David Towler

Personality is highly predictive, largely immutable, and can be accurately measured.  Personality tests can be used for recruiting, leadership, team building, conflict resolution, personal development, and more. They’re reliable, effective and flexible, and they generate actionable, usable, real-world results. There are many personality assessments that are built upon personality research, but which tie personality traits to work-style and on-the-job behaviours. They’re designed to identify skills and aptitudes like trainability, cognition/critical thinking, reliability, communication style, ability to withstand stress, follow rules, and culture fit, rather than just personality ‘type’. They offer employers deep insights into people’s capacity for leadership, interpersonal skills, developmental opportunities, managing conflict, and more.

With a second Trump administration in power, heavy tariffs being imposed, a volatile stock market, and a pending Canadian federal election looming, times are uncertain to say the least.  Consequently, many businesses have adopted a wait-and-see mode and have paused nearly all hiring since February 2025. 

Unfortunately, these aren’t their only problems.  Chief amongst them are:

Rising expenses and the economy
Hiring challenges – employee attraction and retention
Professional growth – employee training and leadership development
Employee burnout

Being able to rely upon the integrity of those you work with or for, and the organizations that you do business with, nay even your own spouse or children is critical.  Without trust and trustworthiness everything falls apart. One need look no further than the stories behind whistleblowers like Frank Serpico or Karen Silkwood from the 1960s and 1970s.  More recent examples include dishonesty and abuse of trust in a now-famous case litigated by Erin Brockovich (1993), and crimes by the likes of Mary Kay Latourneau (1997), Bernie Madoff  (2009), Elizabeth Wettlaufer (2016) and Sean (P. Diddy) Combs (2024).  These are, of course, extreme examples of dishonesty but note that they encompass policing, industry, education, healthcare, investing, and the music industry.  Dishonesty can and does occur everywhere.

A recent survey of nearly 13,000 frontline employees and managers in 11 countries, including the UK, US, Australia, France and Germany by UKG, found that 83% of Gen Z frontline employees are experiencing burnout, a figure notably higher than the 75% rate reported by frontline employees overall. It’s causing a staggering 150% loss in productive days, particularly amongst Gen Z and Millennials, and the decrease in production and burnout reportedly costs the British economy $176 billion annually.  Baby Boomers are also being affected at high rates, and the figures and costs are similar for the USA and Canada. Burnout is not considered a medical condition, but rather an occupational phenomenon.  It was coined in 1974 by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger.