By Ken Keis

Why, with all our career-development processes and programs, do the majority of individuals continue to dislike their jobs, from a feeling of mild irritation to downright loathing? Is it because our current HR methods are not working?

A study by USHRA revealed that 82% of employed executives and 78% of employees were looking for another job. If we want to achieve higher levels of engagement and personal fulfillment, something must change.

At 16, I knew that communicating and encouraging others would be part of my calling, but two major factors were pushing me in another direction.

1. I grew up on a dairy farm—the third-generation first-born male, groomed to take over the family business. Was there pressure for me to head down that path? You bet!
2. My Grade 9 English teacher told me I would never amount to anything because of my poor English skills. I almost failed high school because of them.

Declining the family farm opportunity, I first pursued the business of sales. In 1989, I made the decision to leave a successful sales position to start a career as a sales trainer and coach. Soon, I met Dr. Terry Anderson of Consulting Resource Group International, Inc. (CRG) and joined his team.

Professor Anderson had founded CRG a decade earlier when teaching Psychology to third- and fourth-year university students. He was using MBTI and DiSC as part of the curriculum and found serious design and integrity issues with those assessments. We have the same concerns about those tools today.

Out of pure frustration, Terry decided to design a better assessment. Hence the creation of CRG’s first assessment, the Personal Style Indicator, and CRG’s proprietary Holistic Personality Development Factors Model and the Personal Style Model.

Still connected with CRG, in the ‘90s I owned a flourishing training and HR consulting firm. How flourishing? I was never home. I lived on airplanes and in hotels around the globe—300 days a year. With a wife and two small children, I knew my career had to change.

So, 8 years ago, I purchased CRG to help others live, lead, and work: On Purpose!

While earning honors in my MBA studies, I discovered I have dyslexia. My English teacher never could have predicted I would become a thought-leader on Personal Style and the co-developer and author of a holistic assessment system that establishes a foundation for helping us live our lives on purpose.

I overcame my earlier challenge with the language and have written over 3.5 million words of content and a new book! Why Aren’t You More Like Me? embodies my experience with CRG and my 22 years in this industry—assisting individuals, families, teams, and organizations to realize their potential. In it, I challenge many of the outdated practices in our profession.

Here are a few of the strategies that enable individuals to embrace a career-development process that fulfills their needs and puts them in a position to contribute at the highest level to the well-being of others.

Know Your Personal Style

Unless people are aware of their Personal Style, they can not be intentional in their interpersonal relationships or career directions. Research by Talent Smart suggests that only 2% of the population can realize their potential without that knowledge. EVERY person in an organization should complete a Personal Style assessment to become aware of his or her Personal Style.

The research concluded that over 70% of the population has no idea what their Personal Style might be. When I conducted this process with my kids’ Grade 8 and 9 classes, the students immediately got it—and used the information to make decisions that very day.

Your Style Pattern Should NEVER Be Linked to Potential Careers

Personal Style or temperament tools should NEVER be used to determine a career path or establish career clusters. We need to stop that practice immediately. Why? Personal Style does not measure gifts, talents, interests, abilities, or IQ. Those measurements are not style. And if 50% of the individuals in a certain career like HR have a specific profile, what about the other 50% who are successful, yet represent different styles or style patterns? Rigid profiles discriminate against people.

Act Independently

We have found—after millions of assessments—that people don’t want to take a test. Assessments that require a professional person to debrief or interpret the results create a co-dependent relationship with the participants rather than an interdependent relationship. That applies to any career-development process.

Participants need to understand the concepts, results, and models so they can act independently to apply the information to their lives and careers. That’s not to suggest we shouldn’t have professionals help us through a career-development process but do make sure the learning can stand on its own.

Match Personal Style with Job Style

On the flip side, everyone should determine if the specific role, job, or responsibilities they are being asked to fulfill are compatible with their Personal Style. We call that Personal Style/Job Style compatibility. When was the last time you or an HR department measured the style needs of a position before it was filled?

Through our 30+ years of experience, we know that when the style nature of who we are does not align with our job role, the result is a low level of engagement. When the two do not match, success is unsustainable. Many times, employees are criticized for poor performance when they are asked to fulfill responsibilities that don’t reflect their style strengths.

Know Your Values

To filter through all the career choices and options, we need to make values-based decisions, not opportunity-based decisions. Are you aware of your core motivational/behavioral values? When you are, you can screen opportunities—both personal and professional—against your values grid.

Every individual’s career path needs to include confirmation about his or her top 5 to 7 behavioral values. In the book, we help you create your top-values list.

Play to Your Strengths

Stop trying to develop your weaknesses; that approach is highly overrated. We should be aware of our weaknesses and their implications in our everyday lives but trying to change who we are at our core is counter-intuitive. Don’t fuss about what you are not! Accentuate the positive! People are designed with specific gifts, talents, and Personal Style. Play to those attributes.

Those are a few of the strategies that will help you get on the right track for living life on purpose.

Ken Keis is considered a global authority on the way assessment strategies increase and multiply your success rate. In 22 years, he has conducted more than 2000 presentations and 10,000 hours of consulting and coaching. Author of Why Aren’t You More Like Me? Discover the Secrets to Understanding Yourself and Others, Ken can be contacted at 604 852-0566, info@crgleader.com, or through www.whyarentyoumorelikeme.com.