psychometric assessment - research europe assessments and their benefits 4 at-a-glance guide to the...

Psychometric Assessment

ContentsPsychometric assessments and their benefits 4

At-a-glance guide to the assessments 6

Personality assessments: 8

Genos EI 9

Giotto Integrity 11

Orpheus 13

Saville Consulting Wave 15

SHL OPQ 17

Ability assessments: 19

RANRA 20

Raven’s APM and SPM 21

SHL Verify 22

Watson-Glaser 23

Our assessors 24

Research Europe 26

4 5

Psychometric assessments and their benefits

Psychometric assessments are psychologist-designed tests, measuring individuals’ cognitive, behavioural or personality traits.

Recruitment methods that rely on personal relationships and gut instinct can result in wrong – and often expensive – decisions being made. By using psychometric assessments, bias can be removed from the process and decisions made on the basis of psychological evidence. However, psychometric assessments should not be used as a stand-alone measure of a candidate’s suitability. For optimum outcomes, psychometric assessments should be combined with other selection tools, such as interviews and referencing.

Psychometric assessments are:

Effective: psychometric assessments are successful predictors of job performance across a range of job roles.1 Personality assessments highlight significant similarities between an individual’s character and measures of job performance.2

Time-saving: psychometric assessments help reduce the risk of hiring the wrong person.

Psychometric assessments help companies to:

• Better predict performance

• Avoid costly mistakes from poor recruitment decisions

• Identify and manage talent amongst potential and existing employees

There are two types of psychometric assessment: personality and ability. Personality assessments identify personality traits relevant to job performance and the workplace (such as stress

tolerance and motivation), whereas ability assessments measure skills and abilities (such as numeracy and critical thinking).

Research Europe offers a range of both personality and ability assessments, and can advise on choosing the most suitable product. As trained and licensed practitioners, Research Europe consultants are qualified to administer the assessments on behalf of clients.

All assessments offered by Research Europe:

• Conform to British Psychological Society (BPS) guidelines

• Are supported by research-based evidence

• Avoid clinical or technical terminology

• Are applicable across a range of age-groups, education-levels and cultures

• Identify irregularities in response patterns

• Provide security in terms of data collection

Written and verbal reports, which include (where appropriate) interpretation by our assessors, are available to our clients once candidates have completed the assessments.

Detailed descriptions of the assessments available can be found on the following pages. These include a range of scenarios constructed to illustrate situations where specific assessments could be used.

1. Andrew Jenkins, Companies’ Use of Psychometric Testing and the Changing Demand for Skills: A Review of the Literature (Centre for the Economics of Education, London School of Economics, 2001)

2. P Tett, D N Jackson and M Rothstein, Personality Measures as Predictors of Job Performance: A Meta-Analytic Review (Personnel Psychology, 1991)

6

At-a-glance guide to the assessments

6 7

AssessmentPersonality or ability

Length/time Format What’s assessed Uses

Genos EI Personality• 70 questions• 20 mins

Online• Emotional intelligence• Negotiation skills• Higher stress tolerance

Transformational leadership potential

Giotto Personality• 101 questions• 20 mins

Online or paper test

• Integrity• Carelessness• Commitment• Hostility• Disciplinary problems• Arrogance• Wastefulness• Self confidence

Pre-interview testingCorporate culture benchmarkingDevelopment areas

Orpheus Personality• 190 questions• 25 mins

Online

• Fellowship• Authority• Conformity• Emotion• Detail

RecruitmentDevelopment areasLeadership potential

Saville Consulting Wave

Personality• Professional styles: 40 mins• Focus styles: 13 mins

Online

• Motives• Talents• Preferred culture• Potential

Predicts performanceTalent managementIdentifying coaching needsDevelop a performance culture

SHL OPQ:Personality

• 104 blocks of 4 questions• 45 mins

Online or paper test

• Relationships with people• Thinking style• Feelings and emotions• Motivation

SelectionDevelopmentIdentifying leadership potentialUnderstanding motivators and demotivators

RANRA Ability• 32 questions• 40 mins

Online• Numeracy test• Higher numerical skills involving deduction, interpretation and evaluation

Selection at graduate, manager, and professional levelTalent ManagementRetentionCan be used in conjunction with Watson-Glaser

Raven’s APM and SPM Ability

• 23 questions• 40 mins Online

• Advanced observation• Clear thinking• Ability to learn

APM:Senior professionalsTechnical positionsSPM:SupervisorsEntry-level posts

SHL Verify Ability • Varied Online• Numerical and verbal reasoning• Inductive reasoning• Comprehension

Recruitment at all levels

Watson-Glaser Ability• 40 questions• 30 mins

Online• Critical thinking• Decision-making

Recruitment at all levelsBusiness supportTalent managementRetention

88

Personality assessmentsPersonality assessments profile a candidate’s character. Understanding an individual’s personality facilitates a deeper understanding of the sort of work or working environment that best suits them. These assessments also provide a framework for understanding how an individual relates to others, their values and their motivators.

The personality assessments offered by Research Europe all provide feedback for candidates and written reports for clients.

Research Europe offers the following personality assessments:

• Genos Emotional Intelligence

• Giotto Integrity

• Orpheus

• Saville Consulting Wave

• SHL OPQ

9

Genos Emotional Intelligence (EI)About Genos EI

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of skills that defines how effectively a person perceives, understands, reasons with and manages their own and others’ feelings, emotions and mood states.

Genos EI assesses how frequently candidates display EI-related behaviours.

How does it work?

Genos EI measures the following skills and behaviours shown in the table below:

Subset Description

Emotional self-awarenessRelative frequency with which individuals consciously identify their emotions at work

Emotional expressionRelative frequency with which individuals express their emotions in an appropriate way at work

Emotional awareness of othersRelative frequency with which individuals identify the emotions expressed by others

Emotional reasoningRelative frequency with which individuals incorporate emotionally relevant information whilst decision-making or problem-solving at work

Emotional self-managementRelative frequency with which individuals manage their own emotions at work, successfully

Emotional management of othersRelative frequency with which individuals manage the emotions of others successfully

Emotional self-controlRelative frequency with which individuals control their strong emotions appropriately

Candidates who score highly tend to engage in emotionally intelligent behaviours on a frequent basis. Low scorers engage in those behaviours less frequently.

How is it distinctive?

Genos’ research shows that individuals scoring highly on EI tend to have a transformational leadership style, better negotiation skills, higher

stress tolerance and lower rates of absenteeism. Genos focuses on workplace behaviours only and assesses typical, rather than ‘one-off’ behaviour.

Format

• 70 questions

• Online assessment

• Time: 20 minutes

10 11

Giotto IntegrityAbout Giotto

Giotto measures integrity as opposed to other aspects of personality such as motivation, initiative, thinking styles and relationships with people.

How does it work?

When can this assessment be used?

Genos EI can support recruitment for all functions and at all levels.

Genos can be used in the following situations:

• Selection

• Development

• High potential and leadership development

• Client scenario

An international bank is hiring a consultant to oversee a period of company-wide transition

and change. The successful candidate needs to demonstrate a transformational leadership style, excellent negotiation skills and high stress tolerance. The Genos EI assessment is used to identify candidates who regularly engage in EI-type behaviours and are able to better understand the emotions of others, whilst achieving company goals.

Extract from sample candidate report

From the answers given to the assessment, the chart shows that candidate A has a high score for emotional self-awareness (75).

Emotional self-awareness:

Very low High Very highAverageLow

Self 75

Carelessness, accident proneness, and mindlessness

Disrespect for managers,

overbearing behaviour and arrogance

Lack of commitment,

absenteeism and tardiness

Tendency to violence, hostility and

intimidation

Disciplinary problems,

intolerance and subversion

Giotto’s Seven Scales

measuring aspects of candidates’

approach

Theft of company

property, wasteful use of resources and

failure to share

Inability to cope with change, lack of

self-confidence and anxiety

Giotto is based around the following Seven Scales:

Candidates with a low score show higher degrees of integrity.

Format

• 101 questions

• Online or paper versions available

• Time: approximately 20 minutes


As an integrity assessment, Giotto is useful in recruiting for roles where integrity traits are important.


Giotto can support recruitment for all functions and at all levels.

It can be used in a range of situations:

• Selection – Giotto is often used at pre-interview stage as it highlights aspects of personality which may benefit from further probing during the interview itself

• Development

• As part of a corporate culture benchmarking exercise

12

Extract from sample candidate report depicting the chart for Seven Scales

13

Client scenarioAn engineering consultancy is hiring a new finance director. Workplace bullying has been an issue in the finance directorate at the consultancy. The new appointee would be expected to address this constructively. Candidates take the Giotto assessment prior to the first round of interviews. The assessment report reveals that although candidate A has a strong work ethic, he is quick to anger and not calm in the face of adversity. In view of the directorate’s working culture, this is a cause for concern for the selection panel. They are able to use this information at interview stage and probe further to assess candidate A’s suitability for the role.

Prudence Folly

Fortitude Inconsistency

Temperance Anger

Justice Injustice

Faith Infidelity

Charity Envy

Hope Despair

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

OrpheusAbout Orpheus

Orpheus is a wide-ranging assessment, providing a comprehensive measure of candidates’ personalities, assessing traits that contribute to performance at work and organisational fit.

How does it work?

Orpheus is based around the following aspects of personality (known as the Big Five Major Scales):

Major scale Description

ConformityRelates to openness to experience. High scorers tend to prefer carrying out tasks in a traditional way whilst low scorers often favour acting outside the box and seeking alternative solutions.

Detail

Provides feedback on conscientiousness. High scorers often perform well with routine tasks and enjoy work that requires attention to detail, such as administrative work. Low scorers have less patience with this type of work and have more of a bigger picture perspective.

FellowshipRelates to tendencies towards extraversion or introversion. High scorers prefer to work with others whereas low scorers often choose to work independently.

AuthorityProvides information on agreeableness. People who score highly can make tough decisions whilst low scorers tend to prefer a collaborative approach.

EmotionRelates to neuroticism. High scorers may be nervous in disposition and be sensitive to others while low scorers can perform under pressure, but may lack caution.

Orpheus also provides an evaluation of individual strengths and styles with regard to:

• Proficiency

• Work-orientation

• Patience

• Fair-mindedness

• Disclosure

• Loyalty

• Initiative


Orpheus’ strength lies in the way it assesses personality specifically in the workplace, rather than personality overall.

Orpheus enables employers to answer the following questions about candidates including:

• How will potential employees integrate into a team?

• How do they cope in stressful and demanding environments?

• Can they think for themselves?

• Will they really fit into an organisation?

14 15

Client scenarioA leading branded drinks business is recruiting a director of communications and external relations. Essential to the success of the function is the ability to network and build relationships with external contacts. The consultancy wants to know if candidates have a tendency towards introversion: would they be comfortable approaching new contacts, initiating dialogue and turning engagement into measurable commercial outcomes? If candidates are assessed as introverts, it would not necessarily mean that they could not do the job. However, it could mean that it might be less suitable environment and this could impact on future job performance.

Format

• 190 questions


• Time: untimed, but approximately 25 minutes


Orpheus can support recruitment for all functions and at all levels.

Orpheus can be used in the following situations:

• Selection: as a screening tool for certain traits required to excel in a role

• Development: to determine barriers and obstacles to moving forward in a career

• High potential and leadership development: to determine employees’ preferences in working style and environment

Extract from sample candidate report depicting the Big Five

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Fellowship Generally prefers work that requires a degree of independence

Happier working with others or in a team

Authority Generally adopts a more cooperative approach

Can make tough decisions

Conformity Seeks out alternative solutions to problems

Prefers traditional ways of doing things, respects established values

Emotion Able to perform under stressful conditions but may lack caution

Likely to be sensitive to the feelings of others

Detail Prefers to see the wider view and has less patience with routine tasks

Excels at mundane tasks that require care but may become overwhelmed in minutiae

Saville Consulting WaveSaville Consulting Wave is a new suite of assessments testing a range of traits. Acknowledged as ‘revolutionary’ by many experts, Wave’s scoring system enables recruiters

to understand candidates’ underlying work preferences. Research Europe offers the following assessments from the Wave suite:

Description

Professional Styles

Provides a statistically-sound assessment of candidates’ abilities and approach to work.

Focus StylesAn abbreviated – but powerful – version of Professional Styles, providing 80% of the validity of the full version.

How does it work?

Wave measures the following attributes:

• Talents

• Motives

• Competencies

• Potential

• Preferred working environments


Wave enables employers to:

• Predict and identify outstanding performance

• Drive individual development and target coaching where appropriate

• Accurately identify and manage talent and potential

• Facilitate the development of a performance culture

• Identify ‘best fit’ working environments for candidates

Format

Each version has a different format:

Professional styles:

• 216 questions

• Online questionnaire


Focus styles:

• 72 questions

• Online questionnaire



Saville Wave can support recruitment for all functions and at all levels.


• Selection – Professional Styles is often used at the start of the selection process, whereas Focus Styles is used after interview-stage

• Development – for instance, to drive team- building workshops and management training


16 17

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Area assessed Assessment score

Evaluating problems: examining information; documenting facts; interpreting data.

Investigating issues: developing expertise; adopting practical approaches; providing insights.

Creating innovation: generating ideas; exploring possibilities; developing strategies.

Building relationships: interacting with people; establishing rapport; impressing people.

Communicating information: convincing people; articulating information; challenging ideas.

Providing leadership: making decisions; directing people; empowering individuals.

Showing resilience: conveying self confidence; showing composure; resolving conflict.

Adjusting to change: thinking positively; embracing change; inviting feedback.

Giving support: understanding people; team working; valuing individuals.

Processing details: meeting timescales; checking things; following procedures.

Structuring tasks: managing tasks; upholding standards; producing output.

Driving success: taking action; seizing opportunities; pursuing goals.

Client scenarioA major government public body is looking for a new psychometric assessment to use as part of its selection process and internally for existing employees. This comes on the back of a new strategic commitment to improve staff retention and engender a performance-driven working culture. Wave is recommended in order to complement these aspects of the organisation’s strategic framework.


This section is designed to assist employers shape questions at next stage interviews.

SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire (SHL OPQ)About SHL OPQ

SHL OPQ pinpoints aspects of candidates’ behaviour that could impact on work performance. SHL OPQ offers two options:

Description

Ipsative format

Measures candidates’ preferences in response to situations, problems, people, workplace and procedures. It does not allow candidates to be directly compared with other peoples’ assessment responses.

Normative format

Compares candidates’ results with other applicants, particular groups and / or populations.

How does it work?

The assessment tests 32 characteristics, grouped under three headings:

• Relationships with people – including influence, sociability and empathy

• Thinking styles – including analysis, structure, creativity and change

• Feelings and emotions – split into emotion and dynamism

• The normative format asks candidates to rate statements from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The ipsative format invites candidates to state which statement out of four listed for every question, is most and least true of them.


SHL OPQ can be used to measure any facet of personality, not just those relating to the working environment.

Format

Each option has a different format:

Normative format OPQ32n:

• 230 questions



Ipsative format OPQ32i:

• 100 questions



18 19

Client scenarioA global commodities trading business is recruiting a head of strategy. The company recently introduced a new CSR framework which includes a commitment to progressive and ethical work. The company uses SHL OPQ to assess candidates’ values and personality to determine whether there is an appropriate corporate fit.


SHL OPQ can support recruitment for all functions and at all levels.

SHL OPQ can be used in a range of situations:

• Selection – as a screening tool for specific traits required to excel in a role

• Development – to help determine barriers and obstacles to moving forward in a career

• High potential and leadership development – by determining a candidate’s preferences in working style and environment


The overall likelihood of candidate A displaying strengths in each competency is shown in the line graphs, where 1 represents unlikely and 5 represents very likely.

Competency

Leading and decidingDeciding and initiating actionLeading and supervising

Supporting and co-operatingWorking with peopleAdhering to principles and values

Interacting and presentingRelating and networkingPersuading and influencingPresenting and communicating information

Analysing and interpretingWriting and reportingApplying expertise and technologyAnalysing

Creating and conceptualisingLearning and researchingCreating and innovatingFormulating strategies and concepts

Organising and executingPlanning and organisingDelivering results and meeting customer expectationsFollowing instructions and procedures

Adapting and copingAdapting and responding to changeCoping with pressures and setbacks

Enterprising and performingAchieving personal work goals and objectivesEntrepreneurial and commercial thinking

1 2 3 4 5

Ability assessmentsAbility assessments measure skills that relate to job performance. These include:

• Numeracy

• Writing comprehension (verbal reasoning)

• Cognitive ability

They can also measure skills that are specific to a particular field of work, for example:

• Sales positions

• Managerial skills

Research Europe offers the following ability assessments:

• RANRA

• Raven’s APM and SPM

• SHL Sales Director Solution

• SHL Scenarios

• SHL Verify

• Watson-Glaser

20 21

Rust Advanced Numerical Reasoning Appraisal (RANRA)About RANRA

RANRA measures numerical skills of relevance to managers and senior decision-makers. Uniquely amongst numerical assessments, it measures advanced numeracy involving deduction, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. Its strength lies in its application of numeracy to the modern workplace. It was originally developed as a companion to the Watson-Glaser Assessment.

How does it work?

RANRA measures the extent to which candidates can recognise, understand, generalise from and apply the logical processes derived from their numerical skills. The assessment provides feedback on the extent to which these skills have been internalised through regular application, rather than learned by rote. Candidates are expected to have a GCSE standard knowledge of mathematics in order to complete the assessment.

Description

Comparison of quantities

Evaluation of quantities and the relationship between them.

Sufficiency of information

Candidates have to determine whether two pieces of numerical information provided are enough to allow the question to be answered.


The skills assessed in RANRA are good predictors of future performance in managerial jobs which involve numerical reasoning. RANRA enables employers to identify candidates with relevant knowledge and highly-developed cognitive skills.

Format

• 32 questions




RANRA is particularly relevant when recruiting for positions where decision-making using financial statements, sales data or statistics is a critical aspect of the role.


• Selection

• Development and talent management

• Retention

Client scenarioA computer games publisher is recruiting a management accountant. The role has budget-holding responsibilities and requires daily use of arithmetic. Shortlisted candidates are asked to take the RANRA assessment in order to evaluate their numerical skills.

The assessment tests the following:

0 20 40 60 80

88

100

91% and above: Well above average

71-90%: Above average

31-70%: Average

11-30%: Below average

0-10%: Well below average

Sample candidate score (%)

Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) and Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM)About Raven’s APM and SPMRaven’s Progressive Matrices measures individuals’ intellectual ability. Ravens come in two formats:

• Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM): aimed at senior managers and professionals

• Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM): aimed at supervisory and entry-level management positions

How do they work?Raven’s Progressive Matrices measure:

• Advanced observation skills

• Analytical, clear thinking and problem-solving skills

• Abstract reasoning skills

• The ability to learn

Above: sample Raven’s Matrices question: candidates are asked to complete the pattern.

How are they distinctive?

Raven’s Progressive Matrices enables organisations to identify employees who are better able to handle the complexities of the modern workplace. The non-verbal approach means that the assessments are designed to reduce cultural bias.

Format

Both assessments are supervised.

APM:• 23 questions• Time: 40 minutes timed test.

• Online, multiple-choice questionnaire

SPM:• 28 questions• Time: 45 minutes timed test• Online, multiple-choice questionnaire

When can these assessments be used?

The APM is designed for use when recruiting for senior management and senior professional positions. The SPM is more appropriate for supervisory or entry level management positions.

Raven’s can be used in a range of situations:• Selection• Development• High potential and leadership development– the APM in particular, identifies people at the high end of intellectual ability

Client scenarioAn international mobile network operator wanted to identify existing employees with the potential to progress to senior managerial positions, as part of a drive to maximise the talent of its staff. The Raven’s APM was chosen because it covers observation skills, clear thinking and the ability to learn.

22 23

SHL VerifyAbout SHL Verify

SHL Verify offers a range of assessments for employers looking to test verbal, numerical and

inductive reasoning. It is unique in offering an additional, but optional, ‘verification’ assessment to provide added corroboration.

Assessment Description

Numerical reasoning

The ability to make correct decisions or inferences from numerical or statistical data

Verbal reasoning The ability to evaluate the logic of various kinds of argument in written form

Inductive reasoning

The ability to draw inferences and understand the relationships between various concepts independent of acquired knowledge

Mechanical comprehension

Understanding of basic mechanical principles and their application to devices such as pulleys, gears and levers

Checking The ability to compare information quickly and accurately

Calculation The ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide correctly and quickly

Comprehension The ability to read, understand and act on written materials

SHL Verify assesses the following:


• The assessment process can be tailored to the specific needs of individual roles due to the broad range of assessments offered

• Because assessments are devised to be completed during the initial phases of the recruitment process, organisations can screen out poor performers at an early stage

Format

• Number of questions: this varies between assessments and depending on the level taken

• Online: the initial assessment is unsupervised, the verification assessment is supervised

• Time: assessment length varies between assessments and depending on the level taken

When can this assessment be used?SHL Verify is suitable when recruiting for all functions and at all levels and can be used in the following situations:

• Selection

• Development


Client scenarioA pharmaceutical company wanted to revamp its graduate recruitment programme. In order to sift through the large numbers of candidates, SHL Verify was chosen as a way of identifying poor performers early on in the recruitment process.

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking AppraisalAbout Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal

The Watson-Glaser measures candidates’ decision-making abilities and critical thinking

(the ability to clearly understand a situation from multiple perspectives whilst separating facts from opinions and assumptions). The assessment has been used for over 85 years.

Assessment Description

Drawing conclusions

Ability to evaluate the rationale behind conclusions drawn from a series of factual statements.

Recognising assumptions

Ability to identify unstated assumptions or presuppositions in a series of assertive statements.

Argument evaluation

Ability to decide whether certain conclusions necessarily follow from the information given.

Deductive reasoning

Ability to weigh evidence and deciding if generalisations or conclusions based on the information provided are justified.

Logical interpretation

Ability to distinguish between arguments that are strong and relevant and those that are weak or irrelevant

The Watson-Glaser measures the following skills and abilities:

Questions are generated randomly. This means that each assessment is unique to individual candidates. The assessment covers a variety of topics including business, politics and health.

How is it distinctive?Critical thinking is widely acknowledged as a crucial requirement for high-performing employees working in a range of roles.

Format

• 40 questions generated randomly

• Online or paper version (the latter is supervised)

• Time: 30 minutes (timed)

When can this assessment be used?The Watson-Glaser is suitable when recruiting for all functions and at all levels and can be used in the following situations:

• Selection

• Development


Client scenarioAn opportunity has arisen to enter the partnership of a medium-sized law firm. A range of skills and competencies are identified as being key to the success of the role, but critical thinking was seen as particularly important. The firm decided to use the Watson-Glaser assessment in order to complement the interview process.

24 25

Our assessors

Research Europe psychometric assessors are:

• Qualified by the British Psychological Society to administer both ability and personality assessments

• Experienced recruiters across multiple industries and international markets

• Registered on the BPS Register of Qualifications in Test Use (RQTU) - the official record of all test users who have been awarded qualifications in occupational test use

26 27

Research Europe

Attracting and recruiting people with appropriate skills, knowledge and experience is key to the success of any organisation.

Research Europe has a solid track record of enabling companies to achieve their business goals through the recruitment of talented staff. We want to ensure that companies recruit the right candidates who provide effective leadership and facilitate business growth.

We understand that the search for the best candidates can be a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating exercise. Our offering is designed to support and facilitate this process.

Our services include:

• Executive search

• Talent mapping, intelligence and acquisition

• Strategic talent planning and pipelining

• Candidate referencing

• Salary surveys

• Psychometric assessment

Research Europe Ltd.

2-6 Boundary Row

London

SE1 8HP

Tel: +44 (0)203 714 3880

Email: [email protected]

researcheurope.co.uk

psychometric assessment - research europe assessments and their benefits 4 at-a-glance guide to the...

Documents