Personality tests continue to be a popular tool, with many companies requiring their employees to fill out lengthy questionnaires. This is often an effort to better understand their workers so they can, in turn, better manage and communicate with them.
But are the tests really a good indicator of how a candidate would perform in the organization? While some argue that personality tests are helpful, they may not be completely accurate: Because results are often publicly shared, employees may offer skewed answers to get a "better" personality type.
The experts at Forbes Human Resources Council shared their thoughts on how important personality tests are in predicting performance or cultural fit — and whether they should be used at all.
1. You Need To Define Your Culture First
Personality tests provide a decent match for specific positions and cultural fit if the company has accurately defined its culture. HR departments should collect personality data from current employees to identify trends in their workforce. These trends can then be compared against personality tests to find which candidates would be the best fit. - Tiffany Jensen, Pure Grips
2. Personality Tests Are Inconsistent Indicators
Personality tests are inconsistent indicators of performance and intellectual ability. They introduce risks of legal defensibility when used in business settings. Competency and cognitive testing as well as case studies are empirically better ways of evaluating performance capability. Cultural fit is better assessed with structured interviews and in-depth reference checking. - Keith Kefgen, AETHOS Consulting Group
3. Personality Tests Don't Tell All
While I'm a fan of personality tests, they don't tell everything about a person or how well he or she may fit into the work culture. When you take time to understand someone's personality, you know how to best manage them, how they communicate, what motivates them and how they may react to change or conflict. A personality test won't tell you how to interact in a way that helps your team succeed. - Michele Markey, SkillPath
4. Organizations Need More Dynamic, Targeted Tools
Personality tests require validation in the context of the organization's culture for them to be good indicators of expected outcomes. I believe we live in a dynamic world making these tests a poor indicator of the expected outcomes. New tools using machine learning and AI could be deployed for candidates. The key is to know what needs to be tested. - Sanjeev Sahgal, worldbank.org
5. Personality Tests Are Only One Data Point
An organization needs to define its culture and identify the competencies that are important for success. A personality test should be used as one data point to help identify how an individual could be successful based on the position and with the company's environment. Organizations need to be mindful that personality tests do not discriminate and are free from bias. - Sherry Martin, OmniTRAX
6. They're A Useful Litmus Test
Personality is a stable property that is shaped and evolved over the course of life and personal experiences. This is very different from a skill set, which can usually be shaped/trained in a short amount of time. Personality tests are a useful litmus test in the hiring process since culture fit is important to individual, team and company success. - Steven Jiang, Hiretual
7. Tests Are Biased And Decrease Diversity
Personality tests are not a good measure of performance, potential or fit. These have biases no matter how you look at it. Even with a test that tries to eliminate as much bias as possible, the people looking at the tests are biased. Also, it decreases diversity because you are hiring people with the same types of personalities. This is unproductive. - Lotus Yon, NCH
8. You Should Have Your Existing Employees Gauge A New Hire's Fit
A personality test is like the old BCS formula that decided who would compete for a national championship in college football. It was black and white and didn't account for a lot of intangibles. Most decided it was a failure early on, and it was finally declared a failure by the people who created it. Use your own employees — they're ingrained in the culture already and know what to look for. - Evan Lassiter, Contino
9. Assessments Provide Cues, Not Rules
Personality tests serve as inventories that provide insights into innate behavior. It's best to use responses as indicators of where to probe in an interview. For example, if someone rates low on flexibility, yet your culture is loose and entrepreneurial, it’s a cue to talk about how they will perform in that environment. Use assessments as guides, not rules for immediate judgment of candidates. - Stacey Browning, Paycor
10. Candidates Might Tell You What They Think You Want To Hear
Personality tests are useful for collecting data, but formal testing or interviewing can inadvertently motivate candidates to answer questions based on what they think the organization wants to hear, not based on how they really feel. The more relaxed the environment is for the candidate, the more likely the individual interviewing will be the same person who shows up to work on day one. - Dr. Timothy J. Giardino, Cantata Health, LLC
11. Ask Follow-Up Questions To Get A Better Picture Of Candidates
I believe personality tests provide a simple data point as to how a candidate would perform in an organization and ultimately impact the culture. That said I believe before using it as a determining factor in any way it is our job as hiring managers to ask follow-up questions with the candidate with regard to the results. Personality tests are better conversation starters vs. pure indicators. - Max Hansen, Y Scouts
12. Tests Tell You Where Candidates Are Weak Or Strong In Your Culture
Personality assessments will not tell you how well a candidate will perform, but will provide information on where the candidate may be weak or strong in the company culture. These types of assessments should be used as a guide only to allow employers to ask questions in areas that may be weak or overly strong. These types of assessments should not be used to make actual hiring decisions. - Charmaine Smith Winters, Samsung Austin Semiconductor
13. Don't Use Personality Tests As A Deciding Factor
Personality tests provide interesting individual insights and can help improve communication and collaboration among team members. However, they should not be the deciding factor for recruiters. Understanding a person’s strengths, cultural fit and level of commitment, should be of far greater importance to managers when selecting their next team member. - Lisa Sterling, Ceridian
