Supporting self-reflection and adopting a coaching mindset are key elements in leading professionals, says Päivi Lehtonen, CEO of Choice Talents & Brands. Personality profiling supports both—and plays an essential role in shaping a better employee experience.

Employee experience has far-reaching effects on the success of any organization: it impacts competitiveness, productivity, employee wellbeing—and ultimately, even the customer experience.

“In other words, this is not a minor matter,” says Päivi Lehtonen, CEO of Choice.

Choice Talents & Brands specializes in recruitment, employer branding, and employee experience development. The company also places strong emphasis on the experience of its own employees.

One way they put this into practice is through personalized, coaching-based leadership.

Growth Through Self-Reflection

Choice recruits experienced professionals in line with its strategic focus.

“These individuals also expect a lot from leadership — in order to grow, learn, and move forward in their careers,” says Lehtonen.

Rather than leading her team through direction and traditional management thinking, Lehtonen aims to offer her experts opportunities for reflective development.

To support that reflection and growth, she uses the WorkPlace Big Five personality profile.

“As a leader, I see my role as providing our experienced professionals with tools that help them better understand their behaviours and natural tendencies — and to engage in deep self-reflection on their development areas and strengths. WorkPlace Big Five is an excellent tool for this,” Lehtonen explains.

Coaching in Day-to-Day Leadership

As part of the recruitment process, Lehtonen asks all top candidates to complete the WorkPlace Big Five profile before final hiring decisions are made.

Once onboard, the profile becomes a daily tool for personalized leadership.

“I always emphasize that profiling is not a one-time event—it creates long-term value. That’s especially true when it’s combined with a coaching and developmental approach in day-to-day leadership,” Lehtonen says.

She uses the profile with every team member—for example, during annual development conversations.

“My aim is to structure the year so that each expert has clear development goals and strengths in mind. We then work consistently on those throughout the year. The profile often forms the basis of each person’s annual self-coaching plan,” she adds.

Turning Complex Topics into Concrete Conversations

As a leader, Lehtonen believes in clarifying and concretizing abstract concepts whenever possible.

“WorkPlace Big Five helps turn vague, hard-to-articulate topics into a shared language, enabling open and natural conversations. Behavioral patterns or one’s typical ways of reacting, for instance, aren’t easy to describe—especially when trying to reflect and develop them. Profiling helps create a shared conceptual framework, which leads to greater mutual understanding,” Lehtonen explains.

The analysis also lowers the threshold for addressing difficult topics or development areas.

“Having data gives me, as a leader, a more solid foundation for personalized leadership. I trust myself more in those moments because I’m not relying solely on my own impressions or intuition. I also have concrete data about the person’s natural tendencies,” she adds.

Lehtonen encourages leaders and managers to try profiling—but she’s also clear that profiling alone is not enough.

“It opens up an incredible world. When you have the right terms for what may have previously felt like fuzzy thoughts, you can have clearer conversations. You can help people reflect on both their actions and their personalities,” she summarizes.

WorkPlace Big Five as a Tool for Personalized Leadership

Enables deep self-reflection for the employee
Helps leaders support their team members’ development
Creates a shared language that makes complex conversations easier

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Päivi Lehtonen is an experienced leader, manager, and entrepreneur working in recruitment, employer branding, and employee experience. As CEO of Choice Talents & Brands, she believes that the better you understand yourself, the better you understand others.