The DISC Test and Building a Healthy Team

Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness or DISC is an assessment used by a number of organizations looking to grasp a better understanding of the behaviors and personalities of any potential employee. We use this very same assessment in our interviewing process here at myNOI in order to better understand the strengths, personalities, and placement of each potential candidate.

Used by hundreds of organizations including Fortune 500 companies, it’s a no-brainer that commercial real estate brokers would benefit from using the DISC test in their interviewing process. You can take the test yourself for free here: https://www.tonyrobbins.com/disc/

Using the DISC test is essential to building a strong, diverse and healthy commercial real estate team. If you’ve taken a DISC test before you probably know that the test itself is in no way difficult, its actually quite easy to take. DISC tests vary in the number of questions, but the questions essentially come down to the same thing; determining the behavior and opinions of individuals in the workplace environment.

Each question is answered on a likert scale of “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. Questions can range anywhere from “I love meeting new people” to ” I often find myself directing others,” each question varies but essentially places an individual among one of four personality styles; dominance, influence, steadiness, or conscientiousness. In reality we’re a good combination of all four of these personality styles, but a lot of the time we dominant in one or more of these styles. What’s important to remember when reviewing the DISC results of a potential employee is that one certain style isn’t better than another; building a team that varies in these four personality styles is critical to establishing and maintaining a healthy workplace and work flow. So don’t disregard a potential employee because they may not have scored high in a particular style. This weakness, is essentially a strength in the workforce when paired with other team members who also scored differently.

According to Personality Profile Solutions, LLC each style has their own strengths and behaviors that sets them apart, we’ll take a look at each and break them down for you below:

D – Dominance:

“Person places emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, confidence.”

This style of individual’s behavior consists of; seeing the big picture, being blunt, accepting challenges, and getting straight to the point.

 

I – Influence:

“Person places emphasis on influencing or persuading others, openness, relationships.”

This individual’s style of  behavior consists of; showing enthusiasm, being extremely optimistic, likes to collaborate, and dislikes being ignored.

 

S – Steadiness:

“Person places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, dependability.”

This individual’s style of behavior consists of; not liking to be rushed, having a calm manner, having a calm approach, and presenting supportive actions.

 

C- Conscientiousness:

“Person places emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, and competency.”

This individual’s style of behavior consists of; being independent, being detail oriented, and overall having the fear of being wrong.

 

Asking each potential employee to take a DISC assessment not only paints an image of who they are as individuals and how they conduct their work, but these results help employers determine where to best place their new team members. Capitalizing on both their strengths and utilizing their weaknesses.

As a commercial real estate broker, you should take the assessment first to get a feel for the types of questions being asked and how those questions relate to your working environment. We’ve found that DISC tests are a great indicator of an individual’s actions and their drive to produce the best work.