Understanding Planner Personalities at Work

Secondary Personality Type: Planner

Within the Hire Success^® system, the four main personality types provide a basis for understanding personalities — but that’s only the beginning. By incorporating the results from the sliding character trait descriptions we gain more insight into how a person behaves, as well as their work style preferences. The system also uses secondary personality types to further reveal what makes job candidates tick. Here, we’ll examine the Planner personality type.

How do you know you’re working with a Planner personality type?

Planners love to tackle a big project by breaking things down into smaller pieces so that they can consistently achieve and see results. Nothing makes them more panicked or frustrated than having to wait until the last minute to start something. They’re logical, rational thinkers, who work hard but can be perceived as aloof by others.

Have you run across a job candidate who fits this description? If so, the following Planner personality traits may also hit the mark.

Planner Personality Traits

• Premeditated
• Industrious
• Breaks big tasks into a logical series of smaller, easily achievable tasks
• Philosophy is “the longest journey begins with the first step”
• Self-confident
• Independent
• Goal-oriented
• Tendency to work and do too much — believes they can to it best so they are unwilling to delegate
• If disappointed in the way others do a task, may jump in and do it
• Desire to be responsible for success may, at times, be done at the expense of others

What are the best Planner career options?

Planners are very happy to work on their own — in fact, they’re often so pleased with their way of working that they’re afraid to let anyone else take part who might mess things up. Planner personality types feel that they can take on a lot, but they often struggle with team projects because they have trouble letting go and accepting different ways of doing things, especially if plans or timelines change. They can be seen as impatient and inflexible by colleagues — and Planners are certainly not ones to waste time in idle chitchat by the water cooler when there are important things to be done.

Planner personalities do well in a wide variety of roles that require critical, logical thinking skills and the ability to tackle big projects. Planners tend to make excellent architects, marketing strategists, business analysts, engineers, and entrepreneurs.