Personality profiles assume that productivity problems are the result of innate individual factors. It’s easy to misread behaviors when we are looking through the lens of psychobabble.
Psychological Misreads
Take for example, Leona (not her real name). Leona was interviewing for a Marketing and Sales position for a medical practice. The HR manager concluded that Leona did not possess enough self confidence because she could not maintain eye contact. The manager was concerned that Leona could not stand up to rude and brusque behavior.
Leona was asked to complete MediSelect®, a behavioral assessment for individuals in the medical support professions. Her profile showed a somewhat better than average Self-Estimate (a measurement of the frequency of exaggeration behaviors), very strong Initiative (makes things happen rather than watches things happen), lots of Energy and Goal Focus, and above average Telephone skills. What the HR manager had seen in the interview was Attention-Avoidance, not a lack of confidence. Although the HR specialist thought the candidate was too much a “people-pleaser,” in fact, her Approval Need was actually somewhat BELOW average. High Approval Needs are associated with the need to please others. Leona was excessively coachable. As someone who is very analytical, Leona would likely be overly reliant on managers and seldom feel adequately trained.
The HR professional suggested Leona be put in a greeter role which does not match the MediSelect® profile that she is someone whose habits and preferences make her an excellent candidate for working behind the scenes on the telephone.
Organizational Factors
Personality profiles will necessarily miss productivity problems that are actually generated and sustained by the organization. In an analysis of the productivity issues affecting a team of stock brokers, a personality test made a glowing report of one rep who happened to be struggling. When he completed SalesKey®, the Barnett Assessment of Sales Behaviors, the profile revealed that the broker had a very high Energy score and highly developed Level 1 sales skills (prospecting, goal oriented, etc). The only Level 1 behavior that was suppressed was Sales Initiative.
In an interview, the employee confided that the problem was his frustration at constantly changing hats from a salesperson to a service person. The organization was trying to economize by having salespeople be the front line for handling customer complaints and problems. The locus for the broker’s lack of initiative was not in the personality structure of the employee, but in the mismanaged expectations of the organization.
Behavioral profiling helps recruiters and trainers more accurately diagnose and prescribe solutions that will address and remedy the real problems of productivity which are almost always behavioral and almost never owing to personality.