One of the biggest misconceptions we hear is that DISC is a "tool."

Not so! DISC is a neutral language for describing behavioral preferences, as well as a theory of understanding the self and others with behavioral style analysis.

There are over 300 DISC instruments on the market. Accuracy varies widely among these different instruments, with some being much more thorough in the narrative explanations than others.

People who think they know DISC often find that they are actually only skimming the surface with some of these instruments.

DISC, like any language, requires practice and application. To "peel the layers of the onion" on workplace strategies for communication and optimization, you need a combination of the most accurate DISC instrument and the targeted analysis and procedures to employ DISC insights for "everybody wins" applications.

That's why companies like Marriott International and Arby's Restaurant Group choose Data Dome's DISC training and certification programs.

If you think you already know DISC, try taking one of our DISC exams!

Call us at 404-814-0739 or email service@datadome.com to find out more about our training and certification programs.


Five Effects of Lost Talent

Knowledge Plummet
This happens when knowledge succession systems are incomplete. Talent leaves with information and strategies and background knowledge that has not been maintained or passed along.

Promotion Pool Depletion
The number of qualified internal candidates for development and promotion are limited. The company then has to spend more on recruiting rather than developing internal leaders.

Treadmill Morale Loss
The gap left by the loss of talent can leave remaining people feeling as though they are on autopilot - pushing the treadmill, but going nowhere.

Absorption Time Loss
This is the time required by a new hire to assimilate into the corporate culture and the requirements of the job. As the learning curve increases, the time spent actually doing the job decreases.

Pied Piper Factor
This occurs when someone leaves the organization, and other workers suddenly start looking around for other job opportunities, too. "Wonder what he knows that I don't know?"

Use our complimentary turnover cost calculators. You can figure turnover costs by the individual, or by job, department and organization.

We can help you to retain your talent! Call 404-814-0739.

Corporate executives say there is a problem with essential skills for critical functions in the workforce. Critical functions are reported as not performing as strongly as they should, according to a recent high performance workforce study by Accenture.

• Only 14% of respondents described the overall skill level of their organizations’ entire workforce as industry leading.
• Just 20% of respondents said the majority of their employees understand their companies’ strategy and what’s needed to be successful in their industry.
• Among those who rated these functions among the top three, just one-quarter (25%) assigned the highest rating to the performance of their sales function, and under a third provided the same rating to their customer service, finance and strategic planning functions (25%, 19% and 33%, respectively).
• Only 11% were very satisfied with the performance of human resources (HR) functions. Only 10% very very satisfied with the performance of training functions. Only 36% of respondents said their companies tailor their HR and training support to each function’s needs and contributions to the organization. More than 40% percent do not even evaluate the impact of their HR and training efforts against profitability. About 50% do not evaluate those efforts against revenues and sales.
• 42% of respondents described capturing and sharing knowledge as a challenge or a severe challenge for their companies. 38% report a lack of a common business culture across different locations. 37% report no knowledge support infrastructure with dedicated people. 32% report that knowledge sharing is typically not rewarded in the organization.
• 60% expect to begin feeling the impact of the aging workforce and the impending retirement of baby boomers within the next 5 years. Of those, 28% said they are feeling the impact now.
• 43% described talent sourcing as a challenge or a severe challenge, primarily because of a smaller or shrinking talent pool from which to choose.
• Only a small percentage of respondents said the heads of customer service (29%), finance (31%), sales (34%) and strategic planning (37%) at their companies are highly involved in human capital management initiatives.

“Human performance leaders”, who are more likely to be successful in addressing the organizational issues that contribute to strong financial performance, share certain characteristics, including:

• Acquiring new customers and increasing market share (reported by 43% of “human performance leaders” vs. 14% of “laggards”)
• Encouraging strong customer loyalty and retention (52% vs. 17%)
• Responding to changing market conditions (52% vs. 14%)
• Finding and developing talented leaders (39% vs. 7%)
• Attracting and retaining skilled staff (30% vs. 12%)
• Generating superior business value from technology investments (35% vs. 15%)

Critical skills cultivation should be at the top of the priority list as market competition increases.

A recent TTI International study of successful people in the financial services industry compared the values (priorities, passions) of two groups: one group made at least $250,000 but not more than $500,000, the other group made more than $500,000. Not surprisingly, both groups are high in Utilitarian and Individualistic values. However, the comparison between the two groups is instructive in other ways.

• 80% of those making less than $500,000 had Individualistic above the mean, and 38% had Traditional above the mean.
• Those making more than $500,000 had a high percentage with Social above the mean.
• Those making more than $500,000 had very low Traditional scores, only 9% above the mean.