The DISC Assessment - A Tool that's here to Stay!
By Jane Roqueplot
Of the many assessment tools available to job seekers through career professionals today, the DISC Behavioral Assessment continues to be one of the most popular, particularly in its ability to help management, employees, and prospective employees simultaneously. Providing a surprisingly accurate picture of a subject's behavior, the results can be applied to the improvement of not only individuals, but also to the improvement of those positioned within Human Resources, Customer Service, Sales, Executive Management, and many other areas-both large and small-of business, industry, and government.

Career changers, job hunters, and employees alike often face the same puzzles: figuring out who they are and what unique qualities they bring to the job market and to their present or future employers. What are their traits, their strengths and weaknesses, both as they see them and as others might? Also, in what career roles or work environments are these collections of attributes best utilized?

Executives, managers and supervisors, many would argue, can also perform more effectively the better they know the attributes, strengths, and weaknesses of their employees, not to mention themselves. The DISC seeks to improve communication among all parties it touches.

What DISC Means
The assessment test itself is short: a deceptively simple 10-minute evaluation. It asks respondents to select what they are "most" and "least" like from 24 different boxes. Yet the DISC can generate reports from 9 to 26 pages long, with as many as 19,680 different graphs. It classifies people by their relative strengths in four classical styles, and individual results vary widely from one person to another.

The DISC behavior assessment tool is divided into four quadrants: Dominant, Influencing, Steadiness, and Compliant. Although everyone is a unique combination of all four quadrants, one quadrant is generally more obviously compelling than another in a person's life.

There are several variations of the DISC including those defining emotions and behavior patterns within Executive, Management-Staff, Sales, and Personal profiles. The latter, for example, focuses on helping you:

• Recognize your natural blend of behaviors.
• Understand how to be a better team member by using your personal strengths.
• Become aware of communication "red flags."
• Understand how your self-perceptions differ or agree with others' perceptions of you.
• Assess to what degree you utilize each dimension of your behavior in a situation.
• Provide useful feedback about your behavior to others within your present or prospective organization.

"Know thyself" - Delphic Oracle
The DISC strengthens communication skills within the workplace or at home. In addition, it has been shown to intensify our sensitivity and appreciation of others while enhancing our understanding of the dynamics of personal relationships and improving our decision-making.

Finally, the DISC offers job searchers highly practical information to apply in all areas of a job search campaign. In the hands of a skilled practitioner, the DISC can be used to pinpoint a job hunter's strengths in cover letters, résumés, web portfolios, and other career marketing materials. It can also suggest or confirm career directions that test takers might consider while at the same time steering them clear of those that offer less potential for career growth and job satisfaction.

It has certainly earned its reputation as one of today's finer behavior assessment tools!

About the Author: Jane Roqueplot