By Sara Holtz

Do you know what your DiSC® profile or enneagram type is? What about your top five CliftonStrengths?

While some may think these personality assessments are hokey, the results are designed to help you become more self-aware and better understand others. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses allows you to appreciate your client or colleague’s similarities and value their differences. It also gives business leaders insight into how they can improve performance, increase productivity and drive profits.

According to Marketplace, 89 of the Fortune 100 companies use the Meyers-Briggs assessment in either the hiring process, or in the workplace for team-building exercises, leadership coaching or executive talent management.

You don’t need to be a large company to experience the benefits of personality mapping. We see five ways your business (of any size) can benefit from implementing a personality assessment on employees and leaders. We’ll use DiSC® as an example, which was created with workplace relationships in mind. It assesses a person’s four main behavioral drivers: dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness.

1. More Effective Communication

Is there an employee that doesn’t respond in the way you’d like to constructive criticism? Identifying employee DiSC® styles allows managers and leaders to determine the best ways to effectively communicate with co-workers, which will lead to positive change and results. Perhaps you’ll learn that the employee who doesn’t take feedback well responds better when it is delivered calmly and privately instead of during a team meeting.

Understanding personality styles also benefits communication among employees and with clients. In many industries, employees often work in teams to develop a product or provide tailored customer service to clients for example. When you know your employees’ DiSC® styles, you can create a balanced team that can assist a wide range of clients.

2. Empower Employee Development

The Millennial and Gen Z workforces value employee development; in fact, nearly 30 percent say they’d leave a job because of a lack of learning and development opportunities. A personality test can unlock what drives your co-workers and what makes them shut down in the face of adversity. Those with a DiSC® D Style want autonomy and the ability to try new ways of implementing client service; employees with i Style tend to be social and want to collaborate with others. Knowing your employees’ personality styles allows you to create structures and processes that lets them shine in their unique way and grow within the company.

3. Retainment

Employee development also feeds into our next point – retainment. Turnover is costly to companies – both in dollars and institutional knowledge. Creating opportunities for development tailored to their personality mapping will make employees excited to come to work and show that you care about your employees’ success. Staff will be more likely to stay where they feel valued and have the opportunity for growth.

4. Create constructive work culture

A company’s culture can make or break it. Many workers today prefer to work where the company culture is strong and positive. Do employees see firm leaders and managers listening to their opinions and instituting change where needed? Are employees praised for their hard work and given tools to succeed when struggling? Knowing your employees’ DiSC® styles lets companies institute policies and programs that find a happy medium in appealing to a wide range of employees.

Also, by creating teams that play off members’ strengths and support each other’s weaknesses, employees will be more likely to enjoy coming into work. Why? Because understanding what makes each other tick can develop empathy and a new perspective about co-workers. That leads to more constructive interactions and an overall positive experience, which leads to our final point.

5. Recruitment

When looking to hire new talent, prospective employees will want to know about your company culture. They will ask their network if anyone has experience working at your firm. If they see or hear about happy, satisfied employees effectively collaborating with each other, it can be a great recruitment tool.

Personality mapping tools can also be instituted during the hiring process to find the candidate that best fits the open position. For example, if the role requires cold calling prospects or regularly attending networking events, you’d considering hiring someone who has a strong iStyle (outgoing and enthusiastic) over someone who has a strong CStyle (tend to be reserved and comfortable working alone).

Personality assessments such as DiSC® and CliftonStrengths are a great tool for firms to use when looking to attract and retain top talent and to create collaborative and positive work environments.

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