12 Best Personality Tests for the Workplace You Should Know

Finding the right personality assessment can transform your approach to hiring, team development, and employee engagement. In a competitive talent market, understanding the nuances of individual work styles, motivations, and potential for growth is no longer a luxury, it's a strategic necessity. The challenge lies in navigating a crowded field of tools, each with its own methodology, scientific backing, and ideal application. This guide is designed to cut through the noise and provide a clear, practical roadmap for HR professionals, hiring managers, and team leaders.

We have compiled a comprehensive list of the best personality tests for the workplace, moving beyond simple descriptions to offer a detailed analysis of what makes each tool effective. For every platform, including established names like Hogan and MBTI alongside innovative solutions like MyCulture.ai, you will find a breakdown of its psychometric strength, specific use cases from hiring to team-building, and an honest look at its pros and cons. We also cover critical details like pricing structures and key legal considerations to help you make a fully informed decision.

This resource is structured for quick scanning and deep dives, complete with direct links to each provider. Our goal is to equip you with the insights needed to select an assessment that aligns with your organizational goals, whether you're scaling a startup or optimizing a large enterprise. While many of these tools are designed for formal HR processes, the fundamental appeal of self-discovery has broad applications. To understand the broader utility and engagement potential of such evaluations, delve into how free personality assessment tools can be leveraged as powerful lead magnets, showcasing their value beyond formal HR applications. Let's get started.

1. MyCulture.ai

MyCulture.ai stands out as a premier platform for organizations aiming to move beyond generic personality labels and predict actual on-the-job performance. It shifts the focus from broad traits to a nuanced understanding of how a candidate's values, work styles, and behaviors align with a company’s specific, unique culture. This makes it an exceptionally powerful tool for data-driven hiring, onboarding, and team development.

The platform’s core strength lies in its customization and scientific foundation. Instead of using off-the-shelf tests, HR teams and hiring managers can build bespoke assessments in minutes, combining modules for cultural fit, values alignment, soft skills, and even cognitive aptitude. This approach is grounded in organizational psychology, ensuring the questions are relevant and predictive of success within a specific role and team environment.

Key Features and Use Cases

• Customizable Assessments: Combine various scientifically-validated modules like the Big Five, values alignment, workplace culture profiles, and logic tests into a single, seamless candidate experience.
• Predictive Analytics: The platform generates visually engaging scorecards and cohort dashboards that highlight culture fit, flag potential risks, and enable side-by-side candidate comparisons. This data helps reduce hiring bias and accelerates decision-making. As one G2 reviewer noted, it provides "the most insightful interaction in the hiring and onboarding process."
• AI-Powered Manager Toolbox: A standout feature that extends its utility beyond hiring. It includes AI generators for job descriptions, 30/60/90-day onboarding plans, OKRs, and performance improvement plan (PIP) templates, creating a unified talent management workflow.
• Enterprise-Ready Integration: With ATS integration and API access available on higher-tier plans, MyCulture.ai can be seamlessly embedded into existing HR tech stacks for scalable operations. For a deeper dive into how such tools transform recruitment, you can explore their guide to personality assessments for hiring.

Pricing and Availability

MyCulture.ai operates on a flexible credit-based system, making it accessible for companies of all sizes.

• Free Tier: $0/forever, includes 5 candidate credits to start.
• Growth Plan: $19/month (billed annually), includes approximately 200 credits per year with a 24-month rollover.
• Business Plus Plan: $49/month (billed annually), offers unlimited assessments, ATS integration, and priority support.

Pros and Cons

Website: https://www.myculture.ai

2. MBTIonline (The Myers-Briggs Company)

As the official online platform from The Myers-Briggs Company, MBTIonline provides the authentic Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment, one of the most recognized personality tests for workplace development. This platform is specifically designed for individual self-discovery and team-building exercises, offering a streamlined, self-service experience for administering the assessment and interpreting the results. It stands out by providing direct access to the publisher's validated tools without requiring practitioner certification for basic use cases.

The user experience is straightforward, guiding participants through the MBTI Step I assessment and an interactive "best-fit" process to verify their four-letter type. The platform's primary offerings are individual reports and the MBTIonline Teams portal, which aggregates results for groups of 3 to 30 people to foster better communication and collaboration.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

The MBTI is best leveraged for non-selective, developmental purposes. It excels in team-building workshops, conflict resolution, and communication style training. However, it's crucial to understand its limitations.

The Myers-Briggs Company explicitly states the MBTI is not validated for hiring or selection. Its purpose is to understand preferences, not predict job performance, a stance supported by research highlighting its psychometric shortcomings for predictive hiring. As documented by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), typological assessments like the MBTI generally lack the predictive validity required for selection purposes.

• Pros: Publisher-operated platform ensures authentic content; simple per-participant pricing; excellent for team development and communication training.
• Cons: Not validated for hiring or selection; focuses on categorical "types" rather than trait continuums, which can oversimplify personality.

Website: https://www.mbtionline.com

3. Gallup Store (CliftonStrengths)

The Gallup Store is the official commercial platform for purchasing and administering the CliftonStrengths assessment, formerly known as the StrengthsFinder. This tool is a cornerstone of strengths-based psychology, helping individuals and teams identify their natural talents. The platform provides direct access for businesses to buy assessment codes in bulk, manage their distribution, and access powerful reports through the associated Gallup Access portal, making it one of the best personality tests for workplace development initiatives.

The user experience focuses on transactional efficiency. Organizations can purchase codes for either the "Top 5" or the comprehensive "Full 34" strengths reports. The real value for managers and HR professionals is unlocked in the backend Gallup Access portal, where they can track completion, view team grids, and generate role-specific reports to guide coaching conversations and professional development planning.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

CliftonStrengths excels in employee engagement, manager enablement, and building positive team dynamics. Its focus on what people do best makes it highly effective for coaching, personal development, and improving manager-employee relationships. However, its specific focus on talent themes means it has clear limitations.

Gallup positions CliftonStrengths as a developmental tool, not a selection instrument. Its purpose is to understand and cultivate innate talents, not to predict job performance or screen candidates, a distinction vital for maintaining its ethical and effective application in the workplace.

• Pros: Publisher-direct platform with clear, per-person pricing; widely adopted and respected for strengths-based development; powerful central portal for code and report management.
• Cons: Not a traditional personality model and is not validated for hiring; unlocking advanced team analytics and insights requires familiarity with the Gallup Access platform.

Website: https://store.gallup.com

4. Everything DiSC on Catalyst (Wiley) via Discprofile/Corexcel

Everything DiSC is a suite of workplace-focused personality assessments from publisher Wiley, often delivered through authorized partners like Discprofile.com. The modern Catalyst platform transforms the classic DiSC model into an ongoing learning experience, making it one of the best personality tests for workplace development and team cohesion. It stands out by combining a validated assessment with a dynamic online portal where colleagues can compare styles and get real-time tips for improving their interactions.

This model focuses on four primary styles: Dominance (D), Influence (i), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C). The user experience is designed for practical application, providing personalized insights and actionable strategies. Through authorized partners, organizations can purchase individual profiles or comprehensive facilitator kits, with access to administrative tools like the EPIC platform for managing large-scale deployments. You can learn more about how to use personality tests for effective team building here.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

Everything DiSC excels in improving interpersonal dynamics, management training, and fostering a collaborative culture. Its simplicity and actionable advice make it highly effective for team-building workshops and leadership development programs. However, its primary focus is on development, not selection.

Like many typological tools, Everything DiSC is designed to increase self-awareness and improve working relationships. It is not validated for hiring or pre-employment screening and should not be used to predict job performance.

• Pros: Fast to deploy at small or large scale with strong team usability; broad U.S. reseller network with transparent support; Catalyst platform provides ongoing value.
• Cons: Not validated for hiring or selection; pricing and bundles can vary significantly between partners; requires add-on purchases for specialized content like management or EQ.

Website: https://www.discprofile.com

5. The Predictive Index (PI)

The Predictive Index (PI) is an enterprise-grade talent optimization platform that provides a suite of behavioral and cognitive assessments. Unlike single-purpose tests, PI integrates its tools directly into HR workflows, from hiring and team design to employee engagement and leadership development. It’s designed for organizations seeking to build a comprehensive, data-driven people strategy by linking personality insights to tangible business outcomes.

The platform offers a scientifically validated behavioral assessment that measures four key drives: Dominance, Extraversion, Patience, and Formality. When paired with its cognitive assessment, PI provides a powerful forecast of on-the-job performance. The system is known for its robust analytics, generating team reports, relationship guides, and manager coaching tips to turn assessment data into actionable insights for everyday management.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

PI's strength lies in its application across the entire employee lifecycle, particularly in high-volume hiring and strategic team building. Its job targeting feature allows companies to create ideal behavioral and cognitive profiles for specific roles, improving candidate-to-role fit.

PI is validated for use in hiring and selection. Its assessments are designed to be job-related and predictive of performance, meeting EEOC guidelines when used correctly as part of a multi-faceted hiring process.

• Pros: All-in-one suite linking hiring, teams, and development; transparent subscription plans with unlimited users and assessments; integrates with major HRIS/ATS platforms.
• Cons: Annual subscription pricing is geared toward SMB and enterprise budgets, not individual users; there is no per-assessment à-la-carte option available on its hiring plans.

Website: https://www.predictiveindex.com

6. Hogan Assessments

Hogan Assessments provides a suite of research-grade personality tools widely used for leadership selection and high-stakes talent development. The platform is built around three core assessments: the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) for normal "bright-side" personality, the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) for "dark-side" derailers under pressure, and the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) for core drivers. Hogan stands out for its strong predictive validity regarding job performance, especially in leadership roles.

Access is typically managed through certified practitioners or partner consultants, as interpreting the nuanced reports requires expertise. The website offers comprehensive certification courses (both virtual and in-person) for HR professionals who wish to administer and debrief the assessments internally. This model ensures the tools are used ethically and effectively, positioning Hogan as a premium choice among the best personality tests for workplace leadership pipelines.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

Hogan is a powerhouse for senior leadership selection, executive coaching, and identifying high-potential employees. Its focus on performance derailers provides unique insights that other tests miss, helping organizations mitigate leadership risk.

The strength of Hogan lies in its robust, business-focused research base. As cited in the Handbook of Personality at Work, decades of validation studies have linked its measures to tangible outcomes like leadership effectiveness and team performance, making it a legally defensible tool for selection.

• Pros: Strong scientific pedigree and predictive validity; deep leadership insights covering performance, derailers, and values; widely used across Fortune 500 companies.
• Cons: Direct self-service purchase is limited, with most organizations engaging via partners; certification and practitioner support represent a material investment.

Website: https://shop.hoganassessments.com

7. SHL (OPQ32 Occupational Personality Questionnaire)

SHL’s OPQ32 is a globally recognized and widely validated workplace personality assessment, firmly established in the enterprise space. Unlike many self-discovery tools, the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) is engineered for high-stakes talent decisions, offering a large library of reports for both employee selection and development. It provides deep insights into an individual's behavioral style, making it a powerful tool for large organizations integrating psychometrics into their HR tech stack.

The assessment itself is a modern, mobile-first experience, typically taking 20-25 minutes to complete and available in over 30 languages. The platform, SHL TalentCentral, enables seamless administration and integration with other HR systems. The OPQ32 stands out for its extensive validation across different cultures and job families, making it a reliable predictor of workplace behavior when used correctly. Understanding its role within a broader framework is key; you can learn more about what is psychometric testing to see how it fits into a comprehensive talent strategy.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

The OPQ32 is a versatile tool, but its strength lies in large-scale, data-driven HR processes. It is highly effective for candidate selection, leadership potential identification, and creating targeted development plans based on specific competency models.

The OPQ32's validation against job performance criteria makes it suitable for hiring and succession planning. However, its complexity and enterprise focus mean it requires proper training for interpretation to avoid bias and ensure legally defensible use.

• Pros: One of the most scientifically validated workplace personality tools; extensive report options for both selection and development; robust and scalable for enterprise needs.
• Cons: Pricing is not public and is typically quote-based; administration and interpretation are best handled by trained HR or I/O psychology professionals.

Website: https://www.shl.com/products/assessments/personality-assessment/shl-occupational-personality-questionnaire-opq/

8. Talogy (Caliper Profile)

The Caliper Profile, now offered by Talogy, is a long-standing and robust assessment used extensively in business for both hiring and employee development. It measures 21 distinct personality traits alongside an individual's abstract reasoning ability, providing a comprehensive view of their potential performance and intrinsic motivations. It stands out by matching individual results against validated, role-specific job models, making it a powerful tool for building high-performing teams and leadership pipelines.

The platform is designed for enterprise-level administration, offering a 60-75 minute untimed assessment with a shorter alternative available. Its detailed reporting provides clear selection and development outputs, supported by compliance guidance that helps organizations adhere to hiring best practices. Talogy’s consulting approach ensures organizations can effectively interpret and apply the insights from this nuanced personality test for workplace success.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

The Caliper Profile excels in selection for complex roles, leadership development, and succession planning where a deep understanding of behavioral potential is critical. Its strength lies in predictive validity for job performance when benchmarked against specific roles.

The depth of the Caliper report is a key benefit, but it also necessitates proper interpretation. Organizations get the most value when the feedback is delivered by HR professionals or consultants trained in the instrument to avoid misapplication of the results.

• Pros: Longstanding tool with extensive organizational use cases; support for legal compliance and best practices; strong predictive validity for specific job families.
• Cons: Pricing is by quote, not an instant retail checkout; feedback and reporting are best delivered by trained HR or consultants.

Website: https://talogy.com/en/talent-management-solutions/assessments/caliper-personality-assessment/

9. Criteria Corp

Criteria Corp is a comprehensive talent success platform that integrates a wide range of assessments, including personality inventories, cognitive aptitude tests, and skills-based evaluations. It positions itself as a single-vendor solution for pre-employment testing, designed to help organizations make more objective, data-driven hiring decisions. The platform stands out by bundling various psychometric tools into one subscription-based service, complete with analytics and job-family benchmarks.

The platform's personality assessments, such as the Employee Personality Profile (EPP), measure job-relevant traits like conscientiousness and agreeableness. A key feature is the ability to generate "match scores" by comparing a candidate's profile against benchmarks for specific roles, streamlining the screening process for high-volume hiring. The user experience is geared toward HR professionals who need to manage multiple assessments for various open positions simultaneously. For more information on using these tools effectively, you can learn more about pre-employment assessments.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

Criteria Corp's integrated suite is purpose-built for high-volume hiring and selection, where efficiency and predictive validity are paramount. It excels at providing a holistic view of a candidate by combining cognitive and personality data.

The platform's strength lies in its validated, multi-measure approach to predicting job performance. By combining different types of tests, it aims to reduce hiring bias and improve the quality of hires across an organization.

However, its focus on pre-employment screening means it's less suited for pure developmental purposes like team-building or individual coaching. The subscription model also makes it a better fit for companies with consistent hiring needs rather than those needing a one-off assessment.

• Pros: Single vendor for cognitive, personality, and skills testing; strong validation for hiring use cases; provides job-family benchmarks and match scores.
• Cons: Pricing is not public and typically requires an annual contract; less focused on post-hire development; may be overly complex for small businesses with infrequent hiring.

Website: https://www.criteriacorp.com

10. Wonderlic (WonScore/Select)

Wonderlic is an established employer-focused hiring platform that integrates multiple assessments to create a comprehensive candidate profile. Its flagship product, WonScore, combines a cognitive ability test, a motivation assessment, and a personality inventory based on the Five-Factor Model. This multi-measure approach provides a holistic view of job fit, making it a powerful tool for pre-employment screening and selection, especially for high-volume roles where efficiency is key.

The platform is designed specifically for talent acquisition workflows, providing employers with instant access to results, candidate rankings, and job-fit scores. It streamlines the screening process by helping recruiters quickly identify top applicants based on data-driven insights. Unlike developmental tools, Wonderlic is built and validated for predictive hiring, aiming to forecast on-the-job success by measuring critical competencies.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

Wonderlic excels in structured, high-volume hiring processes where ranking and filtering candidates efficiently is a top priority. It is best used for selection, not for team-building or individual development, as the reports are tailored for hiring managers.

By combining cognitive, personality, and motivation metrics, Wonderlic aims to increase the predictive validity of the hiring process. Research from industrial-organizational psychology, such as the work of Schmidt and Hunter (1998), consistently shows that combining assessment types, particularly cognitive ability with personality, yields a more accurate prediction of job performance than using either alone.

• Pros: Comprehensive assessment battery spanning key hiring domains; employer-oriented platform with integrated selection workflows and support.
• Cons: Does not sell to individuals or for self-discovery-employer licensing only; pricing and plan details require a demo and custom quote.

Website: https://www.wonderlic.com

11. Thomas International (PPA – Personal Profile Analysis)

Thomas International offers a suite of psychometric tools, with its flagship behavioral assessment being the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA). Based on the DISC theory, the PPA is a quick, eight-minute assessment designed to provide insights into a person's preferred behavioral style at work. It is delivered through the comprehensive Thomas Assess platform, which allows organizations to combine behavioral data with aptitude, emotional intelligence (EI), and 360-degree feedback assessments for a more holistic view of candidates and employees.

The platform is engineered for efficiency, providing manager-friendly reports that are easy to understand and apply in recruitment, onboarding, and development contexts. As a British Psychological Society (BPS) registered instrument, the PPA has undergone independent validation, making it a reliable choice for organizations seeking a scientifically-grounded yet practical behavioral tool. The ability to bundle different types of assessments makes it a versatile platform for various HR functions, from hiring to leadership development.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

The PPA is most effective for roles where understanding behavioral tendencies is key, such as sales, customer service, and management. It's excellent for initial screening, team dynamics workshops, and personal development planning. However, its foundation in DISC theory means it has certain limitations.

The PPA is a behavioral assessment, not a comprehensive personality test measuring a wide range of traits like the Big Five. It describes how someone prefers to behave, not the deeper motivations or full scope of their personality.

• Pros: Extremely quick to administer (around 8 minutes); reports are designed for easy interpretation by line managers; flexible platform combines behavioral, aptitude, and EI assessments.
• Cons: Pricing is not publicly available and typically requires a sales consultation; its DISC-based model is less granular than broader trait-based inventories.

Website: https://www.thomas.co/assessments/personal-profile-analysis-ppa

12. Truity (Workplace Personality Tests and Truity@Work)

Truity offers an accessible and budget-friendly suite of personality tests for workplace development, making it a popular choice for small to mid-sized businesses and individual team leaders. The platform provides assessments based on well-known models like DISC, the Enneagram, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and their own "TypeFinder," which is based on the 16-type system. Its primary strength lies in its simplicity and self-serve model, allowing users to purchase and administer tests instantly without needing certification.

The user experience is designed for ease of use. A manager can purchase bulk codes for their team, and participants receive plain-language reports that are easy to understand and apply. The Truity@Work platform further supports this by offering a lightweight dashboard to view team results, facilitating discussions around communication styles, strengths, and potential areas of conflict. This straightforward approach removes common barriers to entry, such as high costs and complex administration.

Ideal Use Cases and Limitations

Truity is best utilized for team-building activities, professional development workshops, and improving interpersonal communication within existing teams. Its affordability and ease of use make it an excellent tool for managers looking to introduce personality frameworks to their teams without a significant investment. However, its limitations are important to recognize.

Truity's assessments are designed for developmental purposes and are not intended or validated for pre-employment screening or hiring decisions. The psychometric rigor is lighter than enterprise-level tools, focusing more on facilitating self-awareness and team discussion rather than predicting job performance.

• Pros: Low cost and immediate access make it ideal for SMBs; no certification required; offers multiple popular assessment models on one platform.
• Cons: Not validated for hiring or selection; psychometrics are less robust compared to more comprehensive, enterprise-grade assessment suites.

Website: https://www.truity.com/view/tests/personality-tests-workplace

Top 12 Workplace Personality Tests Comparison

Final Thoughts

Navigating the landscape of workplace personality assessments can feel overwhelming, but the journey from data to decisions is a powerful one. As we've explored, the market offers a diverse range of tools, from the introspective frameworks of MBTI and DiSC to the predictive analytics of Hogan and The Predictive Index. Each of the best personality tests for workplace provides a unique lens through which to view human potential, team dynamics, and organizational culture.

The central takeaway is clear: there is no single "best" test for every situation. The right choice is fundamentally tied to your specific goals. Are you focused on high-stakes executive hiring, where the psychometric rigor of a tool like Hogan or SHL is paramount? Or are you aiming to improve communication and collaboration within existing teams, where Everything DiSC or CliftonStrengths might be more effective?

Understanding this "why" behind your assessment strategy is the most critical first step.

Key Takeaways for Implementing Personality Assessments

Before you invest time and resources, keep these core principles at the forefront of your strategy:

• Clarity of Purpose: Define your objective first. Are you solving for hiring bias, improving team cohesion, developing leaders, or reducing turnover? Your goal dictates the appropriate tool. For instance, a test validated for pre-employment screening is fundamentally different from one designed for team-building workshops.
• Scientific Rigor Matters: Always prioritize assessments with proven validity (measuring what it claims to measure) and reliability (producing consistent results). Look for tools that provide technical manuals or research backing their claims, as this is a key differentiator between a fun quiz and a serious business instrument.
• Ethical and Legal Guardrails: Never use these tests as the sole determinant in a hiring decision. The EEOC has clear guidelines to prevent discriminatory practices. Assessments should be one data point among many, including interviews, skills tests, and reference checks. Ensure any test used for selection is job-relevant and does not create an adverse impact on protected groups.
• Focus on Development, Not Labels: The true value of these tools is unlocked when they are used to foster self-awareness and growth. Avoid boxing employees into rigid types. Instead, use the results to start conversations about strengths, communication preferences, and potential development areas. For individuals, this heightened self-awareness can be a game-changer; integrating these insights can even be a powerful part of preparing a personal job interview cheat sheet to better articulate one's strengths and working style.

Your Next Steps: From Insight to Action

Selecting and implementing the right personality assessment is a strategic initiative that, when done correctly, can profoundly enhance your talent management lifecycle. It's about moving beyond gut feelings and using objective data to build stronger, more effective, and more engaged teams.

The tools we've reviewed, from broad-based platforms like Criteria Corp to specialized instruments like the Thomas PPA, all offer a piece of the puzzle. The ultimate goal is to create a workplace where individuals understand themselves and their colleagues better, leading to more intentional collaboration and a more inclusive culture. By thoughtfully choosing a tool that aligns with your organization's unique needs and values, you are investing not just in better hiring, but in the long-term success and well-being of your people.

Ready to move beyond generic assessments and build a tool that truly reflects your company's unique culture and values? MyCulture.ai empowers you to create custom, science-backed assessments tailored to your specific needs, from hiring and onboarding to team development. Discover how a personalized approach can transform your talent strategy by visiting MyCulture.ai.