DISC Theory Basics
The DISC profile helps people identify and understand their unique behavioral strengths so they can become more effective in several key areas of their lives such as communication skills, goal achievement, role building, job selection and performance management.
In 1923, Dr. William Marston expanded on the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung in his seminal piece, Emotions of Normal People. In it he incorporated theories of human temperaments and concepts of introversion and extraversion into a four quadrant behavioral model.
Marston’s DISC model looks at two dimensions compared to each other, which, when crossed, make up the four quadrants of personality traits.
Human behavior is not cut and dry or black and white, which is why DISC theory consists of a combination of these behavioral styles and traits.
Interestingly, while he developed the original theoretical framework, Dr. Marston never created an assessment tool for testing purposes. Walter Clarke was the first to create a true DISC test in 1956 and John G. Geier, Ph.D., is credited with developing much of the final instrument framework we know of today as the DISC personality test.
One of WizeHire’s co-founders created our own proprietary version of the DISC profile that is currently in use by Tony Robbins and Dave Ramsey. It is the most modern and advanced interpretation of Dr. Marston’s work. It has been expanded to include an additional assessment that measures personal drivers and motivation called the Values Index. This addition of motivators makes WizeHire’s DISC profile the most thorough and powerful version in the market.
One part of what makes each person the individual they are is their unique combination of the DISC types and the four dimensions of behavior. Since each of us develop varying levels of preference or tendencies for any of the four dimensions, we are a composite of all them.
For our purposes we refer to the four personality types as:
D – Decisive – How you tend to solve problems and make decisions
I – Interactive – How you like to interact with others and share opinions
S – Stabilizing – How you prefer to pace things in your environment
C – Cautious – Your preference for established protocol and standards
The DISC model helps us to understand that complicated mix of tendencies.
DISC In The Workplace
Understanding of the DISC profile impacts individual and workplace productivity and improves company culture by:
- Improving communications – Helping team members understand why people behave the way they do creates more open dialog, reduces incorrect assumptions, and promotes team building and better working relationships.
- Goal achievement – Ensuring that goals are realistic, appropriate, and most importantly dependent on natural strengths and tendencies leads to higher goal attainment.
- Creating the ideal role – Possessing a sound understanding for a person’s natural behavioral style is a key to creating an environment that sets the person up for success, not failure.
- Job selection – Much like creating an ideal role, placing a person in an ideal, existing role requires the same high level of awareness for what the job requires, what the job provides, what the person requires and what the person provides. When you understand all four sides of this equation, you can make more informed decisions about who would be the best fit in which role.
- Performance management – Understanding someone’s behavioral style can often illuminate the cause for performance issues and help point to the appropriate action or corrective step to fix the problem.
Workplace harmony is created by the individuals doing the work. The more you incorporate knowledge of behavioral styles and preferences into your culture, the more effective your team becomes. And a more effective and harmonious team, plain and simple, gets more done.
How WizeHire Uses DISC
WizeHire’s mission is to help companies hire the right people with the right skills best suited for the job. We use DISC to provide employers with a streamlined yet comprehensive recruiting and screening process that sources and screens applicants to highlight the most qualified candidates.
Our work begins by sourcing top talent through search optimized jobs ad that we post to 60 of the biggest job boards. We then begin the screening process. WizeHire looks at screening like a 3-legged stool that ensures a balanced hiring process. It includes:
- DISC assessment
We administer the DISC personality assessment to all applicants and create a Personality Fit score based upon how their preferred behavioral style matches the requirements for a role. Candidates are rank-ordered by their Personality Fit and populate in your dashboard where each candidate profile has a detailed DISC report along with their resume and answers to any screening questions you may require.
WizeHire also generates a custom-made interview guide which provides in-depth insights into an applicant’s strengths and weaknesses and suggests key points to discuss during the interview process.
WizeHire helps you to source more candidates, screen them effectively, and streamline your hiring process to find the right hire, faster.