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.
I have used WorkPlace Big Five profiles in various coaching, consulting, and leadership roles for nearly a decade, working with hundreds of individuals and dozens of management teams across many different companies, industries, and countries. Since the fall of 2024, we have also used the profiles at Hanken for our Bachelor in Business students in our new course, ‘Navigator – Metaskills for Sustainable Performance and Wellbeing.’
It is of utmost importance that the tools we use are of high quality, scientifically grounded, and data-based. Workplace Big Five is eye-opening for students, but also provides even highly experienced leaders with new insights. The results are profound yet easy to understand, and they work especially well as tools for more conscious energy management, both individually and within teams. They create an excellent foundation for leading both oneself and others, as well as for developing interaction within teams.
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, in the development and planning of team/management team performance. Workplace Nordic 360° provides an answer to a common question that arises during WPB5 profiling: ‘If this is how I see myself, how might others perceive my behavior indifferent situations?”
In addition to making your personality visible in a concrete way, Workplace Nordic 360° also offers a possibility for open comments. This means that it also provides feedback on behavioral patterns, categorized 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.
WorkPlace Big 5 assessment is a highly effective tool for me in working with clients to understand personality traits in the workplace. The assessment’s precision and insights allow me to work with both leaders and teams to design workshops that are specifically tailored for maximum impact. WPB5‘s unique approach to identifying strengths and areas for development brings significant value to my clients. The outcome is that we have more effective collaboration and performance and this is key to helping teams build Psychologically Safe environments where they thrive and leaders make more informed decisions.
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.
A few years ago, I trained to become a certified user of the WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ personality assessment tool. Prior to that, I had used various four-quadrant analyses, but I found them limiting—they tended to put people into boxes without acknowledging individual flexibility or the different phases and situations of life. I discovered that the Big Five is the most up-to-date and scientifically validated profiling method available, and for those reasons, it is also “accepted in academic circles.”
With a couple of years of experience and having reviewed just under a hundred WorkPlace Big Five personality profiles, I’m pleased to say that there is at least one tool that truly captures human diversity in a meaningful way. It works regardless of dozens of other background factors. The WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ reveals where a person’s natural comfort zone lies, what causes stress, and how much sensory stimulation from people they can tolerate (yes, extraversion is not just about being outgoing, reserved, or somewhere in between). It also shows, among other things, what kind of recovery after stress is most effective for the individual.
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.
I recommend the Workplace Nordic 360° assessment to anyone who wants to become a better leader and receive structured feedback on their performance. It gives a clear picture of how the people around you experience your behavior. For example, you may think you’re good at giving feedback—but not all your team members would necessarily agree. Your approach might not be wrong, but it may be very different from what the people around you actually need. Being interested in and caring about people’s feedback is an essential part of good leadership.
I also use the WorkPlace Big Five personality profiling tool together with the 360° assessment. That way, we see the person’s potential through their personality and can compare it with how that potential is perceived by others.
In leadership coaching, the WorkPlace Big Five personality profiling tool has been a huge help. Especially in group coaching sessions, participants quickly realize just how much diversity there is in the personalities of those attending the course. This has led to many eye-opening realizations about the diversity that also exists among the people they lead. That’s precisely why we’ve found WorkPlace Big Five to be such a valuable tool in leadership development.
When a leader understands different personality types and natural traits, they are better equipped to bring a more individualized approach to leadership — and, through that, guide the organization more effectively in the desired direction.
WorkPlace Big Five Profile® –certified consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Hakala Kaisa | Taitotalo | kaisa.hakala(at)taitotalo.fi |
| Toppari Jaana | Jaana Toppari Consulting Oy | jaana.toppari(at)topco.fi +358 50 5719621 |
| Juujärvi Petri | petri.juujarvi(at)terveystalo.com | |
| Rainio Hanna | NetCo Advisors Oy | hanna.rainio(at)netco.fi +358 40 486 7368 |
| Rihkajärvi Kaija | Suomen Yrittäjät | kaija.rihkajarvi(at)yrittajat.fi |
| Aaltonen Kristiina | Novetos Oy | kristiina.aaltonen(at)novetos.fi |
| Virtanen Ari | Granarium | ari(at)granariumadvisors.com |
| Fast Maija | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | Maija.Fast(at)twobirds.com |
| Airaksinen-Kokkonen Merituuli | ||
| Hermanson Ertti | Kvadrant Koolitus OÜ | ertti.hermanson(at)kvadrantkoolitus.ee |
EQ-i 2.0® –certified consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Kankaanrinta Tarja | +358 400 912 836 | |
| Pitkänen Eeva | Novetos Oy | eeva.pitkanen(at)novetos.fi |
| Aminoff Pirkko | Mind Avenue Oy | pirkko.aminoff(at)mindavenue.fi +358 50 3038263 |
| Ahlblad Laura | ||
| Suutarinen Elina | IKIGAI Assessments Oy | elina(at)ikigai-assessments.fi |
| Malmberg-Rajaniemi Inka | IKIGAI Assessments Oy | inka(at)ikigai-assessments.fi |
| Rantanen Jarkko | Emergy Oy | jarkko(at)emergywork.com +358 50 528 4808 |
| Erkkilä Riikka | Arctic Bear Ventures Oy | erkkila.riikka(at)gmail.com |
| Rainio Hanna | NetCo Advisors Oy | hanna.rainio(at)netco.fi +358 40 486 7368 |
| Alén Heli | Heli Alén Oy | heli(at)helialen.fi +358 40 7551613 |
Emergy Emotional Climate Audit® -certified consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Leppänen Ira | Emergy Oy | ira(at)emergywork.com +358 40 8308 280 |
| Katajisto Hilkka-Maija | Workplace Nordic | hilkka-maija(at)workplacenordic.com +358 400 173 924 |
| Degerholm Emmi | emmi.degerholm(at)outlook.com | |
| Siwiec Bogumiła | MetriCore Bogumiła Siwiec | bogumila.siwiec(at)gmail.com, +48 600 386 534 |
| Wenström Sanna | Vahvuuttamo Oy | vahvuuttamo(at)outlook.com |
| Haavisto Virpi | Avantage Oy | virpi.haavisto(at)avantage.fi +358 50 5636760 |
| Lehtonen Päivi | Choice HR | paivi.lehtonen(at)choicehr.fi |
| Rantanen Jarkko | Emergy Oy | jarkko(at)emergywork.com +358 50 528 4808 |
| Pelkonen Eija | Sitkeä Selviytyjä | eija.pelkonen(at)sitkeaselviytyja.fi |
| Michelsson Erica | Workplace Nordic | erica(at)workplacenordic.com |
Maslach Burnout Toolkit™ –consultant
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Hiekkanen Karoliina | karoliina.hiekkanen(at)gmail.com | |
| Labbas Liselotte | Evolv Oy | liselotte.labbas(at)evolv.fi |
| Sunnarborg Karri | Koitonlinna Oy | karri.sunnarborg(at)koitonlinna.fi +358 40 562 4549 |
| Rautiainen Leena | Valmennustalo Viritys Oy | leena(at)valmennustaloviritys.fi +358 50 371 6499 |
| Pitkänen Eeva | Novetos Oy | eeva.pitkanen(at)novetos.fi |
| Salonen Anne | Tresentio Oy | anne.salonen(at)tresentio.fi +358 400 795 371 |
| Neuvonen Katri | Tresentio Oy | katri.neuvonen(at)tresentio.fi +358 40 554 8041 |
| Hjelt Carola | Kitchen of Insights Oy | carola(at)kitchenofinsights.com +358 505 707 806 |
| Haavisto Virpi | Avantage Oy | virpi.haavisto(at)avantage.fi +358 50 5636760 |
| Ritatörmä Päivi | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | Paivi.Ritatorma(at)twobirds.com |
| El-Bash Sami | Nour Company Oy | sami.el-bash(at)bynourcompany.com |
| Martikainen Juha | Hälsa | juha.martikainen(at)halsa.fi +358 50 322 4417 |
| Roth Soile | Second Self | soile(at)secondself.fi |
| Tuomasjukka Tomi | Työluotsi Oy | Tomi.tuomasjukka(at)tyoluotsi.fi +358 50 433 9049 |
| Rinne Jari | Conmentor Ky | jari(at)conmentor.fi |
| Aminoff Pirkko | Mind Avenue Oy | pirkko.aminoff(at)mindavenue.fi +358 50 3038263 |
| Siwiec Bogumiła | MetriCore Bogumiła Siwiec | bogumila.siwiec(at)gmail.com, +48 600 386 534 |
| Juntunen Riitta-Elisa | Arvostusliike | riittaelisa.juntunen(at)gmail.com +358505120778 |
| Brushane Soile | Tresentio Oy | soile.brushane(at)tresentio.fi +358 40 864 4656 |
| Mylläri Reijo | Rementor ky | reijo.myllari(at)rementor.fi +358 400 314 068 |
| Remes Saara | WD Work Design Oy | saara.remes(at)workdesign.fi +358 50 555 5430 |
| Korsoff Anna | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | |
| Pihlaja Kristiina | Careerjoy Oy | kristiina.pihlaja(at)careerjoy.fi +358 40 747 3707 |
| Valto Kirsi | ||
| Itäaho Marjo | OP | marjo.itaaho(at)op.fi |
| Brazhnik Alex | Alex Brazhnik - Leadership/Team Consultant | brazhnika(at)gmail.com +79261151510 |
| Hautala Jaana | Oivaltamaan Oy | jaana.hautala(at)oivaltamaan.fi +358 50 340 6288 |
| Lehtonen Mikko | ICG Innotiimi | mikko.lehtonen(at)integratedconsulting.fi +358 40 55 65 415 |
| Herrala Sari | Taitotalo | sari.herrala(at)taitotalo.fi |
| Berglind Anna | AS3 Finland Oy | anna(at)as3.fi |
| Niemelä Anitta | Anitta Niemelä Oy | anitta(at)anittaniemela.fi +358 40 742 1110 |
| Westerholm Hanna | The WeLaB | hanna(at)thewelab.fi |
| Lehmusvirta Karoliina | Ramboll Finland Oy | karoliina.lehmusvirta(at)ramboll.fi |
| Saara Siltala | Nordic Leaders | saara(at)nordicleaders.com |
| Dahlblom Christina | Flo Co | christina(at)dahlblomsparks.com +358 50 563 6927 |
| Antila Miia | Flow2Work Oy | miia(at)flow2work.fi |
| Kuuri Leena | leena.kuuri(at)gmail.com | |
| Laiho Riina | The WeLaB | riina(at)thewelab.fi |
| Badan Anne | A2B Search | anne(at)a2bsearch.com |
| Keto Mirella | Hankikanto consulting Oy | mirella.keto(at)hankikanto.com +358 400 128 355 |
| Katajisto Hilkka-Maija | Workplace Nordic | hilkka-maija(at)workplacenordic.com +358 400 173 924 |
| Tiililä Maarit | Maarit Tiililä Oy | maarit(at)tiilila.fi +358 40 516 3321 |
| Kokkonen Heidi-Maria | Hemaco, Careerjoy Oy | hema(at)hemaco.fi, heidi-maria.kokkonen(at)careerjoy.fi |
| Muhonen Timo | Corporate Condition | timo(at)corporatecondition.com +358505646734 |
| Eloranta Tarja | KM Future Ky | tarja.eloranta(at)kmfuture.fi +358 45 227 5021 |
| Vuohtoniemi Sari | True Potential | sari.vuohtoniemi(at)truepotential.fi +358 41 466 6073 |
| Stenius Kati | The Work Lagoon Oy | kati.stenius(at)theworklagoon.fi +358 400 436437 |
| Tuorila Liisa | Tapojärvi Oy | liisa.tuorila(at)tapojarvi.fi |
| Hukari Anniina | Taito Training Oy | anniina(at)taitotraining.fi + 358 50 570 0856 |
| Klemetti Terhi | Nordic Leaders | terhi(at)nordicleaders.com |
| Ek-Petroff Sari | Suomen Asiakastieto Oy | Sari.Ek-Petroff(at)asiakastieto.fi +358407606626 |
| Salmu Heini | Valmennuskumppani Oy | heini.salmu(at)valmennuskumppani.fi +358 40 5158156 |
| Kapri Hedy | Hedy Kapri Coaching | hedy(at)hedykapri.fi; +358 405823352 |
| Alén Heli | Heli Alén Oy | heli(at)helialen.fi +358 40 7551613 |
| Fast Maija | Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd. | Maija.Fast(at)twobirds.com |
| Leppänen Ira | Emergy Oy | ira(at)emergywork.com +358 40 8308 280 |
| Kankaanrinta Tarja | +358 400 912 836 | |
| Ämmälä Elina | Springi Oy | elina.ammala(at)springi.fi +358 400 74 88 35 |
| Rissanen Merja | Mindpower | mrissanen(at)yahoo.com +358 405554561 |
Conflict situations and emotional temperament -team simulation consultants
| Name | Company | Contact information |
|---|---|---|
| Pitkänen Eeva | Novetos Oy | eeva.pitkanen(at)novetos.fi |
| Leppänen Ira | Emergy Oy | ira(at)emergywork.com +358 40 8308 280 |
| Niemelä Anitta | Anitta Niemelä Oy | anitta(at)anittaniemela.fi +358 40 742 1110 |
| Muhonen Timo | Corporate Condition | timo(at)corporatecondition.com +358505646734 |
| Hukari Anniina | Taito Training Oy | anniina(at)taitotraining.fi + 358 50 570 0856 |
| Tuorila Liisa | Tapojärvi Oy | liisa.tuorila(at)tapojarvi.fi |
| Nyyssönen-Edin Sirkka | Nordic Propartners Oy | sirkka.nyyssonen(at)snpro.fi |
| Poikkijoki Sari-Anne | Åma Oy | sari-anne.poikkijoki(at)ooma.fi +358 50 5167399 |
| Ämmälä Elina | Springi Oy | elina.ammala(at)springi.fi +358 400 74 88 35 |
| Hiekkanen Karoliina | karoliina.hiekkanen(at)gmail.com |
