Tool Box
Issue No. 43 - October/November 2008
Explore personalities for a successful workplace
A growing number of SA companies and organisations are realising the benefit of harnessing the personality traits of a diverse workforce to build a successful team, according to HR firm Locher.
“Traits such as ambition, diligence, concentration, imagination, creativity, scepticism and even excitability can benefit an organisation, but if not harnessed properly can equally be damaging,” says GM Nichole Tierney.
“It’s all about balance and how individuals manifest these traits in the workplace and the reaction of those around them.”
“Each personality trait carries its own risk which has the potential to unsettle or even derail a workforce.”
“Too many people with conflicting traits trying to work together without them being tempered can be explosive.”
“A successful organisation will recognise the individual, their personality traits and how they can best be utilised to realise the potential of the employee and the organisation as a whole.”
Recently Locher has worked with both National and South Australian clients, including The Australian Wine Research Institute, to assist teams to recognise and appreciate the personalities of their executive teams and provide recommendations on how these can be
integrated into a cohesive and productive workplace.
The Australian Wine Research Institute MD, Professor Sakkie Pretorius said, “Guided by our business plan, we have assembled an extremely talented and diverse group of individuals to our Executive Management team, who each bring unique experiences and skills to the table.”
“Understanding these differences and areas of complementarity has enabled each of us to build stronger relationships, which has had a positive impact upon how we interact as a group.”
To manage personality assessment and organisational development projects, Locher uses the Hogan Assessment System, which is a validated inventory of a person’s goals and preferences t...
