Human Resource Measurement News by Performance Programs

Certification Webinar Trains Human Resource Professionals on 360 Feedback for Leadership Development

2009-08-31T11:21:00.007-04:00

Employers seek effective ways of developing leaders as the rate of change accelerates in workplaces worldwide. In response to this critical need, Performance Programs, Inc. now offers convenient and cost-effective professional certification webinars on 360 feedback instruments in Clark Wilson Group's Task Cycle(R) Series.

The Task Cycle 360 Feedback Series is the longest established, best researched 360 feedback collection available today. The Task Cycle is a logical sequence of steps essential to overall effectiveness of management and leadership. It is a scientifically validated, predictive model with well-researched mathematical foundations. The ten surveys in the Task Cycle series are role-specific and validated.

The Task Cycle was developed by Dr. Clark Wilson, who was the first to use 360 feedback for management development in 1973. Task Cycle research continues today and norms are continually updated based upon thousands of cases in the research database.

The 2009 certification webinars are scheduled on September 16 or November 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (East Coast time). The two-hour session is conducted by industrial psychologist Dr. Paul Connolly, who was a close colleague of Clark Wilson. Connolly is also co-author of several Task Cycle Surveys published by Clark Wilson Group. Through the webinar and post-webinar follow-up, participants learn to administer, interpret, and provide coaching to individuals. The agenda includes: Key requirements and best practices in 360 feedback; the Task Cycle model, including an overview of psychometric background ; in-depth discussion using sample reports; review of several 360 assessments including Executive Leadership Survey, Leadership Competencies for Managers, and Survey of Management Practices; review of sample profiles and interpretation. Certification includes a 30-minute review of participant’s first case by telephone, as well as an extensive collection of 360 feedback support materials.

Investment is $600, which includes products and services that would be more than $1500 if purchased separately.

For further information, or to register, call Sonya Hamilton at 1-800-565-4223. Performance Programs is an authorized distributor and certification training provider for Clark Wilson Group.

Wall Street Journal Says Some Employers May Increase Testing Following New Haven Firefighters Decision

2009-07-17T13:23:00.006-04:00

In spite of the many advances made in the testing industry regarding fairness, many employers are still hesitant to use it during employment screening. A recent WSJ article says that some are encouraged by the recent Supreme Court ruling in the New Haven Firefighters case. We thought you'd like to know about this article on pre-employment testing.

The Perils of Accentuating the Positive

2009-06-12T16:32:00.007-04:00

Since the early '90s, the pendulum of academic and popular thought on business training and development took a giant swing towards positivity and the search to build on one's strengths. It is an effect, in part, of the positive psychology movement. Positive psychology got a boost in the business world with books such as Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton and a parade of new book titles each year is evidence of its popularity.

Not so fast, says Rob Kaiser and the management and leadership thinkers he's assembled to look at the downside of focusing on the upside. Kaiser was co-author with Bob Kaplan of The Versatile Leader, for which PPI assisted in creating the online Leadership Versatility Index. Kaiser and Kaplan's versatility research shows that more than half of what separates the most effective leaders from the less effective is agility among all the leadership competencies. Those aspiring to greater levels of leadership skill need to bring up their challenge areas as much as they need to accentuate their strengths and comfort zones.

The Perils of Accentuating the Positive takes a thoughtful look at the strengths-based development paradigm in ten chapters that draw on decades of research and years of deeply related experience by the chapter authors. The book includes articles by Michael Benson, Steven Berglas, Anand Chandrasekar, Craig Chappelow, Guangrong Dai, Malcolm Davies, Robert Eichinger, William Gentry, Robert Hogan, Robert E. Kaplan, Jean Brittain Leslie, Morgan McCall, King Yii Tang, and Randall P. White. Loaded with practical advice, it provides the rest of what you need to know about the practice known as “strengths-based development.” Perils can be purchased through Hogan Press or Amazon.com

Three Steps to Getting the Most from Career Assessment

2009-06-09T13:20:00.000-04:00

If you're in a career change right now, be sure to take advantage of the advice offered in our latest white paper: Three Steps to Getting the Most from Career Assessments. This white paper shows where formal career tests and assessments fit in the overall process of planning a career. It provides an introduction to best practices for tests and assessments in a career counseling environment. It is based on the actual experience of Dr. Wendy Alfus-Rothman, of Wenroth Consulting, and one of her clients, David Fabricant of Stryker Spine. The article also quotes the president of the National Career Development Association, Judith Hoppin.

Read the complete Three Steps to Career Tests article.

Download the PDF.

Tests & Assessments for Career Direction: An Overview

2009-06-09T12:47:00.004-04:00

Formal career assessment has become very popular and, when used judiciously, provides reliable information in a concentrated timeframe to support career changes and job searches. There are four major categories of career tests: interest inventories, motives and values inventories, personality tests, and ability tests. Each addresses a different part of the puzzle. This paper provides a tour of career tests and assessments and what some have to offer. It is intended for a general business audience, but it is not an exhaustive review of all career-related tests. Career coaches and counselors may offer it to their clients to help them understand the range of options. Others may find it helpful in seeking out the right kinds of tests for themselves.

Download the white paper on Career Tests in PDF format.

Professional Certification for Hogan Personality Inventory

2009-06-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

No one can predict the future performance of a new hire, but we have found that employers who use personality tests from Hogan Assessments take a lot of the guesswork out of their hiring. To assure best use of these tests, Hogan Assessment Systems requires certification for coaches and HR professionals prior to delivering test results to their clients and workgroups.

Next Sessions: September 24 and November 12, 2009

Performance Programs chose Hogan instruments over the many others available in the market because they meet all the criteria of excellence in workplace assessment, including rigorous scientific standards and no adverse impact. We have worked with Hogan instruments for 10 years, helping hundreds of clients implement them for both candidate selection and development.

We use all of the Hogan-authorized materials, workbooks, PowerPoint, assessments, information and complete all Hogan training objectives. The Hogan Workshops have pre-work modules and a self-assessment. Registration should be completed at least two weeks in advance. All Hogan workshops are pre-approved for credit by the SHRMS's Human Resource Certification Institute for SPHR, PHR, and GPHR certifications. APA credits are also available.

These one-day seminars are scheduled from 8:30 – 4:30 in Westbrook, CT at Water's Edge Resort. This is close to Rt. 95 and accessible by Amtrak or Shoreline East/MetroNorth trains. The workshop location is within one hour of either the Providence, RI or Hartford, CT airports.

All seminars are $1200, discounted from the full retail value of $ 2300. Certification includes: a personal assessment ($450 value), a copy of The Hogan Guide ($75 value), all Certification Materials ($300), two free assessment IDs for post-workshop use ($800 value), one hour of pre-conference telephone review of your own reports and one-half hour of post-conference telephone review of your first live case ($675 value). In addition, you receive access to the DYAD Training Tool for rapid report interpretation.

Please inquire about rates for additional telephone consultation beyond the first hour.

Please call if we can be of assistance: 1-800-565-4223 or register now.

Another Way to Identify High Potential Candidates

2009-05-05T11:42:00.005-04:00

We keep hearing about the importance of talent identification and management. We thought our friends and customers would like to know about a new tool: the High Potential Candidate Assessment Report from Hogan Assessments.

The High Potential Candidate Assessment Report allows employers to identify top candidates in relation to specific business competencies. It is based on research from a global sample of more than a thousand executive MBA program graduates. This sample group represents one of the highest-level talent pools ever used to create a profile of high potential candidates for leadership roles. The assessment involves three instruments and provides a highly integrated view of the candidate's strengths and challenges.

Visit our site and obtain a sample report for more information.

Companies Still Investing in Leadership Development

2009-03-09T12:35:00.008-04:00

For the past several months, it seemed to us that employers had not yet cut back on leadership development--and in some cases, were increasing it. A recent article featured in the Wall Street Journal--"Despite Cutbacks, Firms Invest in Developing Leaders"--affirmed that hunch. If you're in the human resource consulting field, it's an important trend to watch. To view the article, click on the link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123395874246058397.html

Career Transition? Top Career Guides & Sites

2009-02-23T12:14:00.001-05:00

Many books and courses have been devoted to the problem of finding work that suits you. If you're in career transition mode, see the books and Web sites below; according to our research, they are among the most respected, most visited or bestselling career guides of the past ten years. These are not job posting sites (though some point to job sites), providing instead the tools to identify and find the best jobs and careers based on your qualifications, interests and more.

Top Five Career Books
Based on sales figures and positive reviews, here are five books at the top of the career guidance category:

What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. This is the all-time classic in its field and is updated every year (2009 version available). The companion Web site is http://www.jobhuntersbible.com.

Do What You Are by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger, 2007. The authors show you how to use personality type to find the right career. This book is best used with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The associated Web site is http://www.personalitytype.com/whoweare.html .

I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was by Barbara Sher. This book speaks to those who are motivated but don’t have a strong career direction. Her Web site is http://www.barbarasher.com/.

The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success by Nicholas Lore. The associated Web site is http://www.rockportinstitute.com/.

Career Match: Connecting Who You are with What You'll Love to Do by Shoya Zichy. The associated Web site is http://www.colorqprofiles.com/ .

Occupational Outlook Handbook and Web Site:
Occupational Outlook Handbook is both a book and has an online tool at http://www.bls.gov/oco/. It is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. The print version is revised every two years. (We assume the Web site is updated more often!)

Some readers may be put off by the book’s catalog format and cut-and-dried prose, but the Handbook provides more specific, high-quality information about more individual occupations than any other guide on the market, hands down. Very broad coverage includes jobs ranging from beauticians to funeral directors. For each occupation, you can learn about the day-to-day experience, training and qualifications, job outlook, and earnings potential.

The interactive Web site, http://www.bls.gov/oco/, is likewise extremely useful.

O*NET OnLine:
The O*NET database describes more than 800 hundred occupations and has very advanced search capabilities. The database, which is available to the public at no cost, is continually updated by surveying a broad range of workers. Jobs groups are organized from the lowest education and experience requirements to the highest (Zones 1-5). Each title is linked to an extensive job description. Notice that some job titles have the “In Demand” symbol--which offers a quick take on this key piece of information. The O*NET program is sponsored by the US Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

Riley Guide: http://www.rileyguide.com/careers.html
This is a no-frills, comprehensive guide to employment opportunities and job resources on the Internet. It offers free career and employment information and explains the process of online job search. They do not post jobs nor resumes, but point to places that do.

"Freedom to Do My Job" Joins Lowest Employee Survey Norms

2009-02-23T11:13:00.005-05:00

Sign of the times? We recently updated our employee survey norms and we’ve seen the sense of freedom to do the job, trust and open communications join the list of "least favorable" items this year. In dead-last position? "My manager gives me the freedom to do my job." Seventy-two percent were negative or neutral on this statement. See the newcomers and holdovers on the list of most unfavorable ratings below:

Ten Least Favorable Employee Survey Benchmarks
New: Norm 84. My manager gives me the freedom to do my job.(lowest ranking item)
New: Norm 10. Information is communicated openly and honestly in this organization.
New: Norm 11. Information is communicated in a timely manner.

Holdovers from prior lists of this dubious honor include:

Norm 73. I feel recognized for the contribution I make to this organization.
Norm 70. I am satisfied with the benefits package this organization offers.
Norm 54. I feel I have control over my career at this organization.
Norm 76. Management is supportive of its employees.
Norm 69. This organization pays well compared to other companies.
Norm 9. Overall, information in this organization is communicated well.
Norm 86. I feel secure about my continued employment in this organization.

Source: PPI Employee Feedback Database, November 2008

Communication is a perennial difficulty and our most recent review of survey answers found that 60 percent of employees had neutral or negative attitudes to the statement "Information in this organization is communicated well." Career advancement, management consistency, and recognition are other challenging areas.

PPI recently updated and expanded its industry norms database, from which organizations can purchase norms regardless if they use PPI to conduct the survey. We have conducted hundreds of employee surveys worldwide since 1987, resulting in a norms database with as many as 100,000 responses for each of 86 questionnaire items.

Norms help employers judge whether results are high or low compared to other organizations. Even if you find certain items disappointingly low, you may find your organization outranks many other organizations. Outside norms are especially important for a first-time employee survey.

Employers can obtain norms for general business or for one of 16 industries and categories, including nonprofits. Multinational organizations are well represented in the database. Norms are available with no minimum purchase, and employers who share their with Performance Programs' Employee Feedback Database receive a 50 percent discount. Identities of organizations in the database are kept confidential. Inquire about employee survey norms.

New Research on Leadership Versatility

2009-02-05T14:30:00.003-05:00

When it comes to leadership competency, more is not always better. Research shows that the most effective leaders know how and why to balance their skills--and to avoid overreliance on their comfort zones. At a December 15, 2008 webinar, PPI hosted author and researcher Rob Kaiser in a presentation of his work on Leadership Versatility. Kaiser explained why the ability to switch gears and exert different leadership skills at different times results in better business outcomes. You can view the Leadership Versatility webinar on our web site.

Rob Kaiser, coauthor of the book, "The Versatile Leader" (Pfeiffer, 2006), studied top leaders for more than ten years with Bob Kaplan of the consulting firm Kaplan & DeVries. Their work resulted in the Leadership Versatility Index® (LVI) a 360-degree assessment tool with a radically new rating scale. Not just cosmetic, the features they developed were awarded a U.S. patent and hailed as revolutionary by MIT's Sloan Management Review. Rob Kaiser is a partner with Kaplan DeVries and a thought leader with over 100 publications and presentations on leadership.

The webinar discussion includes:

1. An up-to-date leadership competency paradigm that you can put to work in your development programs.

2. The ways that traditional measurement scales can lead executives to counterproductive behaviors and a new alternative measurement scale.

3. Research that shows the relationship between leadership versatility and positive business outcomes.

4. Practical application of the leadership versatility model to reduce executive derailments.

We hope you find the webinar interesting and look forward to talking with you about how this research fits into your executive development efforts.

Personality Test Predicts Safety Consciousness

2009-02-05T13:28:00.005-05:00

The caller on the other end of the line was a long time acquaintance from the HR field. "How do I know if I’m hiring a safety-conscious trucker?” he asked. "Are there any tools out there help predict safety?"

Two things struck me about the call.

First, he was in luck--I was able to offer him a new personality-based safety report from Hogan Assessments that addresses this question.

But second, I noted that I’ve been asked the prediction question in recent months more than at any time in our 20+ years in the human resources assessment business. "How can I tell if the person really has leadership potential?” is a common variation. We also get questions such as these:

"How can I predict if she's going to boil over under stress?"

"How do I predict if he's suited to working in a team environment?"

"How do I know if she's too competitive? (or not competitive enough?)"

I am the last person to claim there is any air-tight method of answering these and the thousands of other selection questions we all face. I am impressed, however, by the results our customers are getting from personality-based evaluations by Hogan Assessments’ research instruments.

You'll probably want to know about the The Hogan Safety Report. This new report determines a job candidate's work style and overall safety orientation, helping employers assure a high-quality, safety-conscious workforce. The report has three sections:

Section I defines the dimensions of safety-related behaviors.

Section II provides a graphic report of the candidate’s assessment results.

Section III summarizes the candidate’s results and our recommendation regarding potential hiring.

Happy to talk with you about how this report can fit into your selection process.

Importance of Understanding Work Values during Career Transition

2008-11-09T08:45:00.006-05:00

Values Assessment Different from Interest Inventories, Personality Tests

Recognition, power, tradition, security, fun, pleasing surroundings, money--these are the values that often make the difference between a job that someone can do and a job they really, really want to do. In the human resources assessment world, we often look at interest inventories and personality tests. But I feel there's a source of information that is mostly overlooked in placement settings--values. This is especially important in more experienced adults, such as the ones so many of our clients and consultants are encountering in a "career transition" setting during these turbulent days.

Values Assessment vs. Interest Inventories vs. Personality Tests

Measures of motives, values, and interests are somewhat different from personality measures.

Values and motives inventories tell us what a person wants to do, shining a light on their inner conversation about their wishes. To quote the technical manual for the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory, published by Hogan Assessments, “Personality measures ask about a person’s typical response in various situations, but interest measures ask about a person’s preferred activities, roles, and associates." Values measures allow people to describe themselves as they would like to be.

Personality tests tell us what a person may do in certain situations and how their behavior is likely to appear to others. Personality reports describe such characteristics as sociability, inquisitiveness, confidence, ambition, interpersonal sensitivity, cautiousness, and curiosity.

Motives and values are more fundamental than interests. Your interests are likely to move over time, but they are always an expression of what you value. For example, you might have once enjoyed an extreme sport such as mountain biking (an interest). Over time you may have become bored with this activity, and turned your attention to rock climbing (another interest). The core values that tie both of these interests together, and which have not shifted, are love of physical activity, the freedom of the outdoors, and more than a hint of physical risk. Your interests have shifted; your motives and values have not.

This is why we're now emphasizing the Career Compass report from Hogan Assessments. It helps shine a light on the elusive and hard-to-articulate nature of work motivations. It is a comprehensive survey of the 10 key values found in every culture throughout history. The only commercially available measure of values that has been developed, validated, and normed for business contexts.

We now offer Career Compass along with an exclusive 20-page interpretive guide that helps you and your client take action on the report. Career Compass OnLine is only $49. It is based on the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI), a scientifically validated values inventory, developed and published by Hogan Assessments. MVPI is validated for individuals over 21.

Learn more...

Low Employee Survey Ratings Are Sometimes "Normal"

2008-05-22T15:58:00.006-04:00

Trying to define a "normal" workplace is as difficult and unpredictable as describing a "normal" family, but we've learned there are average or predictable responses to certain questions or groups of questions on employee surveys.

Some employers are shocked by low ratings on employee survey questions, but they should always consider the nature of the question topic. Some topics, such as career advancement opportunities, always seem to get low ratings--a fact that was verified recently when we repeated our study of the answers provided on more than 100 employee surveys we've conducted since 1987. (These norms are available to employers whether they do their employee survey through PPI or not.)

Most companies, for instance, have a hard time getting high ratings for internal communications or for career development. We define high ratings as more than 67% favorable or highly favorable ratings of a statement such as: There are adequate advancement opportunities for employees at my level.

Even the best managed firms have a hard time reaching 67% favorable ratings on career advancement.

Some other questions cause most human resource departments grief, such as:

Overall, information in this organization is communicated well.
This organization listens to the ideas/opinions that employees contribute.
I am kept up-to-date on organizational changes in policy or practice.

So, even if the ratings are lower than expected, they may be higher than those received by other organizations. And the most important thing is improvement--which you'll hopefully find when the survey is repeated a year later.

We offer norms for general business or for one of 16 industries and categories(http://www.performanceprograms.com/Surveys/employee-opinion-norms.shtm). Reports include the mean, standard deviation, frequency distribution, and number of respondents on which the norm is based. There is no minimum purchase. A 50% discount is offered to employers who share their survey data with Performance Programs for inclusion in their Employee Feedback Database. Identities of organizations in the database are kept confidential to PPI.

Nonprofit Leaders More Skilled than Corporate Counterparts

2008-05-09T12:02:00.017-04:00

Nonprofit Leaders Rate Higher in 360 Feedback

Never assume anything.

It’s an old warning—and one that proved true again when we studied leaders of nonprofit organizations in partnership with Community Resource Exchange during 2007. CRE, a 27-year-old New York City consulting organization, provides high-value capacity building services to nonprofit leaders and organizations.

"Leadership in for-profit endeavors is widely studied," says our associate Jean Lobell, a Managing Director at CRE. "The same is not necessarily true for nonprofits, but the lack of data never stopped people from assuming that nonprofit leaders are less skilled than their for-profit counterparts."

"Imagine our delight and surprise," she says, "when our study showed that nonprofit leaders, as seen by their managers, direct reports and peers significantly (alpha > 0.05) outscored for-profit leaders on 14 out of 17 skills." The study is based on Clark Wilson Group’s validated Survey of Leadership Practices™, a competency-based 360-degree feedback instrument.

The strength of the findings was a surprise to both CRE and PPI, as well as to a group of nonprofit leaders who had participated in the study. While it is premature to declare that nonprofit leaders are clearly more effective, this study challenges the assumption.

Want full details? We were pleased to have the study featured in the Nonprofit Quarterly, a highly respected magazine that focuses on themes of critical importance to leaders in the nonprofit sector.

Fast Track to Intepreting Personality Tests

2008-05-09T11:41:00.008-04:00

Free of Charge for Certified Users of Hogan Assessments

We were recently pleased to get a new tool to help interpret Hogan Personality Inventory reports. Called the "Dyad" Training Tool, it allows you to pair scales (see below for example) in test results and click to a suggestion of what that pair might mean. For example:

Question: What do you get when you have high ambition and high adjustment in the same personality profile?

Answer: You are likely to find a person who is calm, poised, self-confident, and eager to be in charge.

The new tool will help people who are involved in large-scale hiring or training projects make quicker interpretations. It's also fun to use and helps build your knowledge of the how different personality characteristics interact with one another.

DYAD is written in PowerPoint and is available free of charge to individuals who have attended the Hogan Certifications Workshop. If you are certified, get your free copy by contacting us and putting DYAD Training Tool in the subject line. We'll send the PowerPoint file as an attachment.

Fun at Work … a Big Predictor of Job Satisfaction

2008-01-01T08:43:00.002-05:00

Over the past five years, we’ve had almost 100,000 people complete the short version of the Full Engagement Profile, a work/life balance and stress management measurement. Lately, we’ve been looking for trends in the data gathered from this popular assessment, which is based on the widely read 2003 book, The Power of Full Engagement, coauthored by our associate, Dr. Jim Loehr. He is also the author of the 2007 book, The Power of Story.

One of the single biggest predictors of a high score on job satisfaction for both men and women, we’ve learned, is a high score on the statement, “I have fun at work.” Two items were of even greater importance: “I feel a sense of purpose and meaning in my work.” and “I feel more challenge and opportunity than frustration and aggravation at work.”

Employers take note: A few opportunities for a good chuckle may go a long way towards increasing employee job satisfaction.

In a separate inquiry, we looked at the scores that predict a high score on the question: “I feel fully engaged at work.” We found that high scores on the following predict a sense of full engagement:

“I have a high level of positive emotional energy at work.”

“I feel my work is personally fulfilling.”

“I am mentally alert and sharp at work.”

The question of personal fulfillment showed up on both lists, an item that many employers feel challenged to address. But it may be of use to look at the elements of personal fulfillment and find ways to address them. The word “personal” means what it says: specific to the person. Praise, recognition, and a consistent attention to the work of individuals may go a long way towards increasing an employee’s sense of being valued at work. The word “fulfillment” speaks of completion, something that can be gained when people have a sense of the whole work product. These are both old principles in workplace psychology, but apparently still the ones that make a difference.

As we learn more about the results of this fascinating survey, we’ll keep you posted.

Our company, Performance Programs, is a coauthor of the Full Engagement Profile, along with Dr. Jim Loehr’s company, Human Performance Institute of Orlando, FL, and the Wenroth Group, New York City.

Success in Cross Cultural Business Settings

2007-12-20T15:46:00.003-05:00

Measure Your "Globe-Ability"

The Global Assessment Inventory (GAI) measures ten attributes crucial for successful adaptation to multiple cultures, particularly in your work environment. GAI is now available online from Performance Programs. The price is normally $55 per individual, but the 17-page report is currently free of charge while we continue our norm study. Global Assessment Inventory reports on the following attributes:

Change Tolerance : Willingness to meet challenges and cope with change.
Initiative: Ability to take charge of new or challenging situations.
Respect for Beliefs: Receptiveness to new ideas and other political or religious beliefs.
Patience: The extent to which you believe you have influence over your life events.
Risk Taking: Willingness to try new approaches and ways of doing things.
Sociability: Extent to which you enjoy being with other people.
Openness: Willingness to let others know you.
Global Sensitivity: Clarity of the job tasks.
Travel Flexibility
Travel Expectations

The GAI is especially good at measuring the attributes necessary for work that involves international business travel. Visit the Performance Programs shopping cart and complete the check out process. No charges will occur. All data is confidential. No individual's responses will be identified in the norms. GAI is proprietary and created by Prudential Relocation's Intercultural Group; Performance Programs is a research partner and distributor.

GAI is based on the Overseas Assignment Inventory (OAI), a 30-year-old measurement from Prudential Relocation's Intercultural Group. The OAI is an online assessment designed for expatriate candidates that measures nine attributes and six context factors crucial for successful adaptation to living fulltime and working in another culture. It is provided for both the expatriate job candidate and his or her spouse or partner. PPI establishes local norms and conducts ongoing validation studies of the OAI. OAI is proprietary and created by Prudential Relocation's Intercultural Group.

Lack of Sleep Is the Culprit, Say Survey Respondents

2007-12-19T13:37:00.000-05:00

Lack of sleep raids our energy stores, robs us of peak performance and destroys work/life balance, according to almost 100,000 individuals who completed the short version of the Full Engagement Self Profile, which provides a customized view of a person’s energy management strengths and challenges. Lack of exercise and lack of time management skills also earned a spot among the top three energy bandits. The Full Engagement Profile is based on a bestselling 2003 book, The Power of Full Engagement, coauthored by our associate Dr. Jim Loehr. The book shows how to achieve optimal performance by managing energy, not time. Loehr is also author of the 2007 book, The Power of Story.

“The sleep, exercise, and time management scores in this large group are, on average, about 60% of what we consider optimal,” says Dr. Loehr. “By any measure, that is a serious deficit.”

Loehr is a performance psychologist who has worked with world class athletes and top performers from the high stress occupations of military special forces, law enforcement, medicine, and commerce for more than 30 years. The Full Engagement Profile is used with all Human Performance Institute programs.

To find out how you score, visit the free trial . The trial offers a short customized report. There is an upgrade version available at the end of the trial for $49. The upgrade provides a 16-page report with a full set of norms on 15 areas of energy management plus a variety of other measures. In addition to sleep and physical fitness, the report covers nutrition, interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, management of adversity, creativity and curiosity, focus and concentration, solution-based thinking, mental preparation, self-awareness, commitment and passion, principle-centered ethics, vision, and the ability to recover. For more information about Energy for Performance Training, contact Human Performance Institute.

Executive Leadership Competencies Mapped to "FYI" Competencies

2007-12-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

Many organizational coaches and HR departments rely on Lombardo and Eichinger's For Your Improvement: A Guide for Development and Coaching. Performance Programs recently mapped the 4th edition of the book, popularly known as FYI, to all the items on two validated 360 feedback surveys: Survey of Leadership Practices and the new Executive EQ. Both are published by Clark Wilson Group.

This is an effective way to bridge the compentency-based 360 feedback into developmental action plans. For more information about these maps, please contact Paul or Sonya at 1-800-565-4223.

New Guide Helps Interpret Hogan Personality Tests

2007-12-06T14:52:00.000-05:00

Personality tests from Hogan Assessments are very popular among our customers, so we were glad to learn of the new book called The Hogan Guide by Robert Hogan, Joyce Hogan, and Rodney Warrenfelz. New users of Hogan assessments will find this a valuable reference to the core concepts behind the Hogan Personality Inventory, Hogan Development Survey, and Motives, Values, and Preferences Inventory. Advanced users will also appreciate its breadth, as it covers every conceivable aspect of the tools and their applications in one concise document. One of the reasons we recommend Hogan’s personality assessments is because they are so well supported with interpretive material, in addition to rigorous research.

The new book is written in a conversational, business-oriented tone, though its academic background is clear. The organization is clear and the layout conducive to finding information quickly.

The book is divided into three parts:

1. Understanding the inventories: History, global portability, scale definitions, and performance implications of results on a scale-by-scale basis.

2. Interpretation methods: including configural, conflict, and competency interpretation.

3. Developmental feedback delivery, coaching and supporting.

We are very pleased to add this book to our list of recommendations on personality testing.

The book is available from Performance Programs for $75, plus shipping (tax applies in CT). For more information or to purchase a copy, visit our shopping cart.

Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory Updated

2007-12-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

Most psychologists believe that cognitive ability is the best single predictor of occupational performance and other important developmental outcomes, including health, wealth, and life satisfaction. Most tests of cognitive ability, however, are designed for a general population or educational settings. The Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory(HBRI) is a cognitive ability measure designed for the workplace. The inventory draws on the distinction between tactical and strategic reasoning.

Originally published two years ago, the report has now been updated, based on user feedback, with a new format and guidelines for administration. The new report offers four categories of thinkers, based on their style of problem-solving. When used in a business setting, it must be administered in a "lightly proctored setting" on the employer's premises. Please let us know if you would like to know more about the HBRI. See a sample HBRI report . See an HBRI brochure.

Work-Life Survey Shows Only Six Percent Reach Peak Personal Energy

2007-12-01T12:57:00.000-05:00

Since March 2003, the Human Performance Institute, Orlando, FL, has sponsored the Full Engagement Self Profile , an online survey that helps individuals assess how well they are managing life energy for performance and productivity. Nearly 100,000 thousand people have completed the core questionnaire free of charge, resulting in an unprecedented look at the practices and concerns of adults who seek to understand why their energy is depleted and what they can do about it. Performance Programs hosts the survey and provides data analysis.

The survey is based on the bestselling 2003 book, The Power of Full Engagement, coauthored by our associate, Dr. Jim Loehr. He is also author of the 2007 book, The Power of Story.

Only six percent of all survey respondents achieve what Dr. Loehr terms “full engagement,” a balanced state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy. Furthermore, he classifies 20 percent as “toxically disengaged,” and about 45 percent as “disengaged.”

"These people are running dangerously low on fuel,” he explains. “They have a personal energy crisis that undermines their participation in their workplaces and in society.” The survey results show that caring for oneself physically and spiritually make an enormous difference in all areas of life. “When people add physical fitness, rest and recovery to their lives, they report much lower stress, greater job satisfaction, and higher effectiveness,” says Dr. Loehr. “Yet the overwhelming number of comments people leave on these surveys tell us they feel blocked from the very practices that would support their efforts at work, at home, and in the community.”

Toxically disengaged people are characterized by low scores on the physical, emotional, and mental categories, but especially on the spiritual dimension. “They’re telling us their lives lack vision and purpose, their emotions are stunted, they never feel fully rested, and they don’t feel they have the resources to improve their lot. In many cases, they have simply given up,” says Loehr.

On the other end of the scale, people who report high levels of engagement invest in physical fitness, get more sleep and recovery time, and have high scores on the spiritual dimension. “These people report self-confidence and vision,” Loehr concludes. “One of the areas where they really exceed the average is in their ritual of taking some reflective time each day.” The most engaged group scores 33 percent higher than the average respondent on the following statement: ‘I set aside time every day to link my activities to my personal or professional mission.’” (There are an additional six statements where the most engaged score over 30 percent higher than the norm. All are statistically significant beyond the 99 percent confidence level.)

The core Full Engagement questionnaire and a short personalized report are free of charge. Visitors can receive an in-depth report by upgrading to the full energy management questionnaire at the completion of the trial for $49. To learn more about Energy for Performance Training, visit the Human Performance Institute.

New Research: Employee Job Satisfaction Related to Individual Energy Management

2007-12-01T08:46:00.000-05:00

Attention employers: want to increase employee job satisfaction? Free cafeteria food and flex time aren’t it. An employee’s job satisfaction may depend as much on the positive mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional resources the employee brings to the workplace, according to data gathered from nearly 100,000 working adults in a five-year study of personal energy management and work-life balance.

“The people who score in the top 10 percent of job satisfaction report they are also taking care of themselves in the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical realms,” says Dr. Jim Loehr, CEO of the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, FL. The source of Dr. Loehr’s data, the Full Engagement Self Profile, is based on the 2003 bestselling book titled The Power of Full Engagement. Loehr is also author of the 2007 book, The Power of Story.

“Furthermore, people who report the highest job satisfaction are highly self-confident individuals,” adds Loehr, who notes an 85 percent correlation between high job satisfaction and self-confidence. “They are not only satisfied with their jobs; they also feel competent in work and life. These two are mutually reinforcing.”

Loehr's organization identified these highly satisfied individuals by their response to the statement: “I am happy and satisfied in my job.” Then they learned that people in the top 10 percent of job satisfaction also exhibit positive motivational and energy management habits to a far greater degree than people in the bottom 10 percent.

Most dramatic are the differences in the management of “spiritual” energy, as illustrated by practices related to beliefs about the meaning of life. Those with the highest job satisfaction score about 250 percent higher on commitment, passion, self-confidence, vision, and purpose than those in the lowest 10 percent of job satisfaction.

The top 10 percent's average exercise and fitness score is 170 percent of those in the bottom 10 percent of job satisfaction. Their nighttime sleep score is 154 percent of those in the bottom 10 percent. Their overall rest and recovery, which includes daytime rest breaks and constructive diversions from work, is 149 percent of those with the lowest job satisfaction. Their nutrition is 126 percent of those in the lowest group.

“These are individuals who have somehow found a way to harness their own sources of physical energy and motivation, in spite of the distracting environment in which most of us live today,” Loehr says. “It is tempting, based on these numbers, to think that job satisfaction can be addressed through good candidate selection,” Loehr adds. “And to some extent, it can. But employers get only one chance at good selection with each opening they fill, while they have a daily opportunity to encourage people towards practices that renew physical energy, and as well as the opportunity to encourage employees’ self-confidence through training and recognition. If the tensions of the job take away energy, enthusiasm and time for self-renewal, the individual with high job satisfaction is at risk for becoming less engaged.”

New 360 Survey Measures Executive Emotional Intelligence

2007-09-19T14:47:00.000-04:00

Executive leadership skill differs from the leadership required at lower levels of organizations. First, executive leaders create and articulate visions. Second, executive leaders must lead people to engage in those visions. Research is clear that the emotional intelligence of leaders greatly influences their effectiveness in the latter task. Thus, emotional intelligence is a great career asset for motivated leaders.

Executive EQ helps chief executive officers, presidents, and vice presidents understand perceptions of their emotional intelligence through competency scores on vision, organizational and marketplace awareness, self-awareness, energy, self-confidence, self-management, engagement and more. It is appropriate for anyone responsible for communicating vision and engaging followers in that vision.

This new survey is based on the reliable, validated Survey of Executive Leadership from Clark Wilson Group. It integrates several special qualities articulated by Daniel Goleman in his breakthrough book, Emotional Intelligence (Bantam, 1995), such as self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-confidence, and meets Wilson’s rigorous research standards.

Clark Wilson Group’s Executive EQ survey differs from other EQ surveys in two ways. First, Wilson surveys are based on a learning model. They measure observable behaviors. Thus, Wilson’s EEQ survey looks only for competencies that people can change and develop through training and reinforcement. EEQ fact sheets are available now. For sample reports, call 1-800-565-4223.