Are you interested in Hogan Assessments, and have perhaps already been asked to complete the questionnaires online? Metaberatung GmbH issues the Hogan questionnaires, and we will be pleased to tell you more about the tests and your security here. The last page contains some informative and exciting ideas for further information. Should you have any further questions that are not answered here, please speak to the person who asked you to complete the questionnaires.
Personality consists of the typical characteristics of people that provide further information on why they do what they do. Almost everything we do is defined by our innermost needs, also called “motivations” in psychology. We try to satisfy these motivations by our behaviour, both personally and professionally. Above all, we want to gain the acceptance, respect and recognition of the people around us. However, we also strive to achieve a certain status, for instance to further our career at work, or perhaps to become a person of trust for someone we value. In order to achieve these goals, we need to control resources so we can act independently. Another important factor is the predictability of events and interactions, because that is what enables us to structure our environment and make plans.
In professional life, this means that managers must respect and encourage the requirements of their subordinates in order to create a pleasant and successful working atmosphere. The more they acknowledge their subordinates’ performance and commitment, and offer them opportunities for development and perspectives, enable them to control their own work, communicate clearly and provide constructive feedback, the more motivated these people will be because they see that they can satisfy their personal needs at work.
In addition to these general motivations that link us all, your individual personality can be described from two perspectives. On the one hand, you see yourself in a particular way that can best be described by your hopes and dreams, ambitions, goals and intentions – in other words, it describes your values. For instance, keeping your family together could be the most important thing to you, while your neighbour might dream of one day being the CEO of a major company. This part of your personality is called identity. But you have most probably already found that others often perceive you to be completely different from how you would describe yourself. This “external” personality is also called reputation; it is how others see you. Reputation can be summed up in the five aspects self-confidence, sociability, integrity, charm and creativity. This is also called the “Five Factor Model”, the psychological reference model of the personality.
There are often significant differences between a person's identity and their reputation, and the size of the imbalance is directly associated with their professional success. So it is important to highlight the difference, because only the realistic assessment of your effects on others will help you to work, sell, manage or lead effectively. As a leader, your staff not only orientate themselves towards you because of your job title, but also because of your effects on them – and customers don’t buy from a company because its sales department thinks it is good, but because the products and terms are put across well.