Due to a presumed calm and quieter nature, introverts are often overlooked in the hiring process and the workplace. However, introverts and their unique contributions can be essential for a well-rounded, successful business.

When it comes to gaining traction, operating skillfully in the current market and ultimately how long your business could be around for, having as many different personality types around the table as possible is not just a desire but key to organisational resilience.

Not many organisations are talking about hiring introverts as part of their diversity and inclusion strategy, but it's super important both for businesses and professionals. This is especially poignant now when so many different types of people are looking for jobs post-pandemic, and even more so considering how even extroverts are feeling more introverted after spending so much time at home.

There’s an intuitive and lucrative business case for specifically adding introverts to your hiring strategies. To start with, let’s answer some baseline questions.

Introvert versus extrovert — what are the personality types?

Generally speaking, people tend to be either introverted or extroverted. There are other segmented branches within these categories, so an introvert may display extroverted qualities and vice versa. Ambiverts are personalities who land in the middle of introversion and extroversion, but for the most part, people usually lean one way more than the other.

Introvert meaning — what is an introvert?

Before we begin, it’s important to remember that ‘introvert’ is a blanket definition for a personality type and every person is unique. Often, tendencies change from person to person and there is a sliding scale of how introverted, extroverted or ambiverted a person is.

With that in mind, an introvert is often defined as a quiet, reserved and thoughtful individual who prefers minimally stimulating environments. They usually get their energy from spending time alone with time to ‘recharge’ mentally on their own. While some may be seen as being withdrawn or shy, this isn’t actually the case. Introverts can be reserved and internalise some of their thinking with the purpose of adding as much value as possible when they do contribute.

For this reason, they are often considered to be deep thinkers and notice details that sometimes go unnoticed by others. A higher level of introspection can also result in the ability to acutely read people and social cues.

Can introverts be successful?

Society envisions a particular type of person when it comes to attributing success. In her book ‘Quiet’, author and lecturer Susan Cain talks extensively about the ‘Cult of Personality’ — the extrovert ideal, which at its crux focuses on the external, what people put out into the world and how others feel about them as a person.

Rather contrastingly, its predecessor, the ‘Cult of Character’, was focused on a person’s moral compass, good deeds and the standard to which they held themselves, rather than appearances. Personality versus character is an ongoing discussion, and in today’s society, it seems loudly projected personalities are the favourite.

Introversion has a bad reputation due to years of being misunderstood. Society labels more reserved people as recluses: not contributing to the world around them and waiting in stalemate for life to happen rather than taking action.

The reality is starkly different. From the ranks of introverts come hugely successful leaders and even history-makers, including Bill Gates, Mahatma Gandhi, Charles Darwin, Rosa Parks, Steve Wozniak, Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg, Steven Spielberg and Albert Einstein.

There is no question about the contributions each of these people has made. And the factors that unite them? Their humbleness, thoughtful manner and astutely detailed perceptions of the world around them. Their introversion was and is a direct contributor to their life’s achievements. This goes to show that there are many routes to success: no one type of person is better than another.

Introverts at work

In the workplace, it’s clear how leaders naturally gravitate towards a bolder persona and approach. At face value, extroverts come across as the most confident, direct and authoritative type of employee, therefore the most successful by society’s standards.

While extroverts can sometimes dominate the office environment, introverts usually present themselves more reservedly, solitary and with less fanfare around their presence. This divide can present challenges for the overall workplace dynamic because the loudest in the room tends to get kudos while the quieter person is likely more humble about their contributions.

As leaders, we need to alter our thinking to recognise this fact and notice all kinds of hard work and success. With that in mind, enabling the success of introverts starts at the beginning: the candidate attraction and hiring process.

Why hire introverts?

During the application and interview process, some introverts can be discounted early on due to displaying levels of reserve, anxiety, nervousness or humbleness around their past achievements.

However, given the time, hiring an introvert can pay off in ways that a business never expected. There are many reasons why openly and intentionally choosing to hire introverts is a good business decision, not least in helping to build a well-rounded team full of dynamic personalities.

Acute attention to detail

Introverts are often considered to be drawn to thoughts and feelings, while extroverts can find themselves being more attracted to people and activities. That means introverts can spend time making deeper meaning of the briefs, events and situations unfolding around them. In the workplace, a high level of attention to detail goes a long way towards projects, clients and delivery, directly contributing to business success.

Less management and rewards

Through internal gratification from completing tasks, introverted employees may require less reinforcement and physical reward. Often they are known to be self-motivators and self-starters, thriving on independence at work and requiring less managerial effort, compliments and inspiring spiels.

Quality teamwork and work relationships

Rather than building up many acquaintances, introverts tend to work on real friendships and professional relationships. They are often known to be intimate with their teams, prioritising loyalty and shared appreciation over their own personal and professional gain.

Calculated risk-taking

Although extroverts generally take more risks, introverted people will likely only take risks when they genuinely believe it will have a positive outcome. Generally speaking, their risks are calculated and often are high reward, feeding into a business’s reputation for innovation and overall market status.

Level up diversity and inclusion (D&I)

Every modern diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy should include every sort of personality. The primary purpose of D&I is to provide equal opportunities for all kinds of people, ethnicities, abilities and backgrounds, so it’s only natural that a well-rounded strategy should include introverts.

Get better at talent attraction

To attract the best talent at all levels and skillsets, professionals need to see themselves reflected in the business as it stands. So, if the best candidate is an introvert, they’ll want to observe others who have the same tendencies as them before joining. It’s easy to lose out on the best talent this way: people really do notice if they are not represented within a business.

Increase brand perception

Like the above point, word travels fast when it comes to businesses, their hiring approaches and employee reputations. People are the epitome of a brand and how it’s perceived, so it’s crucial to keep hiring contrasting personalities to solidify the brand’s perception and, therefore, performance. Being an inclusive employer will only ever reflect well on your brand.

What happens if we only attract one type of person?

Personality doesn't equal skill. Businesses far and wide lose out on talent every day because their conclusion drawn at interview is that the candidate is too shy, not confident enough or not the right personality fit. This leaves organisations open to lose out to competitors: they might just see the talent’s skillset, which was allowed to be overshadowed by a person’s manner within your interview.

Attracting limited personalities actually reinforces bias, and not necessarily unconsciously. This harms your brand, employer brand and even reputation. Leaders need to hire different kinds of people to approach tasks and projects from every angle, not just single-mindedly.

Sites like Glassdoor are becoming increasingly popular in the battle for the best talent. Suppose an introverted candidate can see reviews from others mentioning dominatingly large personalities, achievements and contributions being overlooked or a ruthless work environment. In that case, it’s undoubtedly an off-putting element to the job search.

That point also feeds into organisation resilience. Wider internal diversity boosts business traction because there are many different perspectives and approaches when it comes to tasks. One person has their view but with many different perspectives comes real progress, ideas generation and intuitive solution building. It takes a broad range of minds to help a business succeed.

Public relations (PR) disasters have occurred due to not having enough diversity within an organisation. Some recent events include the H&M ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’ sweater scandal and the open letter to BrewDog stating the brand is “built on a cult of personality”. One noticeable outcome is how both extroverts and introverts wanted to have their voices heard during the fallout of these PR disasters: underrepresentation at both firms led to the negative PR and to rectify the issue, the people spoke out.

It's clear just how important it is for businesses to diversify their workforce and make a point of attracting introverts. But once they're on board, what can you as a leader do to keep them engaged and intent at work?

Supporting introverts to reach their potential

As part of your strategic plan on building a well-rounded business, tapping into the potential of introverted employees is a definite bonus. Helping them reach their potential also helps your organisation. Here’s what can be done to nurture that process and ensure introverts — and all other team members — remain engaged in the workplace.

Work to their advantages

Problem-solving, behaviour, analysis, ideas generation and deep thinking. These are all work elements at which many introverts excel. Offer work where they can demonstrate their skills and limit tasks that may lead to burnout or lower productivity levels, such as presentation work, sales, and projects requiring copious amounts of facetime. Ask them what they enjoy and analyse their performance in doing so: if they do it well, providing more of the work they like will work well for the business.

Organise one-to-ones

Introverts may not speak openly during brainstorming sessions and staff meetings, meaning that their ideas can be missed despite them being beneficial for the organisation. Instead of assuming they do not know the answer or haven’t given something much thought, seek them out and ask for their opinions directly.

Don’t expect instant answers

Enjoying alone time to think deeply about a project, task or question is what introverts do well. They need time to delve into the heart of a problem but, more often than not, will come up with a solution that others haven’t thought of yet. As a leader, rewarding quick thinking over well-analysed ideas will negatively impact introverts and, therefore, the business.

Partner them with an extrovert

Like everything in life, business needs balance. That’s why introverts and extroverts often work well together: the introvert brings unique and perceptive ideas to the table, and the extrovert revels in pitching and presenting them to those who need to hear them. If you can spot differences in personalities and utilise that for business advantage, you’re already one step ahead of your competitors.

Hiring introverts and providing them room to work well is probably something you as a leader are already doing — just perhaps not consciously. When businesses realise the positive place that introversion can hold in the workplace, they begin harnessing untapped skillsets and help all employees reach their full potential. Building an inclusive, well-rounded team full of all kinds of personalities and dynamics has a direct correlation to greater levels of business success.

Ready to build a hiring and retention strategy that attracts and works for all kinds of personalities? Get in touch.