Understand what a professional profile is and how to identify an employee’s profile

The professional profile summarizes a person’s dominant behavior traits in their workplace environment. In other words, we can better predict how an employee would react to certain situations by defining this profile.

Understanding the profiles that make up a team is very useful for the business. This allows distributing and prioritizing projects to ensure the best use of each professional’s strengths. Keep reading and learn more about this concept!

7 types of professional profiles

Classifying humans into static or error-proof groups is impossible. After all, we are very complex beings, which means our behaviors and skills are not always predictable.

It is common, however, that our dominant traits pop up more frequently. As such, professional profiles can be used to classify our way of working – attitudes, preferences and postures.

Many different factors come into play: the influence of the social environment and learning gained through market experience, among other factors. The following is a list of the 7 main profiles.

1. The Analyst

The Analyst is the king of concentration. Perfectionist and meticulous, they’re great at analyzing data, reviewing errors and controlling repetitive processes. This profile doesn’t like to work under pressure, feeling like they may lose control of the details.

They also like security, stability and tasks that require them to delve into books and numbers. They are best suited for activities that require accuracy and patience.

2. The Competitor

On the other hand, the Competitor has a more aggressive profile and isn’t afraid of taking risks when there’s a chance for major gains. However, this thirst for results may compromise quality in terms of details.

They’ll do just about anything to accelerate their professional career, such as working days on end at a frenetic pace. After all, what they seek most in life is to come out ahead of the other “competitors” in their profession.

3. The Communicator

Some people appear to be true “word wizards”, right? The Communicator is an oratory master, very charismatic, articulating ideas in a clear and apparently effortless manner.

This employee feels most at home giving impactful presentations, since they naturally involve the target audience. They are also a good pick to mediate interpersonal relationships.

4. The Executor

The Executor, in turn, is not very good at making decisions meticulously but is the best choice when it comes to executing them. This professional profile never sits still and always takes the lead in putting a plan into action.

Extremely practical and objective, the executor really enjoys getting his hands dirty. This characteristic is very positive, but can also run hand-in-hand with a pitfall: insufficient planning prior to implementing actions.

5. The Idealist

These are the professionals who live with their “head in the clouds”. They may not always keep their feet firmly on the ground but are very persistent and determined to achieve their dreams – a trait that complements the entrepreneurship aspect.

The Idealist is very good at being a self-employed professional since they don’t like to follow orders and prefers doing things their own way — they are usually successful because they are very creative, ambitious and self-motivated.

6. The Planner

The Planners, on the other hand, are extremely cautious and almost never let their emotions get the best of them without repeatedly thinking and rethinking the consequences of their behavior. They are methodical, organized, patient and maintain control over processes.

Since this profile likes to look at the long-term perspective of things, they lend a very useful business outlook to management, in addition to keeping their head in the game, even during conflict situations. That is why they are a good fit to assume leadership positions.

7. The Procrastinator

Human beings are natural procrastinators, but when this becomes a dominant trait — even affecting a professional environment — it can become a problem. A profile with this characteristic keeps putting things off and often forgets their responsibilities.

This is certainly not the professional profile best suited for freelance work or even for more flexible work schedules, like home office. That’s because people with this trait need to be constantly supervised in order to avoid leaving their obligations to the last minute on the list of priorities.

Learn how to identify a professional profile

Identifying the team members’ professional profiles is very interesting to ensure that your talent network is working and developing efficiently. Check out these two techniques to discover the dominant traits of your employees:

STAR Methodology

The idea behind the STAR methodology is to conduct an interview using practical conflict situations. From there, you must define what task the employee or job candidate should perform. Next, an analysis of the task performed is conducted, i.e. how he handled the problem situation.

Building the professional profile includes 4 steps, defined by the letters that give the method its name:

• S – Situation: propose the conflict or event to be contextualized;
• T – Task: understand the employee’s responsibility in this scenario;
• A – Action: observe how they approached the proposed task as well as their attitude towards it;
• R – Result: analyze how the action related to the intended task and proposed situation.

DISC Analysis

DISC analysis is a questionnaire comprised of direct questions on how the individual believes he is seen by others, both in personal and professional environments.

The purpose is to identify dominant traits in the employee based on the behavioral theory of psychologist Dr. William Marston. The test defines the dominant behavioral profiles, which relate to:

• D — Dominance;
• I – Influence;
• S — Stability;
• C – Complacency.

Understand how to use professional profiles

Here’s a tip to wrap things up: strategically exploring the abilities and behavior of your employees is great, especially when used in motivating them to perform activities compatible with their potential. However, remember this: we are always changing and evolving — this is a natural process for humans.

That’s why it is important to avoid letting the description of these traits become a limiting mindset that prevents the employee from being versatile. It is important to incorporate a development culture that is complemented, not restricted, by these professional profile classifications.

With that in mind, why don’t you learn more about team management? Check out our article on leadership models: truth or myth?