FIRO-B® and The FIRO Business®: How Your Best-Fit Needs Preference Equate to On-the-Job and Personal Success

In Business and Leadership, FIRO, Leadership, Resources by Jonathan Bollag, Owner and Founder

The differences between The Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation Behavior Report  and The Fundamental Interpersonal Orientations Business Report  lies in the type of need each report measures. As stated in the Career Assessment Site Blog entitled, “The Firo Assessments: Honing in on Your Interpersonal Wants and Needs,” the FIRO-B® test measures your need for Inclusion, Control, and Affection. On the other hand, the FIRO Business® test measures three organizational oriented needs Connection, Influence, and Involvement. As with the FIRO-B, the FIRO® Business Report measures the difference between an Expressed Need and a Wanted Need. For example, some of us measure higher in the category of Expressed Connection and Expressed Involvement, while others measure higher in Wanted Inclusion and Wanted Connection. According to the resource, “Introduction to the FIRO Business Instrument,” authored by Judith Waterman and Jenny Rogers, a high score in Expressed Connection indicates that you take action to fulfill your need for closeness and warmth with others. Waterman and Rodgers state that a high Wanted Connection score signifies that you prefer others to take more action in fulfilling your needs.

As the name would indicate, The FIRO Business test is most often used in a business or corporate setting, for example it is used for employee retention, recruiting, leadership value and for in-house promotional assessment. On the other hand, The FIRO-B test can be useful as it paints a picture of your Wanted and Expressed Needs, who you are, what you are meant to do and how these needs might conflict or play out in your professional life. Both of these reports can come in handy for those of you who are starting you own business or company. Completing both assessments allows you to reflect on how you fulfill your needs in your personal life, as well as in your work place. The Business Report can provide you the information you need to succeed and manage a new business and or opportunity. For those of you who are in the middle of a career search, the FIRO Reports can help you plan and apply for a suitable position. Keep in mind that a fulfilled work life and a fulfilled personal life go hand-in-hand.

Perhaps you have good rapport with a current employee and you are not sure if he or she would be suitable to manage or lead a division, group or team? Scoring high in the Expressed Needs Dimension and category will help you discover whether your new recruit or employee is qualified for a higher-ranking managerial position. An employee or recruit with a  low score in Expressed Needs would usually be more suited to work independently from managing duties. You may assess an employee or recruit in terms of other Firo areas as well such as with Influence and Involvement. Scoring high in Expressed Influence and Expressed Involvement explains that the assessed individual prefers to initiate and promote involvement and influence, a good attribute for a manager.

To get specific, The Business Assessment measures and answers the following questions and more:

  • Expressed Involvement: How often do you act in ways that encourage your participation in situations?
  • Expressed Influence: How often do you act in ways that help you direct or impact situations?
  • Expressed Connection: How often do you act in ways that encourage warmth and closeness in relationships?
  • Wanted Involvement: How much do you want to be part of other’s activities?
  • Wanted Influence: How much leadership and authority do you want others to assume?
  • Wanted Connection: How much warmth and openness do you want from others?

Variations of Wanted and Expressed results make the FIRO Business both useful and interesting. Additional Firo reports include, the FIRO® Leadership report as well as the highly useful Combined FIRO-B and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Leadership Report which combines your Myers-Briggs Personality Type as well as your FIRO-B Wanted and/or Expressed dimensions, leaving you with a complete picture of your or your employees Leadership styles.

In closing, I want to reiterate the importance of preferences. The FIRO Reports, The MBTI® test, and The Strong Interest Inventory assess preference of need, energy, behavior, and interest. The focus here should be on ‘preference’. No matter what your preferences entail, and no matter which assessment you complete, remember that following your preferences and interests provide sustainability of courage, peace, and successes. The important thing is to follow your true preference as much as your environment and you allow. The closer you function towards your true preferences, the more comfortable you will feel, the more time you will spend on your career, and on your personal life, and in- turn have a more fulfilling life.

All The Best,
-Jonathan B.