Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Hogan Assessment Certification Workshops are now offered virtually using Zoom. In the wake of the pandemic, the Hogan Global Learning team quickly transitioned its previously scheduled in-person workshops scheduled through June 30 to the virtual platform, and the feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Here are some of the responses Hogan has received via post-workshop surveys:

“The flexibility of being able to attend online was a real bonus, especially considering that I needed to get the information quickly. Brandy and Jackie did a great job leading virtually.” 

“I thought for the first online class it was remarkable. Seriously, the learning for me personally did not suffer. In fact, I may have been more focused as I wasn’t distracted by getting to know people as I am a people-person.”

“I think Hogan did a great job at adapting to the current climate of the world with Covid-19 and making this an effective virtual classroom training. The facilitators were very engaging and knowledgeable–very impressive!”

Each virtual US-based Hogan workshop will be delivered over a 4-day span with half-day sessions. Start times vary, so please check workshop details before registering. In addition to the 4-day format for virtual workshops, there is also a mandatory introduction/Zoom orientation call at 3:30 pm EST the Monday before each workshop. The cost to attend the US-based workshops is $2,500.

The Hogan Certification workshop is required for use of our full assessment suite.

This course teaches professionals to interpret and apply Hogan’s three core personality-based assessments at a basic level:

• Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI): measures the “bright side” of personality; strengths that facilitate successful performance
• Hogan Development Survey (HDS): measures the “dark side” of personality; potential career derailers that impede performance
• Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI): measures the “inside” of personality; values and drivers that powerfully influence organizational fit and leadership style

Participants attending all four days and successfully completing the workshop will be certified to use and interpret the Hogan inventories. Insights acquired during this intensive workshop will challenge and change the way you think about human nature, leadership and performance.

The Hogan Global Learning team plans to continue offering virtual workshops beyond the dates listed above and will also continue to offer in-person workshops once it’s safe to do so. Click here to register for a virtual Hogan Assessment Certification Workshop today!

The world of work, and our individual and collective place in it, has been continually shifting over the past hundred years. But with the current unprecedented global disruption, these shifts have become dramatic and jarring, seemingly redefining weekly what it means to work. Employee motivation has been thrust into the spotlight, and for good reason. People’s motives affect, at conscious and unconscious levels, the way they make sense of and respond to the world around them.

Values act as a lens – they color what we find important and motivating and determine which messages we find inspiring or distasteful. Leaders’ values are especially important in organizations, as they often set the standard for internal communication, impact company culture, and guide reward systems. Their values are conspicuous right now in the ways they communicate with their employees. Left unexamined, leaders’ communications may highlight values-based blind spots and fail to compel their intended audience.

For example, many leaders seem to be trying to inspire their organization by emphasizing the importance of the work itself, couching disruption as something that can and should be overcome, and speaking confidently about their ability to win and emerge triumphant, as seen here in this message from Jeff Bezos to Amazon employees. While these messages may align with that leader’s values regarding competition, winning, and comfort with risk, many individual contributors will not share those values to the same degree. At best such messages may fall flat with a large percentage of the workforce, and at worst they could be disengaging or seem out-of-touch.

In our research on values, as measured by the Motives, Values, and Preferences Inventory (MVPI), there are clear, noticeable differences between leader and individual-contributor populations in the types of communications they are likely to find compelling or aligned with their values. For example, across industries and job families and in comparison with individual contributors across all job families, leaders tend to score higher on Power (valuing authority, top-down influence, impact), lower on Security (valuing risk-taking, limit-testing, experimentation), lower on Altruism (valuing personal responsibility, self-reliance), and lower on Hedonism (valuing professional, formal work environments) than the average individual contributor. This suggests that if leaders could often provide more effective communications by managing their value-based blind spots; they may need to:

• Curtail the desire to invoke the language of war, winning, and beating the virus
• Broaden their perspective beyond work and consider issues related to work-life balance; emphasize collegiality and a whole-person focus
• Provide greater clarity on plans, tasks, and deadlines than they may do naturally
• Consider how their requests and directions impact the greater good; find more ways to illustrate the higher purpose and link their employees’ actions to beneficial outcomes for others

For example, the message to employees delivered by Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott, has received extensive positive media attention and provides values-based messages likely to resonate with a broad array of employees.

Understanding values is key to enabling leaders to connect with individual contributors in ways that are likely to inspire commitment, compel them to put forth discretionary effort, and provide them with a deeper sense of meaning. To learn more about the importance of values, and especially how to leverage values-based communications, join us at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28 for the webinar Leveraging Values to Keep individuals and Teams Engaged. During the webinar, we will dive deeper into values differences between managers and individual contributors and highlight common values differences across functions that may help managers target their communications for the greatest motivational impact.

*This post was authored by now-former Hogan CEO, Scott Gregory, and Hogan Consultant, Amy Sarraf Renshaw.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 became a serious health threat all over the world and everyone was forced to lock up at home in self-quarantine, it was clear that everyday routine – going to work included – was abruptly interrupted for an indefinite period of time.

In this moment of discontinuity and need to forcedly reorganize our own daily activities, many of us have started reading, studying, participating in trainings – activities that until this very moment have been frequently neglected – to fill up all that time that suddenly is free.

Everyone at Awair thought of what their extended community must have been feeling and the need to do something to virtually shorten the distance grew stronger. A webinar series was eventually born to share some knowledge on psychometric tools and Hogan Assessments with a focus on the uncertainty and the stress that comes with it, packed with practical tools to cope with the emerging crisis.

Awair’s series of webinars aims at taking a pause within the pause, to breathe and grow awareness of what is happening around and within us; to reflect and to equip ourselves to cope with the crisis and get ready for the future.

With the support of the Hogan tools, this series represents an excellent starting point to learn more about our own personality, or how we handle stressful circumstances, or how we can re-focus on our deepest values to realign ourselves with our motivations to go on. However, it is also a valuable opportunity to learn new methods to keep “hanging on” in complex situations, or to develop our own way to make sense of an experience and tell the “right” story.

The first episode of this series is “Personality 101”

Dimitra Kakaraki, Senior Consultant of Awair, Psychologist, and Cognitive Behavior Therapist, gives us an overview of Awair’s leadership and potential assessment model based on Hogan’s assessments. She shares the principles of Hogan’s personality analysis applied to the organizational context with strong emphasis on the concept of reputation. This is the kind of evaluation that facilitates growing self-awareness and a deeper understanding our own individual journey.

The second episode is “The Dark Side of Personality: Self-Analysis at the Time of COVID-19”

Andrea Facchini, Partner of Awair, Business Psychologist, and Executive Coach, guides us through the dark side of our personality. Using Hogan’s HDS model, he highlights and illustrates behaviors that emerge in stressful situations that respond to the primal instincts of flight, fight, and freeze and that might derail our business relationships and impact our careers negatively. The COVID-19 pandemic is currently a significant source of stress, and it is good to have someone who helps us navigate them and grow more self-aware.

The third episode is “What Really Matters: The Relevance of Values and Preferences”

Andrea Facchini, Partner of Awair, Business Psychologist, and Executive Coach, gives us a compass so that we do not lose sight of what matters the most to each one of us. Using Hogan’s MVPI model, he facilitates the understanding of what gives us satisfaction and energy or, on the contrary, takes the wind out of our sails and demotivates us.

Under pressure and in wearing times such as these, we might give more importance to basic priorities and to survival instincts, pushing our values and preferences to a far-off corner of our mind, but these represent the beacon that guides the decisions of our lives and wellbeing, of our careers and our relationships, helping us make a sense of everything.

The fourth episode is “Mental Toughness & Resilience”

Andrea Facchini, Partner of Awair, Business Psychologist, and Executive Coach, explores two concepts borrowed from sports “mental toughness” and “resilience.” They echo that kind of attitude that helps champions emerge exactly when everyone else is “slacking off.” He shares some practical tools to develop a mindset able to keep the performance level high, even in the most unfavorable circumstances.

The fifth episode is “Storytelling: A Journey to Self-Discovery”

Alberto De Biasi, Executive Consultant of Awair and Learning and Leadership Expert, starts from an interesting premise: from new challenges, we can always learn something about ourselves, the others, and the world. These times are accelerating the collective process of learning and discovery that needs words to really sink in. Yet, it is not always easy to name emotions, to shape thoughts, to straighten them up, and express them in a clear, engaging, and memorable way. He provides insights on storytelling principles, elements, and techniques to help us tell our stories.

A new season is currently in the making, with more episodes available soon on Awair’s website and social media accounts.

All the episodes are available on Awair’s YouTube channel.

*This is a guest post provided by Awair, Authorized Hogan Distributor. 

Many people are involved in a basketball game: A coach provides strategy, a shooting guard is agile, and a point guard assists in providing direction. In the heat of the game, the coach knows when to put in strong players, when to bench someone, and when to encourage every player to step up and give 110%. But winning does not depend on just the coach. Winning depends on each player contributing, whether by hustling down the court, putting up a three-pointer, or being in the best possible position when the game is on the line.

The same applies to business. Every person’s role in a company matters, and every person contributes to the company’s success. While responsibilities and titles vary, we all serve customers, drive revenue, and strategize for the future. A good leader encourages team members to develop their individual strengths so the team will perform better.

But what about during a crisis? Today we all find ourselves in uncharted territory, and many businesses are being forced to adapt. Some are changing their business model, some are reinventing their business purpose, and others are collaborating across industries. The most successful companies will be those whose leaders practice humility, admit mistakes, listen to new and innovative ideas, and create space and opportunities for employees to help. People who are truly “helpers” can help their companies succeed.

Battling the business impact of a crisis requires a team of helpers. Leaders should provide vision, be open and honest, make critical decisions with care and efficiency, and create a platform for cooperation and team effort. Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson recently took these actions, reassuring employees in a companywide address that “we can — and we will — overcome this, and we’ll thrive once again.”

Thriving again is what we all want, and each person will play a different role in helping to make that happen. Our research has shown that certain team member characteristics lead to team success in the long run. These include being results oriented, relationship focused, process oriented, innovative, and pragmatic. Acknowledging these strengths in a team and knowing when to tap into them is crucial.

But what if a leader is unsure of a teams’ strengths or how to encourage an individual to better develop his or her strengths? Hogan can help. We understand the science of personality and have created many assessments that will help you understand the strengths of your team.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that every role in a company matters, and every person contributes. Think of this current moment like the heat of the game — when leaders look to their helpers, they know who is dependable and agile and that, in order to thrive again, we have to rely on each other.

CooolCase is a traditional family business in Dresden, Germany, that manufactures steel cases for complex devices and partners with other companies for the development and production of mechanical solutions. The business’s core competency is in metal processing. CooolCase is internationally known for its high quality, efficiency, and innovative mindset.

RELEVANT Management Consulting and CooolCase have a longstanding business relationship. With the current pandemic, demand for medical devices and equipment has skyrocketed. CooolCase was approached by a medical engineering company to produce complex steel and aluminum parts for patient monitors. More than four times what CooolCase would usually produce for the client was requested to increase the worldwide capacity of intensive care beds. Patient monitors track patient vitals and are indispensable to intensive care units.

As a result, CooolCase now needs to hire new staff quickly in order to be able to produce those steel cases efficiently to support the client in helping patients who have COVID-19. Time is of the essence, and so is maintaining a high-quality standard.

“We are committed to support the fight against the coronavirus while continuing to deliver optimal results,” said CooolCase CFO Marvin Michel. “Our mantra is ‘Always work properly; you will achieve the extraordinary.’ This is why we utilize Hogan Assessments for the selection of our staff.”

Hogan Assessments and RELEVANT have supported CooolCase’s fast and uncomplicated recruitment with the Hogan General Employability Report. This report allows CooolCase to identify suitable workers for handling the increased order volume within the shortest possible time period.

“The success of every company depends on its employees,” said Dr. René Kusch, founder of RELEVANT. “Therefore, it is crucial to hire the right caliber of talent. Well-founded assessment tools help organizations to identify personality traits that predict the employability of candidates for a variety of jobs. This, in turn, helps companies create targeted onboarding processes, be more productive, have less turnover and more engaged, committed employees, which also leads to more sustainable financial success.”

CooolCase and RELEVANT hope that the patient monitors will contribute to rapid healing processes and improved quality of life for patients.

Feeling the Sunday scaries? At the start of each workweek, we prepare ourselves for the stressful situations we are likely to face throughout the week. With the recent pandemic, the stress we are feeling is unprecedented. As we try to go about the workday facing new challenges in an abruptly virtual world, the way that we manage our stress might not be at the forefront of our minds. Nevertheless, strategic self-awareness is a critical concept when facing daily uncertainty.

Why Is Strategic Self-awareness Important?

At Hogan, we believe that strategic self-awareness has three components:

• Understanding our own strengths and opportunities for change and growth
• Understanding how our strengths and challenges relate to those of others
• Understanding how to adapt our behavior to increase our effectiveness

We have found that the ability to be strategically self-aware contributes to a person’s effectiveness. Individuals who are self-aware are more likely to seek, accept, and act on feedback. They are generally more successful than those who might miss, ignore, or fail to act on feedback.

Personality and Stress Tolerance

Stress tolerance differs from person to person, in that some people are more prone to stress than others. Think of stress tolerance as the length of someone’s fuse. We all experience stress, but those who are less stress tolerant tend to reach the end of the fuse sooner than those who are more stress tolerant. Those with a shorter fuse may need to work harder at managing it, as it occurs more frequently. Those with a longer fuse may benefit from increased self-awareness so they can identify when they might reach the end of their fuse.

Our research indicates that the Adjustment scale is predictive of stress tolerance. Those who score lower on Adjustment are more likely to feel and experience stress than those who score higher. Additionally, individuals low on Adjustment are likely to react in a quick and decisive manner when experiencing stress. Individuals who are higher on Adjustment are likely to be more stress tolerant, thus more likely to remain calm and collected, but they might also be slower to act.

Furthermore, our research on personality under stress is significant since we are plagued with disruption and uncertainty, which can trigger our derailers. While there are a variety of ways we may react to stress and derail, the Excitable scale has been empirically linked to lower scores on Adjustment, or a tendency to be more prone to stress. When people who are higher on the Excitable scale derail, they tend to react in one of three ways:

• Become more reactive or explosive toward others
• Lack the resilience to move past obstacles or setbacks
• Struggle to understand what needs to be done next to keep momentum going

While Excitable might look different from person to person, it is typically characterized by an inability to forge ahead when an individual experiences a trigger. So how do we learn to manage this unproductive behavior?

Strategies for Managing Stress

The key to managing our behavior is strategic self-awareness, which is often the gap between our identity (how we see ourselves) and our reputation (how others see or experience us). Typically, when people find a gap between identity and reputation, they are lacking self-awareness and have blind spots that they need to identify and address. One of the best ways to identify blind spots is through 360-degree feedback. If you don’t have access to a 360-degree assessment, it might be beneficial to have open and honest conversations with people you trust about how you react to and manage stress.

Another important strategy for managing stress is to know what types of situations trigger your derailing behaviors. Certain derailers may be triggered by particular situations. For example, someone who is high on the Excitable scale may find that his or her excitability is triggered when facing uncertainty or ambiguity. Understanding the situation you are in and whether you are at risk for derailing can allow you to think more strategically about the strategies you can use in the moment to manage that derailer.

Finally, think about ways to mitigate your reactions to stress. Behavior modification is the strategic aspect of self-awareness because it involves proactive adaptation as the way we manage stress. For example, if you know that you become explosive and overreact when faced with ambiguity, you might find it helpful to pause when you feel that reactivity bubbling up. One useful strategy may be to take a walk or a quick break to reset.

Conclusion

We live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world where stress is inevitable, even for the most stress tolerant. Regardless of the length of your fuse, knowing when and how to regulate your behavior through strategic self-awareness is a critical skill to be an effective leader or team member, especially in today’s unique environment. Strategic self-awareness is a skill that can be practiced and learned, and we can all take steps today to bridge the gap between our identities and our reputations through behavior modification.

*This post was authored by Jessie McClure, Delivery Consultant at Hogan, and Erin Laxson, Senior Delivery Consultant and Manager at Hogan.

Crises tend to bring out both the best and the worst in people. On one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has people picking up groceries for their elderly neighbors, sewing masks, and sending hand sanitizer to those in need. At the same time, others are hoarding toilet paper, spreading conspiracy theories on social media, and failing to follow health directives from authorities.

Hardly anyone is going through the normal routine of getting ready for work, commuting to the office, spending the day with colleagues, returning home, and enjoying the evening with family and friends. People are struggling to work from home while simultaneously providing education and day care to their children. Healthcare workers and others deemed essential are working longer hours than ever before, whereas those in the restaurant, bar, entertainment, fitness, hospitality, airline, and cruise industries sit idle.  Consultants and gig economy workers have seen most sources of income dry up, and those who are still employed have no idea whether their companies will be in business next year.

The disruptions to our daily routines, uncertainty about finances, concerns about becoming infected or losing loved ones, and isolation are creating unprecedented levels of stress. No one is going to be at his or her best under these circumstances; the COVID-19 pandemic has created a perfect storm for our dark sides to emerge.

Dark-side personality traits were first identified by Robert Hogan, who defined them as counterproductive behavioral tendencies that emerge when people are not actively managing their reputations. Dark-side personality traits emerge during times of high stress and are essentially coping mechanisms people use to manage these situations. Hogan noted that seemingly normal people can blow their tempers, disappear, avoid making decisions, or micromanage others when stressed.

They are also more likely to demonstrate these dysfunctional behaviors at home because people tend to manage their public reputations at work more than they do their reputations with their families. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased the odds that leaders and employees will exhibit the dysfunctional behaviors associated with dark-side personality traits.

A few of us are lucky and do not have any dark-side traits, but research shows most of us have one to three of these dysfunctional characteristics. Those of us who have more of these traits are more likely to see them emerge during the pandemic. What can people do to keep their dark sides in check during these times of high stress? We’ve laid out some ideas to help people better cope with the challenges of the day.

First, know yourself. Be aware of how you react under stress. One way to do this is to share the table with those you trust and then ask them if any of these behaviors describe you lately.  A more scientific way to gather this information is to complete the Hogan Development Survey, which provides benchmarking feedback on the 11 dark side personality traits. In either case, knowing your dark side is an important first step in being able to cope with the stresses and strains of the coronavirus pandemic.

Second, use coping strategies:

Take care of yourself every day. People cope with stress better when they get plenty of sleep, exercise regularly, eat nutritious meals, drink only in moderation, meditate, and otherwise take some time out for themselves on a routine basis. Those who are waking up early or staying up late to get work done around their children’s schedules and who are not taking care of themselves are more likely to see their dark sides emerge. You need to take care of yourself and encourage your colleagues and family or housemates to do the same.

Focus on what you can control. Research shows people can tolerate high levels of stress when they feel in control, while even low stress levels can have debilitating effects when people feel they have little control. We cannot control what decisions our governments make or what is happening with the global economy, but we can control the practices we use to avoid getting infected, how we manage our schedules, how we divide our time between work and family activities, how we show up for work, and how we respond to team members. Helping everyone identify what they can control and stay focused on that will enable people to keep their dark-side tendencies in check.

Maintain support networks. Offer support to others, and take solace in others. You might not be able to do in-person visits with friends or extended family members, but you can connect via phone, video conferencing, email, and social media. This is also a good time to reconnect with old friends and clients with whom you have not spoken for some time.  Sharing difficulties with others who are willing to lend a sympathetic ear can go a long way toward keeping your stress level in check. Leaders should check in with employees on a regular basis to see how they are doing and if they are staying connected with family and friends.

Remember the Golden Rule. Just as you would want others to cut you some slack, do your best to lower your expectations of other people. They’re going through some tough times too!

This might be the most challenging situation we have faced on a global basis in our lifetimes, but it also provides opportunities for great personal growth. We can either be buffeted by the winds of the coronavirus pandemic or take control of our fate. Experience is the forge of leadership, and by maintaining focus and keeping your dark-side tendencies in check, you will emerge from this crisis even stronger. Your family, friends, team members, and company are counting on it.

*This is a guest blog post authored by Gordon Curphy, PhD, and Dianne Nilsen, PhD, of Curphy Leadership Solutions.

In the past few weeks, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has escalated exponentially, with cases now reported in more than 150 countries. Rightly so, governments around the world have been implementing response strategies to tackle the pandemic. With measures ranging from partial or full lockdowns that are currently affecting one-third of humanity to aggressive virus testing and contact tracing in countries such as South Korea and Singapore, we can see that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Nevertheless, a closer look at the situation reveals to us that it is fundamentally driven by human behaviour. For governments, the challenge thus lies in managing people, who have differences in personality and motivation.

This means that some people will be more predisposed to demonstrating behaviour that positively contributes to “flattening the curve,” while others may have a propensity for behaviour that harms themselves, their families, and their countries. As we have observed over the course of this ongoing crisis, there are five best practices that can be examined through the lens of individual differences, using key scales from Hogan Assessments.

1. Practise Physical Distancing

As an infectious disease such as COVID-19 most often spreads from person to person, physical distancing, or more popularly known as social distancing, aims to reduce the amount of contact we have with one another. Examples of physical distancing measures include refraining from taking part in mass gatherings, working from home, and even something as simple as keeping a distance of at least one metre from one another in a queue.

While the act of self-isolation may be foreign to many, it can be said to be second nature to self-professed “introverts.” This group of people typically scores low on the Sociability scale and high on the Reserved scale; they limit social interaction and prefer their own company. As they may also have little or no desire for Affiliation, they do not believe that relationships are a hugely important aspect in their lives.

Although these people are often perceived as antisocial, their inclination to be alone means that they play a critical role in breaking the chain of infection. Even when they have to socialise, they keep communication to a minimum and with a small, tight-knit circle of friends. Hence, an “introvert” with the virus tends to be in relatively few social situations, helping to limit the spread.

On the contrary, people who are higher on the Sociability and Affiliation scales, and lower on the Reserved scale, with their strong need for relationships, may find it challenging to thrive in a world where social contact is now frowned upon. As they gain energy and a sense of belonging when immersed in social situations, they seek to surround themselves with other people, and can otherwise feel distressed. This group of people, preferring a communicative, high-touch approach to work, may lack the independence and task focus to stay productive when working from home.

Hence, hypothetically speaking, countries with more “introverts” should find that their people will naturally take to social distancing. However, countries with fewer “introverts” may need to consider drastic intervention in the form of full lockdowns or stay-at-home orders in order to effectively enforce behaviour that goes against the grain for the populace.

2. Take Social Responsibility

The concept of physical distancing is closely linked to the wider idea of social responsibility, which is about acting in a manner that does not harm society. Perhaps one of the most cited examples of socially irresponsible behaviour came from Patient 31 of South Korea. As a member of Shincheonji, a cult-like church, she had attended a service despite developing a high fever and had also dined out with friends.

Patient 31 was subsequently termed a “super-spreader” of the virus, as within a week after her diagnosis, South Korea’s infection tally skyrocketed by 30 times. The Korean Center for Disease Control estimated that Patient 31 was in direct contact with 1,160 people, a consequence of her failing to self-isolate and continuing with social activities even when unwell.

From what we know of Patient 31 and other similar cases, it seems that this group of people have a stronger tendency to act based on self-interest. Less motivated to live by Altruistic values, they may prioritise fulfilling their own immediate needs and desires, such as meeting up with friends and going to work. Furthermore, these people may have lower Interpersonal Sensitivity scores; they are likely to overlook the impact of their actions on others’ health and well-being, coming across as self-minded and thoughtless.

On the other hand, people with higher Altruistic and Interpersonal Sensitivity scores should readily adopt a socially responsible mindset given their natural inclination to act with the greater good in mind and with consideration for others. When faced with choices, they tend to live up to the mantra of “It’s not about you, it’s about everybody else” by putting others’ needs before theirs. Therefore, someone who is unwell will be highly mindful of spreading the illness and will endeavour to minimise the possibility of causing such harm to others by practising self-isolation, even if it means sacrificing his/her daily routine and social life.

This crisis is thus an opportunity for us to review the state of our society and our shared values. Should we continue championing individualism and thinking in terms of “every man for himself,” when it is increasingly clear that in our interconnected world a virus can spread between cities that are thousands of miles apart? When it comes to survival of the fittest, countries that are more other-focused may eventually win the race.

3. Act in a Timely Manner

While we have advanced our understanding of the novel coronavirus in the past few months, much about it remains unknown. Governments have had to work with a lack of data most of the time, but this should not be an excuse to delay action. A study led by Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a top Chinese expert on COVID-19, indicates that if the lockdown of Wuhan had occurred five days earlier, the number of infections could have been cut by one-third.

Amid inaction by many governments around the world, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have been lauded for their early efforts in containing the spread. Authorities have acted with a strong sense of preparedness and urgency, spurred on by lessons learned from the 2002-2004 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

In Hong Kong, where memories of SARS remain particularly vivid, many Hong Kongers have taken matters into their own hands, leading ground-up efforts to ensure that their communities remain safe and clean. For example, fed up by the lack of face masks in the early days of the outbreak, a group of citizens came together to invest in mask-making machines and set up a factory.

Responsiveness is key to staying one step ahead of the virus, and some people are more innately agile to act.  This group of people, being somewhat Cautious (i.e., not too low and not too high on the scale), will be wary of threats and try to anticipate issues, while remaining decisive in their actions. These people may also score higher on the Learning Approach scale; they seek to stay well-informed so that they are equipped with knowledge to make plans. In addition, highly Inquisitive, they are inclined to connect different pieces of news to fully understand the impact of the virus on themselves and their communities.

Therefore, imagine someone who is infected with the virus and is low on Learning Approach and not Inquisitive. Less inclined to keep up-to-date with the pandemic, he or she may not recognise the symptoms that he or she is experiencing, nor explore the possibility that he or she is infected, thus failing to seek timely medical treatment. Furthermore, without a moderate Cautious score, he or she can either appear oblivious to the problems ahead when the score is too low or seem hesitant to act when the score is too high. Both ways result in a reactive and ill-prepared manner of dealing with the crisis.

Consequently, to manage such a populace, countries may need to ramp up their efforts to promote health literacy and introduce mass virus testing. Given that people may not know when and/or how to obtain medical help nor have the curiosity to find out, governments will need to be highly involved in preparing their citizens for the worst.

4. Comply with Measures

Even with timely intervention, all best efforts will be futile if people are uncooperative and do not follow rules. In Italy, because people did not comply with the rules, lockdown of cities in northern Italy in the early days of the outbreak failed to mitigate the crisis, leading to a stricter enforcement of rules and eventually, a nationwide lockdown. Citizens are not allowed to leave their homes unless they have valid reasons that must be declared in a form.

Since then, Italian authorities have pressed charges against at least 92,367 people who violated the lockdown, with many caught lying in their declaration forms. In Malaysia, which went into a two-week lockdown on 18 March, authorities indicated that the compliance level was only 60-70 %.

Why do some people continue to flout rules? We believe that personality differences can explain this as some people are naturally more compliant than others. This group of people, scoring high on the Prudence scale, is attentive to rules and regulations, and will readily conform to measures such as lockdown procedures and travel advisories. Furthermore, highly Dutiful, many of them tend to view authority in a positive light, and are thus inclined to follow people in power, including healthcare experts and their governments, often in an unquestioning manner. Lastly, these people have a need for Security, valuing order and stability in their lifestyles, and will be motivated to ensure that they remain safe amid such uncertain times.

By contrast, people who are lower on the Prudence, Dutiful, and Security scales will be innately less compliant than others. Preferring to operate in a flexible environment, they tend to dislike following processes, and seek to be free from perceived constraints. As a result, they may disregard advice to stay at home and not diligently observe safe distancing rules. Even when measures are legally enforced, this group of people can remain defiant in the face of authority, and only act on their own terms.

5. Take It Seriously

It is clear now that the COVID-19 outbreak will be here to stay for most of 2020, with long-term impact on many aspects of society. While we ought to stay optimistic about the end of the pandemic, we should not underestimate the virus and the risks that it poses. Unfortunately, many people continue to have a complacent attitude, and do not take sufficient precautions to protect themselves and others.

An example is Rudy Gobert, the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to contract COVID-19. However, in a press conference before being diagnosed, he had displayed a lack of regard for hygiene by jokingly touching the microphones in front of him.

Similarly, we have been hearing stories of college students in the United States travelling to Florida in droves for spring break. There, they occupied beaches, bars, and clubs, which are widely considered hotbeds of the virus.

Such dismissive behaviour, especially evident in the youth, has prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to caution against having a sense of invulnerability in the face of “one of the most serious diseases [we] will face in [our] lifetime”. While this behaviour can be attributed in part to ignorance of the disease, it is undeniable that personality plays a part as well.

The excessive positivity that many people have toward COVID-19 can be explained by high scores on the Bold scale. This group of people, believing that they are young and/or healthy, may overestimate the ability of their immune systems to fight off the virus. In addition, many of them tend to be highly Mischievous; adventurous by nature, they may continue their risk-seeking ways instead of taking the necessary precautions. Finally, driven by Hedonism, they seek out fun and enjoyment in whatever they do. Hence, despite knowing that partying and travelling can increase exposure to the virus, these people can be easily tempted by the prospect of such activities.

While the above-mentioned group may think of themselves as invincible against the virus, it does not mean that those who are lower on the Bold, Mischievous, and Hedonism scales will feel highly vulnerable. Rather, this group of people will view the pandemic in a serious and realistic manner. They are inclined to regard the virus as a valid threat to their health and will acknowledge that they are also at risk being infected. Keen to avoid negative consequences, and having a lower need for fun and enjoyment, they will take steps to minimise their exposure to the virus by not participating in non-essential activities.

Concluding Remarks

The COVID-19 outbreak is shaping up to be a trial by fire, straining many healthcare systems to their limits and testing the abilities of governments around the world. Similar to how companies need to manage their employees to beat their competition, governments need to manage their citizens to emerge victorious against the pandemic.

Even though “flattening the curve” seems to be our best hope of ultimately eradicating the virus, it can be a long-drawn-out process. What if it were possible to not just “flatten the curve,” but also to “shorten” it? While this is an emerging theory based on recent epidemiological studies, we believe that when coupled with effective governance and sufficient public health interventions, an understanding of personality and motivation can be key to “flattening and shortening the curve.” For governments, it is important to know your populace and their likely behaviour. As individuals, we can all play a part by consciously being aware of and managing our innate tendencies, which can be counterproductive during this pandemic.

In this article, using scales, we have theoretically predicted the traits that would allow one to naturally demonstrate five best practices aimed at minimising the spread of the virus. Please contact us if you would like to:

• Obtain country-specific norms and insights based on Hogan Assessments to develop a more targeted strategy in flattening and shortening the curve;
• Understand how this prediction can be similarly applied to assess and identify talents in your organisation,
• Obtain country-specific norms and insights based on Hogan Assessments to develop a more targeted HR strategy for your organisation, and/or
• Acquire strategic self-awareness of your strengths and challenges for continuous personal improvement.

*This article is brought to you by Optimal Consulting Group Pte. Ltd.

About Optimal Consulting Group (OCG)

OCG is Hogan Assessments System distributor in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Japan and the author of Optimal 4Cs Talent Review and Succession Model, Resilient Leadership Model, The Fruitful Team Model and Optimal e360. OCG partners clients to build a continuous pipeline of future leaders in Asia for social, economic and political roles.

For further discussion, please contact the contributors:

Zhen Yi LEE, Manager, Consulting Services, Asia (zylee@optimalconsulting.com.sg)

Wan Leng HO, CEO, Asia (wlho@optimalconsulting.com.sg)

Although most headlines concerning the economic effects of COVID-19 focus on unemployment, many companies are hiring en masse to provide essential services during the pandemic. Food and beverage manufacturers need production workers to maintain supply. Delivery companies need warehouse workers and drivers to transport goods. Grocery-store chains need stock clerks to keep shelves full. Pick-up service companies need personal shoppers to help customers who are social distancing or immunocompromised.

Even in a crisis, hiring the right employees is essential. Each interaction between a customer and an employee impacts the future of the business. A customer who receives poor service during the crisis might not return for business once the crisis subsides. This raises the question: How can a company hire the right employees and hire them quickly? 

The science of personality tells us that there are three characteristics that make people well qualified for most jobs. At Hogan, we developed a way to measure these three characteristics of General Employability. People who have these characteristics are considered highly employable:

• People Skills – Highly employable people interact well with customers and coworkers, particularly in stressful situations. The General Employability assessment measures how considerate or tactful people are and how calm they are when under pressure.

• Learning Skills – Highly employable people get up to speed quickly and continue to grow. The General Employability assessment predicts how quickly and proactively people are likely to learn new skills. Some businesses, such as Anheuser-Busch, Tito’s Vodka, and other distilleries, are repurposing their supply and logistics networks to produce and distribute bottles of hand sanitizer to fight the pandemic. In situations like this, the ability to learn new skills is critical. 
• Work Ethic – Highly employable people work hard and produce high-quality work products. The General Employability assessment tells us if people are likely to put in the effort needed to finish the job, follow instructions, and be dependable.

The Hogan General Employability assessment is backed by Hogan science and decades of personality data and research, making it a reliable and valid measure of employability. The report also includes several important features:

• The report provides organizations with a single overall employability score, a recommendation regarding hiring, and interview questions for each candidate.
• Scores on the report predict performance in entry-level job families, including service jobs and trades.
• Organizations can compare candidates using eight norms.
• Candidates can assess in 46 languages.
• The General Employability Report integrates with applicant tracking systems, including Taleo and iCIMS, to making high-volume hiring easier.

Employees who score well on General Employability consistently deliver for their companies. For example, in one study, we found that truck drivers who scored high on General Employability had 40% fewer accidents. In another study, we found that sales representatives who scored high on General Employability had 78% more sales. You can read our Business Outcomes Highlights for more examples of the benefits companies see from using the General Employability report.

For more information on the Hogan General Employability report, please contact your Hogan consultant or reach out to us at hoganassessments.com/contact.

Want to learn more about hiring the right way? Check out our guide to crafting next-level talent identification, interviewing, and selection processes

*This post was authored by Hogan’s director of product innovation, Brandon Ferrell, and research scientist, Michael Boudreaux.

To say that these are interesting times that we are living in is an understatement.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen panic-buying at supermarkets; a rout on global stock markets; racism and bigotry rearing their ugly heads; all coupled with a disturbing lack of leadership by many of our global leaders during trying and uncertain times.

It has been said that “People can deal with bad news better than they can deal with uncertainty.” I agree with this, and believe that during times of uncertainty – such as the current COVID-19 pandemic – the role of effective leadership becomes even more critical.

Role Modelling

At any point in time leaders need to be role models for the behaviours they expect to see in others. They need to ‘walk the walk,’ not just ‘talk the talk.’ While we have seen strong and responsible leadership from some global leaders, we have also seen others downplay the risk of the virus; refuse for many days to be tested; and continue to shake people’s hands despite having been in contact with others who have tested positive for COVID-19 – in direct contrast to what was being stated as best practice behaviour.

Such open displays of hypocrisy can undermine our faith in leadership at the national level. At a corporate level, I am hopeful that the captains of business will be better role models. After all, year after year, data from employee engagement show us that senior leaders play a critical role in driving both employee engagement and shareholder returns (Aon Hewitt, Best Employers Insights). 

LEAP Model

At Peter Berry Consultancy we have a model that links leadership to organisational performance. Called the LEAP model, the underlying premise is that Leadership drives Engagement And Performance, as outlined in Figure 1 below. To enable high performance to occur, leaders need to be mindful that they ensure an alignment between their behaviours, strategy, and employees to enable optimal outcomes. 

Figure 1: LEAP Model

It is well known that the higher you climb on the corporate ladder, the more visible you become.

In times of uncertainty, organisational leaders need to have a heightened awareness that their words and actions are being scrutinised by employees far more closely than usual. They need to ensure that they communicate and behave in ways that align with their desired end goals. The performance goals outlined in the LEAP model are aligned with the Balanced Scorecard approach. Lagging indicators such as Customer Satisfaction and Financial Results are impacted by the leading indicators of Employee Engagement and Operational Excellence. In times of crisis, where the focus turns logically to the financial results (a lagging indicator), it is important for leaders to remember the leading indicators – especially their employees. They are the ones who will deliver results and add value and their engagement and will have a direct (leading) impact on those critical lagging indicators. 

During an economic downturn (I won’t use the “R” word just yet), past experience shows us that a fairly normal pattern of behaviour emerges within an organisation. This can best be described as a ‘batten down the hatches’ mentality, where the organisation focuses on managing costs to the best of their ability to retain market share, customers, and profitability. While such an approach is perfectly understandable, leaders need to be mindful of the unintended consequences such an approach can have. A focus on “protecting the bottom line at all costs” can end up being a costly exercise.

The Downside of Cutting Leadership Development

In almost all employee engagement surveys I have conducted or reviewed over the past 20+ years, one of the most important factors that positively impacts employee engagement is Career Development. This is substantiated by research undertaken by Bob Nelson, whose analysis of millions of employees found career development to be the second most impactful dimension on employee engagement (Nelson, 2018).

Much has also been written about the Future of Work, the impact of Artificial Intelligence and the fact that many current roles will not exist in the future (Muro et al, 2019). As a result of these impending changes employees will need to re-skill to remain relevant.

A business downturn provides a perfect opportunity for an organisation to identify, assess, and invest in their talent.

Deloitte in 2015 summarised the value of ongoing development nicely:

Unfortunately, the reality is often that one of the first areas to be cut or deferred during a crisis or economic downturn is assessment, training, and development. The challenge with adopting a “cutting” approach is that it risks creating an unintended negative impact – especially if the downturn is prolonged, as will likely be the case for COVID-19. Decreasing training and development can lead to decreased engagement; the loss of top talent who are poached by more aggressive competitors, resulting in decreased productivity which then creates a vicious cycle as shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 2: The Vicious Cycle of Cutting Development

Organisations that on the other hand “boost” their career development, including training and development efforts during a downturn, are perceived more favourably by employees. Morale is higher, retention is higher, and attraction of young talent is higher (Ahluwalia, 2016).

History shows that in the first few months in an upturn, hiring quickly becomes a critical issue. When the economy turns around, the costs of adopting a cutting approach include the need to re-hire and re-train talent that left, resulting in a slower ability to return to pre-crisis conditions. This is more prominent for those companies that have lost good talent.

The cost of hiring and training a staff member to be fully productive is generally agreed to be in the range of 0.5 – 2.5 x annual salary depending on the complexity and seniority of the role (Cascio, 2006). Organisations need to determine if it is a better option to save on these hiring costs by instead investing in nurturing the skills and talent of existing employees.

I would suggest retaining and investing is a better approach than cutting and re-hiring.

Next Steps

So what can organisations do to manage the requirements of the business while simultaneously maintaining an engaged workforce? 

Here are some suggestions for consideration:

1. Avoid death by 1,000 cuts. If you need to make cuts to headcount to maintain business viability, do it early and cut once. Invest aggressively in the remaining staff.
2. Don’t communicate that training is to be frozen/cut. Manage the internal communications toward a shift in emphasis to applied learning. Re-orient training initiatives to internal project-based work that will support the business. This has the added value of keeping talent engaged in the business.
3. Decrease spending on external facilitators where possible. Leverage internal resources instead. Where required (e.g. when debriefing candidates on psychometric assessment results) invest in up-skilling internal resources through certifications so they can undertake the debriefs
4. Don’t neglect your top talent. They are generally the ones on the radars of competitors. Continue to invest differentially in them. 360 feedback is a valuable source of developmental information which can be collected and debriefed online.
5. Re-examine the delivery medium. While there are many benefits to face-to-face training and meetings, this medium carries with it the risk of a contagion effect. Explore alternate means of up-skilling staff (e.g. leveraging interactive technology based solutions; limiting the size of group interactions).

Lastly, don’t forget to ask your employees for their ideas on how to manage costs/ increase revenues. They have a vested interest in the business and, being closer to the ground, often have unique and innovative approaches that can help ensure the success of the business. Soliciting employee input helps ensure buy-in, both now as well as when the downturn finishes and the organisation is going through the recovery period.

*This is a guest post provided by the team at Peter Berry Consultancy. 

About PBC Assessments

PBC is a multidisciplinary global consulting firm with 30 years of experience in the delivery of solutions aimed at maximising the potential of individuals, teams, leaders, and organisations. We undertake research to support our evidence-based solutions and have a network of partners and distributors globally.

References:

Essays, UK. (November 2018). Training During the Current Global Recession

Bob Nelson (2018) 1001 ways to engage employees – help people do better what they do best (Career Press)

Wayne Cascio (2006), The high cost of low wages (Harvard Business Review)

Divya Ahluwalia (2016) Learning and Development in a downturn economy: The Key to Success, Templar Advisory

Aon Hewitt (2018) Aon Best Employers Insights

Deloitte (2015) Human Capital Trends

Walter Frick (2019), How to survive a recession and thrive afterwards (Harvard Business Review)