The benefits of using personality questionnaires

 

Selecting the right talent and building tailored development programmes takes a lot of energy and can be very expensive. No wonder it’s frustrating for all the people involved in the process when employees leave the company. How do you ensure you have the right candidate for the role and how do you empower employees to achieve their potential?

At Cubiks, we manage over 1.6 million assessments and deliver 115,000 development solutions every year. We understand you need robust solutions that you can trust to make the best decisions, accompanying you throughout the Talent Management process, from recruiting employees to developing your workforce.

Work related personality questionnaires

Exploring someone’s personality can be valuable in many HR processes. Using assessments based on science and empirical research, you can build a series of questions that will help you to identify an individual’s preferences and personality traits. Since personality is so complex and unique, the output of a test will have to be broken down from larger factors into more specific elements and the results will often need to be discussed with the participant to maximise accuracy.

For a work-based personality assessment, extensive research shows it’s best to focus on personality traits, as opposed to discrete types. This way, you can measure how people relate to specific statements on a scale and build an overview of the way they work.

 

Personality assessments and the Big Five model

Most contemporary personality assessments are based on the Big Five personality traits, including work-based assessments. This taxonomy groups personality traits into five overarching domains:

  • Openness to experience – curious vs. cautious, inventive vs. consistent
  • Conscientiousness – efficient vs. easy-going, organised vs. careless
  • Extraversion – outgoing vs. solitary, energetic vs. reserved
  • Agreeableness – friendly vs. challenging, compassionate vs. detached
  • Neuroticism – sensitive vs. secure, nervous vs. confident

Personality assessments based on the Big Five model don’t result in good or bad answers. The objective of these kinds of assessments is to help people find working environments and roles that fit with their personalities, in order to get the most from their strengths and create the right conditions for success at work.

How personality assessments can help HR

Assessing personality in recruitment 

Personality tests can be used in the recruitment process to help select the right candidate for a role. Indeed, they provide objective information about an individual’s work preferences and drivers, which will help decide if their personality fits the job description. This information can then be compared between various candidates to find the best match for the role and the organisation.

Learn more about personality assessments for recruitment
 

Identifying talent with personality tests

Personality questionnaires can also be used to identify employees who could progress into different positions, or join a different team. Understanding how they behave at work is a great indicator of which job will best match their personality. It’s also a great tool to build efficient teams by matching people who will work well together.

 

Understanding personality for development 

Exploring someone’s personality will unveil their strengths as well as their areas for development. It’s therefore a great tool to build efficient development programmes that can help an individual thrive at work. Understanding their personality allows for more tailored plans and more chances of success.

Benefits of assessing personality at work

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Avoid hiring the wrong candidates

Understanding someone’s personality early in the process will help you make a more informed decision. A good work-based personality questionnaire will give the objective information you need for a fair recruitment process. Using such a tool will save you money and time down the line.

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Increase employee retention and satisfaction

Personality questionnaires help to build efficient development programmes which, in turn, can help to reduce turnover by keeping employees happy in their role. Providing individuals with the right training and support can make a huge difference in their satisfaction, both professionally and personally.

Improve team cohesion

Work-based personality tests can help to uncover conflicts or issues within existing teams. They can also help to build stronger teams by matching people who will work well together based on their personality traits. 

Improve employee self-awareness

When used with a feedback session, personality assessments will help individuals better understand their own personality and way of working. It can sometimes open their eyes on drivers and preferences that they didn’t know they had. All this can motivate them to develop their strengths and try to improve on their weaknesses.

Choose a personality assessment you can trust 

How do you choose the best personality assessment solution for your organisation?

Science-based assessments

Ensure your assessment is based on scientific research and will provide an accurate, unbiased measurement of personality. Objective personality assessments should be based on personality traits – such as the Big Five model – to better reflect the reality of how individuals work. 

Engaging candidate experience

Your assessments should provide an engaging user experience, for both participants and administrators. They should be clear, easy-to-use and intuitive.

Personalised assessments

Being able to personalise the look and feel of your assessments will improve the way participants engage with them whilst maintaining objective statements and questions for unbiased results. Reports should also be tailored to provide accurate insights, especially for sales or leadership roles.

Interactive dynamic reporting

Your day is busy enough without having to have to dig into long, boring pdf reports. Interactive reports that dynamically show you the insights you need will make your life so much easier. If they’re available in different formats, even better!

International capability

If you operate across borders, you need to adapt personality assessments to the local language and culture. The same question might be interpreted differently between two nationalities.

Make the most of personality assessments

Contact our team of experts to discuss how personality assessments could help your Talent Management strategy and how we can build them to fit your specific needs. 

If you’re curious about improving your recruitment process and strategy, check out our magazine for insights on how to screen and select top talent.

Stop wasting time and money on unsuitable recruitment processes and inefficient development programmes, start focusing on what matters with objective personality assessments.

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