This document describes the policies and practices that AlterSpark follows, when running its workshops on personality and emotional intelligence for businesses.
This statement is in compliance with the SPEAR Personality Types Privacy Statement (https://spearpersonality.com/privacy-policy/) and Terms of Use (https://spearpersonality.com/terms-of-use/). It is also in compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that AlterSpark has put in place with the host organization.
Focus of the consultations and workshop
This workshop is focused on improving participant’s soft-skills in emotional intelligence, and communications by teaching them how to recognize the ways in which their disposition and traits are similar to or different from others. If it focuses on the ways that different participants perceive the world, how they respond emotionally, their decision-making style, and other characteristics, that that make each of us unique.
This training does not include evaluations of participant’s work or their performance. However, the workshop will address the core motivators that shape how people approach their work, and how their social relations and their organization’s culture, shape participant’s overall work experience.
Sharing broad personality groupings
After completing our personality assessments, each participant will gain access to their detailed personality report, including how they rank on numerous individual traits. In the leadup to, and during the workshop, participants will have access to team reports, showing each participant’s ranking in 5 broad personality categories. Each category (seeker, anchor, feeler, and thinker) is scored from 0-100%, however, the reactive personality category, is scored as above average, average, or below average.
Protecting confidential information if it emerges
We do not expect to that our consultations or personality tests will lead to the sharing of confidential information. However, cases may arise where confidential information is shared, or a participant may ask us to hold something in confidence. In these cases, our team will hold any such information in strict confidence, an only reveal this information if required by law.
Furthermore, the MOU between AlterSpark and the host organization, specifies how we will treat confidential information and safeguard participant identities. Our MOU states that we will only release information in the form of broad general trends. In other words, no individual comments or personal information will be released, and any confidential information revealed to us, will be either held in strict confidence, or translated into generalizations where no individual may be identified.
Respect for human rights principles
We run our organizational workshops in step with human rights principles, as our tools do not include any questions that could single out an individual on the basis of their race, immigration status, national or ethnic origin, skin colour, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, gender identity or conviction for an offence. We do have personality questions on family status, age, and gender, which are optional because they contribute to our research on personality psychology, but are not shared with the host organization. Scientists do not know how much of our personality is based on genetics, but some researchers estimate that 50% of our personality may come from our DNA, so our tools do describe genetic characteristics, but we only look at those traits that are evenly divided among the population.
Data protection measures
To protect participant’s data, we use HTTPS to encrypt data transfer between users’ computer or mobile phone and our servers. Our servers are hosted in Canada, with backup services in the USA, with our data under the jurisdiction of US and Canadian law.
About our personality system
Humans have been using personality systems for well over 2,000 years. In general, personality tools place people within categories, to help them build a simple understanding of themselves and others. Personality systems help us understand what motivates people, how emotions work, the ways that people make decisions, and in general, personality systems help us understand who we are and how to get along with others.
There are several popular, but outdated personality tests like Myers-Briggs, which are widely used even though the scientific community frequently criticizes these systems as lacking reliability, or validated tests like the Big-5 that are endorsed by psychologists but not as popular in business settings.
AlterSpark’s personality assessment tools are grounded in personality neuroscience, drawing on some of the latest scientific discoveries on the factors that shape people’s tendency to feel, think or act in similar ways. It includes a large number of individual traits, and five broad categories.
Voluntary participation
All participation is voluntary. Anyone who wishes to participate, without completing our psychometric personally tools, may do so. We will accommodate anyone who makes this request as much as possible, but since some of the exercises depend on participants knowing their personality scores, any participant who has not completed the tests will be unable to participate in particular exercises, and will be at a learning disadvantage. For this reason, we cannot guarantee the quality of their learning experience.
Questions
If you have any questions or concerns, the MOU with your company is open for anyone to examine and comment on, and we are happy to include other measures that that are consensually required, to run a valuable learning experience.
Contact us at:
AlterSpark
193 Augusta Avenue, Lower level
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 2L4
Canada
[email protected]
(416) 858-2055