Hard skills, like typing and computer proficiency, can be taught, if need be. A person’s soft skills - his or her work style - are not so flexible.
Do the test for personality
Work style is the personality side, or “soft skills,” of a person that make for an effective executive, manager, or employee. It is the behavioral side of the person that isn’t so easy to teach or change.
When people are able to exercise their natural work styles, there is higher potential for productivity. They are working in their comfort zones.
If not quantified in the same way that facility with typing can be determined, work style can at least be established in other ways, such as behavioral personality assessment. Here are a few examples of questions to ask when determining the particular work style of a prospective employee, manager, or executive:
1). Does the person prefer to work alone or in a team? Some people are more effective when able to work solo, while others need the interaction and stimulation of peers to perform at their bests.
2). Does the person prefer to work in a structured or unstructured environment? Structured environments are those where what will happen each day is predictable, and there are sets of clearly defined routines and rules. Unstructured work environments have free flows of work, and it is hard to predict what will happen, requiring adaptability and flexibility.
Those who prefer structure at work can become frustrated when subjected to changing situations, just as those preferring more unstructured environments can become bored when their work environments are too predictable.
3). How important is it for the person to have control? Some people need freedom to decide what they do and when they do it, while others prefer to be told what to do and how to do it, not wanting too much responsibility.
4). Does the person work on the "big picture" or implement details instead?
5). Does the person take initiative to perform the assigned tasks directly or distribute responsibility by working through people?
Reduce friction, reduce turnover
The work styles that people bring to the workplace affect and influence everyone with whom they interact - subordinates, peers, bosses, customers, shareholders, vendors, and so on. Work style can create company cultures, drive two people towards agreement or conflict, help align people with job tasks, and more.
Without understanding an individual’s natural work style and how it fits into the company’s culture, there is a big opportunity for a mismatch, leading to job dissatisfaction and unnecessary employee turnover.
After all, employers don’t hire with the intention to fire; and, most employees don’t accept jobs with intentions to quit or derail the organizations’ efforts. Determining the work style of an employee, manager, or executive can not only determine the future success of a given hire - it can reveal the successful or dysfunctional operation of a team, a division, or a company as a whole.
In many ways, the successful delivery of an employee’s hard skills within a particular job function and organization depends upon that person’s preferred work styles, interests, and interpersonal behaviors, the understanding of which may be priceless data for a company seeking to improve its hiring methods. Precision in hiring creates hiring excellence and keeps a company moving forward with its finest people in the positions that fit them best.
By reducing turnover, a company will reduce the amount of time and expense spent in the hiring process, thus improving the bottom line.
About the Author:
Taking over for her father, Dr. Roger Birkman, in 2001, Sharon Birkman Fink is president and CEO of Birkman International, Inc., providing a unique assessment tool that accurately measures internal needs, behaviors, occupational preferences, and organizational strengths. She can be reached at (713) 623-2760 or sfink@birkman.com.
About Birkman
The Birkman Method® has been in use for more than 50 years and has been used by more than 2 million people and 5,000 organizations worldwide, including corporations, not-for-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and individuals in their hiring, retention, motivational, and organizational development activities. The assessment accurately measures social behaviors, underlying expectations of interpersonal and task actions, potential stress reactions to unmet expectations, occupational preferences, and organizational strengths. For more information: www.birkman.com or (800) 215-2760.
