Dealing With Employees

It always makes me laugh when employers ask, “Why would personality testing help me deal with employees?” It’s also amazing that most managers pay little attention to potential new hires testing results.

In this article I explain how to deal with employees, by analyzing what their Personality Tests tell you. If you need a test, check out the one I provide at The Perfect Personality Test

Why Does Personality Testing Matter?

We are all hardwired to:

• Work Best in Specific Environments ( By Ourselves vs. In Groups )
• Gather Information in Specific Ways ( Like Specifics vs. Like General Picture )
• Evaluate Information in Specific Ways ( With Head vs. With Heart )
• Make Decisions in Special Ways ( Facts and Figures vs. Do You Trust the Presenter )
• Solve Problems ( Planning vs. Adapting )

Why most employers have trouble with employees, is that they don’t communicate directions in ways that employees understand.

Most Managers:

• Gather information by analyzing specifics
• Evaluate info and make decisions by thinking through a situation
• Plan everything they will do from the moment they wake up

These managers then present their tasks based off of how they see the world. This is wrong! Great managers understand how their employees see the world, and present tasks in ways that the employees understand.

Real World Example

I was recently introduced to a manager that didn’t believe in testing. She was in charge of 36 assistant managers! I told here if I could test those employee’s, I could tell here which managers were the most successful (without meeting them in person). Here I’ll just present 2 different groups, to keep it simple. These are real people though!

Note: I label each individual with a personality type. For a report on that personality type, just click on the name. (It’s Free!)

Another Note: I specifically choose 2 manager’s with the same personality to show you how important the employee’s are to a manager’s success. In the bulleted section I am placing my guesses on what type of employee the person is.

Group 1 (I guessed this was the good office)

Sales Manager: (Jumping Bean Type)

• Gets multiple jobs done with little supervision
• Great motivator that employees like
• Motivates employees through gift giving?
• Involved in numerous groups

Assistant: (Planner Type)

• Gets their work done on time
• Very organized person
• Very loyal worker
• A bit of a workaholic?

Worker 1: (Recipe Follower Type)

• Friends with the other planners
• Very organized
• Prefers to work alone
• Follows the Assistant’s directions

Worker 2: (Dreamer Type)

• Quite person that really keeps to themselves
• Slow to make a decision
• Perfectionist
• If the Assistant is close to them, they are a good employee, if not…?

Worker 3: (Planner Type)

• Similar to the other Planner type

Worker 4:(Giver Type)

• Very organized
• Seem to pull the whole team together?
• Nice or Conservative dresser?

Group 2 (I guessed this was the bad office)

Sales Manager: (Jumping Bean Type)

• Socializes to0 much
• Very disorganized
• Has a tendency to over commit, which is causing customer complaints
• May seem scatter brained?

Assistant: (Friend Type)

• Seems overwhelmed
• Habitually late?
• Friends with Jumping Beans and Compassionates
• Socializes allot

Worker 1: (Jumping Bean Type)

• Socializes to much
• Late with everything
• Very disorganized

Worker 2: (Bull Type)

• Has a tendency to fly off the handle
• Very bad with paper work
• Getting customer complaints because they don’t follow up with customers

Worker 3: (Recipe Follower Type)

• Seems very stressed
• Doesn’t get along with others in the office
• Probably the best worker in this office?
• You feel they may quit?

Worker 4: (Compassionate Type)

• Not getting their work done, even though they seem to be constantly working
• Loved by those in the office
• Extremely nice, but reclusive

How Did I Do?

The manager was amazed that I picked the best office, but more because I was spot on with my descriptions. She went on to tell me that Worker 3, from the bad office, actually had quit. That worker, was the only one holding things together, and that’s why she even bothered to ask my opinion.

She stated that she didn’t like personality tests because even though these 2 managers had the same personality, their performance was not the same. I told her the reason why the performance was different, was that the employees personalities were different.

I Explain Why Office 2 Failed

All of the leaders in Office 2 were Adapters. Adapters like to juggle a bunch of projects at a time and then finish them at the last minute. Now Adapters are great because:

• They can handle stressful deadlines
• They can manage multiple projects, relationships, etc.
• Are normally more creative than planners

However, Adapters need a Planner around, to make sure the job gets done. The successful office was filled with multiple Planners. I refer to these people as Duty Seekers, because their sole purpose in life is to get things done. They include the:

• Bulls
• Recipe Followers
• Planners
• Givers

I’m not saying you should only hire Duty Seekers, I’m just saying that the leadership in an office must be made up of at least one. The members of the other personality families have their purpose though

Action Seekers:

• Won’t crack under pressure
• Are naturally more excepting of others
• Great at thinking on their feet

Knowledge Seekers:

• Most intelligent of the other personalities
• Very focused
• Ambitious
• Finds new ways to solve problems

Value Seekers:

• Integrity and values are the most important to them
• Friendliest of the personalities
• Very creative people
• Most devoted people

To Finish Off

I also wrote an article on testing for self esteem Self Esteem Personality Test. In my opinion, anyone that scores high on that test will be a good employee and vice versa! Personality tests should be used often to help craft the best work environment for all. If you don’t, expect allot of problems.

Till Next Time

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