What is the DiSC Assessment?
According to the company’s website (discprofile.com), the DiSC assessment helps those who take it increase self-knowledge about how you respond to conflict, what motivates you, what causes you stress, and how you solve problems. Knowing about a person’s traits can help both the employee and employer improve working relation- ships by recognizing the communication needs of team members, facilitate better teamwork and teach productive conflict, develop stronger sales skills by identifying and responding to customer styles, and more effectively manage by understanding the dispositions and priorities of employees and team members.
The test breaks personalities into four categories, divided by the letters “DiSC”:
Dominance: A person whose score indicates they’re a “D” type personality places emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, and confidence.
Behaviors include:
- sees the big picture
- can be blunt
- accepts challenges
- gets straight to the point
Influence: A person whose score indicates they’re a “I” type personality places emphasis on influencing or persuading others, openness, and relationships.
Behaviors include:
- shows enthusiasm
- is optimistic
- likes to collaborate
- dislikes being ignored
Steadiness: A person whose score indicates they’re a “S” type personality places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, dependability.
Behaviors include:
- doesn’t like to be rushed
- calm manner
- calm approach
- supportive actions
Conscientiousness: A person whose score indicates they’re a “C” type personality places emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, and competency.
Behaviors include:
- enjoys independence
- objective reasoning
- wants the details
- fears being wrong
DiSC isn’t the only assessment test out there. There’s another one called Omnia®, which is designed specifically for hiring to fill a management position. Omnia creates a benchmark profile for a management position supervising more than fifty people. The test shows how your candidate matches up against the ideal candidate. There are other tests out there, but those are the two main ones.
For me, the DiSC should be mandatory. Every hiring manager should require a DiSC profile on everybody that they’re hiring. It not only helps with hiring, but we also use it in our daily communication with staff. We actually post our DiSC profile results on our desks in our office, which I recommend.
When we go to one person’s desk we get familiar with their DiSC, and we know how to communicate with them. For instance, if I am a high C, I’m highly analytical and want tons of details about how things are done. If I go and talk to somebody who’s a low C but a high D, I know I can’t talk to him for thirty minutes about all the details on how things are going to be done. I’ve got to hit him with bullet points and give him the icing on the cake. If a high C goes into thirty minutes of detail with somebody who’s a high D, then you’re going to lose them. They might even lose respect for you because that is not how they communicate. You have to tailor your communication toward that person’s DiSC assessment.
Here’s another example. The “I” type is Influential. That person is extroverted. They like a high number of contacts. They want to have fun. A high “C,” who’s very fact based and detailed, has to communicate with an “I” differently. They may need to shoot the breeze with them for a while and talk about their weekend. An “I” wants to do a lot of rapport building before they get into the details.
An “S” is somebody who’s really steady. They want everything to stay the same. They don’t want things to change. They want a steady pace. They may find conflict with a “D,” who can be impulsive, likes to change course, and moves quickly.
Not only does this help in choosing who you hire, but it can also give insight into how you hire. When an “S” is hiring, for instance, they may lean toward hiring somebody who doesn’t rock the boat. When a “C” is hiring, they may prefer hiring a conscientious person for the position. When a “D” is hiring, they may want to hire really fast and, as a result, make a decision based on the first two people they interview. An “I” wants to make sure that they hire someone who gets along with everybody socially and has fun. So it’s a good idea for the hiring manager to take the DiSC test to understand how their own personality affects and colors their hiring behaviors.