Posts Tagged ‘workplace personality tests’

I am very excited to present this case study. Mike’s Carwash has been a client since 2004. In late September, the Wall Street Journal honored and recognized Mike’s as one of the Top Small Workplaces 2009! You can read the full article here.

One of the many factors that contributed to Mike’s Carwash receiving this designation is their rigorous employee selection process that all applicants must go through. They  hire approximately 1 out of every 100 people who apply! Needless to say, they are very selective. Mike’s is only interested in hiring top-performing, customer service oriented individuals and has been using two assessments that we offer; CandidClues and JobClues. These entry-level screening tools enable them to go much deeper than a traditional job interview and predict how well a person is suited for their unique work environment.

In this case study, I interviewed Tom Wiederin, HR and recruiting manager for Mike’s Carwash. He holds nothing back, and describes in detail the process they use, along with key factors they track to ensure the employee turnover is kept at a minimum.

Be sure to listen at 6:20 into the interview. Tom talks about  a key factor that is directly linked to identifying top applicants.

Congratulations to Mike’s Carwash for being recognized as one of the Wall Street Journal’s Top Small Workplace of 2009!

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I recently interviewed Sharon Neuenschwander, VP of Human Resources at First Bank of Berne. Sharon and FBB have been a long standing client of mine. In this interview, Sharon candidly shares her experience of implementing and utilizing a pre-employment assessment process. Sharon describes how our process has helped her reduce employee turnover and make better hires. She also talks about the initial resistance she faced when implementing this system and how she overcame it.

If you have ever thought about incorporating pre-employment assessments into your hiring process but were hesitant, you may be interested in what Sharon has to say.

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What does it mean when people talk about finding the right personality for a job?

Personality is typically defined as the unique bundle of motivations, attitudes and behaviors that make each of us who we are. One individual’s bundle may be outgoing, creative, and excitable and another is reserved, organized, and calm. But when the quiet speak and the assertive are tamed, do aliens suddenly take over their bodies to do these weird things? Can people actually change their personalities so easily?

No, not really. When you observe changes like these, you typically are observing behaviors. Behaviors describe how individuals react to specific situations like problems, people, pace of environment and procedures. People, when willing and able, can adapt and modify their behavior easily but can personalities be changed? Do personalities keep us stuck in our ways?

Overwhelmingly consensus agrees that personalities rarely change after adolescence and when change does happen it happens slowly. For example. Your salesperson refuses to work your database and call prospects and clients. He has been “diagnosed” as having call reluctance. You invest thousands in training, provide coaching and phone scripts, and add sales incentives. Maybe, just maybe his behavior will change. But will this change stick? Not likely. If it does, how long will it be until the core personality shows through again or the individual burns out?

When it comes to the workplace, behaviors are like the wrapping on the gift. Sometimes the shape of the box and the design of the paper give away hints to what is inside. Many times the gift inside turns out to be something totally unexpected.

What is happening as a result of many of today’s hiring and succession decisions is that managers are making decisions based on the “gift wrap” or behaviors. After the gift is unwrapped and the proverbial honeymoon is over, all that is left is what’s inside – the personality. And many managers are wishing they kept the receipts because they are now stuck with very expensive unwanted gifts.

Personality testing is saving managers the enormous expense, heartache and embarrassment of hiring a “great personality” only to find out who they really hired is the wrong fit or worse, the infamous “problem personality”. Pesonality tests based on the five-factor model are widely accepted due to their usefulness in finding out who a person really is and how they will fit an environment, a team, or a job.

One five factor employee assessment TotalView helps hiring managers easily separate the achievers from the do-ers, the risk-takers from the risk-averse, the outgoing from the reserved, and the relaxed from the easily excitable. It helps predict if an individual will adapt and lead change, display leadership or sales ability, and benefit from coaching and development.

When looking to build an organization of people with the “right stuff”, think personality. Breakthroughs in technologies and volumes of empirical research are beginning to crack the code for identifying and developing peak performers.

This article originally appeared in The Total View, a weekly online newsletter that focuses on hiring, management and retention strategies. The Total View is written and published by Ira S. Wolfe and is distributed with permission by CorporatePersonalityProfiler.com and The Chrysalis Corporation. Subscribe for FREE to The Total View by typing your e-mail address in the newsletter sign-up box on the right side of this page.