Enneagram: A Vital Tool for Smart Business Hiring Decisions

Personality tests are rapidly becoming a very popular choice for aptitude hiring, and can hugely benefit a business during the hiring process by acting as a career test. Using a personality test during the hiring process has so many benefits for businesses, so continue reading below to find out why using an Enneagram test is crucial for your business hiring process!

How Does the Enneagram Test Work

An Enneagram test can vary on each website, but it is essentially a personality test. It asks a series of questions with answers ranging from inaccurate, neutral and accurate to gauge a personality type. An Enneagram personality test will have 9 different personality options, which are numbered and named.

These tests are designed to calculate a person’s strengths, fears, stressors, worldview, perspective, motivation and overall personality. This is hugely beneficial for both the person taking the test to better understand themselves or recruiters looking for personality types that fit with their business model.

Upon completion of an Enneagram, the tester will receive a diagram of a circle with 9 numbers that represent each personality. There will be a percentage beside each number to clearly show how much the tester relates to each personality type.

The Enneagram test is described as having a less structured and more holistic approach compared to other popular personality tests like Myers Brigs. Because of this, the Enneagram test truly captures more of the personality so it is often used as a career test.

What Are the Enneagram Personality Types

The 9 personality types are grouped into 3 sections:

• The Intuitive Center: 1, 8 and 9
• The Feeling Center: 2, 3 and 4
• The Thinking centre: 5, 6 and 7

The 9 personality types are described as follows:

1. The Reformer - People with this personality type are often rational, principled and a perfectionist. They are intuitively based and are part of the intuitive centre.
2. The Helper - The helper personality type will be people-centred, caring and possessive.  Helpers will be feeling-based and are part of the feeling centre.
3. The Achiever - Someone with an achiever personality type tends to be success focused, adaptive and image-centred. Achievers tend to use their emotions as a success driver and belong to the feeling centre.
4. The Individualist - People who have an Individualist personality type tend to be very sensitive, creative and temperamental. The individualist relies heavily on their emotions for decisions and are part of the feeling centre.
5. The Investigator - The investigator's personality type will be people who are intense but very perceptive and isolated. Investigators will be thinkers, quiet but observant and belong to the thinking centre. 
6. The Loyalist - Security-oriented people tend to fit the loyalist personality type as these people tend to be committed, responsible and anxious. The loyalist relies on their thoughts for decisions and are part of the thinking centre.
7. The Enthusiast - People with an enthusiast personality will always see the bright side. They tend to be busybodies, spontaneous and versatile but scattered. The enthusiast is a positive thinking person and belongs to the thinking centre.
    
8. The Challenger - The challenger personality type will be a dominating and self-confident kind of person, but could be comfortable. Challengers are secure in their thoughts and as such belong to the intuitive centre.
9. The Peacemaker - Someone with a peacemaker personality type will tend to be easy-going and non-confrontational, often being agreeable and complacent. The peacemaker will be secure in themselves and do not feel the need to argue their points as they believe it to be the truth. They belong to the intuitive centre.

How Can The Enneagram Test Be Used For Businesses

Aptitude hiring

Aptitude hiring is the process of a business using a personality test to calculate an employee's mental aptitude and reasoning abilities for working in a professional setting.

Using an Enneagram test which encompasses so many parts of the personality gives a much more well-rounded idea of a person's strengths, weaknesses and motivations, all of which is hugely beneficial during the hiring process.

Career testing

Finding a suitable career can largely depend on our personalities. Using a personality test like the Enneagram can help recruiters determine if the candidate that is applying for this position has a suitable personality to match the career path you are offering as a business.

Some personality types will not be suitable for certain roles but would be perfect for others. Recruiters can use Enneagrams personality test results to determine the best role for the personality type the applicant has.

Compatibility

Compatibility with other coworkers throughout the business is essential for ensuring a harmonious workplace with a team that can work together easily.

Team work is the backbone of so many businesses and having a team with personalities that suit each other, help encourage one another and bring an overall good atmosphere to the table is a key successor for any business.

Future job success

The hiring process can be a time-consuming and expensive process for many companies, and ideally, recruiters want a staff member who will be focused on their future job success by staying loyal to the company.

Using an Enneagram personality test can help recruiters determine whether they think this person is someone who is career driven and loyal, and as such will have a better future job success ability.

Avoid unfit hires

No company wants to hire and train a staff member only to realise they are a poor fit for the position or company itself. By taking extra steps such as an Enneagram test, recruiters can ensure they are hiring a staff member that is the best fit for the position and avoid unfit candidates who are not suitable for the position.

Why Every Company Should Use an Enneagram Test

Not only will an Enneagram test help you save both time and money during the hiring process by filtering out personality types that are a poor match, but Enneagram tests will also make the overall hiring process faster and smoother.

Giving potential candidates an easy personality test like the Enneagram test with clearly presented personality types helps recruiters make better-informed decisions about who to bring forward during the hiring process and who is a bad fit!

Every business will benefit from using an Enneagram test during the hiring process.