We’ve all been there; sitting face-to-face with a candidate who has rehearsed for the interview.
The candidate appears polished, poised, and professional, but is that really who they are? We are all capable of short-term transformations that project a “perfect self” by responding to the expectation cues that an interviewer desires, and savvy candidates can deliver on these expectations – at least during the interview.
When HR professionals work to vet a candidate, they are often met with timid, carefully crafted responses that reveal very few insights. Many organizations use a DISC behavioral assessment because it is a validated and cost effective tool that provides objective data. A DISC profile will provide an accurate window into a candidate’s behavior, but is that enough?
Let’s think about a position in terms of two big buckets: The “What of the Job,” and the “How of the Job.”
The “What of the Job” is the deliverable. To understand this bucket ask yourself, “What results do you pay an employee to deliver for the organization?” Is the position’s priority to increase sales? Improve your organization’s culture? Does the position aim to develop innovative products to beat your competition? All of these deliverables are part of the “What” that a candidate is responsible for after they are hired.
The “How of the Job” is the approach utilized to get the “What” done. How does a person interact as a teammate, as a team leader, or as a manager? Is she collaborative or commanding? Does he move quickly into action or meticulously study all of the options before moving forward? Does she make the forty calls per hour but fail at being friendly?
Both aspects of the job are important, but when using DISC to hire you are only measuring the “How” aspect of your candidate because DISC only measures behavior. Will it matter who a person is behaviorally if they do not have the cognitive skills required to perform their role? Perhaps it’s better to assess the most fundamental need first: Can this candidate perform the job competently?
As an example, a candidate is applying for a customer service role, and her DISC report indicates that she has an “I” behavioral style. This suggests that she is expressive and comfortable in verbal roles. DISC, in this instance, gives you insights into “How” a candidate with this style might approach the position. This candidate enjoys developing relationships with customers and engaging them in conversation.
To understand the “What of the Job” bucket, you need to know if a candidate has the cognitive skills and interests needed to carry out day-to-day tasks effectively. Does she have adequate reasoning and problem solving skills? Is she capable of communicating at the required vocabulary level? Can she perform any necessary numerical calculations? Is she interested in maintaining your customers’ satisfaction with your organization? These essential cognitive skills and interests are not measured in a DISC assessment, yet they can be key to finding the best candidate for the job.
5 Key Considerations You Should Make If You Use DISC for Hiring
Many organizations utilize DISC to help them hire and select candidates for job interviews. If your organization is committed to using DISC during hiring, consider these 5 tips to enhance your selection process:
- Do not eliminate a candidate solely on the results of a behavioral profile. It’s impossible to fully measure a person with any pre-screening test. Any assessment you use should only account for a fraction of your decision. Additionally, bear in mind that DISC is not validated to determine that one style will perform better than another for any given role, and employment practices are subject to laws that vary and change.
- Use a candidate’s DISC results to tailor your interview questions. Is a candidate with a fast-paced style (D or I) applying for a job that requires strong attention to detail? Ask him about a time when he had to slow down to ensure that he was making the right decision and didn’t leave anything overlooked.
- Pick a point during the vetting process to incorporate the DISC assessment, and apply it that way for each candidate.
- Continue to use a candidate’s DISC profile after the hiring process. DISC was developed to help individuals grow and relate better to others. If you’re throwing profiles away after the hire, you’re missing out on utilizing DISC in these important areas. DISC is perfect during onboarding to help a team learn about a new team member and vice versa. You can also use DISC for coaching and for team development.
- Consider DISC Certification. DISC Certification provides you with the research behind this tool, and it will help you avoid misusing DISC by pigeonholing or committing other “DISC misfires.” Having a DISC Certified individual in your organization will give you an expert and a champion for DISC, ensuring that you keep DISC conversations alive and continue to benefit from this tool long after the hiring process has been completed.
Interested in Exploring Other Hiring Selection Assessments?
If you’re already using DISC as part of your hiring process, but are looking for a more robust tool to help you decrease turnover rates and boost productivity, or if you are looking to compare some of the strongest hiring assessments in the market, we recommend exploring PXT Select™.
PXT Select is specifically engineered and validated to provide you with the objective data you need to help you make critical hiring decisions. Like DISC, this assessment measures behavior, and additionally measures a candidate’s cognitive skills and interests. Results are compared to a researched and success-proven model developed for the specific role in which you are hiring. You can customize a library of performance models or even develop your own using input from managers or data from current employees. PXT Select also provides customized interview questions to help you uncover the information you really need from a candidate.
If you are interested in learning more about PXT Select, take a look at a sample report and call us to learn more about how this tool can help you improve your hiring process.
PXT Select Sample Reports:
PXT Select uses one assessment and allows you pull all reports that are associated with the assessment at no additional cost. Below are samples the most utilized reports. Click here to view all reports that are included with PXT Select.
Comprehensive Selection Report– This powerful report helps you make smarter hiring decisions with confidence and gives you a meaningful edge in your screening and hiring process. Learn about a candidate’s overall fit for a position, and gain further insights with customized interview questions.
Multiple Candidates Report– Make hiring decisions with ease. Compare multiple candidates for a single position.
Coaching Report– Wish you had coaching advice tailored to each employee? This report gives you exactly that!