Uses of Psychometrics in Law Firms
Despite a high take-up of psychometric tests within law firms, there seems to be no consistency in which tools are used and when. Generally speaking, the tools have 3 uses:
- Recruitment. At the junior level the tests are often work-based tools (see here for a good example). At the senior level it is more often a trait-based tool (OPQ, 16PF et al), which is often administered by an external organisation.
- Development. If the firm runs a development centre, MBTI is often used. Feedback is usually given one-to-one, but there is sometimes a group session for the whole cohort to explain how the model works.
- Coaching. Every coach seems to have their own armoury of tests. Some are standard, some are more exotic. The client firm is usually content if the individual being coached is content.
Some firms attempt to minimise their use of different tests, or to provide a hierarchy of tests (e.g. DISC for associates, MBTI for new partners) to harmonise the learning involved. Despite this, I have found no lawyer who can remember the output of any of these tests - unprompted - after a few weeks have passed.
The missing use for all these tests seems to be behavioural change. All psychometric models allow individuals a tool for:
1. Self analysis
2. Identifying differences with others
3. Understanding behavioural styles and
4. Developing practical strategies for maximising their influencing skills.
Most firms seem to use psychometrics only for 1&2. This is probably because 3&4 require both a simple model (which rules out OPQ & 16PF), and a way of identifying peoples' profiles from observation (which is possible from MBTI, but requires a deeper knowledge of the model). This is a shame, because although 1&2 play to a lawyer's preference (lots of analysis), it is in 3&4 that a firm develops people with the skills for behavioural change which are the bedrock of leadership and business development.
I use Insights to address 3&4. It's not the only test we use - I have a colleague who integrates 16PF, life history, values & intelligence tests for profound individual change - but it's the one that has really worked for us when facilitating behavioural change in law firms since it's easily memorable, practical and Jungian-based.
You can licence the test yourself and if you want to know how I use it, just ask.