Are you hiring a person for their personality or their behaviours?

We have all interviewed an individual and thought ‘I really like this person’ and go on to hire them only to find out that they are not achieving the results you hired them for.

I know I have. I am (was) a sucker for giving people a chance, as someone once gave me one. All too often the gamble does not pay off. It is like hiring a friend or a friend of a friend. We like our friends as their personality suits ours. It seems like a lower risk but so often it goes wrong.

I have learnt that you should always hire someone’s behaviours, rather than their personality. You will have met different personalities being equally successful in the same role. What they have in common is very similar behavioural traits.

Personality is who we are, and behaviours are what we like to do.

Personality is very hard to change as it is made up of years of moulding and complex attributes. Do you think you could change someone’s sense of humour?

Behaviours can be changed through personal development if the individual wants to improve.

To change a personality, you must lose things you are comfy with but to improve your behaviour you just add a new understanding. You are not removing or giving anything up.

So, the next time you hire someone, focus on how their behaviours will suit the tasks of the job. For example, if they are in Sales, do they have high levels of persistence? If the are in customer service, do they have high levels of warmth and empathy, helpfulness and diplomacy?

Never hire anyone based purely on their personality, using an excellent “personality psychometric tool” like DISC or Myers Brigg. Use a job specific, behavioural assessment that will predict the individual’s likely success and job enjoyment.

When it comes to hiring it is all about the behaviours.