How to Effectively Use Behavioral Assessments in the Hiring Process

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Have you considered using behavioral assessments in your hiring process? This blog outlines the most popular assessments and the insights they offer.

This blog was originally published on July 14, 2020, and was updated on October 22, 2021, for context and clarity. 

When searching for the right talent to fill your open position, there are key characteristics to look for. But they’re not always easy to identify during the hiring process, which doesn’t emulate a working environment. To gain quick insight into one’s strengths, weaknesses, motivators, and behaviors, you can introduce Behavioral Assessments, such as Myers Briggs, Enneagram, and Strengths Finder.

Behavioral assessments help ensure potential hires will be a good fit within your organization and company culture, which saves time and money.

 

What Are Behavioral Assessment Tools? 

A behavioral assessment is a method used in the field of psychology to observe, describe, explain, predict, and sometimes correct behavior. This can be done through general observation or the use of questionnaires. 

When using a questionnaire, the observations are done by focusing on behaviors that have already occurred. Questionnaires often provide examples of common scenarios and ask the observant to answer by utilizing past experiences.

 

Utilizing Popular Behavioral Assessment Tools

We’ve included a few popular behavioral assessment tools below. The important thing to note is that the process of each test is different and will produce different results. We recommend sticking to one testing process when using behavioral assessments in your hiring process. 

Myers Briggs

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-reflection questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The test utilizes responses to determine dominant personality traits related to categories. The four categories are Introversion/Extraversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perception. 

After taking the questionnaire, the participants are then presented with a scale related to dominance for each category and their 4-letter personality type. Over time, people’s preferences may change based on new and different experiences, so retaking this quiz every few years can provide different results over time. 

When using this test in the hiring process, you can gain a better understanding of an individual’s way of thinking and the skills they could bring to the workplace. Different personality types can be related to different job roles, some utilize planning and strategy, while others could value imagination and creativity. 

Enneagram

The Enneagram of Personality is a model of the human psyche which represents a typology of nine interconnected personality types. The nine personality types are represented by the points of a geometric figure called an enneagram, which indicates connections between the types.

The nine Enneagram types are the following:

  1. The Reformer: This personality type is often Rational and Idealistic, Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and a Perfectionist. They often value balance and serenity. 
  2. The Helper: Caring and Interpersonal, this personality type is often Demonstrative, Generous, and a People-Pleaser. They aim to be well-liked and will sacrifice their happiness for others.  
  3. The Achiever: The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type. Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious. They like to distinguish themselves from others and be admired by others. 
  4. The Individualist: The Sensitive, Withdrawn Type. Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental. 
  5. The Investigator: The Intense, Cerebral Type. Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated. 
  6. The Loyalist: The Committed, Security-Oriented Type. Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious. 
  7. The Enthusiast: The Busy, Fun-Loving Type. Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered. 
  8. The Challenger: The Powerful, Dominating Type. They are often Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational. They often dislike being controlled and aim to be dominant in their environment. 
  9. The Peacemaker: The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type. Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent. They tend to want to create harmony in their environment and avoid conflicts and tension. 

As seen above in the Enneagram types, certain types of people will be better for certain types of roles. And whenever you have different personality types, there is always the chance personalities will clash. But differences do lead to diversity in thought. If your culture encourages this diversity in thought, having different types of people will make your organization more well-rounded. The most important takeaway for any assessment is understanding the individual and how that individual contributes and collaborates. Knowing the makeup of your current team and then understanding potential talent can help you make hiring decisions based on team and role fit.

Strengths Finder or CliftonStrengths

Strengths Finder is an online personal assessment test hosted by Gallup that outlines the user’s strengths. Instead of focusing on weaknesses, the CliftonStrengths assessment aims to advocate for focusing and building on potential strengths. Strengths Finder utilizes the theory that each individual possesses a certain number of universal character attributes, these are defined as “talent themes.” These themes describe the individual’s tendency to develop certain skills more easily. 

There are 34 CliftonStrengths themes split into 4 categories:

  1. Strategic Thinking: Analytical, Context, Futuristic, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Learner, Strategic
  2. Relationship Building: Adaptability, Connectedness, Developer, Empathy, Harmony, Includer,  Individualization, Positivity, Relator
  3. Influencing: Activator, Command, Communication, Competition, Maximizer, Self-Assurance, Significance, Woo
  4. Executing: Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Deliberative, Discipline, Focus, Responsibility, Restorative

By identifying these individual strengths, you can match employees to the best-suited position for them and help them develop the right skills to succeed in the workplace. By catering to individual strengths, you can reduce turnover and improve employee morale and company performance.

DiSC

The DiSC assessments are a great tool to use for analyzing behavior and providing results in an easy-to-understand format. The assessment asks people to respond to a phrase that best describes them. DiSC stands for 4 different behavior categories:

  1. Dominance: Individual places emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, and confidence. 
  2. Influence: Individual places emphasis on influencing or persuading others, openness, and relationships. 
  3. Steadiness: Individual places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, and dependability.
  4. Conscientiousness: Individual places emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, and competency. 

By utilizing this personality test in your hiring process or the workplace, you can understand easily how employees will respond to conflict, determine what motivates them, and how they will facilitate teamwork within the workplace. You can also utilize this information to discover ways you can help them improve and grow within the company.

 

Why You Should Use Behavioral Assessments to Hire the Right Talent

By implementing Behavioral Assessments in your hiring process, you can more accurately gauge workplace behavioral traits that aren’t always evident on a resume or in an interview.

You can determine the things an individual values most personally and professionally. Behavioral Assessments provide data-driven results. An Employee may excel during the interview but their behavioral assessment could throw warning flags that might affect job performance.

You can also use the assessment to judge whether they would be a good fit within your existing team or determine if they possess any skills your team may be currently lacking. Knowing their behavioral assessment results before the interview can allow you to prepare strategic interview questions for further insight into the area of interest.

Overall, behavioral assessments are a great tool for your hiring process and team development. But as outlined above, there are various options. Working with a recruiter can help you finalize the job description, skills needed, and the best behavioral assessment tools for your needs.

When partnering with PeopleSuite, we provide you with a talent portfolio of qualified professionals for each position. Connect with us today to discover how we can help grow your team and your business! 

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