Warmth: The degree of caring disposition

The warmth trait measures the extent of a person's tendency to seek emotional closeness with others or be socially and interpersonally reserved. Warmth is a crucial trait when it comes to choosing occupations that involve personal contact with other people. The trait has two opposite poles namely Warm and Reserved. Let’s look into both poles to better understand how we assess the warmth trait.

Reserved: People who tend to be cautious in their interactions with other people. Many like to work alone. Reserved people tend to keep their opinions to themselves and try to not impose emotional influence on other people. In the workplace, they usually have roles where they are required to work on their own.

Common Descriptors: impersonal, distant, cool, reserved, formal

Warm: Warm people usually have an interest in others and they seek connection. They are highly empathetic individuals who anticipate others' needs. They are comfortable in situations that require them to be close to other people and they truly care about them. Not surprisingly, they often enjoy occupations which allow them to have contact and closeness with others.

Common Descriptors: warm, outgoing, attentive to others, kindly, easygoing, participating

In accordance with research findings, Bryq assessment provides an evidence-based way to assess the warmth trait in order to provide you with insights that can assist in making informed decisions about the suitability of the candidates based on candidates scores on this specific trait.

Warmth Interview Guide

The interview questions listed below can draw revealing answers and get you on your way to finding whether employees tend to be more caring and attentive to others or more distant and formal and assess the degree of how warm or reserved a candidate is.

Note: There is no right or wrong answer, the answer you are seeking is based on what best fits the role and your company culture.

Top 2 questions and expected answers

1. Think of a situation where you built a relationship with someone you were going to be working with on a regular basis. How did you go about building a relationship with that person?

Warm: Individuals who score closer towards the warm end of the scale are most likely to answer that they were excited and eager to build a good rapport with their colleague. They are likely to suggest that they were open and honest about themselves as they focused on building a strong foundation based on trust and empathy.

Reserved: Individuals who score closer towards the reserved end of the scale are most likely to answer that they found it challenging to build a close relationship with their colleague and to cooperate closely. Given that they generally prefer working alone they are likely to suggest that they have found ways through which they can work together smoothly but they don’t necessarily find the personal closeness gratifying.

2. Have you ever noticed that someone at work was having a bad day? How did you know? What did you do?

Warm: Individuals who score closer towards the warm end of the scale are most likely to answer that they generally notice their colleagues as they tend to be attentive to others. Considering that they are highly interested in others they are likely to suggest that they have reached out to them to offer help or just listen to them.

Reserved: Individuals who score closer towards the reserved end of the scale are most likely to answer that even if they noticed someone's bad mood they would feel uncomfortable to reach out to them to discuss it. Given that they tend to be more formal and distant in their interactions with others it is unlikely that they would get involved.

Question pool:

3. Tell me about a time when you thought through the consequences of a specific action in planning a project. What obstacles or barriers did you discover?

4. Tell me about a time when understanding someone else’s perspective helped you accomplish a task or resolve an issue.

5. Describe a time when a colleague came to you with a problem. How did you respond?

6. What is your ideal workplace?