“Your career success in the workplace of today—independent of technical expertise—depends on the quality of your people skills.” —Max Messmer (author of Managing Your Career for Dummies)
Interpersonal traits on assessments measure how a person functions with others: personal & professional relationships, customer relationships, leadership, managing others, peers, etc…
Some positions require strong “people” skills (think executives, upper-level management/leadership, sales, customer service, service providers, etc.). Other positions are less demanding of people skills and, in fact, may be a better fit for someone who scores slightly lower on Interpersonal Traits (think technical professionals, administrators, project managers, analysts— positions working with things or concepts rather than regularly interacting with many people).
When hiring and interviewing candidates, once you’ve gathered assessment feedback, interview questions can then be tailored to focus on the specific behavioral requirements of the position as they compare to the identified behaviors of each candidate.
In the case of employees, behavioral assessment feedback provides a road-map for training and coaching conversations.
Here is an example of impactful Interpersonal Trait adjectives:
Sociability
o High range – Extroverted, outgoing, friendly, gregarious, neighborly, congenial.
o Low range – Aloof, reserved, cool, distant, uncommunicative, solitary.
Recognition
o High range – Proper, well-behaved, cooperative, courteous, pleasant, considerate, mannerly, polite, respectful, agreeable, obliging, accommodating.
o Low range – independent-minded, indifferent, non-conforming, unconcerned, self-satisfied, uninfluenced, detached, not accommodating.
Conscientious
o High range – Dependable, loyal, dedicated, ethical, honorable, trustworthy, faithful, devoted, reliable, honest, responsible, possibly moralistic.
o Low range – Self-centered, nonchalant, casual, self-indulgent, conceited and possibly selfish.
Exhibition
o High range – Entertaining, demonstrative, expressive, flamboyant, colorful, dramatic, flashy, possibly ostentatious or pretentious.
o Low Range – Reserved, undemonstrative, constrained, modest, restrained, bashful, retiring.
Trust
o High range – Open, trusting, accepting, believing, has faith in others, unprejudiced, tolerant.
o Low range – Suspicious, defensive, cautious, distrustful, wary, doubting, guarded.
Nurturance
o High range – Compassionate, sympathetic, kindhearted, benevolent, caring, charitable, supportive, considerate.
o Low range – Unsympathetic, unfeeling, dispassionate, unconcerned, inattentive, cold.
From reading through the above, you can see where having these behavioral insights about your candidates will help you ask focused interview questions during the hiring process. Having these behavioral insights about your current employees, will equip you to coach your employees to achieve their fullest potential.
Win-win!