All work styles are welcome!
Hendrik Bronkhorst
By Hendrik Bronkhorst
One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is to hire people who are all carbon copies of each other. Hiring a bunch of amazingly creative people, for example, is no good unless there are also people on the team who can translate their ideas into practical workflows, and then others who can get the work done!
The best approach is to employ individuals with different work styles, and so ensure that your managerial value chain is fully functional from one end to the other.
Consider an organisational problem or project to be addressed. The value chain starts by gathering information about the situation, which requires a resourcer, and generating solutions in terms of how to proceed or solve the problem, which requires a creator.
Once a line of action or solution has been developed it should be critically evaluated and considered, which requires a judge.
The solution or idea then needs to be empowered and propelled through leadership. Here, two styles come into play – the initiator, who is eager to get going on shaping the environment and the future; and the integrator, who aims to achieve buy-in and combine all ideas and parties into a cohesive force.
From here we move into the engine room where things need to be implemented. The operator assumes the role of organising the people needed to perform the activities – delegating, explaining and controlling. The completer is the person who actually does the work, executing the tasks and transacting the business processes. Finally we have the supporter, who drives motivation and morale through nurturing, coaching, helping and supporting.
By measuring each individual’s strengths in each specific work style – resourcer, creator, judge, initiator, integrator, operator, completer, supporter – it’s possible to place him/her in the precise spot along the value chain that best suits his/her particular aptitude. In addition, developing a work styles matrix within an organisation will help to identify any gaps and help to fill them.
Evalex Assessment Solutions have been designed to assess various psychological elements, including one or a combination of the following: cognitive functioning, organisational insight, personality, work styles, values and interests.
Hendrik Bronkhorst is an industrial psychologist and managing director of Evalex/OMT