Is the Harrison Assessment like Myers-Briggs?

Posted on 18. May, 2010 by susan in Assessments, People Management, Recruitment

This is a common question from people who are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test.  Both systems look at an individual’s preferences or tendencies, however there are some fundamental differences between them.  Dr Dan Harrison recently provided his insights into the two tools.

The major difference is that MBTI was designed to be used as a personality assessment tool only, while Harrison Assessments (HA) is a job suitability tool based on the work context.  HA measures work preferences, motivations, work environment preferences and interests, in addition to personality.

• In MBTI, respondents are type-cast into one of the 16 types, based on 4 dichotomies. HA does not type cast because in doing so, it would seriously limit its usefulness for recruitment and employee development.
• MBTI was not developed for the work environment and consequently the questions are not fully designed to be work focused. The HA questions are entirely work focused.
• MBTI analyzes norms based on different populations. HA analyzes individual traits in relationship to performance for a wide variety of different job functions.
• MBTI uses bi-polar scales which assume an either/or relationship between traits. HA uses Paradox technology which allows for the person to be either, neither or both. The Paradox scales provide a deep insight into competencies as well as stress behaviours and even unconscious tendencies.
• MBTI scales provide a surface view of personality. The paradox technology clearly measures negative tendencies whereas MTBI isn’t designed to do so and because of the use of the bi-polar scale any conclusion regarding negative tendencies must be much more tentative.

MBTI is best used for team facilitation. However, it is very limited for performance development because there is no function to indicate the factors that relate to success for different jobs. The manufacturers state that the score on the MBTI does NOT relate to job success. Therefore, it is very limited for that purpose. In addition it has too few of traits that would be necessary for that purpose when used for a wide variety of different jobs.

Human beings can be quite complicated as different factors interplay to drive their behaviour in different situations. HA looks at 156 traits and examines the paradoxes in the tendencies. Its comprehensiveness facilitates awareness and development as one can zoom into a specific trait and context.

The HA reports enable you to increase effectiveness in hiring employees and developing performance. They do not require a psychologist to interpret and anyone can easily learn to use the reports.

If you’ve experienced MBTI and would like to give HA a try, click here for a free trial.

Tags: Harrison Assessments, performance, recruitment, talent