How DISC Can Improve Your Onboarding Process
Adam Stamm
Managing Partner: Online DISC Profile
The Ultimate Guide to Using DISC in Onboarding
DISC Assessments offer easy-to-understand insights that are relevant for improving communication, culture, and leadership. DISC can also be used to strengthen another necessary organizational function: onboarding.
In this article, we will explore why this personality assessment is crucial for new hires, helping them connect with colleagues, improve overall engagement, and reduce turnover. Here is what we will cover:
If your knowledge of DISC is limited, it’s essential to know that DISC uses a self-assessment process that measures a person based on two distinct scales, which translate into one of 12 unique DISC personality types.
There are no bad or good DISC styles. Each personality type has strengths and weaknesses, and by understanding these concepts, new hires can become more effective within their team and the organization.
With that in mind, let’s jump into it!
The Role of DISC in Onboarding
DISC offers a model to understand human behavior and personality.
This section won’t dive into the meaning of DISC, but it might be helpful to think of DISC like other models that help you understand complex topics. A DISC self-assessment takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Afterward, you will receive a detailed report that outlines your stressors, motivations, and general behavioral characteristics as perceived by others and yourself.
Taking and completing the DISC assessment isn’t actually the most essential part of the process. It’s what happens afterwards that is most important.
I mentioned that DISC is a helpful model. You may be familiar with another useful model called SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
Similar to DISC, completing a SWOT analysis can provide you with valuable insights! However, those insights are only beneficial if you use them.
I was personally part of a team that went through a SWOT analysis that took days to complete.
Afterwards, we all went back to our work without considering any of the work that we had done. Where is the use in that?
It’s the same for DISC; the power of DISC lies in its ability to provide a simple language for understanding stress and motivations.
However, if your team or organization doesn’t use the language, then the effort of issuing the assessment and hosting a training on the model isn’t worthwhile.
When you integrate DISC into the onboarding process, you not only provide personal development benefits to your new hires but also contribute to the organization’s betterment by establishing a common language within the first few days or weeks of their tenure.
Here are a few ways that DISC can take a larger role in your onboarding process:
- Offer a DISC Workshop for all New Hires within their first week of employment.
- Have the employees’ direct manager schedule a one-on-one meeting to discuss their DISC styles. Review behavioral differences.
- Have the employee join a DISC discussion around teamwork and the role of personality in team communication.
The application of DISC is limitless within the onboarding process.
It’s essential to find ways to integrate it and review what works for your team or organization, and continue to improve it over time.
Benefits of a DISC Led Onboarding
Amy Edmonson is a professor at Harvard University and the author of a book titled The Fearless Organization. In the book, Edmonson argues that organizations that foster a sense of psychological safety among employees are more productive, innovative, and capable of achieving more than those that do not.
The reason? Edmonson states that psychological safety allows employees to take interpersonal risks.
When everyone on a team feels comfortable sharing a ‘crazy’ idea, disagreeing, or even holding each other accountable, our teamwork thrives.
Improving psychological safety is just one of the benefits that DISC can offer when it is established within the onboarding process. Here is a complete list of benefits:
- Clear communication
- Improved team culture
- Increased engagement / reduced turnover
I don’t think this list is comprehensive, but I think it covers a broad spectrum of how DISC can work within any organization within any region of the world.
Clear Communication
The central goal of using the language of DISC is for clearer communication.
Here’s an example from my own team to help explain how this works. A few years ago, our organization was growing rapidly, and we were unable to fulfill training requests because our training schedule was full. We recognized the need to hire a trainer to conduct our DISC certification class.
As we discussed the role, it became evident that the individual who ran the class was not supportive of creating a role specific to running this one class. This individual has a D-Personality Type.
Without our knowledge of DISC, this instance could have derailed our process entirely, but through the language of DISC, we were able to understand that they were uncomfortable giving up their control of the class that they worked hard to produce over the years. Through this conversation and the knowledge of DISC, they were able to recognize that by holding onto this class, we would not be able to grow any further.
The DISC model helps improve our communication by enabling us to identify and discuss our psychological needs.
Improved Team Culture
Many years ago, I joined a new organization and team.
The team was working to disrupt syndicated radio broadcast advertising by running campaigns that combined messaging across streaming and podcasts, based on localized messaging. I was ready to jump on board and see what I would learn and how I could contribute.
After my first week on the job, I was very confused because the team was split into two factions. One group sought to maintain the status quo by focusing on traditional media buys through national radio groups. The other group wanted to implement more streaming media and less traditional media.
I recognized quickly that one faction was more resistant to change. The other part was more open to change.
This is actually a measurement within DISC, and this area can cause a lot of team conflict, as I found on the team I joined. DISC offers team-specific reporting that helps identify issues, such as navigating change.
There are always pros and cons to adopting or pushing back on changes. The best teams recognize their preference for or against change and can leverage that (or at least identify it) in their discussions.
Using the example graph above, you can see at a glance how receptive or resistant team members are towards change. This can help facilitate conversations around change management or proposals.
When we understand our personality preferences on a team, we can have better discussions, and our culture will benefit immensely through richer conversations and understanding.
Increased Engagement / Reduced Turnover
In my experience, the adage “people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses” holds.
While DISC is vital for the onboarding process for all employees, it is particularly crucial for those expected to manage others.
In a past position, I had a manager who had such a high sense of control that they needed to review every email from their direct reports before it was sent. You can imagine that this meant many of us were staying late into the night until she had a chance to read our email.
Without a common language of DISC, there wasn’t an easy way to explain that this behavior made everyone feel micromanaged. Additionally, we didn’t feel psychologically safe mentioning it to her.
Almost 60% of the team I was on left for another job within a year. DISC can help ensure employee retention by facilitating discussions around management and team engagement in a way that encourages open-mindedness and judgment-free communication.
How to use DISC within each stage of onboarding
By now, you can see the benefit of how DISC can support and enhance the onboarding process.
Thousands of companies use DISC and issue millions of assessments annually. This next section builds on insights gained since 1986 on how to use DISC effectively within each onboarding stage.
Your onboarding process might look slightly different than the one I am using, but hopefully the broad categories mostly match yours.
DISC and the Pre-Onboarding Process
We define the Pre-Onboarding process as the time before the employee starts working at your organization.
The pre-onboarding phase could include the recruitment and interviewing stage or just the period after an employee has accepted your offer to work at your organization. We believe DISC can be used for both recruitment and for evaluating candidates once they have received a job offer.
The DISC assessment takes 15-20 minutes to complete, which is a manageable time commitment to ask of someone who has not yet started work. The amount of time required makes the DISC assessment perfect for both hiring and as a personality test for new hires.
Communicating the importance of the assessment and how it’s used is imperative. You can use our DISC Invitation template if you need help writing instructions for your new employees.
Should You use DISC for Hiring?
DISC is validated for use in hiring and can help employers understand a candidate’s personality. We have found that specific roles, which require individuals to be more social, reserved, or resilient, can effectively measure these types of traits. There is a limit to what DISC can measure, however.
There are numerous personality tests used for employment purposes. To understand these nuances, read our guide on “How to use the DISC personality test in recruitment” –>
DISC and the Onboarding Process
The first day for a new employee is crucial.
A new employee’s experience from the first day to the first few weeks will determine their success and whether they stay with your organization.
Many essential functions must happen early on with an employee’s tenure (i.e., getting set up with technology, email, etc.). However, we feel that the time could be really well spent engaging in a formal DISC learning experience.
Here are two options depending on the number of employees you are onboarding:
- Formal DISC Workshop (5+ learners)
- DISC Discussion (Less than five learners)
Here is more information about how either option could work.
Formal DISC Workshop
A DISC Workshop can range from a one-hour to a full-day session. The ultimate goal of this session is to help your learners understand what DISC is and how to apply it effectively. Because the DISC model is straightforward, we have had great success in assisting participants to learn it in a short amount of time.
The workshop utilizes a pre-built, off-the-shelf training curriculum that guides learners through their DISC report, helping them understand how DISC influences any interpersonal interaction. You can learn more about this type of workshop through our DISC Training course offerings.
DISC Discussion
A DISC Discussion is a formal group activity involving fewer than five learners. Each learner must have their completed DISC Profile. A facilitator will lead participants through their profile, either in a group or individually, ensuring they understand the general concepts of their DISC Style and the DISC model.
They will then discuss how they observe DISC manifesting in different situations. This session can more closely mirror a DISC Coaching session.
DISC and Soft Skills / Core Skills Training
DISC offers learners the opportunity to develop essential soft skills, including communication, leadership, team building, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness.
Additionally, the language of DISC should extend beyond the classroom and be applied in more technical onboarding training areas, such as sales enablement, management, and team processes.
Anywhere there is an expectation for the new employee to work with another person, DISC can be helpful.
Adding DISC can be as simple as starting a core skills training program with a simple reminder of the DISC model. We have seen offices print out pictures of the DISC quadrants to act as a daily reminder, along with individuals having their DISC style within email signatures or on cubicle walls.
On-Going Development
We are at the stage in the onboarding process where a new employee has likely completed all the necessary steps.
However, as you likely know, development and learning are always ongoing.
DISC can be leveraged here, particularly in one-on-one meetings with managers. This is one area that has the most impact on an employee. As managers work with their new employees to ensure that any knowledge gaps are filled, they can also discuss interpersonal conflict or miscommunication through the lens of DISC.
These simple reminders will have long-term effects on organizational culture and team success.
Onboarding Tips for each DISC Personality Type
The power of DISC is within its ability to personalize communication and interaction based on another person’s DISC Style.
In this section, we will show you how you can do that with each of the four primary DISC styles.
Onboarding Tips for the D Personality Type
The D Personality Type is most defined by their ability to solve problems and overcome challenges. When they see something that they feel could be improved, they waste no time getting started.
Here are two ways to improve the onboarding process for those with the D-Style:
- Help them understand how each step in the onboarding process will support their success at the company. This doesn’t mean give them all of the details, but showing them the reasons their attention is needed for something that might be different from what they were hired to do.
- Provide them opportunities to lead. If there are group discussions, give them a role to take notes and organize the groups thinking.
Working with a D-Style employee is thrilling! Help them recognize that their ability to move quickly is both a superpower and a valuable consideration when collaborating with others who may not share their speed.
Onboarding Tips for the I Personality Type
The I Personality Type is most defined by their sociability. Those with a pure I Style are easy to spot because their warm and outgoing personality allows others to gravitate towards them. They often light up rooms and help people feel at ease.
Here are two ways to improve the onboarding process for those with the I-Style:
- Help those with the I-Style stay on task. Onboarding should be fun and an opportunity to engage and meet other new employees. Those with this style may meet their ‘new best work friend’. Identify times when they can openly engage with others, but ensure they recognize when you need their full attention.
- Provide some free time (coffee breaks, snacks, etc.) that allows those with this style to talk to others openly.
Working with the I-Style is a lot of fun. Their optimistic outlook and warm personality will be sure to help any team going through challenges or changes. Help them consider when to use their superpower and when it’s time to face the music and have tough conversations.
Onboarding Tips for the S Personality Type
The S Personality Type is characterized by its ability to create stable environments through patience and calmness. Those with the S Style are the rocks within any group. They consistently think of others and are supportive team players.
Here are two ways to improve the onboarding process for those with the S-Style:
- Help those with the S-Style speak their mind. In an effort not to disrupt a relationship or group, the S-Style might prefer to hold their thoughts to themself. If you are trying to establish an organization that feels psychologically safe, everyone should feel comfortable voicing their opinions.
- Individuals with this style will respond well to additional assurances. They don’t need to be coddled. Help them recognize when they are doing something right by telling them so!
The S-Style individual can ground teams from major conflicts. They can offer a calm presence and steadiness, which is a welcome trait in today’s fast-changing world. Help them recognize when they need to voice their own concerns and that their concerns are valid.
Onboarding Tips for the C Personality Type
The C Personality Type focuses on being accurate and precise. They are detail-oriented due to their need for accuracy. They will spend a lot of time analyzing data or reading the complete setup guide to help someone else understand what’s going on.
Here are two ways to improve the onboarding process for those with the C-Style:
- Help those with the C-Style feel comfortable speaking up and expressing themselves. They might seem reserved, but that’s because they are trying to determine the social rules for interacting. By having activities with set ‘rules of engagement,’ you will have a faster chance to learn more about them.
- Be prepared to answer questions from this style. They want to understand everything to ensure accuracy. If you have additional materials that they can read, please share them.
The C-Style individual can offer teams and organizations a natural quality control. They learn to gain a deep understanding of their work. Give them time and space to learn!
Common mistakes and best practices when using DISC
It’s essential to recognize that DISC can be misused in various ways. Here are a few ways we have seen this tool misused:
- To pigeonhole or label
- To manipulate
- Not using the model beyond the learning event
I’ll dig into each item in more detail below.
Pigeonhole and Labeling
Now, this might sound counterintuitive, but when using DISC, you shouldn’t label someone by their style.
Saying things like “He will never enjoy going out to Karaoke, he’s a C after all” is a label.
The best use of DISC in this situation would be asking, “I remember from our team workshop that you have a C-Style, would you be open to going out with us to Karaoke?”
We will all naturally label someone. It’s part of the way our brain makes sense of the complex world around us. The goal of DISC is to take those labels and invite a conversation around interaction.
In a hiring context, it’s essential to acknowledge that DISC only assesses specific aspects of our personality. Jobs within your organization might require higher-level thinking abilities or experiences which isn’t captured within the DISC model.
For more information on the nuance of labeling and pigeonholing with DISC, consider taking our short quiz on how to use DISC correctly.
DISC and Manipulation
A few years ago, we were in discussions with several web-development agencies, receiving proposals to upgrade our websites. During one of the proposal reviews, I asked a few questions to clarify certain aspects of the services one of the agencies was offering.
I discovered during the call that they utilized the DISC tool, which predicts a person’s profile based on content in their LinkedIn profile. They said, “Wow, this tool we are using said you would ask these types of questions, and you are, isn’t that interesting?”
Regardless of whether they intended to manipulate me, it didn’t make me feel comfortable.
In our DISC Workshops, we advocate for using the Platinum Rule in conjunction with DISC. The Platinum Rule teaches that you should treat others as they would like to be treated.
While I love discussing DISC and personality, in the moment I was talking to the web developers about a service they were offering, I was not prepared to discuss the motivations behind my questions about their services. They didn’t consider my perspective, and the experience has stuck with me to this day.
Not fully implementing the language of DISC
At the beginning of this article, I discussed the role of DISC in onboarding and compared it to other models that help us make sense of the world’s complexity.
One of the most significant issues that we see is that DISC isn’t fully implemented. At times, this is because only leadership teams undergo DISC training, which leaves the rest of the organization to try to understand what the Leadership teams are talking about when they comment on D, I, S, or C personality styles.
This is a significant mistake, and one of the reasons we advocate for a DISC workshop to be part of your onboarding plan. It allows everyone to learn the model.
Set up new hires for success
Now that you have reviewed tips for onboarding each DISC Style, you should understand how DISC can be integrated into your onboarding process, common mistakes to avoid when using DISC, and the benefits of incorporating DISC into onboarding.
We’ve covered a lot in this article! There are two next steps you can take from here. The first step is to consider running a pilot of DISC within your organization.
During a pilot, you will work with our training team and have a group of learners see the DISC process. From there, you can continue working with our organization for training, or we can help your HR/L&D team utilize the tools themselves. This leads us to our next option.
To become a DISC Subject Matter Expert, you will need to complete the DISC Certification course. DISC Certification is designed to help you understand DISC theory, the assessment process, and to help you think through how to leverage DISC in a way that supports your organization’s learning goals.
Before taking either of these steps, you can always refer to our DISC Assessment Starter’s Guide for additional ways to get started with DISC, or contact us directly if you have specific question.
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