Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER March 10, 2014 March 10, 2014 14 14 INSIGHT INSIGHT Put his picture on your wall Put his picture on your wall It's easy to have a love-hate relationship with personality tests. On the one hand, they're absolutely fascinating — who doesn't like to fi nd out detailed informa- tion about someone's inner workings? And, even better, you can fi nd out about your own strengths and weaknesses and what makes you tick. But, on the other hand, there's a lot of potential to misuse or misin- terpret the results of psychomet- ric testing. One of the best exam- ples is found in one of this issue's cover stories. (See "Aptitude tests not the fi nal answer," page 1.) It outlines the almost unbe- lievable story of Paul Flowers, a Methodist minister turned bank chair who led a bank in the United Kingdom to a multibil- lion dollar capital shortfall and was ultimately forced to resign amidst allegations of buying il- legal drugs. So how did Flowers, who had limited banking experience, attain his lofty position? You guessed it — he aced the psychometric test. Every HR professional in this country should have a poster of Flowers on their wall so they can point to him and say, " is. is is why you don't use psychometric testing to make a hiring decision." is isn't to say the only value personality tests have is for curi- osity and giggles. Far from it — they can be extremely valuable tools in the development of em- ployees and can give leaders vital information about how best to handle their staff . I'm a fi rm believer that lead- ers need to adapt their manage- ment styles to what works and doesn't work for their individual employees — at least as much as reasonably practical. For example, if you're dealing with an introvert, don't call them out (for better or for worse) in front of others and don't ask them to make quick de- cisions on the spot. Or if you've got an extrovert, don't give them tasks that leave them isolated — put them on team projects as much as possible. You want to play to the strengths of your team and psychometric tests can be invaluable — and sur- prisingly accurate — in uncover- ing what works and doesn't work for employees. at's what good leaders must do: Adapt to their teams and not vice versa. You can tweak your management style and how you approach direct reports to get the most out of them. e opposite of that strategy — asking your reports to completely change their working and person- ality styles — is a recipe for failure. ey simply can't do it. ere are a few limited scenar- ios where a personality test can play an important role in the hir- ing decision. For example, if you're looking for an energetic salesper- son who is required to give a lot of public presentations and build strong relationships with key partners, you'd probably want to confi rm that person is extrovert- ed. ( ough, it's hard to imagine many introverts wanting that job in the fi rst place so it's a relatively safe bet nearly all the candidates for that gig will tend toward the extrovert side of the scale.) Some people tend to forget there are no wrong answers in personality tests — one person- ality type is not inherently bet- ter than another. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses but all types have something to off er employers. Testing for skills is a diff erent cup of tea. Every hiring manager should be doing that, with tests customized to the tasks of the position. But let's play to the strengths of personality tests and use them to help leaders determine the best management styles and to coach employees to play to their strengths, while working on weaknesses. Do that and you won't run the risk of hiring a Paul Flowers and later have to explain, rather uncomfortably, that you chose him because he aced a psy- chometric test. 'YOU'RE FIRED' HARSHES THE BUZZ DENVER — Marijuana may now be legal in the state of Colorado but employers can still fi re work- ers for smoking it. at's because state law allows employers to pro- hibit the use of pot and courts have confirmed that workers can be terminated for smoking it, even if the use is while they're off duty, ac- cording to CNN. "Employers can take whatever action they deem to be prudent," said Curtis Graves, an attorney for the Mountain States Employers Council, a non-profi t group representing 3,000 employ- ers. at's because marijuana is still illegal under federal law in the United States. But employers on this side of the border shouldn't take any lessons from Colorado — fi ring a worker for smoking pot in Canada is a legal minefi eld fraught with privacy, human rights and ac- commodation issues. FIRED FOR FEEDING FIREFIGHTERS OLEAN, N.Y. — A McDonald's man- ager who paid for firefighters' meals out of her own pocket said she was fi red for doing so, accord- ing to WIVB television. Heather Levia, 23, said she paid US$83 to cover the cost of 25 breakfast sandwiches for the firefighters "because I appreciate everything they do." The firefighters had just put out a house fi re in freez- ing temperatures, she said. Later, when other fi refi ghters showed up and ordered US$70 worth of food, Levia texted her boss and called the corporate offi ce to see if the owners could foot the cost (some- thing apparently done for police offi cers regularly) and was told no — but several workers at the restaurant pitched in to cover the cost. When the fi refi ghters found out about this, they called to com- plain because they thought the workers had been made to feel ob- ligated by McDonald's to pay with their own cash. Levia was fi red after her next shift but the com- pany denies it had anything to do with the fi refi ghter situation. "We would never penalize an employee for showing appropriate gratitude for the work of our fi refi ghters," it said in a statement. BREAKING BAD: GOOD TV, BAD TIP SEASIDE, ORE. — A couple in Or- egon were arrested after they de- cided tip their waitress in crystal meth. Ryan Bensen, 40, and Er- ica Manley, 30, ate dinner at the Twisted Fish Steakhouse and paid the bill with a giftcard, according to UPI. But when it came time for a tip, they handed their waitress an envelope with a question mark on it. When the waitress realized what was inside, she phoned po- lice who arrested the pair at their table. Manley had 17 ounces of meth in her purse and offi cers lat- er found a meth lab in the Holiday Inn Express room where the pair were staying. Restaurant manager Steve Kes- zler said he'd never seen this happen before — "We're not a little dive bar or hole in the wall. We're a classy place." ONLY EINSTEINS NEED BE BORN BEIJING — Could the answer to the skills mismatch lie in the womb? Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute are develop- ing technology that could allow parents to choose the embryo most likely to yield intelligent children, according to an article in London's Daily Mail. Using geniuses to create a blueprint, the DNA of embryos can be searched to fi nd potential math genes, al- lowing the parents to choose the one with the best chance of be- coming a math whiz. W EIRD ORKPLACE THE ONLY IN GERMANY BERLIN — A German teacher who fell off a be N while dancing in a beer hall on a school trip has her case for compensation benefi ts. e woman the bench tipped over, injuring her back. She m work as a result. A court said it was normal an for people at a beer tent to dance on the ben would have unduly distanced herself from refused to participate," according to the Asso Vol. 27 No. 5 – March 10, 2014 PUBLISHED BY PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2014 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 22 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Carswell Media: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Publisher and Editor: John Hobel - (416) 298-5197 john.hobel@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL Managing Editor: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Senior Editor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor: Liz Bernier - (416) 649-7837 liz.bernier@thomsonreuters.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. 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Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ❑ From time to time, we make our subscriber list available to companies and organizations whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not want your name to be made available, please check here and return with your mailing label. CUSTOMER SERVICE CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. "Unions will continue to decline because the vast majority of them, when it comes to the relationship with management, have only the confrontational model. They have trouble organizing because all they offer is confrontation to get more, even if that is detrimental to the long-term health of the organization. Because of this approach, they are criticized for being job killers, etcetera. Unions make it easy for neo-cons like Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak to demonize them because of the one and only approach to relationships. They should develop different models for representing employees depending on the industry and the particular employer. In the public sector, for example, they should employ more of a collaborative approach. Because of the no-risk arbitration system, they choose to confront instead of working with management and make themselves easy tar- gets for people like Hudak. Obviously, there will always be a need for confrontation for those employers who refuse to treat employees in a respectful way or take advantage of them." — Angelo Pesce, commenting on Todd Humber's blog "Canadian right-to-work battle evaporates." Join the conversation online. Comment freely on any blog on www.hrreporter.com. READER COMMENTS Todd Humber Editor's Notes Credit: Aaron Amat/Shutterstock wing appropriate gratitude work of our fi refi ghters," it tatement. Steve Kes- zler said he'd never seen this happen before — "We're not a little dive bar or hole in the wall. We're a bench s won n was hurt when missed one month's nd socially appropriate nches and the "teacher m her students if she had sociated Press. nt freely on y Credit: Aaron Amat/Shutterstock One personality type is not inherently better than another. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses but all types have something to off er employers.

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