WorkStyle Alignment Testimonials

“Through globalization-based change alignment is key. Workers who are aligned with their work and workplaces are happier and more satisfied. Companies aligned with their purpose and environment are more successful.”

“…we got to compare WorkStyles with others and talk about working with change”

“A great reminder…that being happy in a career is about more than the simple surface details we consider far too often…seeing what jobs do line up with WorkStyle Preference.”

“My biggest takeaway…was recognizing my WorkStyle Preference and applying it every week at my workplace. The changes I made were not drastic but being aware of my preference made all the difference. I was able to understand why I preferred certain tasks over others, and I was able to leverage others who I believed might fit under complimentary roles (since I did not make my employees to the WSP) in order to help facilitate my work… it might sound silly, but it actually helped me gain some confidence.

I did enjoy the real life examples with all the different organizations because it shows the actual impact the WSP had on many different businesses.”

“Since I just made a transition into a position that was my Preference, it was nice to see what a perfect fit this new job would be.”

“Through (globalization-based change) alignment is key. Workers who are aligned with their work and workplaces are happier and more satisfied. Companies aligned with their purpose and environment are more successful.”

When I become a leader, I will absolutely remember this tool and the power it can wield to help build a team.

“I appreciated this opportunity to come away from the course with a tool that will help me navigate my future.”

“…helped me understand my preferences and motivations in planning my future career… and ideas of how to redesign my workplace.”

“I have an excellent understanding of how I prefer to work and what I should focus on in the future.”

“…allowed me to see my WorkStyle and me how my WorkStyle fits with me, showed me ways I can improve, and most importantly, allowed me to set more precise goals for myself.”

“Helped me understand my preferences and motivations in planning my future career. The instruction on aligning those preferences with work gives me ideas of how to redesign my workplace.”

“Helped me see the long term impact the WSP™ could have on me and my decisions moving forward…and point me in the general direction of my larger goals.”

“I learned about the levels of stress that I would experience in certain positions and how I could excel in others.”

“Since I just made a transition into a position that was my Preference, it was nice to see what a perfect fit this new job would be

“Learning about all the different WorkStyles really allowed me to understand how I am in the workplace, as well as showed me ways I can improve in the workplace.”

“The WSP™ is an incredible learning tool….to learn of the work activities that are illustrative of my preferred WorkStyle….”

“It helped me to identify my strengths and my weakness as a leader.”

“The thing I liked best…was getting to do the WSP, and also the advice on how to do well. I enjoyed talking about alignment, as I never realized this was a thing.”

“I really learned what it meant to me to be in a work environment”

“I see clearly now myself, and myself in the workplace. I see now how they both meet up like a beautiful harmony.”
“…allowed me to see my WorkStyle and me how my WorkStyle fits with me, showed me ways I can improve, and most importantly, allowed me to set more precise goals for myself.”

“The WSP™ Inventory did something critical because it analyzed my current situation: My work and my preferred way to work and outlined the stress factors why I am not aligned with my work.”

“Knowing (my Preference) about myself not only gives me criteria with which to judge future employment opportunities, but also to create alignment in my current situation where possible and reduce stress from misalignment.”

“Through (globalization-based change) alignment is key. Workers who are aligned with their work and workplaces are happier and more satisfied. Companies aligned with their purpose and environment are more successful.”

“Comparing my WSP Preference and Actual Work was eye opening for me.”

“I learned about the levels of stress that I would experience in certain positions and how I could excel in others.”

“I must confess this is the most beneficial and the reason is not far-fetched. This is life and what it is about, there is nothing more important to me right now than finding alignment in my life, my work, my workplace, and knowing myself.”

“…for the first time, I know what I want from my future work experience and how I can contribute to my work, my family, and community in a meaningful way.”

“Knowing (my Preference) about myself not only gives me criteria with which to judge future employment opportunities, but also to create alignment in my current situation where possible and reduce stress from misalignment.”

“I see clearly now myself, and myself in the workplace. I see now how they both meet up like a beautiful harmony.”

“I think the WSP™ is pertinent to everyday life and should be taught more frequently and widespread.”

Learning my WSP™ Preference changed everything.

I entered the workforce assuming the people at the top of every industry had been adept and successful in every station along the way. Every CEO had started in the mailroom. Every restaurateur had once washed dishes, flipped burgers, and delivered five searing hot plates of food gracefully balanced along her arm.

If I was going to be the best, earn the most, and climb the highest I would need to start at the bottom, work hard, and simply be better than the rest. This approach worked at first. However, I soon noticed a pattern developing. I’d start at an entry level position, do very well, be awarded with a supervisory role, burnout, and change industries. I wasn't moving up. I was moving sideways. It was exhausting.

Learning my WSP™ preference changed that. It brought everything into focus. I began to look for jobs naturally aligned with my WorkStyle Patterns®. I began to tailor jobs that were out of alignment to suit my needs, instead of the other way around. The burnout ceased. I learned to embrace lateral movement. Work became sustainable and enjoyable.

I recommend this inventory to anyone, whether you’re a mail clerk or a CEO. Don't waste anymore time being unhappy in your job.

"Learning about my WSP™ Profile absolutely changed my life.

After college I struggled quite a bit when it came to figuring out what I wanted to do. I couldn’t find a job I liked enough to stay with long-term, and job-hopping got me in a confusing cycle of self-doubt.

After taking the WSP™ Inventory it was like a light bulb went on, and everything became so clear! I learned why the specific positions I had worked in the past hadn’t suited me, and why I was so unhappy in the work I had been doing. Reading about my WSP™ profile gave me a level of self-understanding that I had never known before, and it has guided me in every professional decision I have made since.

I highly recommend this evaluation to anyone who is looking for some clarity in their career, and who wants to discover their true strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their work style.”

There are three things that stand out with the WorkStyle Patterns® Inventory for me: objectivity, creating alignment, and caring about people.

1) The WSP™ Inventory allows for objectivity when people talk about their job and performance (stresses and pleasures of work), separate from results. It is a way to openly, freely, and tangibly hold conversations about work that reveals if people are happy, unhappy, stressed, or in other words, how well a person is aligned to their work or not. In a way, the process quantifies this historically “soft” and sometimes difficult discussion topic.

2) If you care about people you soon realize that their work matters. And if their work words matter, their job matters, quality matters, it matters to the business. Work matters to their lives in that it provides a living, health-care, education, and supports family. To then have an employee focus their time in dead end jobs or that produce stress and unhappiness is a form of wasting life, no matter how heroic and self-sacrificing it may be. The WSP™ alignment process provides insight in how work content can get tweaked and modified here and there a bit that really helps people be happier at work, helps them contribute to the work in an aligned way, and ultimately helps them have a much more fulfilling occupation and purpose when at work.

3) What makes WSP™ assessment different from other instruments is its inherent design that reveals alignment conditions … you can see how the McFletcher’s deeply care about people and having them find aligned and purposeful work as that caring is designed into the inventory, the results, and the guidance about what you can do about those results—all in an effort to guide, teach, and help people find aligned work.

“I’ve used the WSP™ process as an invaluable tool in my consulting work for over 25 years. In my experience, it offers insights that other inventories and employment instruments miss.

The WSP™ Inventory offers each individual an understanding of how they most prefer to approach work - what they can love about work - that resonates deeply. “I have been seen!

The WSP™ process opens a view of what each individual potentially adds to the work team, and the character of the team as a result of this gathering of individuals with similar or differing preferences. “This is how I fit in!

The WSP™ process can bring startling understanding of how far people bend to meet the demands of a role that is very far from their preference, and where the stress for that lack of match is felt.”

Personally, I’ve used the WSP™ Inventory and alignment process to shape my business practice to reflect changes over time to my own preferences; to select business partners; and to guide my adult children in shaping their careers.”

I have been stunned thus far in my educational career how well WorkStyle Patterns identified my work style strengths and allowed me to take advantage of my natural work preferences. As an Adaptive Preference, I have found that rout repetition without flexibility and change are extremely draining on me physically and psychologically. That being said, I have always had a passion for the medical field, and as long as I can remember I have wanted to become a doctor. After receiving my initial WSP™ evaluation with Tomas, he explained that throughout my education I would find it difficult to spend countless hours doing the same activities. He explained that diversifying my responsibilities through research and volunteering would allow me to be more productive in my studies, as well as be a well-rounded applicant to medical school.

I followed this advice when I entered college. I found myself loving my study breaks to volunteer with those with mental disabilities, and spending time in the lab to research potential breakthroughs in science. Now as a medical student, I have taken a similar approach to my career. Rather then limiting myself to a future in private practice where I would see the same type of patient day in and day out, I have chosen to complete an MD/PhD program, which is preparing me for a career in academic medicine.

Regardless of the specialty I choose, this career path will allow me to balance my work between patient care, cutting edge research, medical education, and institutional leadership, while allowing more time to spend with family and church responsibilities. It is a career path I did not know existed as a teenager, but which was predicted quite precisely by WorkStyle Patterns. I couldn’t be happier.

What is this thing? Is it like other assessments? Why take this inventory? What do I get out of it? Are all standard questions I get asked when talking about the WorkStyle Patterns® (WSP™) Inventory with clients.

In some ways I can’t really tell you what it is because you have to experience it to know the difference and to obtain insight. It is not your work skills or experience such as what you would show on your resume. It is not your personality, which we know is formed in early childhood and is a description of who you are. This WSP™ Inventory is an indicator of how you think and act when at work. It is the only validated and reliable instrument based in the language of work I am aware of available to you today.

Early in my career “the work was the work” and “the job was the job” and I “could take it or leave it.” My conception was that I had to fit myself to the work and that often made work miserable for me. The first time I learned that work was not immutable and could be designed to fit the person, I like to say my head exploded like the TV commercial with purple dust coming out of my head — it turned my world upside down.

Work is so much more than earning a living. It can help one express a sense of belonging to a work team, organization or company. It can help you express a sense of pride and identity. There is something deeply intrinsic and value adding to an individual for their part in a job well-done; especially purposeful and meaningful work.

So, if you want to:
• Get better results
• Build better teams
• Create flow / alignment
• Reduce stress
• Improve productivity
• Find fit
• Improve the bottom line
• Feel good about yourself at work
• Make a difference at work in a new way

Then you have to learn your WorkStyle preference. I encourage you to do so. It made a difference for me and I know it can for you as well.

The WorkStyle Alignment with the WSP™ Inventory has opened my eyes to everything I already knew but was unaware of. It taught me why I tend to navigate towards certain positions and has been me a new direction when looking to improve my work environment and positions. I reference the WSP™ often when new opportunities arise to ensure I go down the right path for a happy and successful career.

The WSP™ Inventory has been an extremely helpful resource in guiding my own work as well as mentoring and guiding classes of young adults in their internships.

For me it has clarified the “reasons” behind the way I work, which has allowed me to dig deeper in doing what I do with greater conviction, but it has also allowed me to recognize potential shortcomings and develop a team around me for which we can work together. As for our interns, we able mentor them through their internship placement, whether aligned or not, to help guide them in the long-term perspective of work alignment as well as professional and ministerial development. I particularly like the Teaming capabilities with the WSP™ Inventory and the empathy it brings when working together as aligned groups.

The WSP™ Inventory has even helped deepen our marriage as we work together professionally and on all the things that being a family implies.

Understanding my WSP™ Profile has helped me chose a career that works for me and changed the way I study and analyze subjects.

Throughout my life I was asked the question, “What do you want to do for your career?” I always rambled off the same answers like a doctor, firefighter, or dentist. It wasn’t until I went through the WSP™ that I understood where my skill set was. My WSP™ Profile helped me understand the work I would thrive in and would do this with connecting people and working with people. My knowledge from the WSP™ has not only helped me in choosing a career path, but also in other parts of my life.

The way that I study and learn new topics has changed because of the WSP™. My retention for subjects vastly grew as I studied with others just as me WSP™ Profile advised me. This made college courses as well as personal studies become more enjoyable to me.

I also have been able to better comprehend both work and social situations. I am able to analyze these situations through knowing not only my WSP™ Profile, but also understanding the WSP™ Profiles of those that I may be interacting with. This gives me the ability to help others exceed and creates a more cohesive working environment for all.
I recommend the WSP™ not only to my family, friends, and colleagues, but anyone who wants to understand how they can be more impactful in their work, school, or life.

In 1988 while establishing the Training and Development Department for 3M Austin Center in Austin Texas, I was introduced to Donna and Tomas McIntosh-Fletcher of the McFletcher Corporation and the WorkStyle Patterns (WSPTM). It was the beginning of a long relationship in which I would learn so much about the Alignment Process and the impact it would have on an organization and in my life.
The WSP™ process has been a life changing experience in my life. I came to understand my successes, why I worked the way that I did, why some people worked better with me than others, why some projects were accomplished faster than others, and why some projects failed. This understanding has served me in helping organizations but mostly, it has helped me perform better in my different endeavors. With an Innovator profile, I came to understood my past successes and challenges. In my careers, positions were always made for me and I had to develop the department and projects from scratch. I was creating and loved it. Once the project was done, I needed someone else to administer it. Luckily, my accomplishments were noticed and I was promoted or recruited to another organization to a similar task.

As an entrepreneur, I was challenged to work in areas outside of my preference in order for my company to flourish. It was the understanding of the WSP™ framework that helped me bridge into another WorkStyle Patterns®, especially when doing detail work. I did not like it but knew it had to be done in order to succeed on my own. As I work with organizations, I share the WSP™ concept for getting their projects off the ground. Once, when leaving a particular organization after only three years, an Executive said, “You accomplished in three years what it took others twenty-five years to do.” I did that by selecting staff members and allowing them to work in their Preferred WorkStyle areas. Together as a team we accomplished huge goals.

The WSP™ knowledge is powerful for individuals because it becomes a part of self-knowledge and self-understanding on how they prefer to work. This information helps people in selecting a position that is a good fit for them within an organization. It helps individuals select jobs that are better aligned with their preference and skills. It is a win-win both for the individual and the organization.

Today, as I pursue new goals, this valuable Inventory is embedded in my way of thinking and working. With a Masters and Ph.D. in Adult Learning and certifications and knowledge of most major assessment instruments, the WSP™ Inventory is my assessment of choice. It is what makes an organization richer in their development of individuals, teams and managers.

David Bradley Consulting Group Inc. works with organizations, both large and small, to assist in the selection and development of key personnel. We use the WorkStyle Patterns Process (WSP™) to focus is on the factors that contribute to job satisfaction by defining the work a person ‘WANTS TO DO’ versus ‘HAVE TO DO’. The critical link is work alignment – the ‘fit’.

Developed by the McFletcher Corporation, we use the WSP™ alignment process to work with our client(s) to determine the APPROACH required in a targeted position. Using the same process we then evaluate short-listed candidates to examine their preferred approach to work versus the needed approach. The results, once validated by the candidate, allows objective gap analysis of the work alignment and fosters constructive communication on the candidates ‘fit’ to the needs of the position. The closer the match, the better the alignment, increases the potential for success.

EXISTING EMPLOYEES
Research shows there is often a discrepancy, or misalignment between the preferred WorkStyle of a person to that required by the work they are doing. For some, the differences are exciting and challenging – for others these differences are confusing and stressful. Some people simply cannot perform well in the wrong sandbox.

When working with existing employees we use the WSP™ work alignment process to reveal and explain any alignment gaps. We are then afforded the opportunity to analyze potential alignment issues and, in a non-defensive manner, develop plans to manage any gaps for the benefit of all.

The way conflicting WorkStyle alignment issues are managed determine a person’s work satisfaction that directly impacts the organizations ability to meet targeted goals and objectives.

The McFletcher work alignment process is a critical tool in the selection and development of an organization’s talent pool.

From a client perspective - how I use the WSP™ process when having a team and leaders to coach:

As a leader, having an understanding of how your employees will naturally approach their work yields tremendous results. You can tap into employee’s amazing potential and position them to use their gifts in ways that allows them to feel purposeful and passionate, they will serve your customers better, be more innovative and engaged with their work. My clients use WorkStyle Patterns® in the workplace to bridge conversations and create new opportunities for the work to be done.

Personally, When I learned that my preference was Project Manager and it make sense to me as I love to coordinate people and projects and help to align the work with the bigger picture. I find it easy to build relationships, get other excited about the project and, together, we make amazing things happen. Armed with this knowledge of who I am and what I can offer to the workplace and community, I seek out work that allows me to use my strengths to support the execution of the work.

The WorkStyle Pattern® Inventory made a difference for me and Pepperdine University. I was tasked to lead a group of adjunct-faculty and alumni-volunteers to create coherence, discipline in selecting, orienting, and providing coaching and guidance to individuals coming into our two-year instructor role.

While all the team members valued learning, each team member brought different experiences to the role before us. In short we all preferred to work differently from each other -- that could create some stresses in a team.

Here are four things using WSP™ Inventory did for us: The team managed stress better knowing how each member preferred to work, It helped clarify for the program a deeper understanding of the role and role expectations, it gave us common concepts and vocabulary to articulate the role and it gave us what we desired in the role, but it also clarified behaviors not necessary for the role.

I learned about WorkStyle Patterns® (WSP™) process in a Leadership Training Class at a global energy company. At first we were hesitant, but once we learned this was not a test (no right/wrong answers) we opened our minds to learn something new about ourselves and each other. Each class member learned about their own work preference profile and then of their classmates. As we shared the results around the room we realized the descriptions were fitting each of us to a ‘T’ and that this was a new way to organize around work.

Knowing the company needed better performance in safety we then broke into groups to form ‘safety committees’ to choose the best profile combinations for the job. This effort produced effective results: reduced incidents, healthier employees, and happier employees aligned to that role.

This was very effective and set the pattern for future WSPTM exercises. A couple of years later I was appointed to a Refinery Training Coordinator position and knew right away that WSPTM process would be at the top of my action list so I could repeat that prior success. I applied it to:

1. New Employees
2. Associates in the three-year Formal Operator Training Program.
3. Shift Supervisors
4. Console Operators
5. Various Teams and Groups requesting the WSP

Using this alignment process with individuals and groups opened a new door of understanding in that it answered questions before employees even knew they had a question. The results are intuitive and immediately usable to everyone taking the inventory.

Over time we generated and used a database of WSP™ Inventory results. For example, new employees used the result insights as they moved along from job to job through their career. This enabled us to do an in-depth study of supervisors and console operators using their original inventory results and compare those to the results of a supervisor/console operator job inventory to match them with their preference.

As a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Career Transition Coach, I found the WSP™ process to be a valuable resource in my work with executive and professional clients in mid-career transition. It provides the “missing piece” in an individual assessment profile and offers unique insight for making choices that honor each person’s true preference for how they do their best work.
 
For me personally, I’ve used to WSP™ process to learn about my Dynamic Adaptor Preference. These insights supported me to make a choice to balance my private practice with accepting a regularly scheduled position at Pima Community College. For the first time in my life, I have a good balance between structure work responsibilities and unstructured, free time.

I’ve worked with the McFletcher Corporation over the past 36 years as a client, associate, consultant and friend. With McFletcher’s guidance I had the unique experience of leading two major organizations through organizational and cultural alignment programs.  This put me in a dual role as a General Manager and a Change Agent. This was difficult and stressful but worth the pain and effort. The results obtained exceeded my expectations. Both organizations achieved world class manufacturing status.

I’ve experienced all of their alignment processes and inventories. If you commit to and rely on them THEY WORK! TRY IT!  YOU WILL LIKE IT!

Having completed my own WSP™‎ assessment, I was surprised not only by its precision but also the sense of self-awareness on how to approach work it has created.

I also recognized the value of the assessment to implement the WSP concept into our consulting portfolio to address the market in German speaking countries.

The need for an accurate translation is obvious ‎and in progress.

When I was coming to this class, I was suspicious. I enrolled to the class because there was probably nothing else I could find more interesting than it. Looking at the title of the course, I thought it was going to be philosophy (empty, pompous terms) I didn’t need. But I was so wrong to think so and so right to take the class. From the first module, my interest for the class grew high.

I did not know what to expect in module 1. The concept of Alignment was foreign to me. I had always considered work to be an undesirable task I want to get rid of as soon as I can. And then I took my WorkStyle Patterns® (WSP™) Inventory. By the way, when I saw that I was going to study an 18-page report I screamed. I knew I was up for torture. “Why in the world would I have to lacerate my brain with a dumb test report that will add no value to my life,” I thought. I had taken personality tests before over and over again. The last one I took in a previous class was so wrong that I wished I didn’t waste my time taking it.

But this whole class was different. My WSP™ Profile has talked to me like no one else, and like no other test ever had. I finally understood why the McIntosh-Fletchers promise a fulfilled life to those that apply the principles of Work Alignment. I know what I like and want to do; in fact, I knew it before the class, but I couldn’t find a name for it, and I didn’t know how to explain it to a potential employer. Now I have educated information about myself and my skills.

From the start of this class, I have turned down several job offers because the job descriptions did not meet my want or at least required me to offer what I don’t want to offer or what I can’t offer successfully. When I talk to a recruiter, I use my Preferred WorkStyle Profile description with elegant explanation, which, I believe, sends a message out that, “This dude knows what he wants!” In a word, I am proud. That’s how excited I am with this class. I want my wife to take her WSP test, and when I open my business, I will partner with the McIntosh-Fletchers to help my team members with their WSP™ information.

In the end, I thank God for having let me take this class. I thank you, sir, for designing this class. I feel that even if I were to stop here with my education, I would get out of it the most valuable insight I could ever dream of for my life. I have no excuse but to succeed in life with the tools this class has given me. I am writing with my heart and hope you will pardon my emotion. I was satisfied with the class.”

"I was introduced to the McFletchers and their comprehensive WSP™ inventory in 1993 when I was doing a business startup for a new Division of a large defense contractor. I selected the McFletcher's to help us with our hiring practices because the organization needed to operate a small cohesive unit in order to meet our contractual obligations.

We used the WSP™ process in developing our position descriptions and in hiring and training our staff with truly amazing results. Over and eight year period of time turnover was less than 1%, we only had one lost time accident, and disciplinary actions rarely were necessary.

I attribute this success to the fact that we hired the right people for the right positions. And though our organizational structure was extremely flat, the staff found other outlets for expression that kept them satisfied. Of the 88 members of the staff nearly 25 completed advanced degrees before the division finished it contract with the government. This was truly a testament to the value of the McFletcher Organization and the WSP™ alignment process.