More than 25% of UK company staff and management are deceiving themselves when it comes to self-analysis of their skills and attitudes, with around a further 20% completely oblivious to their weaknesses.
Thatís the finding of Life Orientations Ltd (LIFO), the UK arm of the 30 years-established global testing organisation, a year after its UK launch.
The findings of LIFO, following 1,100 tests and assessments in 2003 and 2004, indicate a huge underlying presence of managers and employees who are not just deceiving themselves - theyíre also deceiving their employers and colleagues.
There are highly influential people in UK businesses who are being self-deceptive because they are unaware of their failings, or simply living a lie and avoiding situations in which theyíll be challenged or tested because they know themselves so well, said LIFO UK Managing Director Bridget Biggar.
There are large numbers of managers in the UK who canít manage, canít listen and canít control, get too involved and canít delegate, get their priorities wrong, confuse colleagues and lose sight of their longer-term objectives.
In many cases the situation has arisen because their seniors have accepted CVís or íby-the-bookí interview responses at face value, failed to drive through a structured testing and assessment process and caused weaknesses to be built in to their management and passed on to staff.
The managers themselves all too often know their weaknesses but refuse or fail to recognise them: the tragedy is that these weaknesses can actually be used as a strength - admitting a shortcoming and doing something about it gives you advantage over others who donít or wonít concede a failing for reasons of insecurity or pride.
If you know thereís a gap in your businessí capabilities, then you know you need to fill it, and the skills and capability to do so usually lie with other people working in the business.
By testing and assessing the management and staff, then youíll know what you need to do to fill the gap, strengthen the structure and then either drive forward or defend, successfully, depending upon your business objective or requirement.
Whereas the vast majority of psychometric testing programmes identify traits, skills, shortfalls or strengths amongst the workforce, the success of LIFO has been built on providing an ongoing development path once the strengths or weaknesses of an organisationís key people have been identified.
LIFO has tested and assessed a vast range of people in the past year. Surveys have illustrated that people with massive ability often have no commitment or drive, whereas there are average-intellect staff who put in massive efforts to improve themselves and their colleagues. Individuals who are focussed on detail can be a liability if their support structure doesnít make up for their focus.
A successful individual is the product of a complex cocktail of self-awareness and capability, personality - and the culture and influence of those people working with him or her, said Bridget Biggar.
The most public illustration is perhaps in sport: a player may struggle in one team and excel in another. For instance, Eric Cantona failed to live up to his promise at Leeds United, but shone for Manchester United.
We can do nothing to change our base DNA - which could be psychopath or procrastinator - but we can do a good deal to assess and recognise capabilities, and identify and drive different behaviour strategies. LIFO sits on top of the personality and shows what can be achieved by changing someoneís behaviour.
Global leader in testing says 25% of management and staff are living a lie.
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