Part of HR’s job is to understand more about employees’ personality traits and types, and assess how these might affect their job fit and their performance as well as how to best manage them. But how about personality types within the profession itself?

We looked through the many profiles of HR leaders and practitioners that we’ve encountered over the years, and came up with four types of HR personality that stand out in today’s landscape. To find out which one you may be, here's a short fun quiz. Look through the six questions below and note down your answers.

1. When a problem comes to your attention, your very first reaction is to:

(A) Look up the solutions that worked well before
(B) Check with someone else for a different perspective
(C) Map out the ramifications of the issue
(D) Review the information you have

2. As you go through your daily routine of tasks and meetings, this is most likely to make your work more satisfying:

(A) Finding ways to be as efficient as possible
(B) Taking opportunities to interact with your co-workers
(C) Understanding how what you're doing fits into the big picture
(D) Coming up with ways to automate some of the work

3. You've been invited to participate in a roundtable discussion. Which topic are you the most keen to talk about?

(A) The challenges and opportunities of optimising HR workflow
(B) The importance of employee engagement and experience
(C) The role of HR professionals in advancing the business strategy
(D) The next step forward in HR technology and digitalisation

4. Your organisation just rolled out new workflow software, but people aren't using it. The first solution that comes to your mind is:

(A) Adjust the policies and processes around using the software
(B) Educate people more intensively in the use of the software
(C) Review the timeline and targets for utilisation
(D) Tweak the software itself

5. You've been asked to design a new attraction and retention strategy. Which of the below do you want to emphasise the most?

(A) More training for the recruiters and hiring managers
(B) Meeting the expectations of candidates today
(C) Employer branding and awareness of the organisation
(D) Improved efficiency and outreach through automation

6. You've been offered the opportunity to take additional courses and certifications in one of the following areas. Which would you choose?

(A) Compliance
(B) Psychology
(C) Business management
(D) Digital strategy

If you answered (A) to most of the questions, you might be: The Administrator

If you answered (B) to most of the questions, you might be: The Counsellor

If you answered (C) to most of the questions, you might be: The Tactician

If you answered (D) to most of the questions, you might be: The Technologist

The Administrator

You are the unseen but critical person who keeps the machinery running as it should. With you in the room, policies and processes will always be well thought out and smoothly implemented, and compliance will be a breeze. You are always ready for any contingency, because the procedures are at your fingertips—and you probably wrote most of them! When people aren’t sure what the next step is, you can point them in the exact direction they should go, and if need be, walk them right through it.

The Counsellor

You are the person everyone relies on to solve people issues. When the human touch is needed—and it will be, more and more frequently, as employee expectations evolve—you know exactly what to say and do to get the very best out of every situation. You may even be able to pass this skill on to others in your team! Interpersonal interactions are your forte, and people love the competence and compassion of your approach. If you aren’t everyone’s favorite person on the team, you’re close to the top spot.

The Tactician

You are the one who thinks far ahead into the big picture. You speak the language of the business leaders and can work shoulder to shoulder with them, and because of that, you always know how to position yourself and your team where you can be of the greatest value to your organization. Strategy is your meat and drink, and you’re perfectly comfortable acting as a consultant to your business counterparts. When the time rolls around to refresh the 5 or 10-year plan, your input will be one of the keystones.

The Technologist

You are the tech guru who carries your team’s digital capabilities into the future. You know all the solutions on the market and you know exactly how they can improve your team’s effectiveness. If the exact solution you want doesn’t exist, you’ll have no problem getting it built to your own specs! You’re always up to date with the latest technologies and you might even be something of an IT expert in your own right. In this age of accelerated digitalization, every HR team needs at least one of you.

Was your result accurate? Let us know!

This quiz was first published in September 2021.