Personality

Personality
Assessment
Predict job success and better
understand the way your
people work

Understanding a person’s personality traits provides valuable insight into how and why an
individual approaches their work in a certain way and whether some of these traits have
the potential to become derailers in the workplace.
The Personality assessment gives a deep awareness into the traits that drive the way your
people work, providing insight into areas such as goal setting, coping with stress, handling
change, creativity, risk, and competition. This understanding of the underlying traits that
drive how an individual works and interacts with those around them gives you the best
possible predictive insight into how well someone will fit a job role, and can help you to
better support, manage and communicate with your people.

The Personality assessment gives you a much greater understanding of your people
than a CV and interview can, helping answer questions such as:
> How well will they cope in stressful situations?
> Do they have a strong work ethic?
> Are they comfortable with the unknown?
> Are they open to new ways of working?
> How do they deal with difficult conversations?
> Will they thrive in a competitive environment?

The Thomas Personality assessment is powered by the High Potential Trait Indicator assessment, or
HPTI, which was developed by renowned work psychologist Ian MacRae and Prof. Adrian Furnham in
2006. It is based on the globally recognised and respected Big Five psychological theory – one of the
most widely researched and accepted psychological models of human personality. The assessment
has been optimised for the workplace using a six-trait model, measuring Conscientiousness,
Adjustment, Curiosity, Risk Approach, Ambiguity Acceptance and Competitiveness. An individual’s
responses are shown on a continuum for each of the 6 traits measured, ranging from Very Low, Low,
Moderate, High, and Very High. The Personality assessment has been extensively validated and
optimised for workplace applications following psychometric research with thousands of participants.

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What is personality?

Personality is the combination of values, world views, set

responses, patterns of thought, and characteristics, which are
relatively stable aspects of an individual. It is the innate qualities
of a person that have evolved through a combination of genetic
and environmental factors. All these characteristics develop at
an early age and usually remain stable and constant in a person.

By incorporating a personality assessment into your hiring

process, you will understand more about an individual’s
openness to change, whether they thrive in competitive
environments, how they adjust to stressful situations and
whether they are more likely than others to strive for success.

How can the Personality assessment help you?

When you are recruiting a new member of your team, knowing that they have
the right experience and qualifications is one thing, but these do not effectively
predict the likelihood of success in the role. Research by the American
Psychology Association inc. by Frank L. Schmidt & John E. Hunter (1998)
showed that individuals’ personality traits as well as behavioural traits and
aptitudes are better linked to higher employee productivity and performance in
one’s role compared to their past experiences.

Thomas’ Personality assessment enables you to look at different personality traits in context to different roles.
Here are some examples of how measuring specific personality traits can give you insight into an individual’s
potential for success in a particular role.

The competitive, goal-focused Sales Manager The diligent, outgoing successful Salesperson
Thriving in changing and ambiguous environments is Studies indicate that conscientiousness as well as
essential in the current landscape of sales (Ambiguity extraversion (which is an element of Curiosity) are
Acceptance trait). By looking for individuals motivated related to sales success. However, conscientiousness
by power and influence (examining the levels of the has been found to be the most significant and positive
Competitiveness trait they display), you will recruit predictor of sales performance in a meta-analytic
a manager that will want to win and drive your sales review of predictors of job performance for salespeople
strategy. Equally important for a successful Sales (Vinchur, Schippmann, Switzer et al. 1998).
Manager is being self-motivated, focused on goals as
well as how to reach them (their Conscientiousness).

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The emotionally adjusted, comfortable with The conscientious, exceptionally composed
uncertainty Leader Healthcare worker
Insight into someone’s leadership style can assist you in Healthcare workers face extremely stressful situations
recruiting the right person for your next leadership role. daily, so ensuring that you recruit someone that will
Knowing that they can drive innovation in their team be calm under pressure and stay composed in most
(their Curiosity) but still make their team feel comfortable circumstances (having a high level of Adjustment) will
through high pressure and stressful situations (high levels ensure that you retain your key personnel in these roles.
of Adjustment) is crucial with employees’ mental health
becoming an increasing concern for organisations today.

What do you get from the Personality assessment?

Thomas Perform helps you explore how someone’s

personality influences their suitability for certain roles
and delves into their fit further with our dynamic
interview guides.
When used for recruitment, alongside the Behaviour
and Aptitude assessments, the Personality assessment
can help you match an individual’s personality and
behavioural traits as well as aptitudes to those that
are important for success in the role.
This invaluable insight can help you to reduce
unconscious bias, make better, more informed people
decisions and build an engaged, productive workforce.

We’ve put in robust processes with regards to the aptitude,

behaviour and personality assessments at the recruitment
phase, so we have a well-rounded view of a candidate.
Alan Reilly, Organisation Learning & Development Manager, Version 1

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 The six traits measured in the assessment give deep insight into
your people that are relevant throughout the employee lifecycle:

Conscientiousness Ambiguity Acceptance

People with high levels of Conscientiousness People with high levels of Ambiguity
tend to be focused on goals and how to reach Acceptance thrive in uncertain situations
them. They will usually be self-motivated. Those and enjoy complexity. Those with lower levels
with lower levels of this trait tend to be relaxed of this trait prefer high levels of clarity and
and easy-going, taking things as they come. direct solutions to problems.

Adjustment Risk Approach

People with high levels of Adjustment are People with high levels of Risk Approach are
calm under pressure and rarely experience keen to solve interpersonal issues proactively,
stress or negative emotions. Those with lower not being afraid of confrontation. Those with
levels of this trait can have more intense lower levels of this trait tend to be more
emotional reactions to stress and pressure. agreeable and avoid conflict with others.

Curiosity Competitiveness
People with high levels of Curiosity often People with high levels of Competitiveness
like novelty, learning and variety in the world are motivated by power and influence, always
around them. Those with lower levels of this wanting to win. Those with lower levels of this
trait prefer conventional approaches and trait prefer non-competitive environments that
trusted methods. focus on group cooperation.

In addition to this, your candidates receives

instant feedback within the Thomas Profile
application upon completion of the assessment,
providing them with valuable insight into their
personality traits, how these are likely to impact
the way that they work, as well as how others
might view them.

© Thomas International Ltd 2021. Founded in 1981, Thomas International transforms the performance www.thomas.co
of organisations around the world through smarter people decisions, looking beyond just skills and
experience to identify the true potential and capability of people. Its talent assessment platform
combines technology, psychology and data to make the complex nature of human behaviour,
aptitude and personality easier for everyone to understand. Today, Thomas helps over 11,000
companies across 140 countries unleash the power of their people. 4

Thomas Personality Assessment Data Sheet Version 1 Revision 1 12/05/2021