80:20 Performance Solutions Ltd

DISC

Dominance Influence Steadiness Compliance 

The DISC theory first appeared in a book by William Moulton Marston called 'The Emotions of Normal People' and represents one of the first applications of psychology outside a clinical setting. Since then the DISC format has been revised and validated for aplication to the business world.

The DISC system is one of the most used and best validated profiling systems available. The reporting structure is professional, precise and concise making understanding and application of the results easy.

The profile is fast and simple to understand. With only 24 questions and the 'most vs least' method of selection the profile is quick. A typical profile takes less than ten minutes to complete and rarely ever more than twenty minutes. The questions are very simple, without sacrificing quality, so the profile is suitable for every level of employee from shop floor to director level. 

The profile measures the four very general traits: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance and determines what an individuals 'Working Strengths' are and their corresponding 'Efficiency Factors'. These initial distinctions indicate a lot about a persons preferences in working style.

From the profile questions three seperate graphical representations of behaviour are derived:

External Profile or Work Mask: this gives an indication of a person's perception of how they 'should' behave at work.

Behaviour under Pressure or Internal Profile: this tells us how someone is likely to respond to extreme pressure, what changes in behaviour we may expect.

Self Image: this describes how a person sees themselves, their identity. It is indicative of they are most likely to behave.

These graphs provide an easy means of establishing, visually, how the traits compare and whether there are any potential trouble issues.

Beyond these major preferences the DISC system pairs each of the four traits with one another. By measuring the difference between each trait in the pairing it is possible to establish finer distinctions in working preferences. This is where the detail of the profile is derived.

The above traits will provide direct evidence of behavioural preferences which can be used to establish the key working style of an individual.  Futher detail is provided by pairing each of the traits and looking at differences in the pairing. So, for example, D is paired as follows: D/I, D/S, D/C and the same is done for each of the other 3 traits. By examining the preferences in pairings a list of 12 sub-traits are developed. These sub-traits provide the finer detail in the profile.

The results of a profile are presented as the three seperate graphs together with a comprehensive written review of the key aspects in the profile. Within each profile report, attention is drawn to any indications that may require special consideration, these can include: whether someone is happy with the work they are doing; how much understanding and conversely confusion is present; whether or not someone is feeling particularly pressured or frustrated by work; if there are difficulties in making decisions; whether someone is over-stretched and trying to do more than they can cope with; whether there is a morale issue etc etc

The DISC profile is most commonly used in the following contexts:

• Retention and Selection
• Training and Development
• Team Bonding and Building
• Discovering and Releasing People Potential
• Stimulating and Motivating Employees
• Diagnosing and resolving Problems
• Appraisals