Candidate screening can be a time-consuming task–especially in the cannabis industry. When different roles require vastly different credentials and candidates, employers are often looking for new ways to evaluate potential hires. Whether you are looking for Quality Assurance Technicians, Production Workers, or Budtenders, there are plenty of opportunities to streamline the process! At Cannabis At Work, we use a variety of methods to help identify your best candidates—one of them is DiSC Profile.
What is DiSC profile? How does it work?
DiSC is a non-judgmental program that analyzes behaviours and personality traits. Participants complete a questionnaire that produces a profile detailing key character traits, behavioural styles, personal goals, and areas that require more effort to succeed.
Results can be used for job seekers looking to highlight their best traits, professionals looking to identify their areas for growth, as part of employee onboarding processes—and for candidate screening!
How does DiSC categorize people?
Questionnaire results show where candidates fall between four different categories:
Photo taken from DiSC Website
Achievement oriented
Enjoys taking action, embracing challenges
Is often described as forceful, strong-willed, fast-paced, and self confident
Has difficulty showing patience and sensitivity
Enthusiastic, involved, optimistic, and warm
Values relationships, recognition, and collaboration
Has difficulty with focus and follow-through
Stable and consistent
Prioritizes support and maintaining stability
Described as calm, patient, and predictable
Has difficulty with quick adaptation, multi-taking, and confrontation
Motivated by opportunities to show their hard work
Values opportunities for personal growth
Described as careful, systematic, cautious, and diplomatic
Has difficulty with delegation and collaboration
That’s what the D-i-S-C in DiSC stands for!
The DiSC model is built in a circle—results don’t put candidates into any one category. Instead, they show the mix of traits across all areas. Peoples are adaptable and should never be forced into just one category.
How can I use it to screen candidates?
When searching for the perfect candidates, you should consider how personality type influences success in a role. Personality and organizational fit are just as important as education and prior work experience!
That being said, the DiSC profile should not be used as a primary deciding factor for your candidate, but rather a supplementary piece of insight into their working style. DiSC does not measure a candidates aptitude for any specific job, and should only be used to develop a deeper understanding of their personal style.
Results from questionnaires completed prior to interviews can be used to customize interview questions. Tailored questions allow your candidates to show how they manage potential weaknesses identified through their DiSC profile. For example:
If your candidate scores low in Influence, but applied to a position that requires enthusiasm, convincingness, and customer engagement (such as a Budtender), you could design your situation questions around how the candidate manages highly engaged social situations. For example, you could ask your candidate:
How would you respond to a customer concern about dissatisfaction with a product?
Tell me about a time that you handled a workplace conflict.
How would you tell a customer about a new product/promotion/strain in your store?
Tell me about a time you successfully closed a sale. What were your methods?
Or, if your candidate scored low in Steadiness but applied for an administrative role that requires stability, consistency, and high levels of organization you could ask them:
What do you do to keep yourself on task at work?
What do you do to maintain focus for long periods of time?
Tell me about a time you felt disorganized at work, and what you did to manage it?
An understanding of personality and behaviour types also provides insight into a candidates fit within the current team (and workplace dynamics). Ask yourself: Does your team currently have members who share the candidate's style? How will the candidate's style mesh with your team? How will the candidate's style fit into the organizational culture?
Maybe you already have a team of outgoing, Influence-style Budtenders who excel at customer service and sales… BUT maybe your till often falls a few dollars short, and stock is regularly miscounted. If you’ve mostly hired team members with similar styles, your team might need someone who scores higher in Steadiness or Conscientiousness (and has greater attention to detail).
Strong teams are created through members with diverse styles and perspectives—regardless of the job!
Tips for using DiSC fairly:
Don’t assume that there is only one type of person who can do the job well—don’t show bias towards one personality type.
Don’t let DiSC results dictate your entire judgment of a person's character, leadership style, or fit for the workplace—working styles are adaptable.
Do use DiSC to gain a piece of additional insight into a person's fit within your team and organization
If you want DiSC as part of your screening process but don’t want to do the work yourself, we use DiSC (as well as many other tools) to help you find your best possible recruits. Or, if you’d like more advice on maximizing DiSC in your candidate screening, we offer HR consulting services tailored to the unique needs of the cannabis industry.
