Leadership training and assessments are pivotal for organisations looking to grow and develop in a sustainable way.

Here at Edgecumbe, we have used our Primary Colours® Model of Leadership to help support and develop some of the top senior managers and executives at leading organisations around the world.

With all this experience, something that becomes very evident is the resounding impact that effective individual and team development can have.

We ensure we use the most robust tools that enable us to get deep insight into the individuals, and ultimately the teams, that we work with. One tool we use for individual assessment is the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R); a gold standard measure of personality.

But what exact is this and how can it benefit leaders and organisations alike?

What is the NEO Personality Inventory?

The NEO PI-R is a personality tool that measures general personality using the most comprehensive model of personality; the Five Factor Model:

  • Neuroticism: Frequency and intensity of emotions, thoughts and behaviours associated with feeling under threat
  • Extraversion: Amount of energy directed outwards into various aspects of the external environment and the need for social stimulation
  • Openness: Tendency to proactively seek and appreciate new experience for its own sake and inclination to explore what is new or unfamiliar
  • Agreeableness: Role adopted in relationships based on the extent to which the individual takes account of and is influenced by the perspectives and concerns of other people
  • Conscientiousness: Strength and intensity of attitudes and behaviours compatible with goal accomplishment

The NEO measures the core building blocks of personality over the five overall ‘domains’, listed above, which are broken down further into six individual facets – providing 30 reference points. This provides depth of insight into personality across all situations, not just those that play out at work.

The true benefit of this type of assessment is in knowing what to do with the data and information collected. This is where our team here at Edgcumbe are perfectly positioned to help organisations get the most out of psychometric testing and leadership assessments by tying it altogether for the wider organisational goals and needs. We can ensure this information collected turns into actionable plans and frameworks that foster growth and results.

We can also train your workforce to use the NEO for themselves. Our training workshops enable you to become accredited in the NEO tool and enable you to focus on the application of the NEO Personality Inventory within leadership development using the Primary Colours® Leadership Assessment Toolkit, designed to support individual and team leadership development and coaching activities.

Benefits of the NEO Personality Inventory

In under 1 hour, NEO can help provide a thorough and proven assessment of someone’s emotional, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal and motivational styles. Simply put, this helps businesses make better decisions with regard to their employees and teams. However, the benefits only lie with those who act on the information gathered and turn that into helpful resources within an organisation.

One of the biggest benefits of integrating NEO Personality Inventory into leadership assessments/training, is the reliability and consistency it offers. This means the data it provides can be used confidently by leadership teams and individuals.

There has been numerous research and investigations into the validity and effectiveness of NEO. One study into college students found that “conscientiousness” from the test significantly predicted the GPA of these students, more so than using the SAT scores. Other studies have been able to help offer correlations for burnout, accomplishment and other key attributes that could affect a workforce.

For businesses, the NEO’s use can range from pre-employment assessments, right through to senior executive assessment and training. This versatility makes it a great option to get familiar with.

Here at Edgecumbe, we offer training workshops to help individual and teams learn everything they need to know about using NEO in a practical business environment.

Get started with Edgecumbe

To learn more about the NEO, as well as our Primary Colours® Model of Leadership and other leadership training, simply get in touch with our expert team here at Edgecumbe.

We work with some of the top organisations in the world and help improve the quality of leadership.

We combine the sciences of business psychology and advanced analytics with a distinctly human touch. We study leader characteristics, behaviour, impact and performance outcomes, and we integrate them to create actionable insights at individual, team and organisational levels. This is how we create world-class assessments and development interventions.

Get in touch today or check out our training page for information on how you can become acredited in our Primary Colours Model of Leadership and the NEO.