Transparency and Personality Tests
I was reminded this morning of my rule about personality/psychological tests in the workplace: This isn’t strip poker.
In Plain english: If you do personality testing of any type, the results should be shared only with those who agree to share their test results with you.
Make a safe environment for using test results to improve performance and engage everyone’s “Jazz.”
If my supervisor gets to see my testing results, I should be shown theirs as well. Heck, what a great way to see how best to interact with my supervisor! Does this make managers squirm? If it does, just exactly how are the tests being used? Do folks need help interpreting the results?
After one especially trying corporate retreat, I found myself with a shingle outside my door as traumatized employees and managers trooped in with results they’d been left to interpret as damning. The consultant scared folks to death with incompetent interpretation of the results. I’d go through each test and explain what the numbers and labels meant in the workplace. Thankfully, the firm was comfortable with my suggestion to share results, and seeing peer’s tests along with a more complete explanation settled nerves and prevented some key resignations.
I’ve been including results of my Strengths test in proposals and on resumes and CVs with interesting results. Some folks relish the chance to have third-party confirmation that I’m actually a good candidate for the prospective work!
Take a look and let me know what you think!
Laura’s test results
How would this work in your organization?
P.S. I found out that I’d turned off the comment feature, and have now turned it on. Please let me know any comments you may have!
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