"In his landmark book Good to Great, author Jim Collins stresses the importance of getting the right people in the right seats on the bus. To find the right people, he urges us to focus more on character and less on specialized knowledge. After all, knowledge can be learned, while character is inherent. How do we go about finding people with the character traits needed for success? Last month, I outlined the key elements of a robust hiring process. In this column, we'll explore some tools for assessing character in order to make better hiring decisions for your organization.
Character is one of those "I know it when I see it" concepts. A person's character is incredibly complex and cannot be measured in any practical way. However, character is comprised of several factors including personality, temperament and aptitude, and these factors can be measured relative to the goals of the organization. There are dozens of assessment tools available in the marketplace today. In the following examples, I'll describe assessments with which I have personal experience.
Personality is the complex combination of characteristics that makes each of us unique. A product of both nature and nurture, it is well developed by early adulthood. Personality is relevant in the business context because it governs how we think and how we behave in the work environment. Two of the oldest and most commonly used personality assessments are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the 16PF Questionnaire. MBTI reports results in the form of a four-letter code, which indicates how a person derives internal energy, takes in information, makes decisions and relates to the outer world. On a 10-point scale, 16PF describes 16 personality factors, such as warmth, dominance, sensitivity and openness to change. Similar to 16PF, the Caliper Evaluation provides the candidate with a profile of such personality factors as ego drive, empathy, assertiveness and urgency. Emergenetics illustrates one's thinking profile as a combination of analytical, conceptual, structural and social components.
Because of the complex and sensitive nature of personality assessments, these instruments require certified professionals for proper administration and interpretation of results. Individual assessments can cost from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars, depending on the degree of professional consulting involved. In view of their intensely personal nature, such assessments are best used to help employees understand themselves in order to improve their effectiveness, and should not be used as the primary criterion for hiring.
Temperament is the way in which we respond to our environment. It describes behaviors that are based upon our personalities. The DISC assessment results in a four-quadrant description of temperament in terms of extroverted vs. introverted and task vs. social orientations. These dimensions are readily relatable to success factors in various organizational roles. The McQuaig Word Survey™ describes a candidate's behaviors in terms of dominance, sociability, relaxation and compliance. Again, these behaviors are readily comparable to success factors for different professions. Since behavioral assessments are less complex and more directly related to success on the job, they are easily administered and practical to use as one part of the hiring decision. These types of assessments can be purchased for about $100 per person.
Aptitude is one's natural skill or ability to succeed at a particular task. Like personality, it is a combination of genetics and learning. Unlike personality, it is fairly easy to measure. One of many aptitude assessments is the Craft Personality Questionnaire (CPQ). This instrument reports on eight basic traits that predict performance in certain jobs, especially sales. The traits are goal orientation, need for control, social confidence, social drive, detail orientation, good impression, need to nurture and skepticism. Aptitude assessments are economical (less than $100) and easy to use in the hiring process.
None of these tools provides a complete and accurate assessment of a candidate's character. However, each of these tools provides valuable insights into how an employee is likely to perform (behave) in different situations. These insights can be explored further during the interview process. This is important because we usually hire for skill and fire for performance, and the cost of an unsuccessful hire can be several times the employee's salary.
Louis Allegra is president of Allegra Management Consulting, Inc. He chairs CEO advisory boards in affiliation with Vistage International, the world's largest CEO membership organization, to help Lexington-area executives become better leaders, make better decisions and get better results. Lou can be reached at Louis@AllegraManagement.com.