Psychometric Profiling
We use Psychometric Profiling with individuals to increase their understanding of the way they react to events and the way they come across to others. We use them to challenge current assumptions individuals make about themselves and to facilitate behavioural change.
Used to support the selection process of key players within the business and to enhance performance effectiveness of individuals and teams, it is highly effective as a personal development tool.
It can be used as the basis for behavioural change in individuals and teams and as a platform for coaching where it is either a short-term relationship or coaching is unfamiliar to the individual.
As part of my coaching work with Robyn, we discussed the merits of how Psychometric Profiling could help me to get a better understanding of my motives, values and preferences as well as my 'bright side' (how I come across to others) and my 'dark side' (interpersonal behaviour in out of comfort situations). The questionnaires were made available online and I could complete these at a place and time convenient for me.
The way Robyn chose to present the results was very different indeed from your stereotypical, computer-generated report where you can't help thinking that the only thing that gets changed is the [insert name here] field. Instead, I had a two hour session where Robyn explained in great detail the results of the questionnaires, their implications in general terms and what this would mean specifically for me. The quality and accuracy of the information interpreted was very impressive and the examples Robyn used were totally relevant to my situation. Having the results explained to me and receiving the feedback face-to-face was very valuable and really allowed me to put my personality profile into context. Being able to recognise und understand why I behave and had behaved - in certain ways in certain situations is an invaluable experience, which has also enabled me to shape parts of my new job role to play to my strengths.
In my experience, what makes a feedback tool genuinely useful is twofold: the quality of the analysis that is done so that reports are specific to the individual rather than generalised and the way you use the information that is gathered. More often than not, teams will engage in a feedback process and either because they cannot interpret the information the report generates or because they don't really buy into it (particularly if it's a 360 degree tool) then, like the appraisal document it is put in a bottom drawer and forgotten.
There are many different types of feedback assessment available and when I qualified in Psychometrics I chose to focus on a couple I know are backed by science and so I recognise them to be the most reliable and highly valid in terms of accuracy and consistency of results.
One approach (Hogan Assessments) is intended for individual use and is designed to increase self-awareness in the individual about the way they come across to others in the workplace as well as the characteristics that they exhibit when they are under pressure, tired or generally not on top form. These and the Motives, Values and Preferences Inventory can be used with individuals and then with teams to learn about cultural and attitudinal diversity within the team and you can have a lot of fun with it as well as it being highly informative.
I do not rely on computer generated reports, rather I interpret the data myself which means I can provide highly relevant information within the context and specification you have given me, for you to work with. It's not the percentages that count, it's what their interpretation and feedback teaches you about yourself. Trust the person using the tool; the rest is about you and increasing your self-awareness.
Another approach is The EQ-360®, a measure derived from the BarOn EQ-i®, which is one of the most recognised emotional intelligence instruments worldwide. Like Hogan, it is a psychometrically sound, scientifically validated assessment. The EQ-360® is designed to provide individuals with a comparison of their self-assessment of their emotional intelligence skills with an assessment made by people who know and/or work with them. Emotional intelligence refers to an array of emotional, personal and interpersonal abilities and skills that influence one's overall capability to cope effectively with environmental demands. These are two approaches which I personally favour because I know they deliver genuinely useful results.
I once commissioned a leadership 360 degree assessment for the Executive Management Team of a FTSE250 Company I was working for and coupled it with the Hogan assessments. I gave managers feedback on the Hogan suite first and feedback from their team members (anonymously) on leadership ability in a subsequent meeting. What was illuminating for me was that managers started out saying they didn't buy into what their colleagues said about them and didn't value their opinion anyway, but because I gave them the Hogan feedback first and they knew they had answered those inventories themselves they found themselves referring back to those profiles and acknowledging that it actually supported what some of their colleagues were saying about them.
Successful Organisations want a Sustainable Return on Change Investment – one factor is Management Style
Any success minded organisation would want to uphold a preferred style as a measure of consistency, success and brand integrity. Style is manifested through our behaviours which are, in turn driven by what we value and what we believe about ourselves and about the organisation in which we work.
Management style will be delivered through management behaviours and a successful organisation wants the desired, appropriate behaviours to be consistently modelled by managers at all levels.
For success to be sustainable, change must be permanent. That means for managers to want to change their behaviour they often need to have them brought to their attention and to understand the root cause of those tendencies.
We find using this type of psychometric assessment an objective and appropriate way to bring a leaders' attention to their behaviours, and having done that to work with them to first manage and then change those behaviours to something more positive. Understanding is key if leaders are to be inspired to proactively change unhelpful behaviours to something more useful.
Remember, all learning and change has to start with the individual and Leaders go first. When that happens your colleagues will be interested to find out about themselves without you having ever had to say, you need to do this!