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The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why personality tests are used in workplace training. This research paper is guided by three research questions that inquire about the role of external and internal stakeholders, the value of psychometric and practical considerations in test selection, and the purpose of personality test use in workplace training.

This research paper uses multiple-case study analysis. Interviews, test reports, product flyers and email correspondence were collected and analyzed from publishers, associations, psychologists and human resource development (HRD) practitioners in Germany, the UK and The Netherlands between 2012 and 2016.

Themes emerge around industry tensions among practitioners and professional associations, psychologists and non-psychologists. Ease of use is a more important factor than psychometrics in the decision-making process. Also, practitioners welcome publishers that offer free coaching support. In the process of using tests for development rather than assessment, re-labeling takes place when practitioners and publishers use positive terms for personality tests as tools for personal stocktaking and development.

Despite extensive data collection and analysis efforts, this study is limited by its focus on a relatively small number of country cases and stakeholders per case.

By combining scientific evidence with practical application, stakeholders can take first steps toward more evidence-based HRD practice around personality testing in workplace training.

Little academic literature exists on the use of personality testing in workplace training. Without a clear understanding of the use of personality testing outside personnel selection, the current practice of personality tests for developmental purposes could raise ethical concerns about the rights and responsibilities of test takers.

Despite widespread evidence of low predictive and construct validity, personality testing is increasingly being used for the selection of managers. Notes that selection practices based on personality testing are not embedded in an explicit theory of performance. Based on available research evidence it is argued that personality is likely to play a relatively minor role as a determinant of managerial performance. Presents results from a small survey of New Zealand recruitment consultants to show that personality testing is widespread in managerial selection, and that there is a tendency to overemphasize the importance of personality as a determinant of performance. This may be one reason for the ascendancy of personality testing in selection. Makes suggestions for improving the ways in which such tests should be used in selecting managers.

The importance of information systems (IS) professions is increasing. As personality–job fit theory claims, employees must have suitable personality traits for particular IS professions. However, candidates can try to fake-good on personality tests towards the desired personality type. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify archetypal IS professions, their associated personality types and examine the reliability of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test in IS recruitment decisions.

The authors reviewed academic literature related to IS professions to identify job archetypes and personality traits for IS professions. Then, the authors conducted an experiment with 452 participants to investigate whether candidates can fake-good on personality tests when being tested for a particular IS profession.

The identified job archetypes were IS project manager, IS marketing specialist, IS consultant, IS security specialist, data scientist and business process analyst. The experimental results show that the participants were not able to fake-good considerably regarding their personality traits for a particular archetype.

The taxonomy of IS professions should be validated further. The experiment was executed in an educational organisation and not in a real-life environment. Actual work performance was not measured.

This study enables a better identification of suitable candidates for a particular IS profession. Personality tests are good indicators of the candidate's true personality type but must be properly interpreted.

This study enhances the existing body of knowledge on IS professions' archetypes, proposes suitable MBTI personality types for each profession and provides experimental support for the appropriateness of using personality tests to identify potentially suitable candidates.

Properly conceived, conducted and interpreted, motivation research can be an extremely powerful management tool, designed to help the manufacturer or advertiser to sell more goods. Its aim is to expose the market situation, explain it and suggest courses of action which will lead to desired changes. It is a way of looking at a problem rather than a collection of specialist techniques and is strictly practical. Hence it can be used alongside other market research tools for the solution of marketing problems and can be applied to a wide range of business activities. Much of its development has been in the advertising field but it can also help in the formulation of production policy, solving packaging problems and marketing operations. It is examined here in all these contexts. The idea of motivation research, the reasons for its use and the techniques by which to apply it are discussed, as well as the pitfalls that are likely to occur. New and imaginary case studies are used throughout to illustrate points. A review of the subject literature is included.

Complex issues arise when personality variables are incorporated into traditional approaches to personnel selection. Personality assessment and testing in employment contexts is more complicated than it would appear. Rather than arguing against considering personality variables, wefocus on five problematic issues associated with their use in personnel selection. These issues are: the appropriateness of linear selection models; the problem of personality‐related self‐selection effects; the multi‐dimensionality of personality; bias associated with social desirability, impression management, and faking in top‐down selection models; and the legal implications of personality assessment in employment contexts. Recommends that practitioners and researchers be cognizant of these issues in the use of personality tests in employment decisions.

This paper aims to address the role of behavior profiling in personnel recruitment and selection and how managers would benefit by using behavior assessment. Psychometric tests that measure cognitive ability and behavioral traits are regularly used to support management decisions in recruitment, team building and leadership development. But are they effective as a determinant of hiring and can their use be justified?

The relationship between personality and job performance has been studied frequently in business psychology, particularly so in the past 20 years. This paper sets out by discussing the advent of personality profiling and exploring the advances made to where we are today with behavior assessment tests. It addresses the views of academics and the use of behavior assessment in the corporate setting.

There are many studies that document the validity of cognitive ability tests and personality/behavior profiling as predictors of work performance. Of the numerous procedures used for recruitment and selection, two combinations – general mental ability (cognitive ability or GMA) plus an integrity test (personality profiling) and GMA plus a structured interview – have the highest multivariate validity and utility for job performance. Behavior profiling is an effective determinant of hiring.

Adopting personnel selection methods with high predictive validity ensures that managers can make decisions with a stronger degree of certainty and confidence. Using behavior profiling in conjunction with cognitive ability measures and sound interview techniques maximizes the predictive power of the selection process.

Behavior assessment tests should also benefit those taking the test by providing a facility that conveys important issues about their personality and behavior. This will allow them to discover areas that need to be addressed to make positive changes within themselves to achieve their ultimate goals in life, both personal and career.

This paper addresses, among other things, the research of several people into the use of personality measures in personnel selection. The paper will benefit all those involved with recruitment, team building and leadership development by improving their understanding of the use of behavior assessment tests.

Missing in most of the research on selling has been an examination of the process from the point of view of the customer. When satisfaction in selling has been considered, researchers have focused on the satisfaction of the salesperson with his job and/or the impact of this job satisfaction on performance (e.g. Bluen, Barling & Burns, 1990; Churchill, Ford & Walker, 1979; Pruden & Peterson, 1971). To concentrate on salesperson performance while neglecting customers is to ignore the most important half of the relationship between buyers and sellers and entirely disregards the marketing concept and the streams of research in customer satisfaction. This research takes a different approach and examines customers’ satisfaction with salespeople.