To take or not to take? Personality tests in the workplace - SmartBrief

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To take or not to take? Personality tests in the workplace

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Leadership

In Lily Garcia’s latest How to Deal column she took on a question about personality testing in the workplace. The questioner had concerns about the test and how his employer might use the results and wondered whether he had the right to refuse to participate.

Garcia writes that she doesn’t believe there is a legal right to refuse such tests but that workers should “feel confident in declining to take the assessment.”

I agree that employees should be able to refuse such tests on privacy grounds or simply because they aren’t comfortable doing so in a work setting. I would hope that employers feel the same, but I know better than to think they all do. I suspect there are more than a few employers out there that would punish workers — either overtly or subtly — for refusing to be a team player and just take the test.

What about your workplace? Do you have any stories about employees who refused to take personality tests at work? Share them here.

Image credit, marekuliasz via iStock