HR Professional - February/March 2009 - (Page 35) 1 one employee’s assessment pointed to a lack of attention to detail. Indeed, he wasn’t inclined to take notes “Build at meetings. “We awareness started to with staff about make a joke how they impact and 2 3 4 of it,” Alarie says, “then I handed him a pen and paper.” Subtle tweaks over time pay off. People development isn’t about one big, radical transformation from one personality type to another. Executive coach Laurie Hillis of Megatrain Inc. advises clients not to get too caught up in employinteract with each other ee “types.” It’s a starting point, and provide lots of development she says, “but if you have an opportunities,” says John Rankin INTJ [introverted intuitive of the Niagara Institute. thinking judging in a Myers-Briggs Type “Don’t dwell on staff members’ past experiences Indicator], they but reinforce the outcomes you want,” might also be says Laurie Hillis of Megatrain Inc.. an INTJ who Personality testing has become automated and many companies offer shorter version of their tests on the Internet. Two free options are abridged versions of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter-II (www.keirsey.com) or the Myers-Briggs Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator (www.teamtechnology.co.uk). When teaching people to work together, give it time, says Rankin. “Don’t move someone too quickly before they’ve had a chance to learn.” also gets a lot of energy from working with other people and can be spontaneous in the moment.” Alarie agrees: “People aren’t likely to change their interests and preferences, but they can learn to be skillful in how to work with people around them.” So you’ve bought into the new reality: keeping your best performers and tailoring the job to their best assets requires expert assessing, moulding and shaping. And that takes more than just a simplistic, paper-and-pencil personality test. “An assessment tool is not going to be a magic bullet that’ll give you a ton of information and answer all of your questions,” says Shawn Bakker of Psychometrics Canada. “It will only point you in the right direction.” CLOSER O O C OS R TO HO M E Sprott MBA Over the past decade, the corporate environment, the nature of work and the workforce itself have undergone monumental change. With escalating pressures on organizations to be innovative, efficient, and accountable, competencies in leadership and change management are increasingly in demand. The Sprott MBA Management & Change Concentration their mastery of management skills or advance their career to senior managerial levels. leadership and change. This concentration is led by Linda Duxbury, noted pioneer in y the field of organizational health. Her work on issues in managing a changing workforce has been recognized around the globe. sprott.carleton.ca/mba F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 0 9 35 11/5/08 7:12:01 PM w w w.H RThought L ea der. c om 404886_Sprott.indd 1 http://www.keirsey.com http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk http://www.sprott.carleton.ca/mba http://www.hrthoughtLeader.com
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