Personality Enlightenment

The product offering was developed by Professional Dynametric Profiles (PDP), located in Colorado Springs, CO.  OPUS had been affiliated with PDP since 1989, and we have seen them continually improve and enhance the product offering, keeping it very much a current product.

If a client is utilizing our services to provide them with guidance and direction as to the selection process, then we will have a one on one conversation with the candidate, helping that person understand their profile results, confirming accuracy, and also learning more about the candidate.  At the conclusion of this phone call OPUS will provide the candidate with their profile report, and direct them to complete an exercise regarding identifying their four key motivators.  This exercise yields an email from the candidate to the hiring manager, outlining those motivators, and how the candidate sees the fit of their needs with the nature of the position.  Once this is completed, OPUS will have a one on one discussion with the hiring manager, HR, and anyone else directly involved in the decision process.  Our clients tell us that this process is a key reason why they select our services.  After all, it’s not what the profile says – it’s what it means.

Clients can also utilize OPUS to simply be a profiling provider to them.  If so, then OPUS will provide the profile report to the client, and be available to answer any questions the hiring manager, or Human Resources may have about the profile results.

Ah… one of our favorite questions to answer…

First – any tool that includes a “read back” session will be more accurate, because you’ve had an opportunity to verify the accuracy of the results with the person who provided the input.  Do people often say the profile is not accurate?  No – but that doesn’t mean it never happens, and we always will offer a person an opportunity to do their profile a second time.  Maybe they didn’t have their head in the game, or they blew it off as a silly exercise – and now they really do want to know what this says about them.  Either way – having a read back session ensures you more accurate data.

Second – it’s a sign of respect to your candidate – Hey Mr. or Ms. Candidate – this is an important decision for you as well as us, and we want to provide you with all the information you need to make a good decision as well.  And candidates absolutely benefit from the process.  They know more about themselves – their strengths, their fit for the job – and they also know how they need to consciously adapt their style in order to maximize their performance.  Easier to do when you clearly see the data.

Third – it provides OPUS to be far more valuable to you in the hiring process.  After all, we’ve had a chance to interact with your candidate.  We can let you know if the person seemed genuinely interested in the job.  Did they want to learn more about themselves? The manager they would be reporting to?  And we can compare notes.  Given that OPUS has talked to more than 20,000 candidates over the course of our existence, that experience could be very helpful for your hiring manager.

Oh, we could go on and on about this one, but, in the interest of time and attention span, we’ll be brief.

Ask yourself first – do any of these factors make a difference in how effective a person will be in a given role – collaborative vs combative?  Energized by people interaction versus prefer to work alone? listening skills, or lack thereof, big picture, flexible thinker versus detail and minutia?  If these are factors that are relevant to the success of a person you are considering, or a current employee, then you should care about their profile results.  For all of these factors, and more, are being measured.

At the individual level, having a clear understanding of our own strengths is quite affirming.  Let’s face it, we all know we’re good at some things – not so great at others.  That information doesn’t really help much, because it’s not quantified.  Once quantified, then we can take action – First, it’s a confidence builder.  Second, and perhaps even more important, it has been proven time and again that we are much more willing to accept criticism and take action on that criticism once we’ve embraced what we’re good at.  We can also consciously adapt our behavior when necessary to do what needs to be done – we stop beating ourselves up.

When looked upon as a management tool, the data unlocks the key to understanding how to provide leadership and guidance to your employee.  What are they naturally good at, and how do you take advantage of that?  Where do they struggle, and how can you get out in front of that and provide them with coaching that can help them be effective, even in situations that are not in their sweet spot.

Believe it or not, the tool absolutely widens your pool of candidates, even though that may seem counter intuitive.  Here’s why – for the great majority of our clients, good people that bring the right knowledge and experience to the table are limited – yes, good people are really hard to find.  Then understand that it is human nature to be attracted to candidates that think the way you think, or show behavior that feels comfortable to the interviewing manager.  Although we know that different personality styles “can” be effective in the same role, it’s hard to wrap our head around that in the interview process.  Guess what?  The profile data allows you to do just that.  You can see how this person may in fact look at things differently than perhaps you do, and, as a result of that, actually strengthen your team.  The data in the profile allows the hiring manager to get much more comfortable with people, whether or not their profile exactly lines up with their pre-conceived notion of what a candidate should look like.

Now, do some profiles seem to be outside the “norm” of a position?  For sure, but that doesn’t mean the person can’t do the job.  You need to look at their past performance, and understand whether your environment will allow them to succeed.

Although not in the expertise of OPUS, the profiling tool is also used within the military for officer training, within religious organizations for family meetings, and even at the college level to help students determine course of study.  Let’s face it, understanding who you are and what makes you tick is pretty important information to have.

We take no credit for the code, but PDP did a remarkable job of building the tool, and they continue to work on making the product offering better and better.  And they didn’t do it entirely by themselves.  There were a number of institutions of higher learning involved, including the Center for Psychology at the University of Colorado.  They really did their homework.

Sure.  (Bet you didn’t expect that answer.)  If you had access to the software all day you could figure out what word goes to what trait – really – after all is said and done – it’s math – and with trial and error, you could get it.  But it would take all day – you would run hundreds of profiles, and you’d get it.  But once?  When you want to be sure you represent yourself in the most positive way to a hiring manager?  Not likely.  True, everyone wants to look good – no one fills out the profile to make themselves look bad, in their own eyes – but that’s the key.  The person’s perspective of what is good or bad is defined by their personality – so is being gentle a good thing or a bad thing?  All depends on if you are gentle, doesn’t it?

Yes they do, especially the section of the profile that relates to how you think other people expect you to be or act.  The first half of the profile, i.e. how you think you really are – that stays pretty solid for the majority of your adult life – sure, you may mellow a bit, but the pattern typically stays the same.  But how you feel others expect you to be??? That’s a moving target, as well it should be.  Most people we work with really do like to update their profile every year or so.  And why not – it’s always good to see what going on inside.

OPUS offers a variety of options.  Clients can choose to go “Pay as you go”, simply paying for whatever services they use in a given month.  Or you can purchase a number of profiles in advance and use them up – and then make another bulk purchase.  Or clients can bring the profiling tool in house, and have their internal people deliver the profile results, and utilize OPUS for guidance.  We’ll be happy to discuss specifics with you when appropriate.  Our goal is to make our services as easy as possible for you to utilize in a cost effective way.