By Craig A. Shutt
Are you a lion, confident and in control? Or are you more like a golden retriever, calm and patient? Or perhaps an otter with a few beaver qualities?
Personality tests can help you find out and help you ensure that you hire the right people – people who complement your own style, rather than just reinforce it.
Stronghold Remodeling in Boise, Idaho, uses an animal-themed personality test, in which candidates indicate how much their personalities have a series of traits that are listed under four types of animals. The scores in each column are totaled to find the categories in which the person fits best: lion (decisive personalities), otter (easy going), golden retriever (eager to please), or beaver (attention to detail).
More than half of all people are golden retrievers, according to Joan Stephens, president of Stronghold Remodeling. And most people are strongly one type with indications of another. Joan says she's mostly golden retriever with some beaver traits, while her husband, Jim, is very high in lion and otter traits. Opposites, it appears, do indeed attract.
Such tests can be fun, but finding the right person for a position is a tough job, especially since a mistake can burden the company for a long time. One common mistake is hiring someone just like ourselves, says Bill Lee, president of Lee Resources, a Greenville, S.C., consulting firm in the building-materials field. "It's human nature to enjoy working with people with personalities similar to our own and who do things a lot like we do them," he says. "But it's not the best way to build a balanced organization."
Each job has different criteria, requiring people with different strengths, he notes. Sales and reception jobs require outgoing, upbeat people, while accounting and estimating require detail-oriented skills. Therefore the best approach is to develop criteria and a job description for each position.
Have current employees help to develop these descriptions. They know what the job really involves. He also suggests writing down your own pet peeves--things "that aren't really horrible but drive you up the wall. By facing these issues up front, you'll avoid a lot of headaches down the road."
Bill recommends personality or psychological testing; many such tests are available. "It's not wise to make hiring decisions based solely on test results," he notes, "but they provide tremendous insight into the talent and chemistry each candidate possesses."
Animal behavior
Presenting real-life situations and asking candidates how they would respond also provides some indications of how they'll perform on the job, Bill says. The situations should be similar to those that will arise in that position. "If you develop dozens of questions to cover every position, your hiring mistakes will diminish."
He also stresses that references for final two or three candidates should be closely checked before any offer is made. These not only may provide feedback but give an indication of the candidate's honesty. Today, most references will confirm only the individual's work dates, but they're still worth checking. "Whatever challenges a person faced on their last job, they will most likely face on their next," Bill explains. "Leopards rarely change their spots."
Neither do lions, golden retrievers, otters or beavers.
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