More and more organizations are recognizing that
individuals and leaders who are self-aware tend to be better at managing their
emotions, influencing others, and building strong, collaborative relationships.
To help employees
develop self-awareness, companies often use one of the various psychometric
assessments available on the market. Unfortunately, many of these tools were
developed decades ago and are still using old thinking with regard to
individuals and personalities. They focus on categorizing people into specific
“types,” without acknowledging the vast complexity of the human personality.
This approach has
been widely criticized, especially in the academic world, as being too
limiting. In fact, according to a recent Fortune magazine article,
personality “typing” has been subject to sustained
criticism by professional
psychologists for more than 30 years.
One of the key
criticisms is that “typing” mistakenly
assumes that personality falls into mutually exclusive categories. For example, you are either an introvert OR
an extravert. You are either logical OR emotional. Typing assigns an individual
all of the characteristics of a trait without any of the characteristics of the
opposite of that trait. The danger in this, of course, is that when
organizations use these typing tools their culture can become biased toward one
type or another. For example, they may associate a particular type with
leadership more strongly than other types and may even eliminate one or more
types from leadership consideration. The result is that employees who are not
this type but want to become leaders will either try to change who they are, or
become disengaged, or leave. This is not bringing out the best in people and helping
them feel like valued contributors.
Evaluative bias threatens personal
satisfaction and contributes to an organizational culture of
disengagement. The first damages employee
happiness and well-being, while the second damages the bottom line. According to recent Gallup studies,
disengaged employees can cost US organizations up to $605 billion each year in
lost productivity.
Humans are far too complex to be categorized as either/or, or to be
segmented into particular types. They may display more characteristics of a
trait (or its opposite) based on a particular situation. Reducing the complexity of the human
personality into such a narrow scope can limit an individual in their own eyes,
and in the eyes of others. It is both limited and limiting.
Fortunately,
there are emerging, state-of-the-art psychometric assessments that help to eliminate
evaluative bias. These are tools that do
not type people, instead they scientifically measure behaviors exhibited or
qualities a person utilizes. Even better
are the ones that embrace “and” thinking as opposed to “either/or” thinking.
These are the ‘open-system’ tools where you measure each factor
individually. Therefore, a person’s
unique gifts and talents are highlighted.
National
Geographic’s publication Your
Personality Explained, called the Big5 the cutting edge
approach to measuring personality because it doesn’t categorize people as
“types,” but rather empirically and scientifically measures each of their 5
personality factors for a more unique and comprehensive picture. Assessments
based on the Big5 principle are one step in the right direction.
No matter what you
choose to use in your organization to help raise employees’ self-awareness, be
mindful of the effects that creating an atmosphere that rewards or limits certain
‘types’ of people can have on employee morale.
Instead, help your employees look for hidden gems and talents in each
other; help them see the uniqueness each person has to offer. Help them feel valued, and watch them
contribute. Bring out the best in your
people and they will bring out the best in your organization.
Cheers to Deeper
Diversity,
Rebecca Bales
Global Partner
Lumina Learning
Contact us at info-us@luminalearning.com
to learn about upcoming Lumina events.
