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Using personality assessments to improve employee retention
Executive overview
Most managers use personality tests only in hiring — where many aren't designed to be used. Their real value is in retention: coaching, conflict resolution, and personalising how employees are managed.
Choose empirically supported assessments that include results reports. Train managers to interpret and act on them responsibly, not to confirm existing biases.
The insight: personality assessments only improve retention when managers use them to adapt their behaviour, not to label employees.
Why personality tests fail in hiring
- MBTI explicitly states it is not ethical to use for hiring or job assignments
- Assessments must be reliable, valid, and part of a holistic process to be non-discriminatory
- A personality test should never be the deciding factor in a hire
How assessments support retention
- Help identify what environments employees thrive in and how they handle pressure
- Enable managers to personalise coaching, training, rewards, and perks
- Assessments without a results report are not worth using — skip them
- HR should select empirically supported tools and train managers on interpretation
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
- Identifies 16 personality types across four dichotomies: extraversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving
- Useful for self-reflection and understanding how employees prefer to be motivated
- An ISTJ may respond to clear, logical rationale; an ENFP to encouragement and impact on others
Hogan assessments
- Measures reputation (observable behaviour) rather than self-identity, which can be flawed
- Four categories: bright side, dark side, inside, and cognitive
- Bright side = how someone behaves when in control; dark side = under stress
- Managers can use dark-side profiles to approach difficult conversations more constructively
DISC assessment
- Four profiles: dominance, influence, steadiness, conscientiousness
- Popular for ease of use and straightforward application
- Key principle: managers must first understand their own DISC profile before coaching others
- A high-D manager risks burnout and mistrust if they don't develop empathy in their leadership style
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