How DISC Helps (and Doesn’t) When You’re Hiring
If you’re responsible for hiring in Brainerd or the surrounding areas like Baxter, Nisswa, Little Falls, Pequot Lakes, or Crosslake, you know how important it is to build a solid team. You want people who will mesh well, communicate clearly, and get the job done right. That’s where DISC comes in as a useful tool in your hiring toolbox. But it’s important to know both what DISC can tell you-and what it can’t-before you make your next hire.
DISC in Hiring: The Basics
DISC is a personality assessment that helps you understand how people prefer to communicate and work. It’s based on four main behavioral styles: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. When you use the DISC model during hiring, you get a snapshot of how a candidate might interact with others, handle feedback, or approach tasks.
- Dominance (D): Direct, decisive, and likes to take charge.
- Influence (I): Outgoing, enthusiastic, and people-oriented.
- Steadiness (S): Reliable, supportive, and steady under pressure.
- Conscientiousness (C): Detail-focused, analytical, and quality driven.
Knowing a candidate’s DISC profile gives you insight into how they might fit with your current team. For example, if your shop in Baxter has a lot of high-D personalities, you might look for someone with more S or C traits to balance things out.
Takeaway: Use DISC as a conversation starter for understanding work styles, not a final answer for hiring decisions.
What DISC Can Tell You About a Candidate
DISC assessments give you practical, easy-to-use information about how someone acts under stress, how they like to communicate, and how they solve problems. This can help:
- Pinpoint candidates who mesh with your team’s communication style
- Identify strengths that might be missing from your group
- Spot possible challenges before they pop up on the job
Say you run a landscaping crew in Nisswa and need someone who can keep cool under pressure and handle customer feedback. A candidate with high S and C scores might be a good fit. Or, if your Little Falls office needs someone to drum up new business, a high I profile might be what you’re after.
Tip: Use DISC results to help you ask better interview questions. For example: “How do you handle fast-paced changes?” or “What’s your approach to double-checking details before a project goes live?”
What DISC Can’t Tell You in the Hiring Process
While DISC is a powerful tool, it has its limits. It won’t tell you if a candidate has the skills needed for the job. It won’t reveal someone’s ethics, integrity, or technical know-how. DISC also doesn’t predict whether someone will succeed in a specific role.
- It’s not a test of intelligence or ability
- It doesn’t show past experience or future potential
- It can’t guarantee perfect team harmony
So, if you’re hiring for your Pequot Lakes tech shop or a retail spot in Crosslake, remember that DISC is one piece of the puzzle. Always pair it with interviews, skill assessments, and reference checks.
Takeaway: Don’t use DISC as a “pass/fail” test. Use it to build a bigger picture of your candidates and how they’ll fit in.
How to Use DISC the Right Way
DISC works best when you use it as a guide, not a gatekeeper. Here’s how you can put it to work in your hiring process:
- Start with a clear job description and list of must-have skills
- Have candidates take the DISC assessment as part of the process
- Compare DISC results with your existing team to spot strengths and gaps
- Discuss the results with candidates-give them a chance to talk about their work style
- Use DISC to plan onboarding and early team integration for new hires
Think of DISC as a way to get the conversation rolling. For example, if you’re traveling from Brainerd to meet a candidate in Little Falls, you might use the drive to review their DISC profile and prep a few targeted questions for your chat.
Suggested next step: Try having your current team take a DISC assessment. Discuss the results together to see where your team’s strengths lie-and who might round things out in your next hire.
DISC: One Tool, Many Benefits
Whether you’re hiring for a family-owned business in Baxter, a growing start-up in Nisswa, or a branch office in Little Falls, DISC can help you build stronger teams by boosting self-awareness and communication. Just remember, no test can replace good judgment, clear expectations, and a bit of Minnesota common sense.
- Use DISC to understand personalities, not qualifications
- Pair it with other hiring tools for the best results
- Keep the process fair and open-never use DISC to exclude qualified candidates
Final tip: If you’re new to DISC, start small. Try a DISC workshop with your team before rolling it out for hiring. You’ll gain confidence in the process-and so will your future hires.