Enneagram for Hiring and Talent Development

The Enneagram offers powerful insights for building teams and developing talent, but its use in hiring contexts requires careful ethical consideration. This guide explores how organizations can leverage the Enneagram responsibly — maximizing its value for talent development while avoiding the pitfalls and legal risks of using it as a screening tool.

The Critical Distinction: Hiring vs. Development

Let us address the most important point first: the Enneagram should not be used as a hiring filter. Using any personality assessment to screen out candidates raises serious ethical and legal concerns, and the Enneagram is particularly ill-suited for this purpose.

Here is why:

• Any type can succeed in any role. A Type 5 — The Investigator can be an excellent salesperson. A Type 7 — The Enthusiast can be a meticulous accountant. Type does not determine capability.
• Self-reporting in high-stakes situations is unreliable. Candidates under pressure to get a job may (consciously or unconsciously) answer in ways they think the employer wants to see.
• Personality assessments can function as proxies for protected characteristics. This creates legal risk under employment discrimination law.
• Typing accuracy requires time and trust. A hiring context provides neither.

However, the Enneagram is extraordinarily valuable once someone is on the team. Used for development rather than selection, it becomes one of the most powerful tools available for talent optimization.

Legal Considerations

What the Law Says

In the United States, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and various state laws regulate the use of assessments in hiring:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment practices that have a disparate impact on protected classes unless they are job-related and consistent with business necessity
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) restricts pre-employment medical examinations, and some personality assessments may be classified as medical examinations if they assess for psychological disorders
• State laws vary, with some jurisdictions placing additional restrictions on personality testing in employment

Best Practice Guidelines

• Never use Enneagram type as a factor in hiring, promotion, or termination decisions
• Do not require employees to disclose their Enneagram type
• Frame all Enneagram work as voluntary developmental activity
• Ensure that participation in Enneagram programs does not affect employment status
• Consult with employment law counsel before implementing any personality assessment program

Where the Enneagram Adds Value in Talent Management

Onboarding and Integration

Once a new hire is on board, the Enneagram can accelerate their integration:

For the new hire: Understanding their own type helps them recognize how they typically adjust to new environments and what support they need. A Type 6 — The Loyalist might need extra reassurance and clear expectations during the transition. A Type 3 — The Achiever might need early wins to build confidence. A Type 9 — The Peacemaker might need explicit invitations to share their opinions.

For the manager: Understanding the new hire's type helps the manager provide appropriately tailored support. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all onboarding process, the manager can adjust their approach to match the new person's motivational needs.

For the team: Knowing the new member's type helps the team understand and adapt to their style from day one, reducing the friction that often accompanies team changes.

Individual Development Planning

The Enneagram provides a remarkably specific framework for creating personalized development plans:

Type 1 — The Reformer

• Development focus: Flexibility, self-compassion, delegation
• Growth activities: Improv classes, experimentation sprints, mentoring (to practice letting others learn from mistakes)
• Key metric: Ability to accept "good enough" and celebrate incremental progress

Type 2 — The Helper

• Development focus: Boundary setting, self-advocacy, strategic thinking
• Growth activities: Assertiveness training, personal branding exercises, solo projects
• Key metric: Frequency of asking for what they need directly

Type 3 — The Achiever

• Development focus: Authenticity, emotional awareness, team development
• Growth activities: Reflective journaling, vulnerability exercises, mentoring others (focusing on their development, not outcomes)
• Key metric: Ability to share struggles and failures openly

Type 4 — The Individualist

• Development focus: Emotional regulation, consistency, appreciating the ordinary
• Growth activities: Routine-building, operational project leadership, gratitude practices
• Key metric: Consistency of output regardless of emotional state

Type 5 — The Investigator

• Development focus: Engagement, communication, physical presence
• Growth activities: Presentation skills, cross-functional collaboration, networking events
• Key metric: Frequency and quality of proactive communication

Type 6 — The Loyalist

• Development focus: Self-trust, decisiveness, risk tolerance
• Growth activities: Solo decision-making exercises, public speaking, leading without a safety net
• Key metric: Speed of decision-making and ability to move forward with incomplete information

Type 7 — The Enthusiast

• Development focus: Follow-through, depth, sitting with difficulty
• Growth activities: Long-term project ownership, mindfulness practice, difficult conversation facilitation
• Key metric: Completion rate of initiated projects

Type 8 — The Challenger

• Development focus: Vulnerability, listening, collaborative leadership
• Growth activities: Active listening exercises, one-on-one coaching (as coachee), vulnerability-based team activities
• Key metric: Quality of listening and ability to share personal struggles

Type 9 — The Peacemaker

• Development focus: Assertiveness, self-expression, initiative
• Growth activities: Opinion-first exercises, conflict initiation practice, personal priority setting
• Key metric: Frequency of initiating (not just responding to) ideas and decisions

Team Composition Strategy

While the Enneagram should never be used to decide who to hire, it is extremely valuable for understanding the dynamics of existing teams and making informed decisions about team structure.

Assessing Team Balance

Map your team's type distribution across the three centers of intelligence:

• Body Center (Types 8, 9, 1): Action, instinct, gut-level processing
• Heart Center (Types 2, 3, 4): Emotion, relationships, image
• Head Center (Types 5, 6, 7): Analysis, planning, mental processing

A team heavily weighted toward one center will have predictable blind spots:

• Too much Body Center: Decisive but may not have analyzed deeply or considered emotional impact
• Too much Heart Center: Relationally strong but may struggle with objective analysis or decisive action
• Too much Head Center: Analytically thorough but may be slow to act or disconnected from emotional realities

Complementary Type Partnerships

Strategically pairing complementary types on projects can produce exceptional results:

• Type 1 + Type 7: Quality standards plus creative ideation
• Type 3 + Type 5: Execution drive plus analytical depth
• Type 8 + Type 2: Decisive strength plus relational awareness
• Type 6 + Type 9: Risk assessment plus consensus building

Succession Planning

The Enneagram adds a unique dimension to succession planning by helping organizations think beyond skills and experience to motivational fit. Different organizational stages may benefit from different type energies in leadership:

• Startup/growth phase: Type 7 (vision and energy), Type 3 (execution and adaptability), Type 8 (decisive action)
• Stabilization phase: Type 1 (systems and standards), Type 6 (risk management), Type 5 (strategic analysis)
• Culture-building phase: Type 2 (people development), Type 9 (inclusion and harmony), Type 4 (authenticity and meaning)

Again, this is about awareness and strategic thinking, not about excluding any type from any role.

Performance Coaching

The Enneagram transforms performance conversations from generic feedback into deeply personalized coaching:

Instead of: "You need to be more assertive in meetings." With Enneagram: "As a Type 9, you have a natural gift for seeing all perspectives, and you tend to hold back your own opinion to maintain harmony. Your growth edge is to share your perspective early, even when it might create temporary discomfort. What would help you practice this?"

Instead of: "You need to be more of a team player." With Enneagram: "As a Type 5, your independent thinking is a real strength. You also tend to withdraw when things get emotionally charged, which the team can experience as disengagement. How can we create space for you to stay connected while still honoring your need for processing time?"

The difference in these conversations is substantial. The Enneagram version validates the person's core motivation while inviting them toward their growth edge. This approach produces far less defensiveness and far more genuine development.

Implementing Enneagram-Based Talent Development

Phase 1: Foundation (Month 1-2)

• Introduce the Enneagram to leadership and HR through a workshop
• Provide individual typing sessions for key leaders
• Establish ethical guidelines for Enneagram use in the organization

Phase 2: Integration (Month 3-4)

• Offer Enneagram workshops to broader teams
• Incorporate Enneagram insights into existing development planning processes
• Train managers on type-specific coaching approaches

Phase 3: Embedding (Month 5-6)

• Create Enneagram-informed onboarding processes
• Build type awareness into team formation and project assignment
• Develop Enneagram-based leadership development tracks

Phase 4: Sustaining (Ongoing)

• Regular Enneagram refreshers and advanced workshops
• Ongoing coaching for leaders using Enneagram insights
• Measurement of impact on engagement, retention, and performance metrics

Measuring the Impact

Track these metrics to demonstrate the value of Enneagram-based talent development:

• Employee engagement scores: Before and after Enneagram implementation
• Retention rates: Especially among high-potential employees
• Internal promotion rates: Are people developing faster?
• 360 feedback improvements: Tracking growth in type-specific development areas
• Team performance metrics: Project outcomes, collaboration scores
• Manager effectiveness ratings: Are Enneagram-informed managers rated higher?

Ready to Become a Certified Enneagram Coach?

If you are an HR professional, talent development specialist, or organizational consultant who wants to bring the Enneagram's depth to your work, professional certification is essential. It provides the knowledge, skills, and ethical framework needed to use this powerful tool responsibly in organizational contexts. Explore accredited Enneagram coaching certification programs at The Enneagram University and transform the way your organization develops talent.