The best workplace personality tests and when to use them

Personality tests are often used in recruitment and team development. While they differ slightly in format, they are usually a series of multiple-choice questions. You may be asked to pick the answer that most corresponds to how you’d respond to the question. Or you may be asked to rank the answers.

Despite what the name suggests, these are not ‘tests’. There aren’t any right or wrong answers. The purpose of personality tests is to learn more about an individual’s strengths and areas for development. Businesses can use this information to build higher-performing teams. They can also offer work assignments based on an individual’s strengths and preferences.

For example, say you know a team member has a preference for fact-based decision-making. The rest of the team can support them by offering appropriate evidence about why a particular option should be chosen.

That same team member will be more patient with a colleague who always seems to rush ahead if they understand their preference for intuitive decision-making. The more knowledge we have about our colleagues’ preferences, the better we can try to accommodate them. This leads to improved collaboration and efficiency and, ultimately, higher performance.

Over the years, research has questioned the scientific validity of some of these tests. But that hasn’t affected their popularity.  Around 80% of Fortune 500 companies use personality testing. This is often in the context of recruitment or for developing current employees.¹ 

In 2004 the VIA Institute supported a 3-year research study looking at the nature of positive character. The study was led by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman. It resulted in the publication of the book ‘Character Strengths & Virtues: A Handbook and Classification’. A free assessment tool for both adults and young people was also created. This is known as the VIA Inventory of Strengths or VIA Survey. 

Completing the 96-question VIA Survey returns an individual strengths profile. Your profile report ranks 24 individual character strengths based on how easily you express them. Character strengths are positive behaviors you use to benefit yourself and others. You have all 24 in different degrees. Signature strengths are those that are most prominent within your profile. They are likely to mean a lot to you and form part of your core identity.

The VIA Institute says you can recognize your signature strengths using the ‘3 E’s’ test. That is, these strengths feel:

• Essential to your personal identity
• Effortless to use
• Energizing to use

The VIA Institute believes that by building greater awareness of our signature strengths, we can use them for positive action. Leaning into our strengths helps us grow in confidence. It also helps us manage problems, meet our goals, and boost our happiness.

The CliftonStrengths assessment focuses on helping individuals discover their greatest talents and put them to work. It’s a 177-question test where individuals choose between sets of paired statements. It was developed by Don Clifton after the Second World War.

Clifton was fascinated by how best to unlock each person’s potential. Rather than encouraging people to overcome areas of weakness, Clifton asserted that they should look to maximize their strengths.

The assessment measures people’s innate talents and categorizes them into 34 themes. The 34 themes are grouped into four domains. These domains are Relationship-Building, Influencing, Executing, and Strategic Thinking. The idea behind CliftonStrengths is that when faced with a business challenge, you look for teammates who are strong in the domain that helps you solve the problem.

For example, if teams need to sell an innovative idea to internal or external stakeholders, they look to colleagues with a strong influencing domain. If they need to drive forward an urgent project, teammates with talents in the executing domain can be relied on to get the job done.

The roots of the classical Enneagram test are unclear. The 9-pointed Enneagram symbol can be found in ancient spiritual practice. The Bolivian-born philosopher Oscar Ichazo is credited with popularizing its use as a tool for enlightenment in the 1960s. His philosophical teachings underpinned the development of Enneagramatic Theory. 

The Enneagram Institute was formed in 1997 to further research into this powerful self-awareness tool. They administer the most popular Enneagram test, the RHETI. This test consists of 144 paired statements you have to choose between.

The classical Enneagram test is used by individuals to identify their dominant personality type. There are nine personality types described by the assessment. Each personality type has unique core motivations that drive their behavior. While you may see traces of yourself in more than one type, there will be one that most closely matches your character. 

The nine personality types are divided into three centers: Instinctive, Feeling, and Thinking. Your center influences your response if you try to live outside your core motivations. Personality types in the Instinctive center display anger. In the Feeling center, shame is felt. Personality types in the Thinking center feel fear. 

The three personality types in each center respond differently to these dominant emotions. By developing your self-awareness of your personality type and center, you learn to pay attention to these negative emotions when they arise. 

With the RHETI Enneagram test, you get insight into the traits that make up your dominant personality type. You’ll also get data on the proportion of the other personality types that make up your character. Examined together, this information can be a powerful tool for self-awareness and personal and professional development.

In 1975, Ray Dalio created the investment firm Bridgewater Associates. The firm has grown into one of the most important private companies in the United States. Dalio has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. He attributes his success to a set of principles that guide the highly effective corporate culture found at Bridgewater Associates.

Dalio shares those principles in his book ‘Principles: Life & Work’. Along with psychologists Dr. Adam Grant, Dr. Brian Little, and Dr. John Golden, he also created a workplace personality test. ‘PrinciplesYou’ is used for individuals, and ‘PrinciplesUs’ is used for teams. During the online assessment, people rate the extent to which a statement applies to them. One example might be, “I am very disorganized.”

Once complete, they are scored against 12 dominant traits, 36 sub-traits, and five independent scales. They are also assigned an archetype based on their sub-traits. The personality traits measured are those based on Dalio’s principles, which he believes are the key to business success.  

Each archetype is described in terms of tendencies, talents, and opportunities for growth. People can also see how they prefer to engage with others. This is extremely useful for team leaders trying to create an optimal work environment and culture.

The test creators believe the assessment outcome strongly predicts both job performance and well-being. This makes it valuable in the workplace for both recruitment — especially for assessing cultural fit — and employee engagement.

The DiSC assessment is a personality test used to improve communication and productivity within teams. DiSC stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. These are the four core personality types identified by the assessment. As well as the four main profiles, the DiSC model measures people against eight ‘priorities’ to add another layer of nuance. We are all a mix of the four personality profiles, but most of us have a dominant DiSC style.

The theory underpinning the DiSC tool was first proposed by William Moulton Marston. He was an American psychologist who outlined his work in the book ‘Emotions of Normal People’. He explored the notion that normal human emotions were displayed differently between groups of people.

The DiSC personality assessment leads to greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence. But its main purpose is to help people use that awareness to improve their relationships within a team dynamic. For example, your DiSC profile includes advice on how to collaborate more effectively with colleagues who have a different DiSC personality type to yours. In the workplace, the benefits are seen in better team communication and increased productivity.

As well as the classic DiSC assessment, there are also supplementary products. These offer greater insight into specific areas. For example, you can learn more about your leadership style and your preferred way of managing others.

The predictive index personality test is a behavioral assessment created in 1955 by Arnold Daniels. Daniels had a singular mission. He wanted to solve business problems by better understanding workplace behaviors. 

Unlike other personality assessments, the test has only two questions. These are related to a list of adjectives. The first question asks people to select the adjectives that describe how they are expected to behave at work. The second asks them to select the adjectives that best describe their actual personality.

The adjectives are associated with four behavioral drivers that influence workplace behavior. These are dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality. Based on their answers, people are given one of 17 different reference profiles.

Like the other tests we’ve mentioned, the predictive index personality test improves self-awareness. It enables individuals to explore how well their reference profile is likely to perform in certain work environments. 

It is also uniquely placed to support the recruitment process. Hiring managers can use the predictive index personality test to identify the behavioral competencies they value within their organizations. By asking job candidates to complete the test, they can assess them for behavioral and cognitive fit during the hiring process. A good fit should lead to higher-performing teams and happier employees.

There are many and varied personality assessments available on the market today. Some have a specific workplace focus, and others are used in a broader context. All are based on the notion that greater self-awareness will lead to improved relationships with family, friends, or colleagues. It is likely that the conversations these tests prompt are more valuable than characterizing yourself as one personality type or another.

The additional support offered by test administrators is also important. Look for a tool that offers an in-depth report with actionable tips about how to use your new insight. Also, see what other free resources are offered to support your ongoing career development. For example, with F4S, you get access to free personalized coaching to help your results become more than an archetype on a page.