DISC vs MBTI: Which Should Your Company Choose?

If your company is interested in providing personality assessments for your workforce, it’s important to choose the right testing model. Using DISC vs MBTI provides more applicable insights for corporate environments and helps organizations discover the true potential of their employees.

If you haven’t given much thought to the DISC vs MBTI debate, now may be the time to take a more active interest in the matter. Knowing more about your employees’ personalities can help you learn their strengths and weaknesses, identify which ones may have high potential, choose the most effective professional development programs for them, and create better talent acquisition programs to grow your team.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test and the DISC assessment are two of the most popular personality tests used within corporate settings. Both have a lot to offer, but is one better than the other? Read on to learn more about what the test entails, what its results can tell you, and how your organization can fit testing into your employees’ busy schedules.

The 16 DiSC Personality Types

A DiSC assessment classifies a person’s behavioral style based on four main criteria:

• Dominance (confident, results-driven types)
• Influence (outgoing socially-driven types)
• Steadiness (laid-back cooperative types)
• Conscientiousness (analytical detail-oriented types)

The four main DiSC personality types (also called styles) can be rearranged into 16 distinct sub-styles that better reflect the full spectrum of possible human behavior. These include the basic D, I, S, and C types, but also combinations such as DI, SC, CD, and IS.

The order in which the letters appear indicates which of the two styles listed is the most prominent in a person’s behavior. The letter that appears second is the secondary style, which is not expressed as often or as obviously as the primary one.

The 16 MBTI Types

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is based on four binary factors:

• Extroverted (E) or Introversion (I):The first letter refers to what energizes you and grabs your attention. People who most enjoy spending time with other people are E-types, while those who prefer their own company are I-types.
• Sensing (S) or Intuition (N): The second letter refers to how you process information. People who focus mainly on the information coming from their senses are S-types, while those who try to interpret or analyze that information are N-types.
• Thinking (T) or Feeling (F): The third letter refers to how you make decisions. Those who rely on facts, statistics, and other impartial evidence are T-types, while those who weigh emotions and personal concerns more strongly are F-types.
• Perceiving (P) or Judging (J): The fourth letter refers to how you behave to the outside world. People who live openly and flexibly are considered P-types, while J-types live more rigidly.

Every person’s MBTI type is some combination of these 8 factors. You might be an ESTP, an INFJ, or any one of the other 16 types resulting from individual combinations. There are 16 combinations in total.

A Comparison of DiSC Classic and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

To come to a meaningful conclusion on the DiSC vs. MBTI debate, it is helpful to take a closer look at exactly what the two tests measure.

The DiSC model describes behavior and interpersonal interaction. If you know your DiSC type, you know how you prefer to approach problems as a team, including the best ways for you to have a productive conversation with your fellow team members.

The MBTI model, on the other hand, is focused on personal preferences. If you know your MBTI type, you know what types of tasks you might be good at, but you may not know how to work on those tasks alongside others.

The Myers-Briggs Correlation

DiSC and MBTI measure slightly different things, but they are relatively similar in scope. Experts have tracked the correlation between the two and discovered that DiSC-MBTI mapping is possible. If you know your DiSC or MBTI type, you can gain insight into what your results on the other test might be.

Why Use DiSC-MBTI Mapping?

Since each test delivers slightly different information, mapping results between the two can supplement a person’s DiSC profile with additional details. You can use this data to allocate tasks based on your workers’ strengths, increasing your employee retention and helping your employees achieve better career mobility within your organization.

DiSC – MBTI Cross Reference

Here are a few examples of MBTI types that you can cross-reference with DiSC styles to determine what your DiSC type might be.

ESFP DiSC Type

ESFPs are likely to have S, SI, or IS DiSC styles. They are supportive and extremely good with people, making them great team players who can easily collaborate with team members both within and across departments.

ENTP DiSC Type

An ENTP usually has an ID or DI DiSC style, reflecting their unique combination of people skills and leadership ability. They make excellent managers with a talent for motivating their teams.

INFJ DiSC Type

Thanks to their even temper and reliable performance, INFJs often have an SI or SC DiSC style. They are supportive and personable, but more withdrawn than extroverted types.

ISTP DiSC Type

An ISTP may have a D, DC, or DI DiSC style. They have a uniformly strong need for control, but they handle leadership and responsibility differently depending on their secondary type.

So Which Is Better?

Both DiSC and MBTI have their strengths, and either one would make an excellent addition to any corporate university program. However, if you can only choose one of the two, it is usually best to go with DiSC over MBTI. A DiSC assessment focuses on how people behave and interact with one another, making it extremely useful for corporate training and developing talent. Each employee’s behavioral style can tell you how likely it is that they will be a good manager and leader or a high potential employee.

Offering these assessments to your employees and providing additional training based on their results shows that you care about helping your workers find the right fit within your organization. This approach can be incorporated as a key part of your employer branding strategy by developing your reputation as a great place to work.

The type of information that DiSC provides is most useful when it is acquired early, so it is a good idea to incorporate this assessment into your onboarding process. There are many innovative training methods available today (such as digital learning and mobile learning) that make it much easier and more convenient for companies to conduct this type of testing.

Bring DiSC to Your Organization Today

Investing in DiSC assessments for your employees comes with manifold benefits, including the opportunity to strengthen your employer brand. All you need is the right assessment provider to help your company implement an effective DiSC testing program.

CoachHub has partnered with Assessments 24×7 to provide a greater variety of corporate training options to our clients. Together, we offer all types of blended learning and experiential learning, including DiSC assessments. Our guidance will help you establish an organized and cohesive team environment in which all your staff members can rise to their full potential.