Want to build incredible teams? Give yourself, and your employees, personality tests

Many financial planning firms struggle with hiring for a variety of reasons, ranging from finding the right talent to placing them in the right roles. A new study from Ensemble Practice reports that RIAs experience an average of 36% staff turnover for performance reasons each year.

It’s not that employers are intentionally trying to make it harder on themselves, but rather they allow common psychological responses to dictate wants over needs – that is, employers tend to hire people who reflect their own personalities. In many ways, it’s natural that leaders gravitate towards hiring people who are like them, when they actually need different personalities to round out their teams.

One thing that has really helped me over the past few decades is using personality tests to analyze candidates and companies and build effective teams in my growing RIA practice. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Match personalities against roles

I run nearly every morning and my running partner is an engineer. On our early morning outings, she never fails to push the crosswalk button before crossing the street. Taking that extra step when few people are on the roads is beyond me. My instincts are to be aware and look both ways to ensure our safety, not to rely on procedure. We are wired differently but make great accountability partners (who have yet to be hit by a car). Let’s explore this concept further.

At our firm, we’ve learned to involve people who actually do the work early on in the job process so that the job descriptions are accurate and reflect the day-to-day needs. We also notify the human resources department of the personality profiles that best fit the position and round out the greater team so there is synergy in the hiring process from the start.

This is not atypical in the workplace. Years ago, a colleague brought on a known and respected professional for a role in the accounting department, which sounded lovely until we realized that he did not belong there. It turns out that he was an incredibly creative person who quickly found himself unhappy in a very uncreative role. The management team has since tried to find ways to augment his position and fuel his creative side by helping him build systems and become involved in the design process.

DNA tests help identify our superpowers

We all have superpowers – communication, poise, optimism or analytical skills to name a few – and they will likely differ from that of our colleagues. 

Building great teams comes down to identifying those superpowers and then linking like-minded people with different personalities. One way to approach this is to consider each person as a cog in a greater wheel rather than a rogue individual. This perspective also allows us to appreciate each other in our work together.

We once had two financial advisors who had grown their team quickly and wanted to hire a team member to support them with administrative work. One of the advisors knew a qualified candidate from a previous job, but a personality test quickly confirmed their anticipated hire was of a similar personality as the other two advisors. Right away, I knew it wouldn’t work. You need to find people who complement your strengths, not match them. For instance, teams who struggle with attention to detail will want a detail-oriented person to help ensure accuracy across accounts and in written communication.

One of our firm’s core values is relationships, and utilizing these personality tests fast-forwards that relationship timeline. When individuals feel heard, known, and appreciated (even before they start working for a company), they also get a sense of the company’s culture.

These tests have also been hugely beneficial in the mergers and acquisitions process. In our firm, not only do our employees take a test but so does everyone at any firm we acquire. The insights these tests yield are incredibly valuable. It’s going to tell me who the skeptics are in the group so that when we go to a home office visit; the executive team can spend a lot of time with them. It also can predict which of the founders are considered control people, and how an acquisition might be psychologically hard for them. The results help me anticipate and prepare for potential challenges and emotional reactions, which in turn makes me better at navigating them.

Consider all the tools in your toolbox

After participating in these tests myself, I’ve identified command and communication as my two biggest strengths. When I'm performing well in communications, my team is well-informed and feels supported in the workplace. When I’m lacking in those leadership skills, I'm likely talking too much and not allowing my team to contribute effectively. With my sense of command, everyone is confident and understands the game plan and vision when I am performing well as a leader. When I’m having an off day, those strengths will be seen as me being more authoritative; they may follow me simply because I’m in charge, not because they believe in what I’m asking for.

Understanding my strengths and weaknesses alongside those of my team is essential for my success as a leader. Fortunately, there are many different types of tools at our disposal. My firm exclusively uses a product called DNA Behavior to identify and optimize our team's performance.

There are excellent books like StrengthsFinder, the pioneer of the CliftonStrengths assessment, which measures an individual's natural patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving and categorizes them into the 34 CliftonStrengths themes. It also introduced the concept of balconies and basements, where a balcony refers to the positive attributes of each strength while the basement identifies its potential vulnerabilities if applied wrongly.

You’re likely aware of DISC assessments which can be completed online for free and will be an excellent starting point for this work, and I would be remiss if I mentioned how much my younger employees resonate with Enneagrams. Be mindful of your employee makeup, and the time and dedication you have to initially devote to this practice before crafting your own program.

Building a team centered around maximizing your collective strengths starts with deciphering the personalities of your current employees and those you want to attract. Ultimately, you will also attract and retain the type of clients that help your practice scale. In both instances, you’ll set your firm up for success.

Kay Lynn Mayhue, CFP®, AEP®, RFC®, is the President of Merit Financial.

Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Merit Financial Group, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. Merit Financial Group, LLC and Merit Financial Advisors are separate entities from LPL Financial.