Getting Personal: Inside LH's New Dynamics Questionnaire

Discovering your talents and being able to optimise them to create more motivation, stronger bonds and greater communication skills sounds like an obvious recipe for success in the workplace.

So it’s no surprise to learn that the newly relaunched Luxury Hospitality Personality Questionnaire is attracting interest from not only the yachting community but many business models across different industries.

The LH Dynamics Questionnaire was designed specifically for Luxury Hospitality in collaboration with New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur, Roger James Hamilton. He created Talent Dynamics to uncover a personal path to harmony, happiness and balance, helping you to find your path of least resistance.

As you gain a deeper understanding of your skill sets and talents, your motivation deepens and you also better understand the skills and talents of your team members, partners and clients. This naturally builds stronger, more effective and more cohesive relationships in the workplace.

"Essentially the way we train teams is to focus on people’s talents and this assessment is a great way to find them out,’ explains LH’s Operations Manager Erik Smit. ‘People of our generation grew up being sent by employers to attend training on subjects where we didn’t excel, to learn to do things we weren’t good at.

"It helps to change the mindset of that generation to be a bit more self-centred, think about what you enjoy and what you’re good at and let other people in your team take on the tasks you are less talented at. The Generation Z/Millennials are more self-aware and this comes more naturally to them."

The self learning and development exercise takes approximately 15 minutes to complete online and involves you answering multiple choice questions that are the closest to your personality traits and working practises.

On completion, you receive a precise breakdown of your natural traits and talents and how best to utilise them followed by a one-on-one debrief with LH’s Insight specialist Julia Rogers to explore and emphasise your inherent talents, identify your challenges and emerge from the process with a strong and positive sense of self.

"Talent Dynamics was designed for business entrepreneurs building their teams and while we used it successfully for some time, we became a niche partner and decided to reinvent the assessment as the wording and order wasn’t completely right for us," adds LH’s Founder Peter Vogel. 

Julia and her colleague Diana overhauled the test and while the questions remain the same, the reports are different. "The original report was very long, which captains don’t have time to plough through, and it also compared you to famous people with the same qualities, which didn’t feel authentic," says Julia. "We’ve spent nine months getting it more service orientated, it’s been rewritten, it flows much better and the report is much shorter."

Peter’s personal video message accompanies a simplified report and candidates requiring further detail can now use click buttons to direct them to relevant areas of further research.

Peter advises that all team members in a division or company undertake the questionnaire to get the maximum benefit from the exercise.

"We propose that the whole crew does it – that way there is no confusion, you all end up speaking the same language and because of that, communication improves," says Peter.

"It was a huge investment for us to become a niche partner, we did it at the beginning of the pandemic because we knew it would take months to get right and it seemed like the best use of our time. We are just starting to launch it and we’re already getting really good feedback.

"We are also about to launch our LH Leadership programme, where you start with self-leadership first, and that is also anchored on this product so it made a lot of sense to relook at the Dynamics questionnaire."

With only a fraction of our capabilities generally being used in our everyday lives, its value in the workplace cannot be overstated according to Erik, and it resonates across nationality and cultural divides.

"I recently went on a fully Russian boat with a translator and it was a life changing introduction for them,’ he recalls. ‘They were not used to being enabled to look at their talents and the things that go well. It’s a much stricter environment which is all about performing and making sure you’re not making mistakes.

"I had a long talk with the captain after the questionnaires and he was so impressed that he wants us to come back on a yearly basis. I also worked on a Middle Eastern project with a mainly East European crew and it was mind-blowing for them to be approached this way by us, to think about the positives and use that positive energy to fix the things that can be improved.

"It’s very gratifying that people are so open to it. I’m in talks with a private aviation company and many companies across the board are reaching out to us now."

Much of the value is in the debrief and if the questionnaire is being used as part of a recruitment process, one of the Insight specialists writes a detailed report to send to the recruiter or agent. 

"Anyone can take the questionnaire but the real value is in the debrief – you get an accurate understanding of why it is so effective and how to use it,’ explains Julia. ‘Many tests are long winded but this one is so simple and is 95% accurate. When you have good insight and understand yourself, you can improve in self-leadership and also become a better leader of others."

Some candidates even decide to embark on career changes after taking it. "The debrief is helping people to discover some lightbulb moments," adds Peter. "A lot of people question if they’re in the right role or even the right industry once they see their results.

"Identifying where your strengths are can help you figure out where to go with this knowledge of what you’re good at and what you’re challenged by. It can pre-empt new career pathways for people of all ages."

Adds Peter: "We are working with management companies, private residences and yachts and people are embracing it. We recently went on board a 100m+ boat and the chief engineer was not sure about it, but he became very emotional about an hour in.

"It’s amazing to see that shift, no matter your rank or what nationality you are. It touches you when you realise you have talents that you didn’t see before because people only ever picked you up on your challenges.

"We are moving into preventing problems rather than solving them once they’ve already occurred. Our unique 360 approach involves first giving people ‘Insight’, followed by developing themselves through our ‘Growth’ programmes and then continued with our ‘Support’ coaching."

The Best Team Roles for Each Profile

Creator

Creators are the best at getting things started, and although they can be quick to create chaos, they can also be surprisingly creative at finding ways out of chaos. Always put them in charge of new projects, but move them on to the next creations once their job is done. 

Star

Stars are the best promoters, and need to lead from the front. Give them the chance to shine, and give them the space to deliver results without tying them down. Give them the support and encouragement, and they will be the best spokesperson for the group. Discourage them and they will be the biggest critic.

Supporter

Supporters are the best people managers, but don't expect them to come up with the plan themselves. Build a plan an set goals with a Supporter, and then let them lead the team towards the plan. Let them set their own management style, and their own agenda. Always give them an environment of fun, variety and celebration.

Deal Makers

Deal Makers are the best peace-makers, and will leave everyone feeling good. Don't expect them to go out cold calling, as they thrive on building the relationships they have. Work with Deal Makers to nurture the relationships within the team and, when things get too hot in the team, Deal Makers will cool it down.

Trader

Traders are your best negotiators, as they are looking for balance and fairness. They will always get the best price, in both what you buy and what you sell. Traders will have their ears to the ground in your market and your team, and they will always look for harmony and equality in the team.

Accumulator

Accumulators are your best ambassadors. They are reliable, get things done on time, and don't make rash decisions. Accumulators make the best project managers when a task or a project needs to be delivered reliably on time and budget. They are the reliable organisers in the team. 

Lord

Lords are your best analysts. Give them the space to the study the details and to deliver the data. Don't ask them to go out and network, as they are strongest when focused behind the scenes. When you need to keep count or keep score, give the job to a Lord and they will always be the most reliable in keeping track. 

Mechanic

Mechanics are your best completers. They will wrap up the process and find smart ways to do it better next time. Don't ask a mechanic to start from scratch, but do give them an existing process or product to improve on. They work fine on their own and often find social situations uncomfortable. 

If you or your team would like to find out more about your inherent strengths and talents by taking the LH Dynamics Personality Questionnaire you can do so here.