What tools can help employees get to know each other better?

“Know thyself! From this Socratic precept engraved on the pediment of the temple at Delphi, we learn that self-knowledge is the basis of wisdom.

Whether individual or collective, this self-knowledge is a catalyst for learning and development. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses is a prerequisite for developing your soft skills and getting your career off the ground. To help employees get to know themselves better, Praditus, an expert in soft skills for over 10 years, uses two effective tools: self-knowledge through the psychometric approach and 360 Feedback. Here’s a closer look at these new ways of learning about yourself…

Self-knowledge through the psychometric approach

A set of questionnaires as wide-ranging as they are varied, self-knowledge is part of an active approach. In complete confidentiality, employees are invited to answer a series of questions about themselves. Much more than a personality test, this psychometric approach also looks at the employee’s interests, motivation, emotional management, learning preferences and intelligence. In all, there are no fewer than 10 personal style modules covering more than 120 underlying dimensions. The declared aim is to identify the potential and predispositions of each individual to better understand why they are unique!

With a satisfaction rate of over 92%, Praditus offers its partners the most comprehensive, caring and scientific self-knowledge experience. The Praditus method is based exclusively on solid, recognised theories in psychology and management science, the statistical and psychometric validity of which is regularly measured. Its flagship questionnaires include:

• The Big Five: this highly acclaimed personality test is designed to measure an employee’s 5 major characteristics: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism.
• RIASEC: this inventory of interests at work seeks to understand what motivates people to work in certain professions.
• The Motivational Style: this motivational test was developed by Dr Andres Davila, co-founder of Praditus, to measure in context the needs, values and knowledge that determine behaviour and interactions in the workplace.
• The stress management module: this test devised by Praditus examines the standard strategies that employees use, consciously or unconsciously, to combat stressful situations. It measures both users' resistance to stress and their preferred way of dealing with it.

360 Feedback

Unlike the psychometric approach to self-knowledge, 360 Feedback is a passive approach. This time, employees ask the people who work with them to answer a questionnaire about their observable behaviour. 360-degree feedback is a powerful tool for measuring performance, and is used by some of the world’s largest companies. As a global assessment process, 360° Feedback includes comments from all those involved with the employee being assessed, from line managers to customers and work colleagues, in order to establish a complete and accurate analysis of the employee’s professional profile.

As a cross-functional analysis, 360 Feedback enables the strengths and weaknesses of each employee to be accurately identified. When the results of this test are made public, they should be seen as an opportunity to find out what others really think of your professional attitude and your work. While positive comments are a source of motivation, negative comments must always be constructive to enable employees to develop positively.

To ensure that 360 Feedback is organised in the best possible conditions, Praditus can support organisations wishing to implement it. A clever way of preserving team cohesion!

When should employees be encouraged to get to know each other better?

For employees, getting to know each other better helps them to be more effective within the company. Being able to identify their strengths, needs, objectives and limits objectively is a significant advantage when it comes to overcoming stumbling blocks. And this applies regardless of the position held! That’s why it’s so important for organisations to encourage their employees to start the self-knowledge process as soon as they take up their jobs. By mapping out their skills, individuals can begin to work in depth on themselves to define new priorities and draw up an action plan to achieve them. On this development plan depends their professional fulfilment within the organisation in which they work.

But the use of self-awareness tools may prove necessary throughout an individual’s career. As team leaders, managers are responsible for helping their staff acquire new knowledge. When they need to upgrade their skills, taking stock of their soft skills is a necessary step in training them and ensuring that they settle into their new position in the best possible conditions. It’s easy to see why talent management is a powerful argument when it comes to retaining employees…

In short, better self-awareness enables employees to become aware of the areas in which they can or must improve. Good self-knowledge is therefore the fundamental basis for developing skills at an individual level. For collective repercussions! Praditus has long understood that individuals must be the agents of their own change. By supporting organisations in the implementation of self-knowledge tools, Praditus teaches employees how they can have a concrete impact on their professional development. Or how to put personal development at the service of the general interest!

Article glossary

• Soft skills (Behavioural competencies) :
  • Definition: A set of social, emotional and communicative skills that enable a person to adapt effectively to various professional situations.
  • Importance: Essential for employability, professional mobility and career success, soft skills complement hard skills.
• Emotional intelligence :
  • Definition: The ability to understand, use and manage one’s own emotions in a positive way to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.
  • Importance: Crucial for establishing harmonious working relationships and resolving problems constructively.
• Psychometric approach :
  • Definition: Method using questionnaires and standardised tests to assess personality traits, motivations, learning preferences and other psychological dimensions.
  • Importance: Allows the unique potential and predispositions of each individual to be identified, thus facilitating the development of soft skills.
• 360 Feedback :
  • Definition: Overall assessment process involving anonymous feedback from colleagues, superiors, subordinates and sometimes clients.
  • Importance: Provides a complete and accurate analysis of professional behaviour, helping to identify employees' strengths and weaknesses.
• Self-awareness :
  • Definition: The process by which an individual becomes aware of his or her own strengths, weaknesses, motivations and behaviours.
  • Importance: Essential for personal and professional development, self-awareness enables clear objectives to be defined and action plans to be drawn up to achieve them.