Can I Use DISC for Hiring?
Using DISC for hiring can be helpful. It’s commonly used to gain insight into a candidate’s style and behavioral tendencies.
Positive Ways to Use DISC for Hiring
The best practice to use DISC for hiring is to ask good hiring questions. Potential candidates can take an assessment. Then the business owner, HR professional, or interviewer should review it and thoughtfully come up with relevant questions about the job role. Some questions might involve what types of jobs energize the applicant.
For example, we were called to consult for a business that kept losing workers after a few months on the job. The worker’s DISC reports indicated the business had hired a lot of “I” or “Inspiring” styles. The were working in a remote office that never had interaction with others except once a month when a supervisor would check in. Inspiring styles need interaction and don’t always like to work alone. A simple fix for this was to fix their hiring ad. It was inadvertently appealing to this particular style.
This snafu have also been caught in the hiring process. When interviewing a person with the “I” style a great question for this remote position might be, “How do you handle working alone in a remote location?” Or another question could be, “Many people like to be part of a team, but in this position you will be working solo. Would you find this energizing or draining?” You get the picture.
You can come up with great questions using the DISC for hiring. Make sure not to box people in or to make them feel confined, but ask general questions. These can include questions about their preferences, motivators, and energizers on the job. DISC in hiring can sure be helpful to make sure the candidate is a good fit for your company and the job you are offering.
Using the DISC to get the right people in the right seats on the “bus” (your workplace) is and ideal use of this tool.
What Not to Do with DISC
Don’t use the DISC as a weapon or to not hire someone. That would be illegal and it is also not a good practice. You also don’t want to make people feel like you are confining them to what an assessment says. There are many variations and way people flex on the job and in their personalities. When using the DISC for hiring you should make it positive. Use the DISC for broad questions about what energizes them on the job and in their life. Great conversations can come with spending time learning about the person, their DISC assessment, and about the things they share that are important to them.