Psychometric tests

3 Apr

The term ‘psychometric tests’ can fill some of us with dread. We don’t want to be put into a box, or given a label, or be judged or compared to others. These are all valid concerns.

There are three types of psychometric tests, which, I think if used in an intentional way, and as part of an overall assessment or conversation, can be useful data points; all have their benefits and limitations in helping you understand yourself better which I will explain here:

APTITUDE AND ABILITY TESTS

These show the likelihood of someone being successful in a particular scenario, but may not show motivation - someone could do X, Y, and Z, but do they want to?

SKILL AND ATTAINMENT TESTS

These show someone’s current skills based on what they have already achieved. Skills are transferable but past experience is only indicative of future performance.

PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOURAL TESTS

These highlight personality markers, or how someone is likely to react in a given situation, but personality/behaviour and ability are different. These tests can support understanding individual preferences and be indicative of styles but they are not an indicator of skills, performance or ability. For example, an introvert can give amazing presentations but it’s likely to take a lot more energy for them to do this, than it would for an extrovert. Equally, someone who is very open by nature can keep a secret, but it may be harder for them because this isn’t their natural style.

I think psychometric tests can be powerful as they help individuals identify the help they may need but like with anything, if taken to the extreme it can become a weakness, so it’s about knowing why you're using them in the first place. With any test, you need to be careful that you don’t ‘pigeon-hole’ and assume something is set in stone for life. For example, if you were risk-averse you may tell yourself that you will never take a risk and always weigh up the pros and cons before any decision. This may be useful to you for the majority of situations, but you have the flexibility to also allow yourself to take a risk every now and then. Maybe someone invites you for a coffee and you have lots of other things to do, but your intuition says to go. If you went through your normal process you're likely to decline because of all the things you won’t achieve but adding in the spontaneity may lead to a different opportunity, or may mean you're there for a friend, or may be a start of a new love affair, or may just mean you're a little delayed in doing your tasks. Life is about balance. And it’s also why it’s good to talk to people who are your ‘opposites’ to gain different perspectives and to challenge your thinking, even if it's sometimes uncomfortable.

There are many psychometric tests available, and I use Everything DiSC® with my clients. The origins of DiSC® started with the work of American psychologist William Moulton Marston in 1928. (Marston is also the creator of the Wonder Woman character, which is a fact I love!) Since 1928 there have been many developments in the DiSC tool and in 2007, Wiley’s Everything DiSC® was launched, and, as at the time of writing, every 0.38 seconds someone, somewhere is taking the assessment. You can learn more here.

The profiles are set around 2 sets of axis. The first is whether you are more naturally active, fast-paced, assertive, loud, dynamic and bold or moderately paced, thoughtful, calm, methodical, careful and with softer speech. The second measures if you're more naturally questioning, logical, objective, sceptical and challenging or accepting, people-focused, empathetic, receptive and agreeable. You may be somewhere at the extremes, or anywhere along each of the axis. DiSC® is an abbreviation for the main profile attributes of dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness and depending on where you sit on the axis will determine your most natural behavioural style.

An Everything DiSC® profile is completed via an online questionnaire and you then receive a personalised 20-page report that has identified where your natural behavioural styles and energies are most prominent. There are no right or wrong answers, and no profile is better or worse than another. I believe anyone can achieve anything they set out to do, but the profile helps you understand why some tasks are maybe easier for you, and some you may find more difficult, or deplete your energy. It also helps you to find ways to work with different types of people which improves your communication, influencing and decision-making skills. I find the test is an additional useful data point but is not the whole picture though. It’s the reflection and analysis of your results, and how this affects how you interact with others, which promotes the interesting conversations that deepen self-awareness and allows you to develop strategies so you can utilise your energies to be the best version of yourself.

CASE STUDY

A client came to me because sometimes when she pitched for new business, although she loved preparing for how she could help them with their social media, she found the actual pitch process exhausting, and often came away feeling that she had let herself down and had not shown them how she could help them. She was starting to think she wasn’t cut out to work for herself.

Completing the Everything DiSC® profile she found she had a profile of SC (steadiness-conscientiousness). Her core values included patience, being tactful, private, precise, reserved and accommodating. Reflecting on this, the pitches she found difficult were often being given to quite dominant audiences, that were very outspoken and direct because they had specific requirements. The client concluded this is why she felt drained because the personalities were often so different to her own and she had to be louder and more assertive than felt natural to her, often coming away feeling like she had not acted within character.

We worked on strategies so she could still show up authentically but with full energy - so days she was pitching for business, she would not have other meetings. She would complete a power pose before going into the presentations to build her own energy. She would remind herself why she could do this: 10 years experience in her field, ensured the pitch covers all the key elements on the brief, researched the company so understands their business and current challenges. It wasn’t just about positive affirmations, but her own specific evidence as to why she was the right person to be working with the business.

We also worked on strategies for how to work more effectively with a more dominant personality type, whilst feeling like she was still being true to who she is. Dominant individuals tend to be very action and results focused, and challenging conversations tend not to bother them. My client reflected on her current style of pitching and realised she often caveated her ideas as she wanted things to feel very inclusive and that she could make any changes the client wanted. However, learning more about the different styles meant she could appreciate that although this style would work well for individuals who were like her, for those that had more dominant personalities, this may come across as hesitant or unsure of what she was presenting. She learnt that if they didn’t like her ideas, they wouldn’t be afraid to challenge them so she could then ask for clarification of what they wanted and caveat the ideas, but she didn’t need to do this as standard.

We are all a blend of the different profiles and can move between them as needed, but by using the tool you can find where you naturally sit and then decide on the ways to best show up in different situations that are still true to who you are. When you are being true to who you are, you're less likely to feel like an imposter. It wasn’t about making my client more like the people she was pitching to, it was about helping her to feel differently and develop strategies that embrace who she is, whilst respecting other people’s differences, and using this knowledge and self-awareness to become even more effective. This is where I think psychometric tests can be really useful in helping you to achieve the results you want in your life.

If you would like to deepen your own self-awareness and understand more about how your natural style can support you in achieving more of your career goals, you can schedule a DiSC profile and coaching session here.