Many employers across North America are cheered by the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark employment-discrimination ruling, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2009, in which the court ruled 5-4 in favor of white firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut, who challenged the city's decision to reject the results of a promotion exam because no black candidates scored well enough to advance.
Some private sector employers say the ruling might prompt them to use tests more in making hiring and promotion decisions. But it has others scrutinizing their existing tests to ensure they are free of bias. At minimum, the ruling creates uncertainty about when and what kinds of tests employers can give applicants for jobs or promotions.
In her article in Talent Management Magazine, Sandra L. Shullman talks about how personality tests have taken a beating by critics, such as Annie Murphy Paul, in her book, Cult of Personality: How Personality Tests Are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Corporations, and Misunderstand Ourselves. Murphy Paul argues "that such tests cannot specify how we will act in particular roles or situations. They cannot predict how we will change over time."
Yet many HR managers and consultants are obsessed by such tests as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or the DiSC. Shullman says that personality tests are good at predicting two main categories behaviorally related to work: getting along with people and the motivational aspects of getting ahead. But as a predictor of choosing a good candidate for any job, there is little evidence in support. Another common misapplication occurs when HR managers takes a personality snapshot of a high-performance individual and then clones the individual through selection. The last thing organizations need is clones of the boss. The process of putting together a strong team requires a cross section of abilities, skills and personalities.
In talent managers' haste to deliver fast, dependable results, research-based tools provide some security. Under this pressure, tools once used for confirmation are now used as primary decision makers. But the personality is far too complex to measure definitively, and its study still remains highly theoretical. In addition to user error problems there are inherent shortcomings for any profiting product. The accuracy of any measurement instrument could be argued for hours even by psychologists who rely on it. In truth, assessments like the MBTI and DiSC are more or less self-scoring and have fairly detailed instructions. But without professional feedback and discussion, they begin to sound like horoscopes.
Instead, the developmental approach to employee selection and promotion produces employees who are more engaged,versatile and satisfied in their work. While personality assessments have their place to add to the profile of an individual, using them as the prime human resources decision making process is fraught with problems. And the recent court ruling makes this problem even more acute.
