Psychometric Testing Relevant?
Is psychometric testing relevant?
Psychometric testing is a way of profiling behavioural traits to attempt to identify personality types. There are many psychometric testing modalities available, many of them are free. Psychometric testing is used in workplaces to help employers understand how to leverage employee talent and build a mutually rewarding relationship between employer and employee.
Is it useful?
In my experience the perception around psychometric testing outside of Human Resources (HR) or People & Culture (P&C) is tenuous and testing is only really effective if taken when a person is not stressed or feeling pressure.
Maslow’s hierarchy and research would argue that mood, behaviour and current influences change answers on tests which impacts the results in outcome that may feel inaccurate. Add to this that people answer questions based on perceived expectation of a workplace, or personal desired outcome rather than being honest- this is more often than not done for personal safety reasons. The issue of psychological safety is a predictor here.
When an employee does not feel safe in their workplace (safety being a fundamental need) they will do what it takes to protect other aspects of their well-being.
For workplaces where psychological safety feel compromised for a person then psychometric testing would not be useful, lack of trust and relationship could potentially be amplified, there may be work to do before psychometric testing becomes a viable tool. For workplaces that do feel psychologically safe psychometric testing could amplify a sense of wellbeing enhancing trust and commitment to a brand/cause/team, this is only valid when a full de-brief is offered and regular follow up’s are done. This could then be used as an ongoing tool to guide supervisions, personal development reviews, career pathways, ongoing trainings and even influence how mandatory trainings are delivered.
My experience as a coach
Clients over the years have had very underwhelming results, feeling like the outcome of the very generalised tests are not reflective of who they think they are. On a whole the clients I have been supporting have been highly stressed which may correlate with underwhelming results, though in and of itself may not be the cause, the jury is out here.
Looking at personality profiling through psychometric testing has taught us a lot about stress and it’s relation to our behaviour, responses, and habits both personally and professionally. Developing a in-depth psychological insight to support clients in generalised health, well-being and fitness coaching has allowed clients to become self-reliant and build resilience depending in their start point. The more generally overwhelmed a client has been the less useful a psychometric test has proven to be. Psychometric profiling is more helpful to people looking for challenge and growth than to those already overwhelmed by circumstances that may or may not be demanding it.
Combining these areas has helped to shape a perspective on understanding how stress affects behaviour, perception of self and the attitude we have toward work, well-being and relationships- the core of this being the relationship we are individually committed to building within ourselves which is the essence of physical and mental fitness. Knowing yourself and understanding how to meet your needs gives shape to how people behave toward each other. Many people know themselves, but they don’t have a relationship to that knowledge and that shows when their external relationships become one-sided rather than mutually beneficial- which is where a natural sense of empathy helps. Bringing this into the workplace as a team awareness rather than a self-awareness exercise that teams complete together could be beneficial in reducing turnover and conflict whilst gaining business through productivity that is not lost on the former.
To summarise- Focusing on fundamental needs over anything else will give you an edge and a level of understanding needed to use psychometric tests well. Psychometric tests can feel insightful but the efficacy of them is tentative an often attributed to pseudoscientific principals based on Carl Jung and Freudian theories which the world of psychology looks to be moving away from as new data is being analysed. Fundamental needs as an understanding of behaviour is about experiencing the differences between surviving (unsafety) and thriving (safety). Many of us live in, and make decisions based on survival or stress states, which may be useful for short term results but they don’t allow one to build foundations for a healthy future. We know this as the rise of auto-immune, non-communicable & chronic diseases can be attributed to chronic stress as well as genetics and other complicated factors. When building healthy working communities in work or locally the same applies- too much stress from too many angles will not support productivity or profit.
Psychometric tests can help build a healthy working culture and local communities, but they need to be taken from a perspective of getting to know you and a build a boundried safe relationship rather than a position of judgement when people are feeling under threat.
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I hope you enjoyed this article and took some useable knowledge from it to help you understand your biology and meet your needs in relation to your goals. Please leave a comment, press the heart button and share it to help more people take control of their health, well-being and fitness.
Samantha
