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In today’s workplace, personality tests have become more prevalent than ever. According to Psychology Today, approximately 80% of Fortune 500 companies use personality tests to assess their employees for the purposes of coaching, development, and team building.¹ As a result, the personality test industry now exceeds $3 billion.² But what are personality tests? And do they belong in the workplace?

What are personality tests?

Personality tests evaluate people based on underlying factors in their natural disposition. There are two different types of personality tests:

1. Type-based personality tests
2. Continuous personality tests

Type-Based Personality Tests

Type-based personality tests group respondents into different categories. Examples include mainstream assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)  (a.k.a. 16 Personality Factor) and DiSC assessment. These are typological assessments that classify people as types, often accompanied by labels, colors, or characters. Typological assessments are fun, but they are not always valid or reliable. There are a variety of personality traits that can be used to describe people, and people can fall anywhere along the spectrum of each trait. As such, some critics have argued that type-based personality tests offer an oversimplified approach to measuring personality.  For example, Dr. Adam Grant, Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 years straight, questions the validity, reliability, and comprehensiveness of the MBTI and likens it to “a physical exam that ignores your torso and one of your arms.” His biggest issue with the MBTI is that “four letters don’t do justice to anyone’s identity.”³

Continuous Personality Tests

In general, continuous assessments tend to be more descriptive than typological assessments. Rather than labelling people as one type or another, these assessments provide a measure of how an individual scores across a variety of traits. Many continuous personality assessments, including the Leadership Skills Profile – Revised® (LSP-R®),  are based on the Five Factor or HEXACO models of personality. Because these personality tests don’t group candidates into discrete categories, they often provide a much more holistic measure of personality (and talent).

Why Use Personality Assessments?

A strong personality assessment can be valuable for organizations and their employees. Benefits of using personality assessments in the workplace include:

• Increased employee engagement.
• Increased job satisfaction.
• Stronger internal talent pool.
• Decreased turnover.
• Improved company culture.

How to Use Personality Tests in the Workplace

Organizations can use personality tests for a variety of purposes, including:

• Screening job applicants.
• Identifying employees’ strengths.
• Pin-pointing development opportunities.
• Guiding coaching conversations.
• Assigning roles.
• Identify high potentials/emerging talent.
• Nominating candidates (i.e., for succession or promotion).
• Structuring development programs.

When using personality tests in the workplace, it is important to differentiate between tests used for selection and tests used for development. The standards for selection-based assessments are usually different than the standards for development-based assessments. Although it is important to always choose tools that are valid and reliable, it is also important to remember that just because a test is valid for one application, does not mean it is valid for another. When using personality tests in the workplace, always ensure that you are using the test in the manner recommended by the test publisher. For example, continuous measures of personality can often be validated for use in selection, while many type-based measures are not endorsed for this use. Always check with a qualified professional or test publisher before choosing a test.

The Importance of Test Development

In order to find a personality assessment that works, you will need to find one that was properly (i.e., scientifically) developed. To do this, we recommend asking vendors for the supporting psychometric materials. These documents will describe how the test was developed, what it is intended to measure, and any research or data that supports the test’s validation process. You can use these technical documents to evaluate and compare personality assessments. When doing so, here are five things you can look for to make sure you’re choosing a strong assessment:¹

1. The assessment uses an evidence-based model of personality.
2. It measures traits that are relevant to the job.
3. It was created by those with expertise in psychometrics.
4. It has been validated on a sample that is similar to the candidate pool.
5. There is evidence of strong reliability and predictive validity.

Check for Validity & Reliability

One of the most important steps in finding a personality assessment that works is to check for strong validity and reliability.

• Validity is like the accuracy of an assessment. In other words, how well does it measure what it says it’s going to measure?
• Reliability, on the other hand, refers to how consistent the assessment is. In other words, how regularly does it produce the same score?

There are several ways in which you can learn about the validity and reliability of an assessment. We recommend checking the psychometric materials (as described above) or seeing if you can find information on the test provider’s website.

Tip: One of the most important types of validity to look for is criterion validity. Criterion validity describes the predictive power of a test. When using a test for selection, the test should be able to predict outcomes that are relevant to job performance.

Which Personality Test Should I Use?

If you’re looking for a valid and reliable personality test, take a look at the Leadership Skills Profile – Revised® (LSP-R®). The LSP-R is a personality-based assessment of leadership skills that can be used to guide leadership development efforts. The test scores individuals on 50 leadership competencies including cognitive, personal, interpersonal, and senior leadership skills. Unlike typological assessments, the LSP-R does not group people into buckets or categories. Instead, everyone receives a Focus Report which includes a summary of scores and analysis of results, as well as templates and activities for creating a personalized development plan.

¹ Dattner, B. (June 13, 2008). The use and misuse of personality tests for coaching and development. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/credit-and-blame-work/200806/the-use-and-misuse-personality-tests-coaching-and-development#:~:text=Around%2080%20percent%20of%20the,reliability%20or%20validity%20than%20horoscopes.

² Patel, M. (August 2, 2021). Do Personality Tests Belong in the Workplace? Lattice. Retrieved from https://lattice.com/library/do-personality-tests-belong-in-the-workplace#:~:text=According%20to%20Psychology%20Today%2C%20approximately,testing%20industry%20exceeds%20%243%20billion.

³ Grant, A. (September 18, 2022). Goodbye to the MBTI, the Fad That Won’t Die. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/give-and-take/201309/goodbye-mbti-the-fad-won-t-die.