Human Resource Management Expert Paper
Grapho-analysis
Introduction & History
The study of a personality through an analysis of handwriting is called graphology. It is used
for personality analysis as it is a scientific, detailed, conservative system of studying the
handwritten strokes to determine the writer’s personality and characteristics. Modern
scientific method – Grapho-analysis – of analyzing individual strokes in handwriting began in
1915 by Milton Bunker. It started as far back as 4500 BC, the Roman historians studied
personalities from handwritings. The first handwriting analysis book was published in 1622
by Camildo Baldo.
Uses of Grapho-analysis
Grapho-analysis is a practically proven personality analysis approach for drawing inferences
regarding personalities. It is commonly used for a lot of purposes involving personality like
marriage & career compatibility, motivating workers, child development, recruitment and
others. The all important Human Resource function of any organization might use grapho-
analysis for these major three criteria within which there are many specific criteria that
grapho-analysis can judge.
Pre-employment screening – It is a personality evaluation in order to judge alignment in
expectations of the job profile v/s the characteristic traits of the applicant
Employee assessment – It is the charting of the growth of employees and addressing
issues faced by them on personal/professional front through writing analysis over a
period of time after fixed intervals
Criminology – Companies use grapho-analysis for assessing possibilities of any
future/current employee forgery/fraud issues at hand through handwriting analysis
The writing characteristics analyzed in grapho-analysis include:
Slant – Left, right, slight or pronounced; Size of writing; Pen pressure; Spacing of words and
letters; Page margins; Upside stroke/Downside stroke; G-formation; Rhythm &Placement of
diacritics i.e. crossing of T’s & dotting of I’s
Importance of Grapho-analysis in HRM
Grapho-analysis is one of many methods of hiring the right combination for the organization
from a vast employee pool. Grapho-analysis provides both accurate and comprehensive
Handwriting Reports of job applicants and current employees from simple handwriting
samples. These services are offered for about $25 to $125 per candidate for companies that
Yasir Waseem A. Khan IBA-BBA-VII-III-Main Campus
Zubair Humayun Ch.
Human Resource Management Expert Paper
signifies its practical worth. Grapho-analysis, having such importance & effectiveness, has
proven itself as a critical success factor for a number of organizations. The main
characteristics/traits the companies look for are effectively analyzed through grapho-
analysis, some of which are:
Motivation Analytical Ability Cultural Aptitude
Achievement Attention Span Leadership
Communication Precision Mechanical Skill
Social Skills Manual Ability Scientific Aptitude
Responsibility Sales Ability
Problem Solving Business Aptitude
The major factors that organizations use grapho-analysis for are the following:
Suitability of a person for the organization – Grapho-analysis has a critical role in
detecting the positive & negative traits of the candidates/employees for specific any
given set of assignments/job tasks. For example: A person with traits of accuracy, thrift
& concentration power would be a good accountant.
Fraud potential – Companies can foretell the possibilities of fraud or any mishap that
the candidate/employee may be involved in future. This is done by analyzing the
person's nature to avoid frauds, mishaps & misrepresentations through his writing
analysis
Teamwork & compatibility – Companies use writing analysis to draw skill sets of each
employee to be drafted for a project team. This helps the organization to create a
possible match between the prospect team members. This reduces the possibilities of
friction among the team members as the match of all the team members is ensured
prior to forming the project team.
Improve performance – Companies use grapho-analysis on regular basis to ensure that
the employees are placed at the right job and whether any change in the job description
would create any clash and result in diminishing performance. On the other hand
coming up with changes in the job environment and descriptions which are harmonious
with the employee traits improves the individual performances.
Criticism
Lack of Linkage – There is an absence of evidence of a direct link between the
handwriting analysis and various measures of job performances.
Ethical & legal grounds – The employees own their handwriting and need to be
informed before their handwriting is analyzed for any purpose.
Yasir Waseem A. Khan IBA-BBA-VII-III-Main Campus
Zubair Humayun Ch.
