Category: HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

[3-minute insight]

A few years ago, typing ‘DISC or MBTI’ into Google’s search bar would have returned around 70,000 results. Now that figure has increased to almost 2 million. This shows that the question is still out there: DISC or MBTI, which is better for hiring?

I will always advocate the benefits of DISC for hiring and people-management because I’ve trained in DISC, I understand the model and I’ve never had an inaccurate result.

However the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is also a respected and recognised tool used within organisations around the world. Both DISC and the MBTI have been used by millions for gaining insights into personality, temperament and to improve communication since their inception.

DISC MEASURES:

Dominance – How a person is likely to solve problems and respond to challenges. 
Influence – How a person attempts to persuade and influence
others.
Steadiness – The pace at which a person responds to
change.
Compliance – How a person is likely to respond to the rules and regulations set by others.

THE MBTI MEASURES: 

Introversion or Extroversion (I/E) – How a person focuses their attention. 
Sensing or iNtuition (S/N) – How a person processes information. 
Thinking or Feeling (T/F) – How a person makes decisions.
 Judging or Perceiving (J/P) – How a person interacts with the world.

Whilst there is only one official MBTI model, DISC, though still based on the work of William Moulton Marston, has a few modifications which vary amongst organisation providers. For the purposes of this comparison article, I will be comparing the MBTI with my favoured DISC Evaluation model which I use with my clients.

The MBTI was the standard in psychometric evaluations for several years. However, the popularity of DISC has grown, particularly within the business sector for the purposes of hiring, leadership and people-development. Here are a few reasons why:

It is important to acknowledge here that the MBTI was designed for personal development, NOT recruitment. In fact, on their website, www.myersbriggs.org, they reference their ethics with regard to their Indicator being used for hiring:

It is unethical and in many cases illegal to require job applicants to take the Indicator if the results will be used to screen out applicants.

myersbriggs.org

Furthermore…

It is not ethical to use the MBTI instrument for hiring or for deciding job assignments. However, knowledge of type theory may help people recognize why they may be satisfied or dissatisfied with their jobs, and knowledge of type almost always helps teams and co-workers communicate better.

myersbriggs.org

With this in mind, which is better for hiring, DISC or MBTI…?

DISC

With regard to people-development. Neither evaluation model is better than the other. It’s entirely dependent on what value you are looking to gain because the two are not mutually exclusive, each has its merits. The questions to ask yourself are:

1. What are our goals for using these evaluations?
2. What value can they offer me, my organisation and my people?
3. What characteristics are we trying to measure amongst our team?
4. How much time do our people have to take the evaluations and go through the results?
5. Do our people prefer something complex or something easier to understand?

To help a little further, here is a table summary of what DISC and the MBTI offer:

In summary, it’s always down to your own discernment and preference when it comes to using any personality evaluation model for hiring and developing your people.

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Samantha Lynne
I help business owners & hiring managers streamline candidate interviews to make right-first-time hires for the long-term.

[3-minute insight]

Do candidates lie and how can you tell? Spoiler alert…everybody lies. However, many of these are the little lies we tell ourselves or others such as:

“I’m almost there!”
“I’m not capable of…”
“Just one more episode” at 3am on a Tuesday (thanks Netflix!)

Like it or not, lying is part of being human. We skilled ourselves as children when “Teddy made that mess not me”. We learned how to conceal the truth for our own benefit by way of protecting ourselves and others.

The majority of our little Pinocchio moments are harmless, but when it comes to a candidate not being honest with you during an interview, that’s a problem. Furthermore, one which could have damaging repercussions if gone undetected. There is a caveat though…

Humans are lousy lie detectors.

Even Joe Navarro, former FBI Special Agent and world leading body language expert states in his book: ‘What Every Body is Saying’

“You might assume that as a career FBI agent, who has at times been called a human lie detector, I can spot deceit with relative ease. Nothing could be further from the truth! In reality, it is extremely difficult to detect deception.”

Joe Navarro

If detecting lies is so difficult, how are you going to tell if your candidates lie during an interview? Unless it’s a blatant blunder like when you discover they were sacked for cleaning all the computers with a fire extinguisher and not for “personal family reasons”, then it gets tricky.

There are countless articles on how to spot when candidates lie during an interview. Resources which suggest that sudden pauses in speech are indicative of a person fabricating a lie. This could be true, but it could also mean they’re looking for the best way of phrasing a truthful reply. Afterall, they want to present themselves well to you.

What’s important to remember is that everyone is different and candidates get nervous. It would be an injustice to hiring managers and jobseekers to provide a litany of lie-spotting techniques. Unless you’re highly trained and skilled in non-verbal cues, you’re inadvertently at risk of prejudicing your candidates by taking such articles, claiming how to detect porky-pies, at face value.

It is for this reason why only two potential indicators of deception have made this article.

1) A Bad Case of TMI

Imagine that you’ve asked a fairly straightforward question but got a reply which would challenge even Tolstoy himself. Whilst giving a long-winded answer is not necessarily an indication of lying, note whether or not your candidate actually answered the question and if they did, at what point?

Researchers from Harvard Business School determined that people trying to deceive can stretch the truth with too many words. Since a lie may involve a candidate shooting from the hip, they could add excessive detail to convince you (and themselves) of what they’re saying.

Adding unnecessary detail is a way of deflecting attention. If they’ve given you more style over content, then your question may have alerted them to a sensitive issue. In this case, consider follow-up questions if you feel they are being evasive.

2) Synchrony

If you’ve asked your candidate a closed question, look for synchrony between their reply and the appropriate head movement.

A truthful “yes” should be accompanied with an undelayed nod of the head. Likewise, a truthful “no” should have the congruency of a head shake, again not delayed. Oftentimes this can be a subtle movement. If you notice they then reverse their head movement after they have answered, it’s an indicator they’ve caught themselves and are attempting damage control. This gesture is likely to be exaggerated to get your attention and will be a delayed response of around one second.

If all this sounds difficult, that’s because it is. Lie-spotting isn’t something to be taken lightly or with a wing-it approach. Deception-detection should be well researched and practiced before applying to interviews so that you can evaluate your candidates fairly and justly without bias. It’s an acquired skill with a potentially good payoff, when used with your own instincts, and could save you some hassle if you suspect your candidates lie.

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Samantha Lynne
I help business owners & hiring managers streamline candidate interviews to make right-first-time hires for the long-term.

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Resources:
1) ‘What Every Body is Saying’ by Joe Navarro
2) https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/10-signs-someone-is-lying

[2-minute insight]

You’ve posted your job ad, screened the CV’s and completed interviews but how invested are your candidates after you’ve interviewed them? Let’s look at what I mean by candidate investment.

Words are easy to come by but, as the adage goes, actions speak louder than words. What post-interview behaviours is your favoured candidate(s) showing, which indicate whether or not they want to be part of your organisation?

1. Post-Interview Acknowledgement

The Executive Managing Editor at Insider Inc. has one hard and fast precept when it comes to post-interview candidate selection.

I’ve been hiring people for 10 years, and I still swear by a simple rule: if someone doesn’t send a thank-you email, don’t hire them.

insider inc.

Sound harsh doesn’t it? Personally, I don’t like or agree with this approach to candidate selection for the following reasons:

a) Emails can get lost in the ether, land in an unattended spam folder or get accidently deleted.
b) The potential of losing out on an ideal skilled, experienced and motivated new hire to a competitor, is too great for the sake of one email.

I’m sure there’s more backstory to this quote but what occurred to me is the allusion to candidate viability post-interview. E.g. Looking for signs of investment for the long-term.

When a candidate attends an interview, the investment is there. However, maybe it didn’t go well for them or they realised the role wasn’t suitable. If so, a change of mind ensues, as does the potential to ghost you.

If an interview has gone well, invested candidates who takes extra time to give thanks can be a reflection of them really wanting the job. Especially if they have shown resourcefulness in finding your email address (if not previously given).

A polite “thank you” email shows appreciation for your time and interest. It’s symptomatic of courteous behaviour likely to reflect back upon your people and clients if hired.

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2. Post-Interview tasks

Another positive sign of invested candidates, post-interview, is willingness to complete any follow-on task you’ve set them such as a sample of their work or a profile evaluation. In my experience, it’s rare but it does happen.

If your candidate is hesitant to complete any kind of appropriate profile e.g. DISC (behavioural), Motivational Maps or Gallup’s Clifton Strengths etc., this suggests they could be afraid their profile will highlight something they’d rather not be identified!

Whilst profiling is non-judgmental, some candidates may be unaware so it’s important to reassure them of this beforehand. I always assure candidates that there is no judgement of them, no right or wrong and no pass or fail, only differences.

This all being said, not completing a post-interview profile or a follow-on task is a sign they’re not fully invested in the job. I know this because on the rare occasions it’s happened, clients have fed back to me that the candidate has accepted a job elsewhere.

For the most part, invested candidates will complete a profile evaluation or follow-on task. There are however some further points to consider: