In my 30 something years in Management and Leadership roles I’ve been psychologically sliced and diced so many different ways I’m not sure if I’m Arthur or Martha.  There are so many options out there, especially with the explosion of the internet, and it is hard to figure what to use, where and how.

 

The simple answer starts with the key question “what do you want to use it for?”.  The New Zealand Psychology Board (Feb 2013) defines psychometric testing as follows:

 

A psychometric test is a structured and standardised measurement of cognitive, behavioural or emotional functioning including (but not restricted to) performance tasks, structured behaviour samples, self-report inventories or checklists, test record forms, or other materials used in the evaluation of an individual or a group of individuals.

 

I must confess that most of the tests I did early in my career left me with a strong feeling of either ‘so what’ or ‘what am I supposed to do with this’.  Which said more about the assessor and the organisation than it did about me.

 

Psychometric tests have almost taken on a life of their own, they are very intoxicating because they seem to open up nuggets of interesting information about ourselves, maybe even uncover something we didn’t know about our self.  The Buddha says there are the three you:

 

Who I think I am,

Who others think I am, and

Who I really am.

 

Psychometric tools appear with a possible promise to answer one or both of the last two questions.  Anecdotally I have heard that around 1/3 of people have a good self-perception, in other words the 3 you’s of the Buddha are more or less aligned.  That leaves around 2/3 of us either over or underestimating ourselves.

 

That’s a big market for psychometric testing.

 

Psychometric testing in business has the purpose of trying to determine, independently, what may be stopping an individual from being their full potential (development support) or determining if that individual has the potential to move in or to the next level (recruitment or promotion).

 

Most tests are based on some theory of psychology on how people behave.  Let’s face it, there is no more a complex area than that, so it is no wonder there are so many different theories.  They are all aimed at providing a general model of human behaviour that sets a baseline to look at where an individual sits and, if its adopted by the larger organisation, where others sit in that proverbial landscape.

 

Psychometric testing is a marvelous tool to start a conversation, and I think that is the first key.  They are a conversation starter. Some believe that psychometric testing is no more accurate having a discussion with someone, that they are as believable as star signs, and I have even heard that there is absolutely no correlation between how someone performs in a psychometric test and how they actually perform  in the role.  I think some of these comments are a bit harsh.

 

Let’s go back the first question “what do you want to use it for?”

 

We all bring our own strengths and weaknesses to the workplace, and when you throw a group of people together you are always going to create friction,  the purpose of the leader is to manage that friction and deliver the best possible productivity output from the group.  You can easily see how understanding how other people view you would be a real positive in this endeavour, and as how people see you will include your blind spots, finding out ‘who you really are’ is also a bonus.

 

Enter the first purpose for psychometric testing, who am I?  I heard it once described in this way “imagine you are looking at the map of a very complex terrain, looking at the map is giving you the boundaries and the layout of the terrain, which is a fabulous place to start, but the next most important part is the sign that says “you are here”, otherwise the map is practically useless.   Believe me, one of the biggest surprises people get at some stage of their life (and some never get it) is that everyone does not think the same as me, see things the same as me or react the same as me.  So if you are looking at entry level testing, a model that describes the parameters of the human mind (under ‘normal’ operations of course) and where you sit in that model is a brilliant start.

 

This then leads onto the question of whether where you sit either meets the values, culture or nature of your organisation and its leaders.  I.e. do you see things the same way we see things, and do you have the characteristics we desire (in terms of behaviour and personality).  If the organisation is using a particular tool, it may have already decided on that model and what the ideal person looks like.  Most good psychometric tools have already decided that for you, they are formed and validated against a larger group so that you are now looking at a snap shot of yourself in comparison to others, in the team, in the organisation, in the industry, in the country or even internationally.  If you don’t match, then that may become the focus of development, depending on the company.

 

The next stage of testing may take you outside of your self-assessment and put you into the realm of a 360 degree assessment.  This is where others or peers are asked to complete a review of you (this is most likely qualitative) and once again the results are viewed against the needs and wants of the organisation.  Where there are areas of opportunities for improvement or perceived weaknesses highlighted, these may be the subject of development.

 

What the business may also be doing at the same time is assessing themselves as a whole to see what their organisation wide values, culture and nature are.  This gives the organisation the opportunity to benchmark themselves and, with many of these surveys, benchmark themselves against similar industries or industries in general.

 

Ultimately in the workplace, we are not really interested in the core beliefs, thinking patterns etc. of individuals, we are really only interested in how that translates to behaviour and interactions, and how that effects the team.  We understand that behaviour is driven by a complex filtering system going back to before you were even conceived, understanding and recognising this is only really relevant to the organisation as a whole if it is used to modify undesirable behaviour or develop desired behaviour.

 

So, we are back to “what do you want to use it for?”

 

If you are developing individuals there are many self-assessment tools such as Hogan, Print, Myer Briggs, DiSC. etc.  These can assist you in building a team as you now have a lens to look through in terms of desired behaviour and personality mixes.  In a leadership role, you may want to assess how other people see the leader/manager and the actual impact they are having on the behaviour of others.  From this you may choose to use a 360 degree assessment of which there are so many.

 

The key to a good psychometric tool is:

  1. It is grounded in solid psychology theory
  2. It presents a model that aligns with the organisations focus and premise
  3. It is used by the whole team or organisation and understood by everyone (involved)
  4. It is normed and validated
  5. The results are easily understood by non-psychologists
  6. It starts a conversation
  7. You can remeasure

 

Points to consider:

  1. It isn’t 100% correct or accurate
  2. It is context driven (both personally and organisationally)
  3. It is a predictor, and may not correlate with actual performance in the role
  4. It is not an end in itself, it is just a means to an end
  5. It can be challenging for some people, regardless of the results
  6. Do something with it, don’t start and then stop, if you want to open the box, it is not so easy to close
  7. As long as it is a valid tool, it doesn’t really matter which one you go with, you may base it on something you like the look of, something you’re familiar with, something that is easy to understand, what’s easily available, whatever that driver is go with it and stick with it. It’s the conversation and attention to development of people that matters, not the tool you select
  8. What will you do next? If you have the information, and it is just a conversation starter, do you have the expertise to take it further at any level?
  9. If you don’t take it further, prepare for a backlash, which may sometimes leave you wishing you hadn’t started the process in the first place.

 

Where to use psychometric testing:

  1. Assessing for future employment (recruitment)
  2. Addressing a behavioural issue (team member, manager or leader)
  3. Looking to develop individuals in preparation for their next challenge
  4. Setting the baseline for organisational behaviour
  5. When you want to draw attention to culture
  6. When you want to draw attention to leadership behaviours

 

So, if the first question is “what do you want to use it for?”, then the next question has to be “what are you going to do with it now?”

 

Many people and companies are drawn into the allure of psychometric testing, they may even have a good understanding of the model, but do they have the capability and capacity to actually do something with the results.  For individuals, exposing them to testing which highlights their blind spots and shines the spotlight on their failing is all very well as long as you have the means and capability to assist that person with their development.  People are very ill equipped to make personal transformations; they will need assistance and support.  If you don’t have those skills in house, then that is where a professional and qualified coach can fill the gap.  If you are assessing a team, there will be an expectation that some action is taken to assist the team to develop.   Knowing what the problem is does not always equate to knowing what the solution is.  Having a team environment means either the team needs to take time out, develop the skills and apply them to building a better team or an external person, once again, needs to be involved.  If you are looking at an organisation wide review, the solutions to what the psychometric tools is telling you may be an extremely complex process.  Many companies choose to keep the change and/or transformation in house, but if the HR team is already working to capacity, who has the time?  There is also an immediate assumption that HR people are skilled in organisational development and transformation.  This is not the case, these two professions and skills cannot be lumped into one, organisation development and transformation are specialised areas, but sometimes the CEO does not see or appreciate that, it’s all just a ‘people’ issue.

 

Don’t forget that the results of any psychometric tests may just reflect the environment a person, team or organisation find themselves in at that time.  Yes, we could argue that we are a contributor to any environment we’re in and therefore our reaction to that environment, but we are all not Super People, and even the best of us may buckle under pressure.  No person is an island, and we have certainly assisted many people better interact with a sub-optimal environment more than trying to ‘fix’ them, as determined by the boss or HR.

 

Undertaking any psychometric assessment and doing nothing with the results is a waste of time and money.  We have been asked on a number of occasions to complete psychometric testing on its own without follow up coaching, and we are always concerned with what happens next.  It is the first stage of a development process, not an end in itself.  And if people knew what their blind spots and areas for improvement were, they would need help in the first place.

 

In conclusion, all models are flawed, but most models are useful.  People love the whole notion of self-assessment to some extent, so this type of testing is intoxicating and fascinating, but you should be clear about “what problem you’re trying to solve” or “what do you want to use it for’.  Those questions should lead you on a line of inquiry to find a suitable tool.  But it is not about the tool, it is about what it will do for you and the development of desired behaviours either of the individual, team, division or organisation i.e. ‘what will you do with the information?’.  How people think and feel is as individual as the number of people on this earth.  What we are really trying to achieve in organisations is a unified culture and behaviours that drives the optimum results for the benefit of the organisation and shareholders, other than that, who cares?

For more information on psychometric assessments please contact us on (08) 6336 8620 or email info@careerlife.net.au