Psychometric tools are not a new concept in HR. We have been listening this word for a pretty long time. These tools help in understanding the individuals’ mental capabilities and behavioral style and also identify the hidden aspects of an individual that are difficult to extract from a face-to-face interaction.
But a word of caution is these tests only help in understanding the candidates behavioral style and these tools are alone not the decision makers at any stage of the individuals career.
These tools are generally used in Recruitment, Development and Retention of talent. Any psychometric tool has to be used upon careful understanding of the objective and the type of report each tool generates.
Type of Psychometric Tools:
Today we have various type of psychometric tools in HR, below are few majorly used tools and their importance:
DISC Profiling
DISC profiling measure four key factors of an individual
- D – Dominance
- I – Influence
- S – Steadiness
- C – Compliance
This describes an individuals’ behavior under various situations such as normal situation, under work situation and r under pressure. This also describes an individual’s leadership style, Fears, Motivators and if the person is currently undergoing any pressure/ tough situations and those or work related or personal problems.
DISC is majorly used during the recruitment process as this helps organizations identifying the individuals’ behavioral style and accordingly the interviewer can probe questions based on the report
MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator):
The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator is a self-inventory test designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths and preferences. The identification and description of the 16 distinctive personality types that result from the interactions among the preferences”.
- Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Interversion (I)
- Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (s) or Intuition (N).
- Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
- Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).
- Your Personality Type: When you decide on your preference in each category, you have your own personality type, which can be expressed as a code with four letters.
- There are 16 personality types of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument and this tool is majorly used in Talent development and retention process.
FIRO-B:
The FIRO-B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behaviour) instrument is a personality assessment that measures how you typically behave with other people and how you expect them to act around you.
According to this theory, individuals are motivated by three interpersonal needs which are inclusion, control and affection.
- Inclusion: The amount of belonging, attention, and recognition desired in social settings. The need to be recognized as participants in human interaction
- Control: The level of influence, structure and responsibility desired. The need to make a difference in one’s social environments and to have some say over what happens
- Affection: The level of rapport, warmth and support desired. The need to be liked or loved (a lack of this can lead to feelings of alienation).
Benefits of these tools:
- Very easy to administer
- Can be done for Individual/group of people
- Can be administered online
- Saves lot of time
- Quick and reliable results
Keep tracking this space to find out whether the psychometric tests alone are deciding factors for selection and the key parameters for consideration while taking these tests.
Article by: Saritha Dhulipudi,
Sr. Consultant – HR Footprints Management Services Pvt. Ltd.
