TRAITS is a suite of behavioural assessment tools that help organizations and managers to objectively – and scientifically – identify and measure job characteristics, personality traits, employee’s motivations, predictable behaviours, and potential for success in a specific position. Clients who utilize TRAITS confirm it is a cornerstone in developing potential.
Every position in an organization has a specific combination of characteristics/behaviours necessary for “high performance”. The closer a candidate’s characteristics/behaviours are to the high-performance job behaviours, the greater the potential for an individual to be a “top performer”. TRAITS enables organizations and managers to use objective and scientific processes to quickly – and accurately – compare candidates’ behavioural characteristics to job characteristics and identify the “best fit”.
TRAITS translates job descriptions into job behavioural models. A TRAITS job model outlines the key behaviours, motivations, and competencies necessary for high performance. The TRAITS job model also provides a comprehensive set of Behavioural Interviewing Questions to probe and confirm a candidate’s experience, skills, abilities, behaviours, motivation, and competencies. Reference Checking Questions are also provided to guide you through an effective referencing conversation.
Understanding an employee’s personality traits – which remain highly consistent in adults – provides important insights into their strengths, motivation, and potential. With this understanding, managers can more objectively and accurately identify the training and skill-building that will develop an individual’s effectiveness and potential. It will also help managers avoid moving employees into positions that require considerably different traits than theirs to carry out the role.
By creating a TRAITS job model, identifying the key behaviours necessary for high performance, and comparing the employee’s Traits profile to the TRAITS job model, a manager can quickly determine the degree of “behavioural fit” between employees and the position. This will significantly aid in determining if a specific employee coaching process would help, a different management style could be utilized, a focused training or skill-building process should be initiated, or perhaps concluding that this may be the wrong job.
The TRAITS job model begins with an online questionnaire completed by a manager familiar with a specific position; this takes approximately 20 minutes. The responses are scientifically and statistically analyzed and translated into a “job behaviour model”. The TRAITS job model report comprehensively describes the key behaviours, motivations and competencies necessary for “high performance” in this position. The reports are utilized for selection, recruitment, promotion, coaching, performance management, and succession planning.
TRAITS assessment is an online survey completed by an individual in approximately 15 minutes. The responses are scientifically and statistically analyzed to identify an individual’s characteristics, motivation, potential and job behaviours. The insights surfaced through this assessment process enable clients to predict an applicant’s or employee’s potential to succeed in a specific position. Managers can utilize the results in their selection, recruitment testing, employee promotion, coaching, career development, team building training, and succession planning management initiatives.
TRAITS Communicator is created from the responses to the survey that are analyzed through a TRAITS Communicator software program. It describes an individual’s key behaviours and approaches when interacting with others. Although most people can demonstrate a wide range of behaviours – depending on with whom they’re interacting, we tend to have “patterns” or “styles” that are visible and audible to others. This program will provide an understanding and valuable insights into your Communication Style and the ability to recognize and respond to other’s different Styles more quickly.
The TRAITS assessment report identifies the critical motivational needs of an individual. This includes: the need for authority; the need for task-focused work activities; the need for high social/relational activities; the need for creative expression; etc. A manager can provide opportunities, recognition and rewards more effectively to help employees maximize their potential and make them more productive.
Employees or applicants can complete a survey in approximately 15 minutes online. It is a non-intrusive and non-discriminatory multiple-choice word list comprised of high school vocabulary.
TRAITS provides highly accurate results. The scales used to identify the traits measured in people and jobs were researched and constructed to reflect population norms in 2006. The final version exceeds the psychometric standards established by EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) for use in recruitment, promotion, career development, and succession planning – the most stringent applications. The result is that organizations can confidently deploy this technology throughout their organizations insightfully and safely.
To become effective in their role, individuals must have the right combination of education, experience, skills, behaviours, intelligence, maturity etc., necessary to be productive. TRAITS measures traits and provides organizations with rich insights into an individual’s “behavioural fit” for a specific position. Most managers have observed that “high-performance employees” have the ability to “naturally behave” in a manner that produces above-average results and quality of work. Hence, they highly value behavioural fit in their recruitment and promotion decisions.
Clients can utilize TRAITS in two ways: as a Pre-Employment Screening process to more quickly identify higher potential candidates; or as a part of their interviewing and selection process. In the screening process, applicants are invited to complete the TRAITS assessment online, their traits are statistically compared to the TRAITS job model, and individuals with solid correlations are quickly highlighted for immediate contact. In the interviewing and selection process, candidates are invited to complete a TRAITS assessment during or immediately following the interview. Their traits are then compared to the TRAITS job model for short-listing and final decision-making.
Completion of a TRAITS assessment by applicants should always be voluntary – we recommend that organizations communicate that the Survey completion and results are a part of their recruitment process and that it is one of the criteria in evaluating their potential for success in a specific job.
Preparing individual TRAITS assessment on a team and then combining them into a “group profile” enables a group of individuals and their manager to discuss areas of similarities/differences and more objectively explore strategies to leverage their strengths. By openly discussing areas of behavioural similarities and differences, a group can also more clearly “understand” their colleagues and reduce tensions in their interactions.
Depending upon the “laws of the land” applicable in your location, there may or may not be an obligation to share an applicant’s TRAITS assessment results. TRAITS assessment results are written in a format and vocabulary designed to be read by the individual completing the Survey. It is your organization’s choice to determine if/how to provide results to applicants.
The TRAITS assessments meet all legal guidelines to comply with Human Rights Legislation, ADA, and EEOC guidelines. By fully applying TRAITS, organizations are assured of a more objective, non-discriminatory process that can often be more defensible for your hiring and development processes.
