Dispensing Frontiers
Pick a Winning Staff
Matching jobs with personalities can help.

BY LEONA MEDITZ 

To a large extent, personality determines the kinds of things each of us finds easy to do. That's why an employee is far more likely to be a success in your optical if his or her basic personality (and related skills) match your job requirements.

So: How do you match the right person to the job?

FIRST, DEFINE THE ROLE

The skills need by stylists, opticians, managers and technicians are somewhat different. Nevertheless, many of these positions are ideal for similar personality types. For example, except for lab technicians, all optical personnel working directly with patients should have the following traits:

Verbal charisma. Staff working with patients should be able to get results by persuasion, not by direction. This means they must be able to sell, not just talk about features, advantages and benefits. They should have the ability to motivate patients and generate enthusiasm.

Adaptability. They must be able to move rapidly from one activity to another and react quickly to change.

	ILLUSTRATION: AMY WUMMER

Organizational skills. They need to be able to manage projects through various stages and meet deadlines on more than one project at a time.

Negotiating skills. Optical staff must be able to negotiate with patients and solve problems when conflicts arise.

Willingness to go the extra mile. They shouldn't settle for the status quo.

Self-confidence. Self-confidence is necessary to meet challenges, act authoritatively and interact with people of all kinds on a daily basis.

An optimistic outlook. This makes a person more productive -- and easier to get along with.

PROFILING PERSONALITIES

If you want help evaluating a person's personality, you can ask potential hirees to take a personality profiling test. Two of the best are:

The Briggs Myers Type Indicator. This test categorizes a person as one of 16 personality types, using criteria such as introversion vs. extraversion and thinking vs. feeling. It also predicts what kinds of work that person is most likely to enjoy and do well. (The Armed Forces have used this test for years.)

The DiSC Behavioral Profile. This is my favorite. It categorizes people as one of four basic types, in terms of dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness, and predicts the kinds of behavior they'll exhibit under different circumstances.

To a large extent, these tests will tell you where an individual stands in two key areas:

People-oriented vs. task-oriented. Individuals who are people-oriented relate well to others, need approval and usually want to work in groups. In contrast, task-oriented individuals want goals and objectives that they can achieve alone. They're more organized and technical and want set procedures that help to get the job done right.

Makes decisions slowly or quickly. Some people work at a methodical pace, meticulously completing one task at a time. Others work more quickly and can move rapidly from one task to another.

How well are these types suited to work in your optical? Fast-paced, people-oriented personalities are good candidates for stylists, opticians and managers. Both fast-paced and slower-paced task-oriented personalities can be excellent technicians and manage product well.

PERSONALITY POWER

Some offices may not have the luxury of matching individual personalities to jobs. In that case, understanding where existing employees' natural gifts lie may help you determine what type of training is most likely to be productive.

Either way, making the right pairing of personality and responsibilities will keep your optical on track.

Leona Meditz has 25 years experience opening, owning and operating optical dispensaries. To learn how to train your people or manage products, visit her Web site at www.3ps4profit.com or e-mail Leona@3ps4profit.com.