References
Workplace Nordic
Personality is the bedrock of who a person is, but their EQ is the capstone that forms the whole person. Understanding emotion skills and knowing your own skills is a great basis for self-knowledge and personal development. The EQ-i 2.0 is a comprehensive and concrete method for assessing emotional intelligence, and the best part is that it centers on personal well-being. And for many of us, that’s what matters the most. I combine these two tools, the WorkPlace Big Five personality profile and the EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence scale, to provide the client with a useful combination that supports the coaching process regardless of the theme of the coaching.
Workplace Big Five: I utilize the WorkPlace Big Five tool for management team development and individual executive coaching, and I’ve found it extremely useful. The tool helps to find a personal and efficient management style and creates a powerful opportunity to benefit from the differences in various groups. With this tool, it’s easy to make visible the potential and the problems in a group’s way of thinking and working. In conflict situations, WorkPlace Big Five increases the understanding of different parties’ way of working—WPB5 provides the keys to learning new collaboration models.
EQ-i: My clients have felt that it’s particularly useful to see how the various components of emotional intelligence are balanced. Some of the insights on this balancing have resulted in big changes in ways to lead and interact, with very good results.
Knowing yourself is the basis for your own development, self-management, teamwork, leadership and well-being. WorkPlace Big5 increases understanding of personality and behaviours, and provides a concrete basis for self-development, leadership and interaction. In my own work, I use it in individual and group coaching and in the development of leadership, self-management and teamwork. WorkPlace Big5 combined with the identification and awareness of one’s own schemas increases self-awareness, knowledge of one’s own personality and strengths, and awareness of harmful thought and behaviour patterns. I use both of these in therapeutic coaching, for example.
The EQ-i 2.0 course was well organized. The online course provided sufficient basic knowledge on the subject, and the interactional training sessions gave an opportunity to deepen our knowledge. We felt the course was suitably demanding, truly enabling us to use the method; the final exam also backed this up. It’s good that the trainers make sure the users of the method really know how to use it.
WorkPlace Big Five is by far the best assessment method that I have used thus far. It’s clear and compact, covering aptly the key areas of a person’s work personality. It is an extremely useful tool in various contexts, such as recruitment assessments, management team development and coaching.
Here at The WeLaB, we have used the Maslach Burnout Toolkit in management and team coaching. The MBI works well in eliciting discussion on burnout, and even if someone is not suffering from burnout, the six areas of worklife (AWS) have provided useful information on their fit with their workplace culture. We’ve had many interesting and insightful discussions on values and fairness for example.
I use the MBI + AWS scales in my work as a coach for leaders and managers. This method has proved a useful tool in measuring clients’ coping at work. In leadership coaching, sustained well-being at work is one of the most common goals, and the person’s own experience is always the starting point in the process. It’s also essential that a person’s feelings about their coping are seen from a wider perspective. I’ve found it very useful when the measurement indicates that “only 12% of the comparison group is coping worse than you are”. It’s an eye-opener; it provides a perspective on how you feel about how you’re coping and strips the last intentions of bravely soldiering on at work. This paves the way for effectively dealing with the situation and looking for keys to change. The Areas of Worklife questionnaire included in the measurement is also a useful tool in tracking the factors that have an effect on coping. One client’s assessment was reviewed with his manager, and it revealed a feeling of being poorly rewarded for one’s work. The discussion disclosed that the issue wasn’t about the salary but about management group ignoring HR issues that the person was advocating. The manager became aware of the situation, and this opened up an opportunity for change.
WorkPlace Big Five Profile brings practical benefits for: Experienced leaders in that it deepens the insight they may have gained from previous personality / performance assessments and gives them the opportunity to focus on specific areas for development. New managers and leaders in that it gives them an easy to understand frame to plan and execute their personal / professional development. Trainers in that it is an easy to administer, credible tool, that brings a practical approach to assist others in developing important skills and mindsets.
At Terveystalo, we aim at measurable effectiveness in all our customer work. We use WorkPlace Big Five as a development tool because of its strong scientific basis and because, based on this method, we can make concrete development plans. Our work psychologists use the WorkPlace Big Five tool to promote health and welfare among individuals and work communities. WorkPlace Big Five profiling is also an integral part of the management training we offer our customers.
Good leaders have emotional intelligence. They can lead and engage personnel and get better results. They can interpret their own feelings, and they believe in themselves; they are also skilled in expressing their opinions and feelings. They are optimistic, flexible and stress resistant. Good leaders apply their self-knowledge and objectivity to decision-making. In selection processes, it’s important to pay attention to a leader’s emotional skills. In emotional skill assessments, we use the scientifically validated EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence scale to help our clients find emotionally intelligent key personnel. Emotional skills can also be developed, so everyone can improve in this.
I have used the Workplace Nordic 360° tool together with the WorkPlace Big Five Profile to develop and plan management group and team work. Workplace Nordic 360° answers the question that often arises after completing the Workplace Big Five Profile: “If this is what my self-evaluation looks like, I wonder how others see my behavior in different situations?” In addition to making your personality visible in a concrete way, Workplace Nordic 360° also offers a chance to comment. This means that Workplace Nordic 360° also provides feedback on behavioral patterns, analyzed according to your personality traits. Getting such feedback on your behavior is very useful in itself, and in addition, it helps in utilizing and deepening the insights obtained from the WorkPlace Big Five Profile. Workplace Nordic 360° can also be customized and expanded to suit various needs in organizational development.
Profound self-knowledge and an understanding of the reasons and consequences of your own behavior form the basis for good leadership. This is also necessary for being able to understand and interpret other people’s differences and behavior, which makes it possible to turn a group into a winning team. This applies to the management group, project team as well as any other team. The WorkPlace Big Five profiling helps both individuals and teams. It’s also extremely useful for strengthening psychological security and vulnerability-based trust in an organization. This is essential and an opportunity for change and development.
WorkPlace Big Five personality profiling has been a helpful tool in our Future Leaders Accelerator Program allowing us to delve into the core essence of our participants. The insights provided by WPB5 personality profiles have given us a profound understanding of each participant’s individual leadership style, communication preferences, decision-making tendencies, unique strengths and so much more. Participants have not only gained a deeper understanding of themselves but have also developed a heightened awareness of their interactions with their team.
With this knowledge, we have been able to address participants’ potential areas of growth and improvement while building their inherent strengths. Such newfound self-awareness has been part of the catalyst for several transformative leadership journeys.”
I would definitely recommend the WorkPlace Big Five to other teams, because I think it has been very interesting to discuss about different personalities and traits within different teams and the organization.
It gives advantage [to the company] to have employees who know themselves, who know their strengths, and who can observe and react to situations based on the personalities they have, and also interact better with their teams.
It has been a very beneficial tool for us at Citycon.
A few years ago, I trained as a user of the Work Place Big Five Profile personality tool. I had previously used various four-field analyses and I found that they compartmentalised people and did not take into account a person’s capacity for flexibility or different life stages or situations. It turned out that the Big Five is the most up-to-date and scientifically researched profiling method, which, for the above reasons, is also ‘accepted in academic circles’. I am happy to say, after a couple of years of experience and having seen only a little less than a hundred Work Place Big Five personality profiles, that there is at least one tool that really articulates diversity and works despite dozens of other background factors.
The WorkPlace Big Five Profile tells you where a person’s natural comfort zone is, what stresses them, how much they tolerate sensory stimulation from people (that’s right, extroversion is not just about whether you are outgoing, introverted or something in between) and, among other things, what kind of recovery after stress helps a person the most.
At Canon, one of the most important success factors is high-quality, coaching leadership that conforms to our values. For the past few years, Canon has concentrated leadership development efforts on energy leadership at the level of individuals, teams and the organization. Canon needed a method that would help managers identify their own natural traits in the context of management work and to see how their strengths or areas they felt needed development affect their energy and the people around them. The managers felt that the WorkPlace Big Five personal assessment and the Workplace Nordic 360° questionnaire were clear and easily manageable, and they both increased self-knowledge and effectiveness of their leadership in the immediate work environment. The energy tank concept is now part of everyday work in our organization, and I’m sure it will help individuals and teams to manage their energy according to the needs of the situation.
The WorkPlace Big Five reports are informative, and they provide a lot of material for improving self-knowledge and personal development. In the future, we plan to use the WorkPlace Big Five assessments and tools in recruitment as well as in competence and leadership development across the organization. During my career, I’ve had the chance to use various personal assessment tools, and WorkPlace Big Five is one of the best because of its clarity, scientific validity and use potential.
WorkPlace Big Five: I used various personality assessment tools for about 20 years when I worked as an executive. For the past few years, I have worked as a coach for senior management, and I carried out an extensive comparison on various tools. I decided on WorkPlace Big Five, because I feel it’s the most suitable assessment for self-knowledge and personal development. The tool takes self-knowledge to a whole new level, so profoundly that it may even hurt sometimes. My customer relationships are usually long ones, and I use WorkPlace Big Five with the executives for various topics, normally within the span of several years.
I always order the Leader and Capacitor reports as well; they deepen self-knowledge into the fascinating world of “blends”. Blends refer to combinations of personality traits; when the combinations are right, you may have remarkable natural strengths to support specific competencies. In comparison, combinations that are not so suitable may help you identify possible pitfalls that may even end your executive career, at worst. When I attended the WorkPlace Big Five training, I said: “I wish I had known all this when I was a 30-year-old CEO”. I often hear similar comments from the executives. I’m glad I can coach many young leaders who get to learn all this already at the start of their career.
EQ-i: I use the EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence assessment with the executives more and more. When I mention that the significance of emotional intelligence for success is five-fold compared to IQ, many of my clients say: “OK, let’s get one of those assessments right away.” Some leaders have said that the EQ-i assessment is something they should’ve done at an earlier stage of the coaching process, because that’s what truly revealed their strengths and points for development as a leader. The relevance of the emotional intelligence assessment for developing as a leader is significant, because we can consciously develop and change things. I usually compare the EQ-i emotional intelligence assessment and the emotional intelligence section of BarOn in the WorkPlace Big Five Leader report, and these often reveal an interesting correlation.
WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ –certified consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Haavisto Marja-Leena | Terveystalo Helsinki Keskusta (Kamppi, Keskuskatu, Ruoholahti) | marja-leena.haavisto(at)terveystalo.com +358 50 576 3025 |
| Kariniemi Merja | Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT | merja.kariniemi(at)vtt.fi |
| Korhonen-Yrjänheikki Kati | katiky(at)elisanet.fi +358 407003335 | |
| Teerenhovi Heli | Solutionovi Coaching Oy | heli.teerenhovi(at)gmail.com |
| Salojärvi Sari | IMS TALENT OY | sari.salojarvi(at)imstalent.com |
| Soininen Sari | Terveystalo Flamingo | sari.soininen(at)terveystalo.com |
| Mäkinen Anne-Mari | makinen.annemari(at)gmail.com | |
| Bull-Njaa Larsen Silje | Inovati | silje(at)inovati.no +47 93 44 43 47 |
| Engelbarth Kari | Transearch Finland Oy | kari.engelbarth(at)transearch.com +358 400 501024 |
| Asikainen Joanna | Confiar Oy | joanna.asikainen(at)confiar.fi +358 500 403630 |
EQ-i 2.0™ –certified consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Savenius Jarmo | Pomona Consulting Ky | jarmo.savenius(at)pomona.fi +358 400 840 454 |
| Ruokamo Pia | Tapojärvi Oy | pia.ruokamo(at)tapojarvi.fi |
| Vuohtoniemi Sari | True Potential | sari.vuohtoniemi(at)truepotential.fi +358 41 466 6073 |
| Haavisto Virpi | Avantage Oy | virpi.haavisto(at)avantage.fi +358 50 5636760 |
| Rinne Jari | Conmentor Ky | jari(at)conmentor.fi |
| Kariniemi Merja | Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT | merja.kariniemi(at)vtt.fi |
| Levä Erkki | Arespartners | erkki.leva(at)arespartners.fi +358 40 181 9695 |
| Wihuri Antti-Juhani | Mind at Work Oy | antti-juhani.wihuri(at)mindatwork.fi |
| Katajisto Hilkka-Maija | Workplace Nordic | hilkka-maija(at)workplacenordic.com +358 400 173 924 |
| Martikainen Juha | Hälsa | juha.martikainen(at)halsa.fi +358 50 322 4417 |
Emergy Emotional Climate Audit® -certified consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Rissanen Päivi | paivi.rissanen(at)iki.fi +358 40 7021516 | |
| Michelsson Erica | Workplace Nordic | erica(at)workplacenordic.com |
| Gube Maren | Maren Gube, PhD | maren(at)marengube.com |
| Poskiparta Hanna | Novetos Oy | hanna.poskiparta(at)novetos.fi +358 400 811693 |
| Wenström Sanna | Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk) | sanna.wenstrom(at)oamk.fi |
| Kuuri Leena | leena.kuuri(at)gmail.com | |
| Rantanen Jarkko | Emergy Oy | jarkko(at)emergywork.com +358 50 528 4808 |
| Rautio Ellariina | Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT | Ellariina.Rautio(at)vtt.fi |
| Katajisto Hilkka-Maija | Workplace Nordic | hilkka-maija(at)workplacenordic.com +358 400 173 924 |
| Haavisto Virpi | Avantage Oy | virpi.haavisto(at)avantage.fi +358 50 5636760 |
Maslach Burnout Toolkit™ –consultant
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Maija | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | Maija.Fast(at)twobirds.com |
| Stenius Kati | The Work Lagoon Oy | kati.stenius(at)theworklagoon.fi +358 400 436437 |
| Martikainen Juha | Hälsa | juha.martikainen(at)halsa.fi +358 50 322 4417 |
| Roth Soile | Second Self | soile(at)secondself.fi |
| Hukari Anniina | Taito Training Oy | anniina(at)taitotraining.fi + 358 50 570 0856 |
| Salonen Anne | Tresentio Oy | anne.salonen(at)tresentio.fi +358 400 795 371 |
| Saara Siltala | HR Plus Oy | saara(at)hrplus.fi |
| Alén Heli | Heli Alén Oy | heli(at)helialen.fi +358 40 7551613 |
| Eloranta Tarja | KM Future Ky | tarja.eloranta(at)kmfuture.fi +358 45 227 5021 |
| Katajisto Hilkka-Maija | Workplace Nordic | hilkka-maija(at)workplacenordic.com +358 400 173 924 |
| Remes Saara | WD Work Design Oy | saara.remes(at)workdesign.fi +358 50 555 5430 |
| Niemelä Anitta | Anitta Niemelä Oy | anitta.niemela(at)anittaniemela.fi +358 40 742 1110 |
| Brazhnik Alex | Alex Brazhnik - Leadership/Team Consultant | brazhnika(at)gmail.com +79261151510 |
| Rissanen Merja | Mindpower | mrissanen(at)yahoo.com +358 405554561 |
| Ek-Petroff Sari | Suomen Asiakastieto Oy | +358407606626 |
| Muhonen Timo | Corporate Condition | timo(at)corporatecondition.com +358505646734 |
| Klemetti Terhi | The X Search | terhi(at)thexsearch.com |
| Laiho Riina | The WeLaB | riina(at)thewelab.fi |
| Vuohtoniemi Sari | True Potential | sari.vuohtoniemi(at)truepotential.fi +358 41 466 6073 |
| Tiililä Maarit | Maarit Tiililä Oy | maarit(at)tiilila.fi +358 40 516 3321 |
| Berglind Anna | CapMan Group | anna.berglind(at)capman.com |
| Itäaho Marjo | OP | marjo.itaaho(at)op.fi |
| Kankaanrinta Tarja | +358 400 912 836 | |
| Ämmälä Elina | Springi Oy | elina.ammala(at)springi.fi +358 400 74 88 35 |
| Westerholm Hanna | The WeLaB | hanna(at)thewelab.fi |
| Tuomasjukka Tomi | Työluotsi Oy | Tomi.tuomasjukka(at)tyoluotsi.fi +358 50 433 9049 |
| Ritatörmä Päivi | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | Paivi.Ritatorma(at)twobirds.com |
| Hjelt Carola | Kitchen of Insights Oy | carola(at)kitchenofinsights.com +358 505 707 806 |
| Tuorila Liisa | Tapojärvi Oy | liisa.tuorila(at)tapojarvi.fi |
| Aminoff Pirkko | Mind Avenue Oy | pirkko.aminoff(at)mindavenue.fi +358 50 3038263 |
| Valto Kirsi | Evolv Oy | kirsi.valto(at)evolv.fi |
| Dahlblom Christina | Flo Co | christina(at)dahlblomsparks.com +358 50 563 6927 |
| Rinne Jari | Conmentor Ky | jari(at)conmentor.fi |
| Haavisto Virpi | Avantage Oy | virpi.haavisto(at)avantage.fi +358 50 5636760 |
| Brushane Soile | Tresentio Oy | soile.brushane(at)tresentio.fi +358 40 864 4656 |
| Hautala Jaana | Oivaltamaan Oy | jaana.hautala(at)oivaltamaan.fi +358 50 340 6288 |
| Labbas Liselotte | Evolv Oy | liselotte.labbas(at)evolv.fi |
| Morikawa Merit | Terveystalo | |
| Korsoff Anna | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | |
| Leppänen Ira | Emergy Oy | ira(at)emergywork.com +358 40 8308 280 |
Conflict situations and emotional temperament -team simulation consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Ämmälä Elina | Springi Oy | elina.ammala(at)springi.fi +358 400 74 88 35 |
| Tuomasjukka Tomi | Työluotsi Oy | Tomi.tuomasjukka(at)tyoluotsi.fi +358 50 433 9049 |
| Tuorila Liisa | Tapojärvi Oy | liisa.tuorila(at)tapojarvi.fi |
| Juonela Annika | Kehittämispalvelut Annika Juonela Oy | annika.juonela(at)kehity.fi +358 400 400 410 |
| Tiililä Maarit | Maarit Tiililä Oy | maarit(at)tiilila.fi +358 40 516 3321 |
| Keto Mirella | Hankikanto consulting Oy | mirella.keto(at)hankikanto.com +358 400 128 355 |
| Manner Jarmo | jama(at)welho.com +358 40 52 62 396 | |
| Lehtinen Minna | Step Forward Oy | minna.lehtinen(at)stepforward.fi |
| Aminoff Pirkko | Mind Avenue Oy | pirkko.aminoff(at)mindavenue.fi +358 50 3038263 |
| Vuorenmaa Jari | Imaction | jari.vuorenmaa(at)imaction.fi +358 40 5030117 |