When we interact with other people in our work and personal circumstances, each one of us tends to exhibit a unique style or profile of behavior. This behavioral “fingerprint” is developed as a consequence of our personality traits, our motivational inclinations and the individual learning to which each of us gets exposed throughout our lives.
Finding the right person for the job, is very dependant on understanding the individual behavioral make-up of the job applicant. Of course, it is very important to assess aspects such as the personal abilities and experience of the applicant…but at the end, we work with other people and our work behaviors are key determinants of the success with which we achieve our objectives, develop relations, manage conflict and persuade others to support our ideas.
Whereas the traditional psychometric tools such as cognitive batteries, personality inventories, etc. measure the abilities of the applicant, the MBI Assessment System has been designed to develop a behavioral profile for the applicant. This profile can be constructed by using traditional interviewing techniques, or by using self report diagnostic inventories. It can even be obtained by using 360 degree assessment.
The internet based MBI system however, not only provides a way for the HR professional or consultant to obtain the behavioral profile of an applicant, but also to generate an interpretive report, which can be customized to contain a variety of behavioral perspectives, such as:
ü A description of the applicant’s expected behavior in leadership, team work or interactive situations.
ü A description of how well the applicant fulfills a preferred job behavioral profile.
ü An inventory of behavioral development needs for the applicant.
ü A proposed behavioral coaching plan for the applicant.
Of course, the MBI system can also be used to determine profiles and development plans for existing employees and has even been used to determine the reason for marginal performance in the job.
The following behavioral areas are assessed by means of the MBI:
1. MOTIVATIONAL DRIVES
Research in the behavioural sciences suggest that our behaviour is essentially experienced based and reflects the learning, assumptions, expectations and attitudes which we hold in general. These motivational mindsets are formed throughout our lives. Early experiences of role models as well as the shaping which occurs as a result of learning and situational events, develop a fairly consistent pattern or ground plan which we use when faced by day-to-day challenges. Three basic components are recognized:
q The Achievement (efficiency) Drive may be described as the value which we place on competitiveness, unique accomplishment or long-term goal satisfaction.
q The Affiliation (emotive) Drive represents the value which we place on friendship, concern about relationships with others and taking part in social activities.
q The Power (control) Drive refers to the value which we place on being held in esteem by others, taking forceful actions or arousing the emotions of others.
2. CAREER ASPIRATIONS
When we initially enter a specific field or discipline, we seldom think consciously what our career within this particular discipline will eventually look like. The choices are often myriad and depends less on our choice of vocation, than on our choice of the satisfiers (also called career criteria) which we can only start experiencing as we enter the world of organized work. The decisions we make about our careers form part of our motivational make-up and are based on the value, which we place on certain factors of working life. This set of career choice factors are called our career criteria and develop at a relatively early stage of our job lives (generally within the first 10 years of working life).
q Each of us has a top priority career interest, which is called our Primary career criteria. This will always feature most importantly in our choice of career or career moves.
q The primary factor is supplemented by a few (1 to 3) secondary career criteria, which represent important satisfiers which, together with our primary needs, will form the decision model upon which we will base our career choices.
3. LEADERSHIP STYLE
When one considers the specific behavioural style which an individual applies in order to induce or influence others to work harmoniously towards achieving a common set of goals, you are addressing the definition of the term `Leadership`. When the above definition is dissected, three integrated elements of behaviour may be identified: an influencing element, which includes how the leader goes about energizing the team. Secondly the maintenance of an effective set of interpersonal relationships with the individuals on the team. Thirdly the process or methods which the leader uses to give task direction to the team.
In the MBI, a model of leadership style is used, which measures the following aspects:
q Task behaviours used in providing direction and pacing the team.
q Relational behaviours which underpin the social and communication practices on the team.
q Developmental practices, which the leader uses in enhancing the performance abilities of the team members.
4. INTERPERSONAL STYLE
The particular pattern or style of behaviour which we use when we deal with other people, is generally referred to as our interpersonal or social style. This interpersonal style develops in us from an early age and becomes as much a trademark of us as our fingerprints. When we measure the interpersonal style of an individual, we use two dimensions:
· Assertiveness, defined as the observed willingness to control and influence the thoughts and behaviours of others. It is sometimes referred to as firmness in dealing with others.
· Responsiveness, which refers to the willingness to share emotions and feelings with others. It is also sometimes described as warmth, or willingness to associate with others.
5. CONFLICT STYLE
Each person tends to develop a characteristic, or typical pattern of response when they are under pressure or frustrated. Our conflict resolution pattern is based on strong emotional stimulus-response patterns and the model, which is used in the MBI profile, distinguishes between the so-called main style and back-up style of conflict management.
q The main style represents our most instinctive reaction to conflict and the one over which we have the least amount of rational control. Our main style is stimulated when we experience an unexpected and often sudden frustration or aggressiveness and represents our basic instincts to fight or run.
q The back-up mode is entered when we find that our main style has become impotent to resolve the situation, or when we realize the negative consequences of our main style and have had some time to reconsider. The back-up style is based on rationality and represents our learnt experiences and reactions.
6. INFLUENCING STYLE
The ability to impact on and influence others forms a very significant part of effective leadership. Influence style refers to how we go about persuading, convincing or impressing others to do what we want them to do or to support our specific goals, actions or intentions. The ability to influence others is closely allied to our willingness to assert ourselves, apply power through negotiation, prescriptive behaviour, recruiting support for our goals and working with others in order to exercise some influence over them.
The model which is used in this program, recognizes that we may influence others by applying positive driving forces on them (called pushing strategies), or by creating conditions which attract them to our point of view (called pulling strategies).
q Pushing behaviour refers to strategies aimed at taking control over the target person`s decision or behaviour, by means of pressure, convincing, coercion or veto.
q Pulling behavior is defined as behavior aimed at creating a situation which will make it attractive or acceptable to the other party to agree with the views of the influencer.
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The MBI-on-the-web, makes it easy to use the system anywhere, anytime and requires no specific user-training. A tutorial is available on our site. Those who eventually decide to use the system as an interviewing tool, may want to attend one of our MBI training workshops.
