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The Quiz Maker: Designing an HR Personality Quiz

Gone are the days when employers used to hire employees only on the basis of their qualification, experience, skills and good reference reports.

We have moved from the period where employees were graded and consequently transferred from one team into another team within the organization based on their performances.

Time has taught us many things and as decision makers we have come to realize that there exists another important attribute, the innate personality of an employee, which needs to be taken into account. For, the personality of an employee dictates:

·         Whether the potential employee would fit in with the corporate culture of the organization and help it strengthen further?

·         Whether the potential employee meets the requirements of the job and thus, can be productive for the organization or not?

·         Whether the current employee would turn out to be a destructive or constructive force to the dynamics of a team?

The answers to these questions are being increasingly sought through HR personality quizzes. This is another contribution to our “The Quiz Maker” blogging series (hyperlink to blog titled, “The Quiz Maker: Developing a Viral Marketing Quiz”) where we will be answering:

How to design a HR personality quiz for your organization?

Start With Identifying the Requirements

The first thing that you need to do is identify the requirements of the vacant job that needs to be filled, the existing dynamics of the team that needs a new member. Remember, this is an activity that is being conducted to help you find the right fit in terms of personality—all other attributes have already been assessed.  

For the Vacant Job

Approach the supervisor or the departmental manager. Discuss in detail the type of work personality the position requires.

Does the employee need to be an initiator? Does the employee need to be someone who is flexible with the changing dynamics? Does the employee need to be an extrovert?

You need to have a thorough grasp of what the position requires in terms of employee personality. You can’t afford to hire someone who is passive in their dealings, risk averse and too engaged in their own for the sales position.

For the Vacant Position in a Team

Here, you will be interviewing the team supervisor along with other team members to identify the personality type they want to work with, or a personality they feel is lacking to supplement the group.

You would want a smart worker in a team of hard workers to make the group more efficient in their workings. You don’t want to be transferring an employee whose blunt personality clashes with the other calculated members of the group, resulting in a destructive influence.        

Structure Questions Accordingly

Once you have the required information, you can then use it to construct questions on a quiz maker software, the answers to which can help your organization to assess the personality of the individual.

Here you have two options:

·         You can either construct the question on your own that help you determine the exact personality type your organization is searching for. This requires research and time investment but the trade-off is structuring questions that reflect what you are intending to find. But make sure, your questions do not make it too evident. You want the candidate to be left guessing as to why the question is being asked.

·         Your second option is using a preexisting model that has already been researched and validated. For example, you can use the famous Myers-Briggs model and use the provided questions to assess the standard personality type. Compare the result to the type of personality that you are looking for and the one which lies closest on the spectrum, forward that recommendation to the management.

You don’t have to worry about the types of questions that you can incorporate in your personality quiz. Whether it’s a short question, an MCQ or an essay based question – most of the quiz maker software comes equipped with all the options.  

 

Personalities can make or break an organization. As such, make sure you design an assessment that falls in line with your objectives. Do you have any other suggestions or advice on the process of designing an HR personality quiz? Let’s discuss in the comments section below.