Current affairs

New research sends clear message to team leaders

The Myers-Briggs Company is launching a new podcast about psychology, personality, work life, and how to get the best from life. 

If not, you might be part of a hybrid strategy that’s about to fail.

As employees return to the office, they’re expecting more flexibility in their social contracts with employers. How can HR help?

Does personality impact survivor syndrome?

Jeff Hayes gives his perspective on The Myers-Briggs Company

Our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment

In light of Europe’s new regulations on data protection, we’ve outlined our commitments to GDPR.

The BBC, Norway and a tech start-up who is bucking the trend.

Exploring the MBTI Thinking-Feeling Step II facets in the context of Brexit

Myers, Briggs and International Women’s Day

A robot workforce with personality? Where does the MBTI framework fit in?

I’m embarrassed by a tweet I sent yesterday. I quoted a BBC article that I’m now doubtful about. It wasn’t the tweet about Clarkson; I’m still fully behind the BBC’s decisive action in the face of an odious form of workplace bullying. No, the tweet was about research into regional differences of personality in Great Britain.

In the news this week, it seems that Humberside Police have come up with a novel way of recruiting their new Deputy Chief Constable. Prospective applicants were asked to include a ‘selfie’ with every request for an application pack. According to Chief Constable Justine Curran, this was because it was “vital that candidates embraced new technology” (hence presumably the idea that candidates should demonstrate their cutting edge technological expertise by taking and emailing a photograph). In Curran’s words, “it is vital that potential candidates understand the importance of embracing new technology within Humberside Police at the point of applying for the role”.

Visits to our Personality Matters Blog were at an all-time high in 2014, and we covered a wide range of topics in our weekly posts. Over the last 12 months we've talked about the best MBTI-based books and the various resources available for L&D teams. We’ve promoted Movember, and we’ve chipped in to the Paul Flowers furore. We've continued to thrive as thought leaders in a diverse range of workplace psychology issues, from recruitment and assessment centres to polarity management. But what are the top five posts that readers have returned to again and again?

Few things in life are free – but OPP has some really cool free resources to support you in your work! To help celebrate our 25 years in the business, we’ve taken a trawl through the various goodies available for zero outlay on our website. They range from white papers and feedback materials to fun quick guides and infographics – many of which can also be found on our practitioner downloads page.

The news headlines today seem to make uncomfortable reading for test publishers like OPP. Apparently, failed Co-op Chairman Paul Flowers “aced” psychometric tests during recruitment, thereby pipping the more experienced and skilled candidates at the post. Given the disastrous results of Paul Flowers’ leadership of the bank, surely this means that psychometric tests are useless and should be thrown out?

At OPP, we don’t pretend to be experts in politics – but we do know a little about personality. A little while ago we carried out some research to look at the personality traits associated with different political viewpoints. Now that the votes are safely in, we can reveal what we found. People who said they held Conservative views were more likely to be tough-minded introverts, compared to those with left-wing views, who were more sensitive and less self-controlled.

It seems as if every time we look at a news bulletin at the moment, there is another twist on the horsemeat scandal. First horse was in supermarket ready meals, then in school dinners, and now pork, chicken and other substances seem to be getting in on the act. It is hardly surprising that we hear that people are turning to vegetarianism. Here at OPP, this made us reflect on what we know about ‘career vegetarians’ – the personality and characteristics of people who identified themselves as vegetarians before horsemeat hit the headlines.

University application figures in England have taken a plunge following the recent increase in university tuition fees. Applications for a university place fell by 8% in 2012, and were the lowest they had been in six years. Given the financial burden a university education now entails, it has never been more important for a prospective university student to feel confident that they are embarking on the right course. But whilst an array of research exists on the subject of career choice in general, little is known about how students choose their university course. Universities in turn want to be confident that the students they recruit will be satisfied with their chosen course, and see their studies through to fruition – so we decided to find out how personality affects young people’s course choice.

Does revealing discrepancies in wages in the work place lead to a fairer pay system and more job satisfaction?

The liabilities of a strong personality at the top of an organisation.

Through appointing a personnel director, Tesco have made engaging their workforce a focal point for the executive board.

The Government's 'business compact' is a drive to eliminate selection bias.

Pret a Manger's recruitment strategy involves consulting current employees about potential new recruits.

Shared business ownership can have many benefits in the workplace.

David Cameron’s veto at the recent EU summit has given us all something to talk about. At OPP, the whole episode has been a reminder of the variety of ways that a person might approach conflict and negotiation.

The surge in social media usage in recent years presents new problems for employers about employees' conduct on such sites.

Reports suggest that rising youth unemployment is creating a ‘lost generation’ of young people.

We all have preferred methods for dealing with conflict, but we may not be using the approach that is most appropriate for a particular situation.