The use of a DISC Assessment in Delivering Effective Training

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We have always been aware that trainers, mentors and coaches enjoy working with Extended DISC® products and the reason for this is probably not fully understood by those professionals who haven’t been exposed to the system.

In particular, because of the hundreds of competencies FinxS has available, reports can be customised to include an individual’s learning style or receptiveness. An example of just a few of the competencies that can be used are shown opposite.

So let’s take a look at a case study that demonstrates just one example of how a FinxS Behavioural Style Report was used effectively in a training environment.

John is a very experienced trainer who is manager of learning and people development in a large organisation. He has a degree in human resources management and has been involved in training for some fifteen years. Although he is now manager of the training division of the company that employs him, he does from time to time conduct training sessions, generally involving managerial staff, who have, in most cases, demanding responsibilities.

One of John’s training team advised him that he found one of his candidates (let’s call him Fred) had become overly cautious and introverted, which was contrary to the style shown in the behavioural report (which was not an Extended DISC® nor FinxS report) on file. And also contrary to his report, resisted any change.

This was a problem because the training involved new initiatives the company were about to adopt. This was surprising to John as he knew Fred, who was a departmental manager, quite well and had always found him to be co-operative and in fact eager to adopt new ideas.

Fred’s behavioural report that John had on file, was obtained only a few months before he was confronted by this challenge, and the report simply confirmed his understanding of Fred’s behaviour. Fred seemed to be quite an outgoing person who was competitive and decisive but also had persuasive and friendly traits in his style.

In a chance meeting with one of Extended DISC®’s resellers, John explained Fred’s case to our reseller who suggested he should obtain a FinxS Behavioural Report as he suspected there could have been an emotional reason for the change in Fred’s style. Our reseller also explained that Extended DISC® Reports were based on an individual’s unconscious style and compared this natural style with an individual’s conscious style (or work role). The report John had on file recognised only Fred’s conscious style, or his work style with no attempt to dig deeper into Fred’s unconscious style.

Our reseller also explained to John that perhaps Fred was suffering from stress and if this was so, he could well have reverted back to his natural behavioural style because it is the style that requires the least amount of energy.

It was therefore important to understand Fred’s true natural unconscious style, and this was defined by a FinxS Report.

Just as importantly, FinxS reports are capable of identifying the causes of stress, the signs of stress and steps that should be taken to help alleviate stress for each separate 160 behavioural styles.

John obtained a FinxS report which confirmed the reseller was indeed correct and extracts from Fred’s FinxS Behavioural report are shown above and opposite.

This information provided John with answers he needed to effectively communicate with Fred and focus his training to provide a more effective programme to cope with Fred’s stress.

He was also able to help alleviate the stress through special mentoring, and by referring to the information contained in the report.

The main realisation for John was that the original report accurately described Fred’s work style and this was of course the behavioural style that seemed to fit more accurately. He did not mix with him socially. Fred’s closest friends and relations immediately identified the “real” Fred described in the FinxS report, which varied from his work style, and Fred had reverted to his unconscious style because of the stress.