Effective ways to better read people’s ability

Psychometric assessment can help find whether a candidate is the right fit.

- By Sorayuth Vathanavisuth

“How many of you don’t think you are a people person?” Jack Welch once asked his audience at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

One of the most successful business leaders in modern management, the former head of GE was considered an outstanding people-focused CEO.

He made a good point: None of us really wants to admit that we are not good at reading people. When it comes to selecting a new board member, CEO or C-suite executive, it is almost impossible for the people in charge — directors, CEO, HR head and others — to admit they need help since we all believe we are the HR experts.

In this regard, psychometric assessment, which is one of the most valuable human capital tools, is usually left out. This management tool can help people who are not that good at understanding others, while further enhancing the capabilities of those who are good at reading people.

Psychometric assessment refers to assessment tools based on psychological theory. Ever since Sigmund Freud described the relationships between the id, ego and superego in the early 20th century, substantial academic research has been conducted. Around the early 1990s, the Five Factor Model or “Big 5” personality traits emerged in academic circles after years of research and has become one of the most well accepted and recognised theories.

PREDICTING BEHAVIOUR