There are personality tests and aptitude (cognitive) tests. There are personality tests that tell you "which side of the brain you use more." Reportedly they “minimize the high cost of employee turnover”.
Career Builder offers career and personality testing such as The Job Discovery Wizard - “discover what jobs are a match for you based on your skills with the Job Discovery Wizard.” The Career Planner Quiz - “Get a snapshot of jobs that are a fit for you. Use this insight for planning for a career or if you are considering switching jobs.” There is also the Career Planner Report and the Job Satisfaction Quiz.
My question to you - are these tests truly an effective measure of a person’s mental ability or potential?
Now there is another test for use in the pre-employment process, the Color Career Test. It uses color preference to determine which career path will be successful for an individual.
I poked around on one website. It was rather entertaining and provided a rather unique perspective. Before you read any further, take a look at the color options below and choose the one that best fits your personality!
1. Orange
2. Gold
3. Green
4. Blue
5. Red
Now that you have picked your "personality" color, read the below to see what the professionals say about you.
Orange:
The color is related to energy, strength and power. Your preferred choice of orange shows you are a fighter. You love to win (okay – who doesn’t?). You are a competitor. You are considered more suitable for careers in sports, architecture and engineering. Color personality tests term you as an energetic motivator.
Gold:
Represents loyalty and responsibility. If it’s your primary choice, you are an organizer. You love a peaceful environment. You value work and service-oriented tasks. You have a greater degree of performance, stability and orderliness.
Green:
Represents persistent, decisive and resistant state of mind. You are considered assertive. You care very little for feelings and focus on the available information before making a decision. They consider you to be suitable for careers in science, research, accounts and auditing.
Blue:
Calmness. With it as your primary color, you are considered creative, balanced and harmonious. You avoid too many conflicting opinions. You are peaceful and possess a developed aesthetic sense. You are considered suitable for careers in art, music and literature.
Red:
The color excites. It is associated with enthusiasm, strength and competitiveness. You love and hate with a certain degree of intensity. You are courageous. You are considered better for careers in surgery, emergency medical services, athletics, etc. You can communicate well and tend to be talkative. When you start listening to others, you can solve problems with others.
Aren't we better judges of our career choices than a psychological instrument?
What do you think?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
The "No Asshole Rule" Part II
The Ivey Business Journal (November/December 2003) defines workplace bullying as "status-blind interpersonal hostility that is deliberate, repeated and sufficiently severe as to harm the targeted person's health or economic status".
While I hate to do this, let's remove the "people" from the equation for a moment and focus on the economic impact to the organization. The Orlando Business Journal cited an estimated cost of $180M in lost time and productivity to American businesses each year. The Workplace Bullying Institute estimates that between turnover and lost productivity, a bully could cost a Fortune 500 company an astounding $24,000,000; then add another $1.4 million for litigation and settlement costs.
Employers have begun to consider the impact of negative emotional behavior on work productivity. When people feel mistreated and are dissatisfied with their jobs, they are unwilling to do extra work (discretionary effort) to help their organization. Employees experience a significant loss of motivation. Employers see increased absenteeism and turnover, expend time reorganizing departments, interviewing, recruiting and training the replacements for the victims and/or bullies that are no longer with the company. Then there's the potential legal costs; settlement fees, legal fees associated with counsel. Increased health insurance or worker's compensation as a result of stress, EAP's, etc.
In The No Asshole Rule, Robert Sutton sites a study completed by Frank J. Smith in the late 1970s. The industrial psychologist demonstrated the power of work attitude on "discretionary effort" in a study of three thousand employees at the Sears headquarters in Chicago. "Smith found that attitudes didn't predict which employees were absent from work until the day a crippling snowstorm hit Chicago. On that day, when employees had a good excuse to stay home, employees who were more satisfied with their supervision and other parts of the job were far more likely to make the tough commute into work than those that were dissatisfied. When I am stuck working for, or with, a bunch of assholes, I don't go out of my way to help, But when I admire my superiors and colleagues, I'll go to extreme lengths."
Oftentimes bullying is poorly understood. But face it, it affects the overall "health" of an organization. Eliminate bullying in your organization. Have your managers and supervisors examine their own behavior to ensure they aren't engaging in inadvertent bullying behavior. Communicate to your employees that bullying will not be tolerated. Tell employees who are being bullied to report it to management immediately.
While I hate to do this, let's remove the "people" from the equation for a moment and focus on the economic impact to the organization. The Orlando Business Journal cited an estimated cost of $180M in lost time and productivity to American businesses each year. The Workplace Bullying Institute estimates that between turnover and lost productivity, a bully could cost a Fortune 500 company an astounding $24,000,000; then add another $1.4 million for litigation and settlement costs.
Employers have begun to consider the impact of negative emotional behavior on work productivity. When people feel mistreated and are dissatisfied with their jobs, they are unwilling to do extra work (discretionary effort) to help their organization. Employees experience a significant loss of motivation. Employers see increased absenteeism and turnover, expend time reorganizing departments, interviewing, recruiting and training the replacements for the victims and/or bullies that are no longer with the company. Then there's the potential legal costs; settlement fees, legal fees associated with counsel. Increased health insurance or worker's compensation as a result of stress, EAP's, etc.
In The No Asshole Rule, Robert Sutton sites a study completed by Frank J. Smith in the late 1970s. The industrial psychologist demonstrated the power of work attitude on "discretionary effort" in a study of three thousand employees at the Sears headquarters in Chicago. "Smith found that attitudes didn't predict which employees were absent from work until the day a crippling snowstorm hit Chicago. On that day, when employees had a good excuse to stay home, employees who were more satisfied with their supervision and other parts of the job were far more likely to make the tough commute into work than those that were dissatisfied. When I am stuck working for, or with, a bunch of assholes, I don't go out of my way to help, But when I admire my superiors and colleagues, I'll go to extreme lengths."
Oftentimes bullying is poorly understood. But face it, it affects the overall "health" of an organization. Eliminate bullying in your organization. Have your managers and supervisors examine their own behavior to ensure they aren't engaging in inadvertent bullying behavior. Communicate to your employees that bullying will not be tolerated. Tell employees who are being bullied to report it to management immediately.
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