The Benefits of Using a Personality Assessment in the Hiring Process

Resumes, references, and interviews are the standard selection pieces for the hiring and recruitment process.

• Resumes and job applications give you a summary of a candidate's work history.
• References give you an idea of a job candidate's work ethic.
• An interview gives you a sense of a candidate's communication style.

But how can you gauge what motivates a candidate to perform at their best and how well their personality traits will fit into your organization?

That's where a personality assessment comes in.

The results from a personality assessment for hiring can give you invaluable information that may uncover talent that can best fortify your organization.

An Assessment...

Helps You Find a Better Match

While skills and experience are essential in the selection process, they may not give you the complete picture when selecting potential employees.

For example, if you are hiring a new administrative assistant, you may want a candidate who is comfortable talking to people and doing administrative tasks. While you may have a selection of candidates that look good on paper, you also want someone that will be motivated by their daily work and has the soft skills, cognitive ability, and personality traits to be successful in your organization. Additionally, as you're hiring new employees, it is essential that you hire someone that fits within your team to ensure optimal collaboration and performance.

If you give an assessment to the qualified candidates during the interview process, you'll begin to notice what may motivate candidates. For example, if you notice one candidate enjoys administrative tasks but prefers to work alone. At the same time, another has little interest in administrative tasks but is very motivated by connecting with people; which would you choose? A candidate needs to have the passion to feel comfortable in their new role, with a genuine interest in the tasks they will be doing.

Personality tests can be a great recruitment tool to help ensure a person's:

• Interests match the job functions
• Personality is well-suited for the job type
• Needs will be met by the job environment and company culture

The goal is to hire someone who will be motivated and fulfilled by the position and whose passion will translate to job satisfaction, loyalty, dedication, and overall employee engagement. Personality assessments can ensure the candidate is not just qualified for the position on paper and through a series of interview questions but also that they will be inspired by the work they will do.

Strengthens the Team

You want an ideal candidate with enough experience and a good skill set, but what happens when their personality conflicts with the company's overall atmosphere? A candidate may check every box when it comes to experience and have glowing references, but they may not be a good fit for your existing team. Anyone can say they're a good team player, but people who work well together are more productive and effective at meeting goals.

A team of people who prefer working alone will struggle if constantly asked to collaborate, causing the team's job performance to suffer. Giving current and prospective hires a pre-employment assessment can help you find the types of people who fill in the gaps in your team. It is important to consider how different personalities will interact when choosing candidates. New employees should fit your office culture while strengthening and empowering your team.

Personality assessments for hiring can provide a more comprehensive understanding of an individual, giving you a stronger indication of whether they'll fit in with your company's culture. It will let you know if their traits will complement or balance out the traits of existing members of your team.

Gives Insight Into Leadership Development

A strong candidate may fit the current position, but a super-strong candidate is one whose career path can grow and soar beyond the position. The data and results of an assessment may give you insight into the characteristics and natural strengths that can contribute to building high-potentials or exceptional leaders down the line.

If you are hiring for a position that could transition into something new, a personality assessment can help you decide if a candidate will be able to adapt to a changing job role.

Provides Objective Points of View

When trying to hire the best candidate, we can be swayed by several factors. We are naturally inclined to favor people who think the same way, but hiring an office full of employees with the same personality characteristics can be unproductive. An office full of salespeople may bring in a lot of deals, but then there is no one to take pride in the production of the product or the value of calculating the revenue.

Also, it can be hard to rely only on the short interaction you get during an interview to indicate a candidate's full personality profile.
Pre-employment assessments based on personality take the bias out of the process, giving you objective rather than subjective data. These results can provide balance, fairness, and perspective. Instead of hiring a candidate based on their similarities to yourself, you'll be hiring an ideal candidate based on what your organization needs.

Assures a Well-Rounded Workforce

While you want a candidate who fits into your company culture, you also want to ensure you don't end up with a culture where everyone thinks and acts the same way. This can lead to organizational blind spots. Having a well-rounded and diverse workforce contributes to company innovation and growth. When your company faces a problem, having different personality types helps ensure that various solutions and ideas are being brought to the table.

Assessing your current workforce's strengths and weaknesses can also help you identify gaps, while personality assessments can help you fill them.

Just as you want a well-rounded workforce, you also want a well-rounded hiring process. Relying solely on experience and references can leave out important aspects of a person's personality or mentality. While assessments should not be your only source of information, comparing what you learn about a potential candidate from their personality test to their resume can fill previously unknown gaps. Personality assessments are one piece of the puzzle to guide you in selecting qualified, passionate talent that provides your company with what it needs to improve overall job performance and continue on the road to success.

When Birkman hires new employees, they are given The Birkman Method assessment. Every member of the team is familiar with the assessment, their own results, and their coworkers' results. Within the company, everyone knows each other's strengths and personality styles. This enables our company to communicate better and build teams suited for specific projects while allowing different personalities and thinking styles to emerge and thrive.