Extended DISC June 2011 Newsletter

Greetings,

Successful companies today face a serious challenge when it comes to recruiting the talent they need and developing the staff they have to stay competitive in an increasingly fierce market.

We have reproduced an article written by James Powell of Extended DISC® Thailand this month as it explains how Extended DISC® methodology is utilised in the recruitment process worldwide.

One of the questions we are frequently asked in our training sessions is “How much attention should we give to Profile I”, the profile that records the candidate’s perceived need to adjust. It is a good question and we are often told by new clients that the Extended DISC® Profile I is similar to the Profile produced by other DISC based programs, while Profile II (the individual’s natural unadjusted unconscious behavioural style) seems to more accurately record their true natural behaviour. In a short summary we address this question.

One of the pages in the Extended DISC® Personal Analysis Report that can provide a deeper interpretation of the Profiles is the Suggested Interview Questions page. As some of the information on this page (and on the Present Situation page) can be sensitive, we suggest that there may be times where these two pages should be retained. We take a quick look at the Interview Questions page in this month’snewsletter.

Recruiting Talent and Developing Staff to increase Retention and Motivation

Changes in working styles and structure of the modern workforce, along with technological improvements are presenting additional challenges for managers and HR professionals.

These issues together with the outlooks of different groups in a cross generational workplace demands that it is imperative to recruit the highest caliber of people available.

Subsequently retaining this talent once you have it and offering them development that goes beyond purely financial rewards to reduce the possibility of them selling out to the highest bidder is another major challenge.

With top companies realising that it is imperative to have a distinct and attractive culture, the talent you acquire must hold the same beliefs and fit into the organisation’s culture.
 
The Extended DISC® system identifies 160 behavioural styles, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, motivators and approaches. Whilst initially sounding bewildering, these styles are a mixture of 4 significant distinct styles (D, I, S, and C) easily identified and simple to utilise in daily life.

For example, if a company is recruiting for a sales position, long-term relationship based selling has very different requirements to one off inspirational selling.

Extended DISC® tools will help a company identify the behavioural traits customers expect and match your talent to them. At the initial interview, the tools allow the identification of possible areas of miss-alignment and provide the basis for a thorough behavioural based interview approach, allowing the HR department to begin creating a development plan for the individual.

The value of the tools in the Job design, Pre-selection and Interview phases are obvious. Recruitment is an expensive process, not something to be repeated every couple of years, wasting money on media adverts, orientation and induction, not to mention the risk of people leaving the company and perhaps taking customers with them.

The solution? Develop the talent you have to keep them happy, challenged and committed, and address their perceived weaknesses for the benefit of the individual and the company.

The Extended DISC® suite of tools offers a company’s HR department a wide choice of options and support to address these challenges. Based on the work of renowned psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung, and developed throughout the 20th century by Moulton Marston and the likes of the US Military, it offers practical applications to assist in identifying the talent needed, assessing if he/she will fit and bring value to the company when identified, forsee the areas in which they can most naturally develop in the future and maximise the potential of existing staff.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways the Extended DISC® suite of tools can be employed in Recruitment and Development.

The Extended DISC® tools provide the organisation with the means to analyse an existing position and produce a solid vision of what an ideal applicant would look like. The implementation of the Extended DISC® Personal Analsyis and Job Comparison shows what the role involves and more importantly what clients expect to see.

This presents the opportunity to design a tailor made job advertisement for a specific position with exact requirements rather than general benchmarks. From the outset, the organisation knows exactly what it needs.

The Job Comparison report pinpoints the precise behavioural characteristics necessary for a specific role based on existing successful team members employed in that role.

The four main behavioual styles and their derivatives and blends have separate, disparate strengths. The D are direct and goal orientated, the I are positive and people oriented, the S are committed and team oriented and the C are thorough and process oriented.

To work together effectively they must learn to interact. Post interview Extended DISC® can help individuals become more effective and efficient through the induction phase and teach line managers how to get the best out of them. In the long term, Extended DISC® identifies which roles they are naturally suited to and how best for them to avoid unnecessary stress. It allows an organisation to better allocate roles and responsibilities within a team or department, to utilise their talents to the maximum, keeping them happy and committed.

By looking at candidate’s Extended DISC® profiles, those who are not suited to a specific role are quickly identified and discarded in recruitment. Existing staff can be better matched with positions, present and future, where they are most fulfilled and most productive to the organisation. Roles and responsibilities are clarified and matched and teams understand each other and communicate more effectively.

The net result?

A reduction in problems which divert energy from attaining the success of the organisation and a solution leading to increased productivity and profitability.
The Extended DISC® Profile I – the Adjusted Style.

Trainers understand the importance of Profile II - a person’s natural, hardwired behaviour as it is the basis of the Personal Analysis Report. However, Profile I is sometimes another story. Occasionally trainers tend to place too much emphasis on Profile I.
 

Some of the most frequently asked questions relating to Profile I (the adjusted style, or work style) are:

1. How much focus should Profile I receive? 
2. Is this person making the right adjustment?
3. If Profiles I and II are similar, does it mean the person is more self-aware?

So let’s look at each question.

How much focus should Profile I receive?

In most training applications, the focus should be about 90% on Profile II and about 10% on Profile I. Profile II shows how a person is “hard-wired” - their natural strengths and development areas. Profile I shows how a person perceives he/she needs to adjust his/her style on the day he/she completed the questionnaire.

For example, if I am a high “I” and I am working on accounting issues the day I complete the questionnaire, Profile I may be in the “C” quadrant. However, this is not how I perceive I need to adjust my style every day. The trainer may want to ask questions about shift, but focus should be on identifying the different modifications that need to be made throughout the day to be more productive.

Is this person making the right adjustment?

What is the “right adjustment” This is easy, right! Sales people should be more “D” or ”I”, teachers should be more “S”, accountants more “C” and so on with all the stereotypes. Right? Wrong! Why?

A person should modify his/her behaviour throughout the day based on the situation. If an ”I” manager is communicating with a “C” style, he needs to modify his communication style to be more “C”. If the ”I” manager is talking with an “S” style director, he/she should modify his/her style towards an ”S” type behaviour. Knowing who we are and identifying behaviours of others is the key. Once we know both, we can successfully modify our behaviour.

If Profile I and II are similar, does this mean the person is more self-aware?

Have you ever met someone who says “I’m a high “D” and you better get used to it!” In this case self-awareness is not helping anyone - it is used as an excuse. Again the key is not only being self-aware but knowing when and how to modify our behaviour in specific situations to be more successful.

Personal Analysis Report – Suggested Interview Questions page

At times you may wish to have some additional guidance in exploring the deeper meaning of the Extended DISC® Profiles. The Interview Questions page provides you with specific and insightful help by providing you with specific questions to ask the candidate.

We recommend that this page (along with the Present Situation page) be sometimes retained by consultants, because it does often contain sensitive information, but you may consider it helpful to provide this page to your client/candidate so that he/she can use it as a means to really consider what kind of development plan to create.

You can use the Questions Page as an:

• Interview tool
• Coaching/mentoring tool
• Self-development tool
• Management tool
• Problem solving tool.

The Questions Page will save you time and allow you (especially recruitment consultants) to get more out of the Personal Analysis Report.

July 2011 Webinar – Open 360°

Presented by Saffi Curran at EDA

Open 360° is a customisable and flexible tool for measuring skills, competencies and behaviours of an individual. In this month’s webinar we will look at how Extended DISC®’s Open 360 tool can be utilised and we will review the process involved.

This webinar will be on 14 July 2011 at 3.00pm NZ time. Spaces are limited so register now!  Register Here

New Team Member at EDA

We are delighted to welcome Jessica Bellairs to our team. Jessica has completed our Consultant/Trainer course and is well qualified to provide support for you.

Kelly is on maternity leave for some months from 17th June and Clyde and Dayl will be in Europe until 4th July attending the World Meeting. The rest of the Extended DISC® Australasia team is available to provide any help.

If at any time you cannot contact us at Talent Tools  07 3103 0177  |  Skype:  TalentT.ools  |  team@talenttools.com.au
please call our Support Line:  1800 254 094 where Saffi or Jessica will assist you.

We look forward to hearing from you!