In early 2017, SEI decided to invest in the organization and its people by introducing a DiSC behavioral assessment across the organization. Essentially, DiSC is a measurement tool, and provides metrics around which traits an individual tends to exhibit more than others. The great thing about DiSC is that it also compares and contrasts someone’s natural style, with their adapted style. For example, an individual may change or adapt their style depending on their work environment. In an effort to keep the training and communication consistent, yet also ensure this was facilitated with an SEI flare, I decided to become a DiSC Certified Behavioral Analyst, and I now facilitate DiSC across all of our offices. After receiving the certification and working hard to figure out where I wanted to focus our efforts, I decided to start small and facilitate DiSC within just our Services organization. Because our Services office supports over 250 people, spread out across nine offices nationwide, our Services employees must be willing to adapt and flex their communication styles depending on who they are communicating with and what they are communicating about. Whether it’s an effort to expedite the onboarding of a specific candidate or an issue with payroll or benefits, each scenario has one thing in common: people need to communicate and understand one another.
Benefits of DiSC:
- Develops a common language across an organization
- Improves communication and understanding between co-workers and leadership teams
- Increases team-bonding and appreciation
Communication & Knowing One Another
In today’s world where we are interacting with so many people, in unique and complex forums, and communicating through various channels, it’s vital to be able to read and interact well with others. DiSC helps people do just that. It provides a common language that makes it easy for folks to understand, recognize and adapt to different behavioral types quickly. For example, during a first interview or tough client engagement. It’s great to hear our folks referring to how they’ve leveraged their new knowledge in various forums at clients, and even in our local staff meetings, as they’re building and growing the business.
Team Building
I also kick off each quarterly meeting and New Hire Orientation with a facilitated DiSC session, focused on team building and getting to know one another. Our new hires quickly build bonds around the common language, and shared understanding that DiSC provides. They truly get to know one another, versus a typical name and location type of introduction.
Continuing the Assimilation
An important pillar of success for SEI is the preservation of our culture. Because SEIers are so socially active within the company, at their client sites, and within their individual communities, they encounter many instances in which they can put their knowledge from DiSC to work.
Maintaining relationships is an important element of success. By better understanding yourself and the people that you interact with, you can develop and nourish strong bonds both inside the office and out. The knowledge gained from the DiSC assessment allows our consultants to grow and maintain relationships, therefore preserving the culture that we have worked hard to create for over 25 years.
