Webinar Recap: Ready to Hire Simpler & Smarter?

People are the Most Valuable Variable in Business

“My inventory goes home every night.” — Michael Eisner

In case you missed our live webinar and don’t have time to listen to the recording, here’s a high level recap of our June 2017 webinar, “Ready to Hire Simpler and Smarter?

Although technology often drives business success, the number one asset to any company is personnel. Human resources supply the brainpower, capabilities and distinctive personalities to drive the business.

Putting the wrong person in a job can result in negative attitudes, conflict with other employees, poor attendance and high turnover. An assessment that evaluates the strengths, attributes and interests of employees and potential hires can help minimize poor job placement and create an efficient, productive workplace.

With the PXT Select hiring assessment, you can identify the best person for each role. As the business changes, you can use PXT Select to identify future roles for employees that build on their strengths and a maximize productivity within the organization.

Costly Miscalculations

Unsuccessful hires cost money and hurt morale. Resources spent on advertising, interviewing and training an individual are wasted when new hires don’t work out, regardless of the reason.

In November 2016 Career Builder sponsored a poll by Harris on the cost of poor hiring decisions. They surveyed 2,379 HR professionals and hiring managers across private sector companies and business of various sizes. 75% of the managers surveyed affirmed they had made a bad hire. On average, the reported cost of a bad hire was $17,000.

NOTE: 20% of those surveyed knew they had made a hiring mistake within the first week. 53% knew within the first three weeks!

The Challenge of Successful Recruiting

Successful recruiting requires that an organization have a clear description of the skills and attributes necessary to fill a position. They also need a way to compare individual candidates to see if they are a good fit for their positions. Many companies rely on interviews and “gut feelings” alone to determine which candidate they hire.

Most hiring managers admit that even with a good job description, interviewing requires skilled questions and observations. To make matters worse, poor interviewing skills and lack of time to conduct multiple interviews can result in a choice between several unqualified candidates. Picking the lesser of two evils is never the right way to select a new employee.

 An Innovative, Easy-to-Use Hiring Solution

Corexcel clients now have access to PXT Select, a new online hiring assessment that tests a candidate’s verbal and numerical skills, verbal and numerical reasoning, behavioral attributes and interests. A series of powerful reports compare the candidate’s results with multiple positions and with other candidates. Most helpful, managers also get a series of questions to ask the candidate and tips on “what to look for” and “what to listen for” during the interview.

An assessment is required for each candidate. Once a candidate logs on to the testing platform, the assessment takes 60-90 minutes to complete. Candidate results are measured against a Job Performance Model that describes the skills and attributes necessary to perform a specific job. Corexcel works with clients to select performance models that match their needs.

The price of an assessment includes 9 reports. We’ve highlighted four of them in our blog. We also have samples of all of the reports posted on Corexcel’s website.

The Comprehensive Selection Report provides insight into a candidate’s verbal skills, numerical aptitude, reasoning facilities, behavior style and interests. It also identifies potential areas of concern such as mathematical deficiency or behavior trait that might warrant further probing, depending on the skills and/or needed for the position. It gives recruiters suggestions on what questions to ask and what to look for in an interview.

The Multiple Positions Report summarizes a candidate’s fit across several positions within a business while elaborating on their behavior style’s personal interests and showing how their score could affect their success in any given position.

The Multiple Candidates Report measures several potential hires alongside one another. This report also compares the behavior traits and personal interests of multiple candidates along with numerical and verbal ability.

The Coaching Report is designed to offer insight into the mindset, capabilities and aptitude of an existing employee. This helps managers determine areas where a candidate or new employee could benefit from coaching related to the position that they have been hired to fill. 

Join the Recruiting Revolution

PXT Select is founded on the belief that people perform best when they are placed into positions that are most suited to their abilities and traits. It simplifies the process of identifying and placing individuals where they are most likely to succeed.

Contact us for a demonstration so that you can streamline your hiring process and save valuable man-hours and recruiting resources. Let us help you put the right people in the right positions.

William Marston: Wonder Woman’s Creator Gave the World DISC

There certainly is a huge buzz about Wonder Woman, the Amazonian princess who is one of the major superheroes in the DC Comics universe. Thanks to actress Gal Gadot, director Patty Jenkins, and scriptwriter Allan Heinberg, she’s now become one of the most successful superheroes to hit the box office.

The Creation Unfolds

When introduced in 1941, Wonder Woman was a rare example of a strong female heroine who didn’t need a man to save her. Later, she came out as bisexual and has become a symbol for both women’s rights and the LGBT community. She’s unique in another way: her creator, William Marston, was not the typical comic book writer or artist.

Unlike the industry hall of fame comic-book writers, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, William Marston was a psychologist. Marston went to Harvard for his education, graduating in 1921 with a Ph.D. in psychology, followed by teaching positions at both American University and Tufts University. During the 1920s and 1930s, he published a number of different research papers and books, including Emotions of Normal People, where he laid out his theory of human behavior that would eventually be used for DiSC. 

The Beginnings of Wonder Woman

Marston was interviewed in a Family Circle Magazine article where he discussed his belief that comic books could be used for educational purposes. This article brought him to the attention of Max Gaines, a comic book publisher, who hired Marston to serve as an educational consultant for what would become DC Comics.

Marston suggested the company introduce a hero who saved the day with love and compassion rather than by fighting. With his wife Elizabeth’s suggestion, they created a strong female lead character. In a time where women’s rights were challenged, he planted a seed of gender equality and created a symbol of women’s empowerment.

Marston and DiSC Theory

While Wonder Woman may be Marston’s most well known creation, especially among the general public, many psychologists know him more as one of the fathers of DiSC. His interest in this area can be traced back to 1924 when he began looking at concepts of will and power, and how they affected personality and behavior. Four years later, he published Emotions of Normal People and laid out what he believed were the four basic behavior types: Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance. From these theories of behavior, they eventually came to be adopted and built into the DISC Personality Profile Test.

Marston believed that the basis of all four behaviors had to do with the environment around the person. It all depended on whether they saw their environment as being favorable or as being unfavorable, and if they had control over that environment. In 1931, he elaborated on his theory even more in his book DISC, Integrative Psychology. While Marston didn’t outline the modern DiSC profile or discuss DISC training or DISC testing, all of his work laid the foundation for these tools.

Later, Walter Clarke would take Marston’s ideas and create an assessment tool that could be used to create a profile of a person’s personality.

DISC and Wonder Woman

Marston’s work on DISC is reflected in Wonder Woman, too. Her dominance over her environment, her influence over others, her steadiness when faced with adversity, and her compliance with the laws and morals can all be linked to DiSC theory.

Both Wonder Woman and DiSC can be summed up with one of Marston’s most famous quotes: “Every crisis offers you extra desired power.” With William Marston’s DiSC theory, every crisis gives a person a chance to gain more control over their environment by adapting to a situation or experience or by Influencing the outcome.

Wonder Woman also illustrates this quote in both the comics and in the movie. In the film, her adversary, Ares, appears to be much more powerful than the hero. Then comes a point of crisis: <Spoiler Alert!> trapped, Wonder Woman is forced to watch her friend and love interest Steve Trevor sacrifice himself to destroy a plane full of poison. This gives her the desired power she needs to defeat Ares and save the day.

Why DiSC® is Valuable to Growing Companies

DiSC can be very useful to growing companies and teams by providing ways to effectively handle communication with different personality styles. With miscommunication often being the root of conflict, it can be one of the biggest contributors to lost productivity.

DiSC training can help team leaders solve these issues of miscommunication by creating a more cohesive work environment and enabling each team member to learn how to better communicate, leading the team come to a consensus on decisions more quickly.

How DiSC is a Superpower

DiSC training can turn any facilitator, team leader, or supervisor into a superhero by giving them the tools they need to handle miscommunication or conflict. By using the DiSC assessments, a team leader can better understand each team member and facilitate understanding between team members.

Of course, it’s important to remember that DiSC, like superpowers, can be used for evil, too. The DiSC model shouldn’t be used to classify people as hero or villain.

Using DiSC for good allows supervisors to create scenarios that can help motivate their employees and bring them together as a cohesive, efficient team. Doing so can improve productivity and lead to innovative ideas, and more.

Did you notice the change to a small “i” in DiSC? That’s because we’re referring to the Everything DiSC® family of profiles published by Wiley. These profiles are simple to use and supported by years of research.

Are you ready to learn more about DiSC training? If so, contact us today to learn about Everything DiSC Profiles and how they can help you manage your employees.

Recorded Webinar: You’ve Hired The Best, Now What? PXT Select™

PXT Select™ is a new, easy to use online hiring assessment that makes hiring simpler and smarter.  PXT Select helps managers select and compare the best candidates for your organization but it also does a lot more.

Join us to continue your discovery of PXT Select .
In this recorded webinar, we covered the history and methodology used to develop PXT Select and how it helps to provide a clear picture of a candidate’s:

  • Verbal skills
  • Verbal reasoning abilities
  • Numerical abilities
  • Numerical reasoning
  • Behavioral traits
  • interests

The webinar covers the importance of onboarding and supporting new hires. It talks about how the PXT Select hiring assessment can help you:

  • Introduce new hires to your existing team
  • Understand their areas of opportunity and challenge
  • Keep them interested and engaged in their job
  • Coach and develop your new employees

We also review:

  • All 9 PXT Select reports available for one price!
  • The training available for your team so you can get started right away!

Contact Us Today for the Recording

PXT Select Part 1 was held on June 15th, 2019. If you missed Part 1, we’ll be happy to send you the recording to review. Simply send your request through our contact form.

“PXT Select” is a trademark of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Avoid 5 Management Mistakes with the DiSC® Profile

Whether you are a veteran or new to the managing scene, anyone that deals with running a team know that managing people is no simple task. More than 60% of new managers fail within the first year and over 70% report they do not get what they need to be successful in their role.

This is not only stressful for the managers but the employees as well. Bad management can cause employees to feel under-appreciated, frustrated and stressed out, leaving them uninterested in their work and looking for a way out.

DiSC Management Profiles offer strategies to understand your own management style, your teammates’ personalities and finally how you can use this information to better motivate and develop your team.

Introduction to the Five Fatal Management Mistakes with the DiSC Profile

1. Not Knowing Yourself

It may sound obvious but all too many managers don’t have a firm idea of their own management style. The first step to being an effective leader is developing an understanding of your own personal motivations as well as individual strengths and weaknesses.

What kind of manager are you? There isn’t one personality mold that fits all managers. What works for the fast-paced and strong willed manager might not work for the analytical and systematic. Learn which of these four DiSC profiles most closely aligns with you and how your management style fits in your team.

2. Misunderstanding Others Priorities and Abilities

When you look at your team what do you see? If you are honest, you have probably neatly categorized and labeled them in your head. But do you really understand your team members on a fundamental level or have you sold some people short? Don’t fall into the trap of defining someone by what you believe they can do. Learn what makes them tick and what motivates them so you can support them in reaching their full potential.

Everyone on your team has different personalities, working styles, and needs. As a manager, it’s your job to work with those differences. Some people may need more encouragement, some more direction, while others may need a greater challenge. By better understanding their personalities you will be able to guide instead of just define them.

3. Giving Unclear, Ambiguous Direction

Unclear direction can be a large stumbling block when it comes to how your team performs. Your team wants to succeed and to deliver what is expected. Though problems can arise when there is a disconnect between your expectations and what your team thinks you expect. Each team member will process and take direction differently. A key factor in their performance is their individual personality style.

The team member with a D (Dominance) personality, for example, is driven, works fast and asks a lot of questions, which can be perceived as challenging. How do you direct and delegate this team member? Well to answer that question you need to understand what motivates them.

A person with a D-personality is highly result-oriented, so when giving direction it is best to show them the “big picture” purpose of a task as well the potential successful outcomes.

If they have proven themselves in the past, show them that you respect their abilities. Give them a little more autonomy, but make sure you see eye-to-eye on the goal of the assignment and the consequences of shortcuts.

4. Failing to Address Basic Needs and Preferences

Harmony, acceptance, action, facts…. What if people had their needs written all over them? It sure would make it easier to give people the support they needed in the workplace. As that is not the case, many managers are left at a loss when it comes to how to best support their team members. With DiSC profiles, managers can better understand what their team members need to thrive.

For example, a team member with an S (Steadiness) personality, needs harmony and stability, and conversely, fears rapid change and letting people down. For this particular style, being in chaotic situations, or being forced to improvise or deal with cold or argumentative people is stressful and demotivating.

How can we go about creating a motivational atmosphere for this personality? Make sure they have ample time to achieve results, even if it means slowing your pace down a bit. Additionally, be sure you provide the structure and security needed for her to feel comfortable and when changes are coming make sure you plan ahead to be able to give her plenty of warning.

Other personalities will have varying needs, but understanding these needs is the first step in creating a supportive environment and a harmonious workplace.

5. Delivering Inappropriate Unbalanced Feedback

Make sure your feedback counts! As you begin to develop a better appreciation of the different working styles, you’ll learn how to approach them individually. Listening, encouraging and helping particular styles are just some of the ways you can deliver the proper response they need to help motivate them.

Once you have a thorough understanding of your team member’s value in the workplace, you can respond with constructive feedback that they can successfully utilize to achieve their goals.

Our webinar provided valuable information on:

  • How to identify your own management style
  • How DiSC styles impact management behavior
  • Ways DiSC helps you delegate, motivate and develop others
  • How the group’s culture can impact employee relations and retention

DiSC profiles are designed to help you as a manager develop a better understanding of yourself and your team so you can ultimately help them unlock their potential.

Application

If you see yourself falling into these patterns of mistakes or simply want to become a better manager, applying DiSC Profiles can help get you started on the road to success.

It starts with understanding who you are as a manager and how you can learn to better support your team among the different working styles. Everything DiSC Management is the ideal tool to help improve your management skills and, ultimately, your company culture.

Can you benefit from using the research-validated online profile assessments like DiSC? Corexcel can provide the tools and training you need to use for creating a more cohesive workplace. Sign up for Corexcel’s mailing list to get started on your successful management journey today.

“DiSC” and “Everything DiSC” are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Using DiSC Profiles In Your Hiring & Onboarding Process

The pressure to make the right hiring decision can be overwhelming for many managers. Not only must you ensure that the new hire has all the right skills for the job, but you need to be confident that they can successfully integrate with the existing team. When your employees don’t get along, it can affect the performance of everyone in the office. How can you get insight on whether or not personalities will be in conflict? This is why many companies turn to the DiSC profile assessments for hiring.

This simple test assigns individuals to four basic personality categories. The results provide information on how these personality types can best work together in your office environment. Let’s take a closer look at the way you can use DiSC profiles when hiring and onboarding new employees.

What Makes DiSC the Right Choice?

Unlike some of the more complicated personality profile tests on the market, DiSC is easy to take and easy to understand. The results assign four basic personality traits, as well as secondary traits to each of your team members. You can use this information to determine how each person on your staff may communicate with one another while handling conflict, staying organized, and optimizing productivity.

For this reason, many companies are turning to DiSC profiles for their ease of use and overall value.

When Should You Use the DiSC Profile Test?

We recommend using the DiSC profiles to help you during the hiring process. Once you have determined that the individual fits all the requirements for the open position, administer the test to gain insight on how they will work with others on your team and their personal effectiveness in the workplace. Using these insights, you will be able to better understand their areas of strengths and weakness, and where you can help them grow. 

How Do You Use the Results?

Each initial of DiSC stands for a specific category of personality traits.

  • Dominance
  • Influence
  • Conscientiousness
  • Steadiness

You can begin to see patterns in behavior with your employees to better understand how someone with any given trait will fit in with the team. For example, putting an individual with a D style in a department where the primary personality trait is C could lead to misunderstandings if they aren’t managed correctly. The individual with a C style may feel steamrolled by the person with a D style. They may both benefit from also collaborating with an I style personality.

Using this information to develop departmental structures can help everyone work together in a cohesive way.

The knowledge gained from learning how your new employees will work together with your staff can help integrate them into your office culture in a more seamless fashion.

Can your organization benefit from using the research-validated online profile assessments like DiSC? Corexcel can provide the tools and training you need to use DiSC for creating a more cohesive workplace, so contact us to learn more.

Resolving Conflict in the Office with DiSC®

DiSC® Conflict Resolution for the Office

Interoffice relationships can be tricky. Having many different personality types in an environment can create challenges for any business. These types also have different communication styles and knowing a bit more about each conflict resolution style can assist in those challenges.

DiSC is an assessment that places everyone into four main personality styles. Personality profiles have become effective tools to consider for helping managers and team members work together more effectively. Here are simplified suggested guidelines you can use to help manage conflict in the office.

Dominance

Individuals with a D style prefer direct communication. Passive aggressive behavior makes them more defensive, so a direct confrontation is a better approach. But that doesn’t mean you have to be overly hostile when approaching your D coworker or manager.

Get to the point immediately, leave your emotions out of the discussion, and focus on the solutions rather than the problem. Know that an individual with a D style is ready to take action right away, so the discussion should be productive and focus on immediate steps to solve the issue.

Influence

On the other hand, the person with an I style is more receptive to a conversational approach. In this case, emotion is a powerful tool for your discussion. Tell them how the problem makes you feel directly, but don’t make any personal accusations. Stay positive, give them ample time to talk, and be a good listener.

It is also important to know that coworker with an I style is not someone who is concerned with deadlines. So, to solve a problem, you may need to implement time management strategies as well.

Steadiness

You aren’t as likely to have a major conflict with an individual with an S style. They prefer harmony in their workplace, are eager to please, and do what is expected. But when you do have an issue that needs to be discussed, know that this style places a lot of importance on interpersonal relationships.

Reassure them that the problem isn’t personal and that you value their contribution to the company. Don’t push them, as they don’t like aggression, but they will listen to what you have to say and respond accordingly. You may need to encourage them to share their opinions candidly.

Conscientiousness

The individuals with a C style in your office are sensitive. They don’t do well with criticism and tend to retreat when it is given. It is best to give someone with a C style some notice before you discuss a problem with them as they dislike feeling ambushed.

Remove the element of surprise, be direct but kind, and give them a chance to think about their response rather than putting them on the spot. C style workers are task oriented and value perfection, so keep this in mind when dealing with office conflicts.

Using a DiSC profile to understand the personalities of everyone in your office can help you better manage conflicts in the office when they arise.
Contact Corexcel to learn more about the process today or visit our profile pages

“DiSC” is a registered trademark of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Top Benefits of Using DiSC Profiles in the Workplace

With so many companies using DiSC profile assessments in the workplace as a business tool, it is easy to see why they’re widely considered the best on the market. They facilitate communication, improve understanding between managers and employees, and foster good working relationships among coworkers.

DiSC tests are easy to use, and the results are easy to understand. So what are the key benefits of DiSC assessments, and how do you use them for your business? Let’s take a closer look.

Key Benefits

Before you decide to use DiSC for your company, you’ll want to know what the product can do for you. Here are just a few of the ways DiSC benefits organizations.

  • Better onboarding. Many businesses use personality profiles for new hires to assess how they will fit into the team. After an offer has been made and accepted, you can use the test results to determine how your new hire will interact with the existing team. Assessment results can determine how you approach orientation and training to ensure your new team members are getting the most out of the process.
  • Team building tools. The DiSC profile informs users how different styles interact with one another. This means you can use the results of the test to build teams who work well together, and, as important, avoid costly personality conflicts that can impact performance. Pairing employees who have complementary profiles on projects can enhance production and results.
  • Personal development. DiSC is a powerful coaching tool. It helps individuals understand themselves, learn strategies to improve interaction with others and achieve higher workplace satisfaction and results. The profile offers insight into the most product behaviors as well as those behaviors that may create problems.
  • Motivational tools. Once you know each of your employees’ dominant personality traits, you can also customize your motivational processes to tap into their own specific strengths. An employee’s DiSC results that demonstrate conscientiousness will be eager to maintain both quality and accuracy in their work. Play into this and motivate them accordingly by giving them goals they will want to achieve.

So how do you use DiSC in your business?

Consider online DiSC assessments for your entire team to share with your staff and management team and unlock their potential today.

One Company Gets DiSC®

DiSC Management TeamBy 1978, Marston’s book had been on the marketplace for 50 years but there was no easy way to make his words on paper work as a tool to change businesses. Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was a household name, being tossed around board rooms and conference rooms as “must have” training, but implementing MBTI practically requires a degree.

By this time, different industrial psychologists had worked with both concepts and tried to build different kinds of tools using Marston’s theory and Jung’s archetypes without much success. John Geier, PhD was the first to successfully operationalize the DiSC model in the form commercialized by Inscape Publishing.

Inscape Publishing offers the original DiSC© instrument, says Barry Davis. “Marston didn’t propose measuring it; he just proposed that the world consisted of these four psychological types and that we could make meaning of them and understand people better if we understand these generalized notions about how people function. Our original tool was called just the DiSC Personal Profile System. Then we created the DiSC Personal Profile Software, which was an electronic way to do DiSC.

Recently, Inscape Publishing changed the way it packaged its DiSC systems, literally. “We used to sell assessments. Four years ago, Inscape Publishing took everything it had learned about DiSC and organized it into a system called Everything DiSC® Facilitation System,” explains Barry Davis, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at Inscape Publishing.

Introduced in early 2008, this product and approach mark yet another step forward in helping Training and Human Resource Managers successfully use DiSC in their companies.

“We have really moved from just selling assessments, to selling all of the tools that are useful in applying DiSC to a specific organization or training need. That is really a big change,” says Davis. “We still have PhD’s on our staff, psychologists, who develop the assessment and measuring part and the reports but we also have instructional designers, writers, video creatives, editors, web developers and marketing researchers. We have all of the functions under this roof.”

It hasn’t always been that way but one reason that Inscape’s Everything DiSC Application Library and the Everything DiSC Management system is doing so well and Inscape’s products are coming to market and succeeding. Another important reason is how Inscape actually develops its DiSC systems.

Inscape didn’t just create a validated instrument for measuring behavioral styles nor did it stop after developing a toolbox that helps trainers implement DiSC; the company took one more, giant step to ensure that the product they were selling really worked for the businesses buying it.

About five years ago, Inscape moved out of a purely lab environment and began to invest in gaining deep business knowledge in multiple verticals. “We have spent a lot of time and energy in developing relationships with our customers. Our customers invest their energy in helping us connect with their clients – the organizations and businesses,” explains Davis.

What Inscape learned is that there are three levels of customers and end users for their products. “There is the Inscape distributor – independent trainers and consultants. Then there is their client – usually a Training Manager in an organization or an HR person in an organization. The ultimate customer is the learner in the organization – the one who benefits and who is really the customer of everyone.”

Inscape works with closely with its customer base, actually field testing its instruments with their clients’ end users and getting feedback from the learners. “We are actively involved in three levels of feedback at every stage of development.”

“Inscape has an excellent management team, research that backs what they do and a connection to companies like mine,” says Sue Bowlby. Bowlby is President of Corexcel, a continuing education provider and Diamond Inscape Distributor whose mission is to provide programs and training materials that enhance the effectiveness of employees and the organizations they work for.

This inclusive approach to developing DiSC products has helped launch the Everything DiSC Application Library. Everything DiSC Management is the second piece. Davis calls it, “…the latest and greatest.” Inscape will add a third piece in 2009 and plans to publish one or two new pieces to the DiSC Application library every year.

This is the fourth in a series of four articles about the DiSC model, Everything DiSC Management, the history behind it all and how it applies. The first article is titled The Concept Behind DiSC – You do the Math and the second is titled Digging into DiSC History. The previous article, Putting DiSC® Management to Work, discusses the powerful Everything DiSC Management training program and its value in a slow economy.

About the Author
Pat Muccigrosso is the former Director of Training & Development for the Business Services Group of ARAMARK and a guest author of Corexcel, specializing in DiSC-based learning assessments, online continuing education and workplace training. For more information about Corexcel and the training materials they offer, visit www.corexcel.com.

“DiSC” and “Everything DiSC” are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Putting DiSC® Management to Work

DiSC ManagerEverything DiSC® Management is a well-tested, proven training system; there is no question about that. But how do end users make it work?

The process starts with managers learning what their own style is. Once they get a handle on how they like to interact and work, the next step is figuring out their employees’ styles then adapting their own style to meet the other person’s needs and get the work done.

Based on extensive and ongoing research, Everything DiSC Management uses online pre-work to create a personalized report for every manager. The six, one-hour training sessions include video, activities, and guided discussion are easy to use and make it convenient for organizations of any size to help managers recognize and address their employees’ diverse personality styles.

“By learning a straight-forward process, managers can develop skills to bring out the best in their employees,” said Jeff Sugerman, CEO of Inscape Publishing. “Participants learn the skills they need to increase employee engagement: directing and delegating, motivating, developing others, and how to work with their own managers.”

The robust program and the multi-modal approach to training makes it easy for anyone to deliver training that meets each user’s behavioral style. And it makes it easy for managers and supervisors to learn how to use DiSC quickly and effectively.

“Managing is one of the hardest things people can do,” says Sue Bowlby, President of Corexcel and a Diamond Distributor for Inscape Publishing. “Everything DiSC Management is the only product focused on managers, assessing their skills then working on their teams and their organizations.”

Inscape Publishing describes Everything DiSC Management as, “…classroom training that uses online pre-work, engaging facilitation and contemporary video to create a personalized learning experience” that focuses on five areas:

  1. Introduction to Your Management Style: Participants discover how DiSC affects management style, including decision making and problem solving. Participants will also learn to identify others’ DiSC styles using behavioral cues.
  2. Directing and Delegating: Managers discover their strengths and challenges when directing and delegating. And they learn how to adapt their behavior to manage people more effectively.
  3. Creating a Motivating Environment: Participants discover how DiSC styles influence how people are motivated.
  4. Developing Others: Managers learn how to provide resources, environments, and opportunities that support long-term professional growth, based on DiSC.
  5. Working with Your Manager: Participants learn to influence and communicate effectively with their managers by meeting their DiSC needs and preferences.

Unlike other similar programs being sold under the DiSC name, Everything DiSC Management offers an in-depth and easily customizable training package made even more powerful by its modular design and online features. The facilitator’s kit includes a leader’s scripted seminar, a PowerPoint® presentation with embedded video, student handouts and more than 30 video vignettes that visually demonstrate the DiSC concepts.

Inscape Publishing was one of the first major publishing companies to begin using the Internet to deliver the training instruments and programs it developed for DiSC. It is features like these that make the Inscape instruments accessible, easier to customize and faster to implement.

In fact, the only hurdle that one power user mentioned had nothing to do with the training tools or learning the concepts. “The biggest hurdle is taking people outside their comfort zone. A lot of people’s fear of adjusting or modifying their behavior is that people on the other side of the desk are going to see it,” says Scott Messer, President of Sales Evolution.

Whether employees are selling, being asked to be more productive or just trying to get their work done more effectively, DiSC asks them to practice new behaviors. Messer offers this insight. “Inside your head, when you are doing something different, it seems like trying to sign your name with your opposite hand,” Messer smiles. “It really feels weird. So I ask people I train to practice in low risk situations, not to do it when there is money on the line. And that helps get people in the habit and more comfortable with it.”

Selling in DiSC in a Slow Economy

Organizations reported that an average of $1,202 (including staff salaries) was spent per learner on training. Instructor-led classroom training remains the dominant delivery method, used for 65% of all formal training, while self-study elearning now accounts for 20% of student hours. However, the lines are becoming blurred because what used to be pure instructor-led training now is typically a blend of classroom and online learning.

Training Magazine’s 2007 Industry Report, released in November of that year, found that the training budget grew to $58.5 billion in that year. However, the percentage of growth is down compared with 2005 to 2006, when training budgets increased 7 percent, compared with 6 percent from 2006 to 2007.

Training budgets were holding their own in 2007, but they weren’t growing. The economy in 2008 is even weaker, making so-called soft skills training one of the hardest types to sell. How do people who want to use Everything DiSC Management sell this training internally?

Barry Davis, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing for Inscape Publishing answered this question with some questions of his own. “In a soft economy, if you are running a business, how much do you value getting the most out of each employee? What is that worth to you? Is that going to make a difference to you?”

Davis says the whole idea is that you can get a little bit more out of each employee by training your managers. “That is what Everything DiSC Management trains them on — getting more out of employees, getting the best out of the employee. That is the value proposition.”

Davis acknowledges the current economic state but thinks of DiSC Management as an investment, not an expense. “I know the economy is tough. I know they would rather not spend money but this is a very small amount of money to spend to get more out of what we’ve got instead of hiring more people. I really think it is prudent management in a tough economy.”

Whether the economy is up or down, there is no doubt that the health of any business rests in the hands of its employees. In a down economy, productivity and quality become even more important. Companies spend billions of dollars annually to develop new products and services and to launch them into the marketplace.

Spending money on training, especially management and supervisory skills training is a small price to pay to improve productivity, enhance collaboration, reduce turnover and manage more effectively.

Inscape Publishing created Everything DiSC Management to make it easy for companies of all sizes to do just that.

This is the third in a series of four articles about the DiSC model, Everything DiSC Management, the history behind it all and how it applies. The first article is titled The Concept Behind DiSC – You do the Math and the second is titled Digging into DiSC History.

Sources:

Training Magazine 2007 Industry Report. Training Magazine, November/December 2007, 9-24.

About the Author
Pat Muccigrosso is the former Director of Training & Development for the Business Services Group of ARAMARK and a guest author of Corexcel, specializing in DiSC-based learning assessments, online continuing education and workplace training. For more information about Corexcel and the training materials they offer, visit www.corexcel.com.

“DiSC” and “Everything DiSC” are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Digging into DiSC® History

The History Behind the DISC® Model

DiSC HistoryThe most recent iteration of the behavioral styles concept is DiSC but the theory currently underpinning DiSC dates back to 1928. That was the year that William Molton Marston wrote a book called The Emotions of Normal People. In his book, Dr. Marston proposed a system of psychology that used the acronym of DiSC for the first time.

Marston’s idea was to prove brilliant but not many people actually remember that he was the father of the DiSC concept. One reason is that Marston was a Harvard trained psychologist working at Columbia University. He may have proposed the DiSC concept but, because it came out of academia, no one owned it.

Another reason Marston’s groundbreaking work in the area of human psychology is often neglected is because there was someone else working in the same field, at the same time Marston was.

Carl Jung developed, wrote about and created his theory about archetypes – early models of personality description. His research, which formed the basis for the Myers Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI), was published around the same time that Marston developed and wrote about DiSC. Jung was a well-known Swiss psychiatrist with much higher visibility than Marston but both made significant contributions to the area of study that would become known as psychometric research and the use of psychometrics relative to personality.

Jungian archetypes and Marston’s DiSC theory are the foundation on which just about every four quadrant model on the market today are based on, many of which don’t even carry the DiSC name.

Jung and Marston may be prominent scholars whose names are associated with DiSC theory but, surprisingly, they were not the first to develop this idea. In fact, the ideas behind four quadrant behavioral models had been around for centuries when these 20th century scholars did their groundbreaking work.

The First Physicians Are Fathers of DiSC Theory

It may be hard to believe but the original four quadrant behavioral model was first postulated in 3 BC, in Greece by the so-called “father of medicine,” Hippocrates.

Although Hippocrates applied most of his theory about the Four Temperaments to medicine, he also applied what he learned to peoples’ behaviors making this one of the oldest personality profiling systems.

It was another Greek physician, Claudius Galenus of Pergamum (AD 131-201), better known as Galen, who interpreted Hippocrates’ earlier ideas. Galen was chief physician to the Roman gladiators and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, among others.

Changing the name from Four Temperaments to Four Humours, Galen’s descriptions were still focused on human biology but also included some behavioral traits. Although the names are different, the characteristics Galen called out thousands of years ago are very much like those used in DiSC programs.

Sanguine – the personality of an individual with the temperament of blood, the season of spring (wet and hot), and the classical element of air. A person who is sanguine is generally light hearted, fun loving, a people person, loves to entertain, spontaneous and confident. However they can be arrogant, cocky, indulgent and impulsive, possibly acting on whims in an unpredictable fashion. (Influence)

Choleric corresponds to the fluid of yellow bile, the season of summer (dry and hot), and the element of fire. A person who is choleric is a doer and a leader. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can be mean spirited, angry and suspicious and can also dominate people of other temperaments or behavioral styles. (Dominance)

Melancholic is the personality of an individual characterized by black bile. The temperament is associated with the season of fall (dry and cold) and the element earth. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases. Often kind and considerate, melancholics can be highly become overly preoccupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed. (Conscientious)

Phlegmatic – this person is calm and unemotional. Phlegmatic means “pertaining to phlegm”, corresponds to the season of winter (wet and cold), and connotes the element of water. Phlegmatics are consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators. Their shy personality can often make them lazy and resistant to change. (Steadiness)

Each of Galen’s words describing the four humours have altered with the passing of nearly two thousand years but the theory behind these concepts lives on in the work of some of the greatest scientists and behaviorists in the world from David Keirsey’s interpretation to British psychologist Hans Jurgen Eysenck personality inventory.

Unlike many training programs and instruments, where there are questions about validity, DiSC stands on solid ground of these researchers, academics and psychologists. When it comes to the concept of the four behavioral styles, you might say, it was validated by some of the most revered names in the history of the world.

This idea has truly stood the test of time. But it’s long history and the large number or scholars, philosophers and researchers who have worked on this concept created a problem in the today’s marketplace that was not easy to overcome. Just Google DiSC training and you will get more than 21 million results.

How did this simple concept of four behavioral styles, defined by Hippocrates and Galen, grow so large and confusing? To find out, we have to fast forward from ancient history to the 1970’s.

This is the second in a series of four articles about the DiSC model, Everything DiSC Management, the history behind it all and how it applies. The first article is titled The Concept Behind DiSC – You do the Math. The third article is titled Putting DiSC Management to Work.

About the Author
Pat Muccigrosso is the former Director of Training & Development for the Business Services Group of ARAMARK and a guest author of Corexcel, specializing in DiSC-based learning assessments, online continuing education and workplace training. For more information about Corexcel and the training materials they offer, visit www.corexcel.com.

“DiSC” and “Everything DiSC” are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.