As the old business adage goes: what gets measured gets managed. We are obsessed with key performance indicators, 360-degree reviews and balanced scorecards. Putting a metric in place gives us comfort we are heading in the right direction and things will come good in the end.
Who hates exams?
The same applies to tests. We have all been held to account by some form of test in our lives. It starts at school of course, moving onto our driving test (until driverless cars are properly a thing). Then it travels through university and into our graduate recruitment programs, settling at work in training evaluations or performance reviews. Finally, as we retire and age, the tests become increasingly medical and intrusive.
Times are changing
However, we all know the world of work is changing. We are now operating in a ‘Wild West’ of disruption and uncertainty. Entirely new business models and opportunities are created as quickly as obsolete jobs are replaced by robots and other technologies.
Maybe such uncertainty is the reason we keep falling back on old school methods of workforce and leadership evaluation. In the same way yesterday’s cool innovation becomes today’s K-Mart bargain bin special. Fidget spinner anyone?
Based on this, you could argue it’s time to re-evaluate the way we test, seeking alternative ways to support our emerging knowledge-based, diverse, virtual, creative workers and leaders.
Happy 75th birthday Myers Briggs
Take Myers Briggs for example. It’s the ‘Toyota’ of tests, dependable, reliable and very widely-used. Approximately 80% of Fortune 500 companies use Myers Briggs for recruitment, leadership development and other People and Culture initiatives.
However, the original Myers Briggs test was developed in 1942. There have of course been several iterations of the test since then but consider the environment into which it was born and used. The world was at war. Our industrial output was primarily concerned with producing military hardware as quickly as possible so we could hurl it at each another. Different to the current world of work? I think so!
The other mild concern with Myers Briggs and other similar programs is just how far both organisations and individuals take the results as defining. In our own work, we meet people who introduce themselves with their ‘INFJ’ profile or who proudly display it on their LinkedIn page. Further, at the organisational level a certain ‘type’ is deemed high potential for leadership roles. We are relying on a potentially outmoded evaluation model and are using it to reinforce similarities in our teams rather than explore differences.
Evaluation in the new world of work
With that in mind here are some thoughts on how we can explore and evaluate at a more relevant level the qualities needed in this new world of work:
1. Celebrate difference, not similarity
The rhetoric in the company annual report does not always reflect the reality. Could future evaluations support individuals on a journey of self-awareness and authenticity rather than running with the herd?
2. Ask more open-ended questions
The field of qualitative research has gained substantial credibility in the last decade. Could testing become more exploratory and considerate of broader personality concepts than the current narrow definitions?
3. Stop defining us
Whilst we all love a good quiz and it’s interesting and useful to be introspective now and then, maybe we just need to ditch the labels and withhold the judgement.
4. Fitting in is overrated
In the volatile and unpredictable world of business should we consider those that don’t fit the mould more? Groupthink is a thing. It’s everyone running down the wrong rabbit hole and it loses businesses money. Let’s avoid it.
5. Become more values-based in our measurement
If we can take a step back and measure the ‘why’ more that the ‘what’ we will be supporting people to deliver against the purpose rather than the process. It’s great for them and great for business. We’ve all watched Simon Sinek on TED. Let’s start owning it.
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