The following question came from one of my clients in the hospitality industry, but it is a common question among many companies.   I include it here for your comments:

“We received a Performance Profile Report for John Doe, an applicant for general manager of one of our full service restaurants.   The Report gave John a rather low rating (“3”) on the Sociability characteristic, which surprised us.  John was very sociable and outgoing in the interview we had with him.  How do you explain the difference between what we saw in the interview and what the Performance Profile Report indicated?”

And The Answer Is:

A person whose Sociability rating is “3” is a person who has answered certain Performance Profile questions in a way that indicates that he or she is somewhat uncomfortable dealing with people, and is a bit of an introvert.   In practical terms, that means that it takes energy for John to interact with others (that is, talk to people, or simply spend time in the presence of lots of people.)  This does not mean that he can’t act sociable; it simply means that it depletes his energy to do so.

People with high ratings on the Sociability characteristic, in contrast, actually become energized by contact with other people.   They like to be around people; they don’t have to work at being sociable.

The Sociability characteristic gives a reading on how much of an effect interacting with other people has on a person.   At the low end of the ten-point scale are introverts, people for whom contact with others is tiring; being around people requires them to expend energy.  As the old saying goes, “Introverts aren’t party-poopers; they are just pooped by the party.”  At the high end of the scale are the extroverts, people who draw energy from being around others.  They find contact with people energizing, and they socialize for the fun of it. 

Let’s Get Back To John

John would likely start out a shift with his “batteries” charged and he would, therefore, initiate conversations with customers, other managers, staff, and purveyors.   As the shift wore on, however, John’s energy would wane.  As his gas tank neared empty, in about the fifth sixth hour of the shift, John will find good reasons to catch up on paperwork in the office rather than talk with staff or make table visits.  He would likely avoid contact with people as much as possible and go home tired, not so much from the physical demands of the day but from the effort that dealing with people required from him.

But What About His Interview Impression?

What you saw in the interview was normal interview behavior.  John, like most people, gets himself “up” for a job interview.  His sociable behavior in the interview shows that he knows how to demonstrate appropriate social behavior when the circumstances require it.  What he told us about himself on the Performance Profile, however, indicates that there is a limit to how long he can do so.

How Important Is This?

It depends on how much contact with others is required by the job.   An effective restaurant manager is in contact with his or her staff, customers, purveyors, etc., almost continually throughout the shift or work period.  For restaurant managers, the higher the ‘Sociability’ rating, the better his or her performance on the job is likely to be (all other personality factors held equal.)

The Bottom Line

Much has been written about the need to constantly upgrade one’s job skills in order to keep up with the job market.   Experts say that the only true job security lies in enhancing existing job skills and acquiring new ones.  Too often, however, this focus overlooks the equal necessity of doing the same for “people skills.”

Skill Requirements Change Throughout a Person’s Career

“People skills” refers to a general set of skills at communicating effectively and appropriately with people – for example, being able to explain one’s ideas clearly and concisely, being able to listen to others, being able to offer corrective feedback in a constructive way.   Basic personality preferences certainly affect the ease with which an individual acquires and polishes these skills, but the important point is that these are skills that every person can make a conscious decision to acquire, practice, and improve.  To show how the need for improved “people” skills changes during a career, let’s take a look at Bob.

Starting Out -- Just Do the Job

Bob is a new college graduate who has taken a management training position in the financial industry.   When Bob begins his first job, there will be a strong requirement for him to be able to perform certain elementary but important tasks, which will form the base of his knowledge and skills.  Typically there is little to no requirement for supervisory (people) skills at this stage of his career.  Bob’s primary responsibility as an individual contributor is to produce work.

Mid-Career:   Things Change

As Bob progresses through his career, gaining experience in his job and increasing his knowledge of “how things really work,” he will reach a major transition point (whether or not he is aware of it as such) where he will be given the responsibility of having people report to him.   His job title will now read “Supervisor” or “Manager,” and his responsibilities will shift from being an individual contributor to seeing to it that work gets done and tasks get accomplished through the efforts of other people.  With this change, Bob’s need for effective people skills becomes as important, and perhaps even more important, than the need for technical skills.

Bob’s Career Matures

As Bob continues to progress in his career, he will likely find that the importance of effective people skills grows, while the need for him to actually do the work he started out doing diminishes.   His days will resemble a constant flow of meetings with subordinates, peers, customers, suppliers, investors, and so forth.  In other words, more of his productivity will actually be accomplished through his success at coordinating the efforts of others, and this requires the ability to communicate clearly and interact effectively and appropriately with others.

Keeping Up With the Times That Are A-Changing

No matter where your managers are in their careers, they need to be making a consistent effort to improve their people skills.  But where do they begin?  Every manager’s level of effectiveness, in terms his or her people skills, is different.  A good place to start is to have each one review their Professional Development Guide (if someone doesn’t have one, he or she can get one by completing the Performance Profile at www.helmtest.com.  The Professional Development Guide will be delivered within 90 minutes.)  Have each manager review the fifth section, “Suggestions for Growth,” make a copy of the Action Plan, and then develop a strategy for daily effort to improve those aspects of their people skills that need strengthening.  Review their Action Plans and offer suggestions based on your observation of their people skills.  Give positive feedback about their progress at every opportunity, and objective (constructive) feedback on the issues that you feel they need to improve when necessary.  Remind them that this is not project with a beginning, middle, and an end.  It is an ongoing process.  No matter how good a person’s people skills, there is always room for improvement.  In this, as with so many other endeavors, persistence and only persistence will pay off.