unethical, would so many leading firms participate in them? It’s clear that there is something precious behind this trend, so let’s talk about some of the advantages that personality testing can bring:
- Deeper insight: Personality tests, especially well-researched ones, are not only fancy questionnaires. They are like mirrors that reflect our identity and shed light on the quirks of your teammates. Understanding yourself and others can do wonders for working well with others and resolving conflicts inside a team.
- Promoting diversity: Let’s ditch the cookie cutter teams, lets? Personality tests help us look beyond CVs and job titles, highlighting the diversity of talent and perspectives on your team. Because let’s face it, the clone team is boring. But a team with many different skills and backgrounds? This is where innovation thrives.
- Dealing with team tension: Nobody wants to have conflicts in the workplace. If you discover that workplace drama is as common as Monday morning coffee, personality tests could also be the solution for you. Understanding how people think and feel can nip problems in the bud, paving the way for a workplace where conflict takes a backseat and productivity prevails.
Limitations of using personality tests at work
If you are anything like me, you’ve got taken some of those tests greater than once. I noticed that every time I took the test, the results varied barely, and the same thing could probably occur to you. This is because your personality can completely change. In fact, lead researcher and psychologist Sanjay Srivastava, who published her findings in APA, found that personality is fluid and may develop over time.
Where does this turn out to be a problem for employers? Well, if you are an employer and you rely too heavily on these personality tests to make hiring decisions or manage your team, and the results prove to be not as consistent and accurate as you thought, it may lead to serious mismatches. You may hire someone based on a personality type that not truly reflects who they are. Or worse, chances are you’ll assign employees to roles or teams that do not really fit their developing personalities.
There is a risk of stereotyping. Personality tests often divide people into neat little boxes, and people are not like that at all. We are incredibly complex creatures, with many layers of traits and behaviors. Over-reliance on these tests can lead to oversimplifications and unfair assessment. The result could also be that you simply reject good people because the test stereotyped them.
Finally, there’s the matter tendency towards social desirability which could make the results inaccurate. If you are unsure what this is, it principally happens when someone consciously or unconsciously answers questions in a way that they think puts them in a favorable light. For example, if you were taking a test for a position that you simply knew required someone to be organized, trustworthy, and nice, you almost certainly would not answer questions in a way that made you appear disorganized or unpleasant. This can skew the results of personality tests and create a rosier (or bleaker) picture than reality.
Best practices for the ethical use of personality tests
You already know the benefits and pitfalls of using personality tests in your organization. If you are still really interested in implementing them, here’s how you’ll be able to do it ethically:
Don’t take pre-employment personality tests
Before making any hiring decisions, avoid using personality tests as a final tool. Sure, they provide some insights, but they do not constitute the whole picture. Instead, use a combination of assessment methods, including interviews, work samples and reference checks, to assess candidates’ suitability for the position.
Recognize your team for greater than just its characteristics
To avoid the biases and stereotypes that may occur with these personality tests, you would like to understand that your team is greater than just a collection of traits on the test. These are real people with unique experiences and talents. For example, if you notice that somebody scores high for being more introverted, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can be bad at public speaking. If someone’s results show that they are extremely detail-oriented, they might sometimes miss things and make small mistakes. It’s essential to approach personality test results with an open mind and treat them as just one aspect of each team member’s overall capabilities and potential.
Regularly evaluate their effectiveness
Like anything, it’s a good idea to take personality tests from time to time. Do they assist your team thrive, or do they cause more trouble than they’re price? Monitor their effectiveness and do not be afraid to stop using them completely if you notice the latter occurring more often.
Personality tests needs to be a tool, not a solution
Personality tests may be really great for gaining insight into the minds, behaviors and preferences of your employees. You can use them to enrich your learning and development and improve relationships in the workplace. These tests, while very helpful, are only a small a part of the overall performance management process.
While matching worker personalities is extremely essential, building a company where everyone can improve and develop is much greater than that. Test scores alone are not ok to determine whether a person can be a good fit for your organization.
So let’s look at personality tests for what they are: precious tools, but not the ultimate solution. When used correctly alongside other methods and strategies, we help support the success and growth of your teams.