Myers-Briggs typology and why HR needs it
HR specialists are the people in the company who communicate with their colleagues on various issues the most and know what approach is needed for each of them. To improve your work and quickly understand the personality of your colleague, you can turn to psychology and its tools.
What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a quick way to assess a person's personality and individual differences. Kathryn Briggs and her daughter Isabella Myers-Briggs created the MBTI based on psychiatrist Carl Jung's teachings about the four basic psychological functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuition). Thanks to the MBTI methodology, you can quickly and accurately determine which behaviors and feelings prevail in a person, which is just what an HR specialist needs to know.
According to statistics, almost 3.5 million people take this test every year, and about 90% of Fortune 100 companies use it for high-quality recruiting, team building and development, talent management, and leadership development.
Features of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The MBTI defines 16 personality types and uses 4 scales for research:
Extraversion (E) and Introversion (I): describes how people get their energy. For example, extroverts are team players and draw energy from people. Introverts recharge in private.
Sensing (S) and Intuition (N): about how people perceive the world and its features. Sensors are concerned with facts, figures, and specifics, while intuitives focus on ideas and possibilities.
Logic (T) vs Emotions (or ethics, different sites have different definitions - check with HR, maybe, in the original Feeling) (F): this pair describes how a person makes decisions. Logicians, of course, use their logic, analysis, and intelligence. Emotions are about making choices and decisions based on values and feelings.
Judgment (J) vs Perception (P): about the organization of life. In the first case, we are talking about people who like to plan and structure everything clearly, control everything around them, while in the second case, we are talking about those who are flexible and quickly adapt to spontaneity.
The test questions are structured in such a way that a person can answer quickly without a long analysis. Because the first answer is how the person primarily acts or thinks. Scores are analyzed on each scale where one of the options prevails. For example, in a pair of E and I, there are more points in I, which explains the introverted type. As a result, you get 16 variants of groups of 4 letters, each of which has its own interpretation.
You can take the test on the website:
https://www.16personalities.com/uk
What are the benefits of the MBTI for an HR professional?
Team selection: It will be easier for HR to determine which colleagues are best suited for which role in the team.
Training and development: the universal system of training and skills development for all no longer works.
Team development: personality analysis is the key to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a team. It also makes it easier to understand how to build communication.
Conflict resolution: HR professionals will be able to better understand different views and points of view. Thus, they can help resolve conflicts quickly.
For example, many people consider the Myers-Briggs typology to be quite outdated or note that it is somewhat simplified. But despite the criticism, the test remains a good and still relevant tool for understanding human behavior and temperament, which have not changed much over the years.
Thanks to the results, HR specialists will be able to more effectively select and develop a team, find clear points for improvement, and better interact with colleagues.
