Character Personality Test: Enhance Your Workplace

What is a Character Personality Test?

Want to know more about yourself or your employees? A character personality test explores and categorizes your unique traits, behaviors and attitudes. By taking one, you can uncover insights about yourself and use the results as a starting point for reflection. 

This overview covers personal growth, team-building and considerations for hiring. Keep reading as I dive into the world of character personality tests.

How can personality tests help your team?

You may be wondering why use personality tests to help your team? They can be a starting point for conversations about working preferences and team needs, rather than a promise of transformed team dynamics or higher productivity. Here are some possible benefits: 

1. Better Teamwork and Understanding

Personality test can help you understand your coworkers better. When you know how your teammates think and work, you can collaborate more effectively and create a friendlier work environment. 

2. Personal Growth

Discovering your strengths and weaknesses through these tests can inspire you to improve. This self-awareness will help you grow both personally and professionally, making you a more valuable employee.

3. Increased Engagement

Managers can use results to start conversations about what helps team members feel involved and motivated. For example, ask employees which training formats they prefer and what support they need, rather than inferring how they learn from a personality label. 

How can personality tests help employee growth?

In terms of employee growth, personality tests can be beneficial in these ways:

1. Understanding Strengths and Weakness

Personality tests can help you identify your unique traits and strengths. This self-awareness can guide you in setting clear career goals and recognizing areas of improvement. 

2. Clarifying Goals

By understanding your personality, you can align your professional goals with your personal interests and values. This connection can boost your motivation and commitment to your career development.

3. Enhancing Learning and Development

Knowing your personality can make learning and development more engaging and effective. When you see how professional growth aligns with your personal goals, you are more likely to stay motivated.

Pros and Cons of Personality Tests in Hiring 

Personality tests can be a useful and valuable tool in terms of the hiring process, but it is also important to use them wisely and consider their limitations. 

Pros of Using Personality Tests for Hiring

1. Streamlined Candidate Screening

Personality tests can support candidate screening when the exact instrument is validated for the job and purpose, with appropriate scoring and interpretation. Speed alone does not justify rejecting candidates by personality category.

2. Evidence-Based Hiring Decisions

Personality tests can provide data-driven insights, but a score is not automatically valid, objective or bias-free. Evidence for the exact instrument, job and purpose, consistent scoring and appropriate interpretation matter.

3. Improved Job Fit

Personality tests may inform questions about job fit when the exact instrument has supporting validation evidence for that role and purpose and is appropriately scored and interpreted. Matching a trait label to a role does not ensure fit, satisfaction or performance.

Cons of Using Personality Tests for Hiring

1. Potential for Discrimination

There's a risk that personality tests could unintentionally favor certain groups over others, leading to biased hiring practices.

2. Limited Predictive Power

While helpful, personality tests alone may not fully predict a candidate's future job performance or success.

3. Ethical Considerations

Personality tests can raise ethical questions about privacy and the appropriateness of assessing personal traits for job suitability.

Choosing workplace personality assessments

Start with the purpose. Self-reflection and team development are different from hiring selection; usefulness in a development conversation does not establish selection validity.

• For development: Discuss working preferences and goals with the individual. Use the following lists and diagrams as reflection vocabulary, not proof of skill, occupational eligibility, a mental-health diagnosis or an ideal employee type.
• Before selection: Identify the job or competency, exact instrument and version, validation evidence for that job and purpose, consistent scoring, an accommodation route and an accountable reviewer.

If the necessary evidence and review are missing, do not reject or assign a candidate by personality category. This review aid draws on U.S. EEOC guidance: vendor documentation may help, but employers remain responsible for validity under UGESP. It is not a universal legal checklist or a compliance or bias-free guarantee.

Hypothetical example: A team voluntarily discusses working preferences to explore how members like to communicate. If a manager then proposes rejecting applicants by personality category without evidence for the job and purpose, pause that hiring screen and seek the review described above.

Enneagram

The Enneagram framework is built around nine distinct personality types, each with its own defining traits. Here is an overview of the nine types:

• ‍1. The Reformer: Principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and sometimes perfectionistic‍
• 2. The Helper: Demonstrative, generous, and can be people-pleasing‍
• 3. The Achiever: Adaptive, excelling, driven, and image-conscious‍
• 4. The Individualist: Expressive, dramatic, and can be temperamental‍
• 5. The Investigator: Perceptive, innovative, and secretive‍
• 6. The Loyalist: Engaging, responsible, and suspicious‍
• 7. The Enthusiast: Spontaneous, versatile, and distractible‍
• 8. The Challenger: Self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational‍
• 9. The Peacemaker: Receptive, reassuring, agreeable, and can be complacent

Benefits: Enneagram tests can provide deep personality insights that help map out paths for growth and transformation. Understanding how different personality types interact can lead to better communication and conflict resolution.

Limitations: Over simplifying personalities into nine categories can be limiting. Moreover, its accuracy also heavily relies on participants' honest self-assessment which can be skewed by personal bias. 

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

MBTI was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, drawing on Carl Jung's theory of psychological types, as described by The Myers-Briggs Company. It categorizes people into 16 personality types based on four dimensions: 

1. Introversion (I) or Extraversion (E)

• Do you gain energy from spending time alone (Introversion) or from interacting with others (Extraversion)?

2. Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)

• Do you focus more on basic information you take in (Sensing) or do you prefer to interpret and understand the meaning behind it (Intuition)?

3. Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)‍

• Do you make decisions based on logic and consistency (Thinking) or based on people and special situations (Feelings)?

4. Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

• Do you prefer to get things decided (Judging) or stay open to new information and options (Perceiving)?

After selecting within each dimension, which resonates more with you, each person will be identified by a 4-letter code (E.g. INFJ or ESTP).

Benefits: Widely used and understood, MBTI helps in understanding different working styles and improving communication among team members.

Limitations: The Myers-Briggs Company states that MBTI is designed for development, not selection. It is not intended for hiring candidates or internal decisions about job placement, selection for teams or task forces, or similar activities.

The MBTI illustration above contains broad generalizations, including multitasking. Do not use them to infer individual skills or screen candidates: The Myers-Briggs Company describes preferences, not skill or competence.

DiSC

DiSC assesses personality based on four traits. The 4 types are: 

1. Dominance (D)

• Individuals who are high in dominance are usually assertive, result-oriented and enjoy challenges as well as direct competition. Use this vocabulary to discuss approaches to challenges or leadership, not to infer leadership ability.

2. Influence (i)

• People with high influence scores are social, persuasive and outgoing. Use these descriptors to discuss communication and collaboration, including contexts such as sales, marketing or public relations, not as proof of success in those roles. 

3. Steadiness (S)

• People with high steadiness scores are usually dependable, cooperative and prefer stable environments. Use this vocabulary to discuss consistency and a methodical approach, rather than treating it as proof of teamwork or role suitability.

4. Conscientiousness (C)

• Individuals with high conscientiousness are detail-oriented, analytical, and prioritize accuracy and quality. Finance and Engineering are possible discussion contexts for precision, not roles this style proves someone can perform well.

Benefits: DiSC styles can provide a prompt for discussing behavioral approaches, including how team members prefer to communicate or approach disagreements.

Limitations: It focuses on observable behavior rather than deeper personality traits, limiting its ability to predict long-term job performance.

CliftonStrengths Assessment

CliftonStrengths Assessment, previously known as StrengthsFinder, is a developmental tool that describes talents across 34 themes, which individuals can develop into strengths. The themes are grouped into 4 broader domains: 

1. Executing

• Executing themes offer a starting point for discussing managing projects, tasks and responsibility, not demonstrated efficiency or capacity to turn ideas into reality.

2. Influencing

• Influencing themes offer a starting point for discussing reaching out to people and expressing ideas, not proof of persuasion or assurance that ideas are heard and acted upon. 

3. Relationship Building

• Relationship Building themes offer a starting point for discussing nurturing positive relationships and creating strong partnerships, not proof of team cohesion or successful partnerships. 

4. Strategic thinking

• Strategic Thinking themes offer a starting point for discussing analyzing situations and exploring information and ideas, not proof of analytical, innovative or decision-making skill.
  

Benefits: Can start a positive conversation about strengths and how employees might develop and use their talents, without guaranteeing morale or productivity gains.

Limitations: Gallup identifies CliftonStrengths as developmental and states that it has not been validated as a predictive measure of success in a given role. Do not use a theme profile as a hiring-selection rule. For comprehensive personal development, also consider weaknesses and development needs alongside the strengths discussion.

The Big 5 Personality Test

The Big 5 measures five key traits: 

1. Openness to Experience

• People high in openness to experience are typically more adventurous and creative

2. Conscientiousness

• This dimension includes a high level of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. In particular, highly conscientious people are organized and mindful of details.

3. Extraversion

• This trait usually involves excitement-seeking and sociability. Extraverts enjoy being with people and are often full of energy.

4. Agreeableness

• This personality includes traits like trust, kindness and affection. People who score high in agreeableness tend to get along well with other people.

5. Neuroticism

• This personality reflects emotional instability and tendency to experience negative emotions like anger or depression. People who are high in neuroticism are more likely to be moody and tense.

Benefits: Strong scientific foundation and broad acceptance, providing a comprehensive view of personality traits.

Limitations: Can be too broad and less practical for specific workplace applications compared to more tailored tests.

Hogan Personality Inventory

The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) test assesses normal personality characteristics in a workplace context. It is grounded in a 5-factor Model, but the model alone does not establish prediction for a particular job. That requires evidence for the exact assessment, role and purpose, with appropriate scoring and interpretation. The HPI assesses 7 primary scales and 6 occupational scales:

Primary Scales:

• ‍1. Adjustment: Emotional stability and confidence under stress‍
• 2. Ambition: Initiative, competitiveness, and the desire for leadership roles‍
• 3. Sociability: Preference for social interaction and desire to be noticed‍
• 4. Interpersonal Sensitivity: Tact, perceptiveness, and ability to maintain relationships.‍
• 5. Prudence: Self-discipline, responsibility, and conscientiousness.‍
• 6. Inquisitive: Imagination, curiosity, and creative potential.‍
• 7. Learning Approach: Valuing education and enjoying learning.

Occupational Scales:

• 1. Service orientation: How friendly and helpful someone is towards customers, a topic to explore rather than proof of service quality
• 2. Stress tolerance: Reported tendencies under pressure, not demonstrated performance in high-stress situations
• 3. Reliability:  How dependable and conscientious you are, a prompt to discuss consistency and integrity rather than proof of either
• 4. Clerical potential: A person’s accuracy and attention to detail as topics to explore, not proof of precision on job tasks
• 5. Sales potential: A person's energy and drive for sales as topics to explore, not demonstrated sales skill
• 6. Managerial potential: A prompt to explore leadership, decision-making and motivating teams, not proof of management effectiveness

Benefits: May contribute to a hiring evaluation when the exact assessment has validation evidence for the role and purpose, with appropriate scoring and interpretation. It does not guarantee job performance or suitability.

Limitations: Can be costly and complex to administer, requiring professional interpretation.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) classifies people into four temperaments, offering insights into communication styles and behavior.

• 1. Artisan (SP): Artisans are spontaneous, tactical, and action-oriented. Flexibility, craftsmanship, tactical work and artistic expression are useful discussion contexts, not evidence of ability or a reason to assign someone to a role.
• 2. Guardian (SJ): Guardians are dependable, helpful, and detail-oriented. Use their emphasis on security and tradition to discuss logistical roles, careful planning and dependability, without inferring job suitability.
• 3. Idealist (NF): Idealists are enthusiastic, ethical, and compassionate. Idealistic people often seek meaning and significance in human relationships; counseling, education, and religion are discussion contexts, not evidence of aptitude or a placement rule.
• 4. Rational (NT): Rationals are analytical, strategic, and logical. Rational people usually pursue knowledge and competence, with science, technology, and strategic planning as possible discussion contexts rather than proof of innovation or occupational skill.

Benefits: Useful for understanding team roles and improving communication by highlighting different temperaments.

Limitations: It can be too general, lacking the depth and specificity of other personality assessments.

FAQ

What should you consider when taking a personality test?

When taking a personality test, you must stay focused and read each question carefully before answering. Follow the particular instrument's instructions and answer honestly, rather than trying to create an ideal profile. Do not assume that answering faster will make the result more accurate.

How reliable are personality tests?

Personality tests are not always completely accurate or fully reflective of your character, but they can be useful for understanding basic traits and how you might fit into a work environment. These tests can be influenced by your mood, environment, and emotions. Honest answers usually yield more accurate results. While they have flaws, personality tests can still provide valuable insights when combined with other assessment tools.

Do personality tests predict performance?

Personality tests can highlight key traits, strengths, and weaknesses, but they aren't always great at predicting job performance. For hiring, ask for evidence that the exact assessment is validated for the job and purpose, with appropriate scoring and interpretation. Use personality tests as one part of a broader evaluation process.

Conclusion

Character personality tests offer a starting point for personal growth and team dynamics, helping you explore strengths and working preferences. Use them as discussion aids; any hiring use needs evidence appropriate to the exact assessment, job and purpose. Explore more tools for workplace success at Litespace.