In corporate leadership, the role of psychometric testing is expanding to offer new insights and pathways for organisational growth.

Speaking at a session with the Jamaica National (JN) Group, Lisandra Rickards, founder and CEO of Soul Career, says psychometrics are useful for fostering deeper understanding and collaboration among leadership teams within companies.

While psychometric assessments have long been utilised in the realm of human resources for hiring decisions, Rickards highlighted its broader potential. She highlighted the Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness (DISC) leadership profiling method as instrumental in bolstering dependability within organisations, assessing leadership styles, and enhancing team performance.

“The essence of DISC lies in understanding and adapting to the diverse styles within a team; It’s about treating others how they wish to be treated,” explained Rickards.

Rickards delved into the intricacies of each DISC category, elucidating how dominance reflects result-oriented leadership, influence embodies charisma and relationship-building, steadiness prioritises cooperation and sincerity, and conscientiousness underscores analytical precision.

She called for the strategic use of DISC assessments in project allocation, to assemble teams with a balanced mix of leadership styles to ensure cohesion and effectiveness. She stressed that no single style reigns supreme, with each possessing inherent strengths and opportunities for development.

Leesa Kow, managing director of JN Bank, said: “Dependability engenders trust and so we say that as leaders, what we do and how we live out that dependability value has everything to do with the extent to which our customers will not just trust us individually, but also trust the JN brand.”

Earl Jarrett, CEO of The Jamaica National Group, in echoing Rickards’ sentiment, said: “It’s so interesting that dependability is influenced by the psychological profiles of the persons around us. We, therefore, have to be adaptable to the needs of our society, our staff, colleagues and leaders.”

He suggested training workers in basic psychology as a means of helping more persons to achieve the appropriate level of emotional intelligence and other social skills required to work in an organisation. 

“We have to work with people, we have to communicate well with people, and to understand people we need to adjust our approaches to get the best out of each person,” he remarked.