To say the current talent market is competitive might be an understatement. Concerns about the skills gap have intensified as the number of open jobs in the United States has grown considerably in the past year and a half. Job openings hovered around 7 million before the COVID-19 pandemic, rose to 9 million by April 2021, and then climbed to 10.9 million by the end of July 2021.^1–3 Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has also risen, and many workers have been unable to find new work due to skill misalignment with the available openings, concern for their health, issues with childcare, distance from opportunities, and more.^2,4 In other words, jobs are opening, the size of the talent pool is shrinking, and the skills that were in-demand pre-pandemic are even more so now.

For many employers, finding the right people to hire right now may seem near impossible. There are numerous ways organizations can improve their talent management strategies to not only hire but also retain top talent. One in particular entered the spotlight this summer when a LinkedIn post went viral: cutting back on interviews to reduce time to hire and gain candidates’ loyalty. Interview fatigue is a critical flaw in the candidate experience at many organizations — and thus an insidious threat to your talent acquisition strategy.

Interview Fatigue: The Case of Mike Conley

Mike Conley was interviewing for a job at an organization that seemed like the perfect fit. He was interested in the role, the company’s mission was one he could get behind, and the pay and benefits were generous. The only problem? They expected him to participate in nine interviews.

Anguished by interview fatigue, Mr. Conley withdrew his name from the candidate pool and hopped on LinkedIn to vent his frustration about how the number of interviews for senior-level executive jobs have continued to increase in length.⁶ He surmised that employers’ fear of picking the wrong candidate wastes more time than is necessary; he suggested contract-to-hire or other forms of trial periods could be an antidote to hesitation during the hiring decision.⁶ Warning employers that the number of interviews can make competitive candidates look elsewhere, he ended his post with a declaration: “With this withdrawal, I make a stand. A stand against never-ending interviews. A stand for job hunters.”⁶

Far from a shout into the abyss, Mr. Conley’s post turned out to be something of a Martin Luther moment, a Ninety-five Theses for interview fatigue. Covered by news outlets such as Forbes and the BBC, his plea for shorter interviews went viral with more than 1.9 million views.⁶

Other professionals, from entry level to executive, chimed in with support and commiseration about interview fatigue. One commenter cheekily suggested that, after the fifth interview, employers should start paying candidates for their time.⁶ Another commenter suggested the conversation would be more productive if companies guilty of lengthy interviews were tagged directly in the thread.⁶ Yet another commenter, who once went through an 11-step interview process only to hear that the position was postponed, suggested that never-ending interviews were a sign that employers were unclear on what they needed or weren’t empowered to make decisions.⁶ The top commenter, who shared that they had a four-month series of interviews only to lose the position to an internal candidate, stated, “Mike, I share your frustration and applaud your decision.”⁶

Mr. Conley’s complaint exposed interview fatigue to be a common flaw in the overall candidate experience. Fortunately, his story has a happy ending. An employer saw his LinkedIn post and liked his enthusiasm for efficiency. After a number of job interviews he considered appropriate, Mr. Conley is now happily employed as a VP of software engineering.⁶

How Many Interviews Are Too Many Interviews?

Like most things in business, there is no magic number of interviews — it depends on the organization. Nonetheless, four appears to be an important threshold for both employers and candidates to avoid interview fatigue.

Google, where candidates were formerly subjected to more than a dozen interviews, has become a trailblazer in interview efficiency.⁷ Google’s research found that after the fourth interview, interviewers had 86% confidence in the candidate.⁷ Afterward, confidence rose by less than 1% with each additional interview.⁷ Furthermore, 94% of the time, the hiring decision remained the same whether the candidates were interviewed four times or 12 times.⁷

This research suggests that exceeding four interviews is likely to lead to interview fatigue. Google learned from these findings and now follows the “rule of four” for interviews, only passing this benchmark on rare occasions.⁷

But What If We Make a Bad Hire?

A common reason employers conduct excessive interviews is to avoid making a bad hire. And understandably so — even many of the professionals who agreed with Mr. Conley’s lament conceded that avoiding bad hires is important for company survival. Employees who are onboarded and are unsuccessful in their roles can spread disengagement like contagion, and turnover costs an average of one-half to two times an employee’s salary (and this is a conservative estimate).⁸ Still, as LinkedIn’s zeitgeist and Google’s research reveals, overreliance on interviews will not shield employers from the danger of making a bad hire and will instead contribute to interview fatigue and inefficiency.   

The good news is that interviews can be supplemented with another powerful tool for talent acquisition: personality tests. While it is well documented that interviews have low predictive validity, a well-validated personality test can predict how a candidate is likely to perform in a given role, uncovering truths about a candidate that interviews can’t. In this way, using personality tests in interviews can help employers avoid making bad hires by ensuring that the ultimate hiring decision is backed up by data. These insights are useful because, no matter the number of interviews, candidates will likely be self-conscious and intentional about only highlighting their strengths to potential employers. Let’s be honest — how many candidates do you think speak candidly about their weaknesses? Personality data can give hiring managers objective insight into a candidate’s values, strengths, and weaknesses and biases to help them make a sound hiring decision.

A Faster Way to Make a Good Hire

Employers who wish to take an even more tailored approach to finding the right person for a particular job can go a step further by establishing a custom personality profile. Using a custom personality profile in candidate selection allows hiring managers to identify the candidates who most align with their needs and avoid spending valuable interview time with people who are less aligned with the job requirements or organizational culture.

Not to mention, personality data is proven to reduce the number of necessary interviews, cutting the interview-to-hire ratio by as much as 50%.⁹ Gathering personality data before meeting a candidate lets hiring managers prepare to ask insightful questions, resulting in more informative and efficient interviews. Aside from helping produce a more educated hiring decision, this refinement of the interview process also allows organizations to reduce their time to hire, resulting in a better candidate experience and reduced likelihood of interview fatigue. In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous talent market like the one we currently find ourselves in, employers who consider the quality of the candidate experience they create will come out on top.

Unfortunately, the talent shortage is expected to worsen even more in the coming years, and a staggering 70% of organizations are not prepared to meet their future talent needs.¹⁰ Beyond talent acquisition and retention, understanding the role of candidate experience in talent attraction is critical in the competition for top talent, especially when it comes to finding effective workers with the most in-demand skills, such as analytics, communication, and adaptability.¹⁰ Key to thriving in the current talent market, personality tests provide organizations with a clear picture of how candidates will perform in a given role without causing interview fatigue (or potentially drawing the ire of LinkedIn users).

References

1. Rugaber, C. (2021, April 6). U.S. Job Openings in February Reached Highest Rate on Record. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-794433b39420f41763ddb0803e1f7ca9
2. Sanandaji, T., Monte, F., Ham, A., & Tarki, A. (2021, June 14). Attracting Talent During a Worker Shortage. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/06/attracting-talent-during-a-worker-shortage
3. Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Department of Labor. (2021, August). Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary [Press release]. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Department of Labor. (2021, April 22). Unemployment Rates Up in 40 States and D.C. from March 2020 to March 2021. The Economics Daily. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/unemployment-rates-up-in-40-states-and-d-c-from-march-2020-to-march-2021.htm
5. Morath, E. (2021, May 6). Millions Are Unemployed. Why Can’t Companies Find Workers? The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/millions-are-unemployed-why-cant-companies-find-workers-11620302440
6. Conley, M. (2021, June). Today I Pulled My Name for Consideration for a Company I Was Interviewing with. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mike-t-conley_jobhunt2021-leadership-servantleadership-activity-6812003946253705217-VF5t/
7. Shaper, S. (2017, April 4). How Many Interviews Does It Take to Hire a Googler? re:Work. https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/google-rule-of-four/
8. McFeely, S., & Wigert, B. (2019, March 13). The Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx
9. Hardy, J. H. III, Gibson, C., Sloan, M., & Carr, A. (2017). Are Applicants More Likely to Quit Longer Assessments? Examining the Effect of Assessment Length on Applicant Attrition Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(7), 1148-1158. https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fapl0000213
10. Kavanaugh, J., & Lakshmi, P. M. (2019). Talent Radar: How the Best Companies Get the Skills They Need to Thrive in the Digital Era. Infosys Knowledge Institute. https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/talent-radar.html

Many paths lead up the mountain of career success, and each one comes with unique advantages and potential pitfalls. Professional development coaches know this terrain well. They routinely provide individualized support for the development of leaders who wish to ascend in their careers. They’ve also watched many self-made types who opt to forgo business coaching slip and fall on their career journeys because they miscalculate the quality of their own work performance. This miscalculation is common.While many may be vaguely aware of their strengths and challenges, they don’t always realize that their helpful behaviors can (depending on the context) become unhelpful, derailing them from their individual and organizational objectives. Therefore, we all could benefit from a professional development coach. 

Reputable business coaches use well-validated personality assessment as a map to identify their clients’ strengths and challenges to help them achieve strategic self-awareness. This concept is like a base camp that every professional must reach to begin the developmental journey. Reviewing personality data with the guidance of a professional coach allows leaders to understand the scenarios in which they overuse their strengths and develop strategies to self-manage. Business coach Brian Chitester says that when he has a high-potential client who appears to be in danger of derailing, he uses personality data to diagnose the situation, provide poignant feedback, and help a struggling employee go from good to great.

Without reputational feedback, many leaders may not understand what stands between them and their professional ambitions. Business coach Elaine Kamm collaborated with a client who was a successful manager on a sales and marketing team. He was well-known for being bright and charismatic, but his reputation had become an obstacle on his path to becoming a senior-level general manager, which was a surprise to him. Helping him become more aware of how others perceived him, his coach worked with him to figure out how to leverage his reputation strategically so it would align more with his career goals.

There’s no one-size-fits-all recipe for behavioral adjustment, so every coaching initiative must be tailored to a person’s specific personality and career context. For example, business coach Kristie Wright, PhD, recently worked with a client who was expanding her position as CIO to include the role of CTO as her company prepared to go public. Dr. Wright and her client worked together to determine which behaviors had made her successful in her infrastructure position and what development would be necessary to ensure her future success as her role evolved to include more of a focus on products to drive market differentiation.

Individualized coaching initiatives like these can enhance any organization’s talent development strategy. Encouraging employees to practice strategic self-awareness can reduce behavioral slips, help them lead more effectively to achieve professional highs, and amplify the success of the organization. Join us on October 21 for a webinar featuring three experts from the Hogan Coaching Network — Brian Chitester, Elaine Kamm, and Dr. Kristie Wright — and their compelling coaching case studies. Register here!

René Kusch, PhD, has been working with Hogan Assessments since 2008, and five years ago, he founded RELEVANT Managementberatung, an authorized Hogan distributor headquartered in Germany. The firm has grown continuously in client base, client solutions, revenue, team members, and offices in Germany. RELEVANT offers solutions based on Hogan’s personality assessment suite for use throughout the entire talent lifecycle. Clients include small- and medium-sized companies in the German-speaking market, as well as multinational corporations headquartered in Germany. RELEVANT also caters to freelancers — including coaches, trainers, and consultants — as well as human resources consulting firms.

Five factors have been key to success in building this thriving business:

1. Partnerships -Being part of the Hogan family and having the opportunity to leverage Hogan’s strong global brand to build and grow the business is the bedrock of RELEVANT’s business success. It is important to RELEVANT to deliver fast, reliable, and high-quality services to partners, be they clients, business partners, or suppliers. To RELEVANT, that means being clear about what can and cannot be delivered, co-creating the solution in an iterative process, and being curious about their partners’ context.

2. Walking the talk – RELEVANT uses the Hogan assessment suite for talent acquisition and individual and team development. RELEVANT employees are aware of their individual and team autopilot modes, what they contribute to the organization, where they require support, and how they can support others. Team RELEVANT takes time to reflect on their collaboration, strategy execution, and results on a quarterly basis. They always try their own team development products on themselves first.

3. Diverse team of true believers – Members of Team RELEVANT bring a range of educational and experiential backgrounds. All of them love data, facts, and figures. They have a (conscious) bias for Hogan Assessments, and so does the circle of trusted and highly qualified freelancers RELEVANT closely collaborates with. Team RELEVANT has grown from three people five years ago to 15 as of late 2021. They currently have more job openings and hope to fill these positions soon.

“Focusing on the core of who we are as a team, our DNA, and our business purpose is fundamental when it comes to making decisions. Our joint understanding is that nothing is set in stone; sometimes we need to revisit decisions to alter their consequences,” stated Dr. Kusch. “All of us at RELEVANT work hard, are dedicated and have fun filling our various roles. Dr. Robert Hogan’s commonsense guidelines, ‘How to build Hogan Assessment Systems,’ⁱ very much remind me of building and growing RELEVANT.”

4. Product developments – To deliver the optimal solutions for clients, RELEVANT has been developing various support tools such as their interpretation strategy for Hogan profiles, which centers the Hogan Personality Inventory. RELEVANT has also created several tailored reports for leader selection contexts based on Hogan’s three core personality inventories, begun to create a toolbox for developing senior management teams and organizations, and just recently employed a manager for digital assessment solutions to continue developing client-centric IT solutions and environments.

5. Global reach, local presence – RELEVANT’s visibility in the German market has been increasing continuously. The customer base continues to grow, mainly due to client and market referrals. RELEVANT works closely with distributors all around the globe, from Asia to the U.S., to deliver projects. Despite increased digitalization and virtual collaboration, RELEVANT’s clients still appreciate face-to-face interactions. To accommodate that, RELEVANT has been set up across regions from the get-go. Today, team members are in physical offices in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, and Dortmund.

“It was and is a huge pleasure to follow RELEVANT in their exceptional business development, to support them in different situations as a business partner, and to have them as part of the European Hogan distributor community,” said Zsolt Fehér, managing director of Hogan Assessment Systems in Europe. “They are one of our fastest-growing distributors, their energy is contagious, and their competence and willingness to go the extra mile are outstanding.”

And to put it in their own words: Hogan makes personality RELEVANT.

Note

1. Hogan, R. (2020). How to Build Hogan Assessment Systems. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 72(1), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000148

The category for Jeopardy! is Bias in Hiring. Your clue: the talent acquisition process that led to Mike Richards being named as the new Jeopardy! host may have been influenced by this psychological phenomenon.¹

If you answered “what is unconscious bias?” you are spot-on.¹ Of course, unconscious bias can be hard to prove, but there must be some explanation for Sony to have chosen an internal candidate with a documented history of racist, sexist, and offensive comments, despite a diverse hiring pool that included Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton, and Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik, PhD.¹ While the exact cause of the Jeopardy! hiring debacle will likely remain a mystery, this high-profile example of a subpar internal candidate winning out over more qualified ones presents a good opportunity to examine bias in hiring, specifically unconscious bias.

What is Unconscious Bias?

We all have unconscious biases because we are all driven by values.Values are part of the human condition.They define our identities, our goals, and our decision-making processes. Our values come from our environment and are consistently reinforced by our family, neighborhood, school, peer group, and larger culture, often without us realizing it.² These values powerfully shape the way we work, play, and manage relationships.² So, what is unconscious bias? Unconscious bias occurs when we project our values onto others and therefore hold them to unfair (and often unknowable) standards.² These inclinations affect how we handle conflict, what type of behavior we reward or punish, our ability to form and maintain a cohesive team, and yes, who we hire and promote.²

The Perils of Unconscious Bias

People who make hiring decisions based on their unconscious biases unsurprisingly tend to hire candidates who closely match their own values.² Furthermore, leaders who mold work environments according to their unconscious biases will probably make employees with dissimilar values feel silenced and underappreciated, leading to disengagement and turnover.²

Enron, a company responsible for one of the largest bankruptcies and audit failures of all time, is a clear example of what happens when leaders are led by their unconscious biases.² When Jeffrey Skilling took over the company as CEO, his disposition toward risky behavior in the name of competition and big rewards became the company’s prevailing ethos.² He hired candidates who pandered to this approach and terminated those who didn’t.² Considering Enron’s fate, this approach was clearly mistaken. If there was ever an office that needed a dissenting opinion, it was his. This brings us to our next peril of unconscious bias …

Your clue: a cursory glance around the office can sometimes (not always) diagnose this organizational deficiency related to unconscious bias in hiring.

If you answered, “what is a lack of diversity?” you are spot-on. Sustained diversity in race, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, and age is an outward sign of an employer’s efforts to reduce bias in hiring. In many societies around the world, diversity and inclusion are not naturally self-sustaining and must be continually nurtured.³ Employers in the United States, for example, have to contend with the fact that women are dropping out of the workforce en masse because of issues related to childcare and pay inequality.⁴ Meanwhile, people of color say they prefer remote work because it helps them avoid in-office microaggressions, and people with disabilities prefer it for more easily navigating accessibility issues.⁵

Workplace Diversity Goals

Although no cure-all exists for diversity and inclusion efforts, using well-validated personality tests during the talent acquisition process can promote fairness in selection and create a foundation for a more inclusive workplace.⁶ Our research shows that personality is a strong predictor of job performance, but there are no meaningful subgroup differences across members of protected classes.⁶ In other words, well-validated personality tests don’t discriminate based on race, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability status.⁶ As a result, personality can help level the playing field so organizations can hire the best talent without discriminating against any group.⁶

Employers should treat fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace as a daily goal. As a committee in apartheid South Africa once concluded when comparing integrated and nonintegrated colleges: “Diversity contributes to the discovery of truth, for truth is hammered out in discussion, in the clash of ideas.”⁷ Indeed, diversity holds the same strategic importance in the business world — organizations with more diversity and inclusion practices tend to have fewer gaps in knowledge, absenteeism, and turnover, but better organizational innovation and performance.⁶ This is why it’s not enough to control bias in hiring; it’s also critical for leaders to make sure their unconscious biases do not undercut an inclusive atmosphere.

Workplace Inclusion Goals

An inclusive workplace makes people feel safe, valued, and fully engaged. It provides an atmosphere where they can be fully themselves in ways that recognize and appreciate their full range of social identities.⁶

Leaders who want to foster inclusive work environments can incorporate personality tests into their talent acquisition and development strategies to ensure they select and promote people whose behaviors will be inclusive. People who take personality tests such as Hogan’s Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory, or MVPI, can get insight into their peer and lifestyle preferences, their aversions, and their beliefs. These characteristics greatly influence the type of work environment they will create.² When leaders become aware of their core values and motivations, they can manage their biases to make more informed personnel decisions.² Personality data can be useful in making these decisions because it ensures that the final hire is the person most competent for the role and not someone who appeals to the hiring manager’s biases.²

Contrary to popular misconception, using personality for talent acquisition does not create a workforce of people who have the same personality profile, even when creating a more inclusive organizational culture is the goal.³ Selection profiles are usually specific for each job and change across jobs.³ Furthermore, personality profiles for a particular job typically only screen for a few personality characteristics that are key to success in the role.³ Other personality characteristics likely will vary substantially among people within the same role.³ Using personality data in hiring decisions, employers can trust that they’re hiring people whose personalities are alike in ways that will positively impact their job performance but who will be unique in their other qualities and behaviors. 

Practical Tips

Rooting out unconscious bias from talent management processes will help organizations thrive and avoid hiring ineffective candidates. So, what are some practical recommendations for employers to limit the effects of unconscious bias in the workplace? First, use personality tests in talent acquisition to improve diversity in hiring. Second, use well-validated personality tests to assess and develop leaders who will foster an inclusive work environment. Third, provide development feedback to employees to enhance their awareness of their people skills, their shortcomings, and their core values and unconscious biases. And finally, understand that while these strategies can help you progress toward creating more objective talent acquisition and development processes and a healthy organizational culture, they should be part (not all) of a comprehensive diversity and inclusion program.

References

1. Singletary, M. (2021, August 24). Chaotic Search for a New ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Is a Lesson in Hidden Hiring Biases. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/s/business/2021/08/24/jeopardy-host-search/
2. Hogan Assessment Systems. (2011). The Power of Unconscious Biases. http://www.hoganassessments.com/sites/default/files/Unconscious%20_Biases_2011_F.3.pdf
3. Gregory, S. (2020, June 30). Clones, Diversity, Innovation, and Personality. Hogan Assessment Systems. https://www.hoganassessments.com/blog/clones-diversity-innovation-and-personality/
4. Miller, K. (2021, May 13). Microaggressions at the Office Can Make Remote Work Even More Appealing. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/13/workplace-microaggressions-remote-workers/
5. Vesoulis, A. (2020, October 17). ‘If We Had a Panic Button, We’d Be Hitting It.’ Women Are Exiting the Labor Force En Masse – And That’s Bad For Everyone. Time. https://time.com/5900583/women-workforce-economy-covid/
6. Hogan Assessment Systems. (2020, July 21). Improving Diversity and Inclusion: Practical, Evidence-based Recommendations. https://www.hoganassessments.com/blog/improving-diversity-and-inclusion-practical-evidence-based-recommendations/
7. Lemann, N. (2021, July 6). Can Affirmative Action Survive? The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/02/can-affirmative-action-survive

Psychological Consultancy Ltd (PCL) was Hogan’s very first international distributor. Based in the United Kingdom, PCL has a robust portfolio of psychometric assessments and consulting expertise and supports clients globally. The team pride themselves on their work to enhance talent acquisition, talent development, and engagement decisions and empower individuals, teams, and organizations.

About the Team

Founded in 1992, PCL quickly became one of the U.K.’s leading evidence-based assessment solution providers. Inspired by Hogan’s mission to reunite assessment practices with personality research, CEO Geoff Trickey and Chief Psychologist Gillian Hyde worked closely with the Drs. Robert and Joyce Hogan to trigger an exciting period of innovation with the publication of the U.K. edition of the Hogan Personality Inventory in 1997, followed shortly by the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory and Hogan Development Survey in 1998. Hogan assessments were not very well known in the U.K. at the time, so PCL helped to secure speaking opportunities for the Hogans at prominent U.K. conferences. PCL also submitted the Hogan instruments for review by the British Psychological Society.

Both Trickey and Hyde are leading psychologists in personality research, and PCL’s team of highly qualified consultant psychologists have enjoyed this close working relationship with Hogan Assessment Systems for nearly 25 years. As one of the world’s most experienced HDS users, Hyde has a particular interest in the dark side and is currently focusing her research on challenging biases and assumptions about personality.

Challenging Assumptions About Personality: The Bright Side of Neuroticism

All too often, research into personality and performance at work consigns neurotics to the scrap heap of undesirable candidates or employees. But neuroticism is a normally distributed characteristic, so this negative categorization applies to a substantial proportion of the available talent pool. Hyde is interested in switching the focus from the downsides associated with neurotic personalities to the potential advantages of this characteristic, and in creating awareness of the types of jobs or roles that might make the best use of these talents. She has identified five key positive characteristics associated with neuroticism and is exploring themes for ideal jobs or work environments that bring out the best in neurotics.

To learn more, you can check out her episode on Hogan’s Science of Personality podcast.

Personality is a person’s disposition or core wiring. It drives our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ways that are highly predictable. In the same way that drivers use a map to see their route before stepping on the gas, employers should use a personality test to predict the likely performance trajectory of job candidates before making hiring decisions. But how do personality tests work?

Before committing to a psychometric tool, employers should get a peek under the hood and ensure that they have a basic understanding of how personality tests work. The assessment industry is unregulated, which means it’s flooded with tests that promise more than they can deliver. Being informed can help you avoid introducing the psychometric equivalent of snake oil into your organization. This post will explain the key areas employers should focus on when trying to understand the nuts and bolts of personality tests.

Types of Personality Tests

First, employers who want to know how personality tests work must know the difference between subjective and objective personality tests.

Subjective personality tests are used in clinical and court settings.¹ They require the test taker to offer subjective responses to stimuli, which are then analyzed by a psychologist.¹ The Rorschach inkblot test is a well-known example of this type of test.

Objective personality tests have a wider range of applications and are particularly suited to workplace settings. They require participants to take a standardized test and answer various multiple-choice questions about themselves.¹ Their answers are then scored against an objective classification system.¹

Conceptual Framework

The second thing employers must know when asking “how do personality tests work?” is what a conceptual framework is. Put simply, it is the accepted theory by which a tool is developed.² A sound conceptual framework gives psychologists a better chance of developing a tool that works. It is parallel to how a scientist developing tools to mitigate climate change must first have a firm understanding of, and work within the context of, Earth’s atmosphere. If the first step is flubbed, then what follows is bound to be bunk.

Most personality tests follow one of three conceptual frameworks. The first and arguably most well-known of these is psychodynamic theory. Inspired by clinical psychology, it attempts to explain the origins of psychopathology.² It assumes that everyone is somewhat neurotic and attempts to identify the source of participants’ neuroses.² Since neuroses are evenly distributed across the population instead of universal, this conceptual framework is now mostly defunct.²

The next conceptual framework is trait theory, which is currently the most widely used framework in personality science. It divides personality into recurring behavioral tendencies and tries to measure these traits based on the five-factor model.² Participants listen to or read a question, compare the question with their self-view, and then self-report based on that comparison.² While the five-factor model is useful, newer lower-order variables have been shown to predict outcomes more accurately.² Another issue is that this model assumes that self-reports are a trustworthy measurement of what participants actually feel, think, or do.² This assumption is shaky because self-reports are likely skewed to serve the interests of the participant, especially when they are aware that their answers will be used for a hiring decision.² Moreover, this approach assumes the disposition to introspect about one’s actions is universal rather than distributed throughout the population.²

The last conceptual framework we will cover is socioanalytic theory, which is the bedrock of Hogan Assessment Systems. The theory posits that all people live and work within groups and that those groups are structured in status hierarchies.³ This suggests three primary motives in life: getting along with other people, achieving status, and finding meaning.³ People solve these problems during their careers and individual differences in personality drives their career success or failure.³ This framework is rooted in pragmatism and does not view participant data as self-reporting but rather as self-presentation.³ Instead of trying to predict why participants say the things they do or whether they are true, this framework simply focuses on how responses will predict behavior and performance.³

Scoring

The third thing employers must know when asking “how do personality tests work?” is how a personality test scores data. Because each personality test follows a slightly different process depending on its conceptual framework, we will focus on Hogan’s approach to scoring. Per socioanalytic theory, we differentiate between participants’ identity and reputation.⁴ While identity is how participants see themselves and cannot be scientifically measured, reputation is how others see them and can be measured.⁴ Therefore, we score participant’s data from the view of the observer to gauge their reputation.⁴

This scoring approach means that when we are scoring a participant’s answer to the question “I read 10 books a year,” we are not actually looking at if the participant identifies as a reader.⁴ Rather, we are asking if the participant self-represents as a reader to observers.⁴ How participants answer this question will translate into reputational data about how observers perceive the participant, and this has career implications.⁴ We can predict the participant’s reputational status because we have reputational data for millions of participants in local and global populations that have already answered these questions in similar ways.⁴ These are called norms and reveal how participants compare to the local and global population.⁴

In a nutshell, our scoring system focuses on measuring reputation by asking people about themselves and finding the statistical relationship between matching groups and observer descriptions.⁴ By organizing reputational descriptors, the scores predict tendencies and indicate likely workplace reputation.⁴ It is important to keep in mind that these tendencies indicate probability, not certainty, which brings us to our next point.

Validity and Reliability

The fourth, and arguably most important, thing employers asking “how do personality tests work?” must know is how tools confirm that they are accurately and consistently assessing the things they claim to. Personality tests can and do claim to assess all sorts of things, but only the ones with published evidence of validity and reliability can back up their claims. This is important for more than just predicting performance — it’s also critical to ensure your organization can make equitable employment decisions. Well-validated and reliable personality tests do not discriminate on age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or ethnicity, but unvalidated and unreliable tests have the potential for adverse impact, so it is essential that employers check the validity and reliability of personality tests when shopping around.⁴

Validity comes in different forms but the most consequential for personality testing is predictive validity, which ensures that the test measures what it’s supposed to measure.⁵ Predictive validity is typically measured with a coefficient between -1 and 1, which is called the Pearson correlation coefficient.⁵ The closer to 1, the more predictive the assessment. Hogan’s validity coefficient in predicting workplace performance is .54. This means that Hogan’s assessments predict 29% of variance in applicant’s future job performance. To compare, ibuprofen’s validity coefficient in treating headaches is only .14. This means that usage of ibuprofen explains merely 2% of differences in pain relief symptoms versus a placebo.⁵

There are many ways to determine the predictive validity of personality tests. At Hogan, we take a multipronged approach and validate our tests against external data on job performance and peer ratings.⁴ The results clearly demonstrate that our tools accurately predict participants’ performance outcomes.⁴ Even though it is expensive and time-consuming, we continuously evaluate our personality tests against external job performance data. In contrast, tests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) and Enneagram have low or unknown validity for predicting workplace performance.^4,5

Reliability is equally important because it certifies that the test’s results aren’t a fluke and that the test will measure the same thing each time.⁴ Reliability can be measured through internal consistency and test-retest reliability.⁴ Reliable personality tests contain multiple questions measuring the same idea, or construct, to ensure that it has been accurately measured.⁴ When these questions score similarly to each other, the test has high internal consistency reliability, a key metric of a personality test’s quality that is measured with a coefficient called Cronbach’s alpha.⁴ Test-retest reliability is measured by using the Pearson correlation coefficient to compare test takers’ scores from two separate testing periods.⁴ Personality is stable and unchanging, so scores that are closer to 1 have high test-retest reliability.⁴

In addition to looking for published evidence of validity and reliability, employers should also verify that a personality test has been evaluated by an unbiased party, such as a psychological council or association.⁴ Appearance in peer-reviewed academic journals is also a good indicator of a tool’s quality.⁴ As part of peer review, panels of impartial experts conduct reviews of manuscripts to ensure scientific accuracy.⁴

Global Applications

Depending on the nature of the organization, a final consideration employers should look at when asking “how do personality tests work?” is a tool’s global application. The goal of personality assessment is to measure human universals that cross geographic boundaries.⁴ This means that personality tests must be carefully translated by fluent speakers in a way that is sensitive to the nuances of language and adapted to local cultures and norms.⁴ Studies show that we are more alike than we are different, so a valid and reliable tool that is carefully translated and measured against local norms should be highly predictive. ⁴  

Well-Constructed Personality Tests Do Work

So, how do personality tests work? Objective psychometric tools are powered by strong theoretical foundations, a sound scoring system, proven validity and reliability, and a capability to measure human universals across geographic boundaries. Equipped with this savvy, employers will have no problem finding a well-constructed personality test to improve their talent acquisition and development processes.

Want to learn more about personality tests? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Personality Tests

References

1. Walker, H. K., Hall, W. D., & Hurst, J. W. (Eds.). (1990). Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations (3rd ed.). Butterworths. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201/
2. Hogan, R., & Sherman, R. A. (2020, January 1). Personality Theory and the Nature of Human Nature. Personality and Individual Differences, 152(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109561
3. Hogan, R. (2006). Personality and the Fate of Organizations. Erlbaum.
4. Hogan Assessments. (2021). How to Select an Assessment.  https://www.hoganassessments.com/thought-leadership/how-to-select-an-assessment/
5. Howell, A. (2017, May 30). A Quick and Dirty Guide to Validity & Reliability. https://www.hoganassessments.com/blog/quick-dirty-guide-validity-reliability/

Hogan is proud to officially announce the addition of PACE Institute of Management (PACE) as the 44^th member of the Hogan International Distributor Network.

Based in Vietnam, PACE is highly respected for its work toward developing leaders at all levels and is well known for a global ecosystem of management within eight affiliated schools, six member companies, and 10 global partners. The company joins the network with more than 20 years of experience in corporate training and consulting.

“We are happy to have a long-term partnership with Hogan in talent assessments,” said Dr. Gian Tu Trung, chair of PACE Institute of Management. “Hogan will further enrich PACE’s global ecosystem of management. With Hogan’s talent assessments, we will empower leaders and organizations in Vietnam in their talent acquisition and talent development more effectively.”

PACE’s mission is to develop high-performing leaders and professionals to benefit businesses and society. To achieve its mission, PACE focuses on the following areas: (1) PACE training; (2) PACE consulting; (3) PACE books; (4) PACE research; and (5) PACE seminars. We are so happy to have PACE join us in using Hogan assessments for developing leaders and professionals in Vietnam.

“We are looking forward to the partnership with PACE and the opportunity to develop and grow the Hogan market in Vietnam,” said Darin Nei, PhD, Hogan’s director of international distributors and product. “We’ve seen a big increase in talent assessments across several markets in Asia. We expect this trend to continue as organizations strive toward globalization in the new world of work. Having a robust distributor network with local partners such as PACE allows Hogan to meet the needs of clients now and into the future, no matter where they are located.”

Ever since ThreeFish Consulting became an authorized Hogan distributor in India in 2016, ThreeFish has successfully focused its efforts on people and organizational capability consulting. ThreeFish takes great pride in applying behavioral science to its approaches in helping people and organizations operate at their true potential.

ThreeFish Consulting has made a great impact in India with Hogan Assessments Certification workshops, with 959 participants certified to date and a strong network of Hogan certification graduates. The International Coaching Federation has approved ThreeFish’s Hogan Assessments Certification Workshops for 15 CCEUs (Continued Coach Education Units).

Additionally, ThreeFish has developed a robust ecosystem in India and is positioned as a thought leader in the market, serving global and Indian clients and multinational consulting firms. ThreeFish understands the importance of psychometrics for use in selection and development of talent in India and is a leader in research and client solutions in their market. ThreeFish also works with other Hogan distributors and independent practitioners for expanding Hogan’s reach and impact in India.

About the CEO

Pradnya Parasher, PhD, is an accomplished human resources and leadership development executive with 25-plus years of experience in strategic HR, talent management, and executive assessment and coaching. Dr. Parasher brings broad experience across varied industries and deep understanding of workplace behavior and organizational dynamics to her work. She has provided hundreds of feedback sessions to leaders on Hogan and ensures that scientific rigor is applied to all Hogan solutions across client deliveries. Pragmatic and results focused, she believes in human potential for transformation.

She is coauthor of the book, The Secret Life of Organizations: Invisible Rules of Success for the Young Indian Professional, which gives an insider view of what makes organizations tick and helps young professionals take the smart path to the top. She earned her PhD in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of South Florida, and she is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a life member of the National HRD Network in India

Distributor Q&A:

1. How did you first hear of Hogan and what sold you on it?

I first heard about Hogan in 2010 when I was working at a large US Technology company where I was running a global leadership assessment and development program.  Hogan’s research base, framework of socio-analytic theory and comprehensiveness of the assessment mode – Bright side, Dark side and Inside of the person – convinced me about adopting Hogan assessments in my work.

2. How do you predict the India market to change following the COVID-19 pandemic?

We see steady and continued investment in leadership assessment and development in India. Succession planning and assessing leadership potential for future growth are key priorities for many of our clients, where Hogan insights are being leveraged.

3. Throughout your time of working with Hogan, what is the best client success story that you can share?

There are many success stories. The one that we take most pride in is where our client, a large, Indian multi-national agro-business, used Hogan insights to assess their global leadership talent pool and then used the data for focused leadership development using coaching.

For the past year and a half, we all have lived with some degree of uncertainty as the global pandemic wreaked havoc, changing how we interact with others and live our lives. While burnout is not a novel occupational stressor, COVID-19 has escalated the rate of burnout. Of the 75% of workers experiencing burnout, 40% reported burnout as a direct result of COVID-19.¹ Throughout the pandemic, one thing has remained clear: employers who want to gain a competitive advantage need to focus on employee well-being.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as “a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”² Burnout is not something that happens to employees who are disengaged or whose performance is poor. In fact, burnout tends to occur highest in passion-driven occupations.³ People who experience burnout are typically those who were once highly engaged and impassioned by their work. In other words, you must first be on fire to be susceptible to burnout.

The top reasons for employee burnout are due to issues leaders can control, making it more of an organizational problem than an individual problem.³ Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have identified six factors that make a workplace prone to inducing burnout: demand overload, lacking control, poor reward systems, a socially toxic work environment, inequity, and a conflict of values.

Burnout has a major cost to both organizations and individuals. Between lost productivity, employee disengagement, absenteeism, lower organizational commitment, and turnover, burnout costs organizations as much as $190 billion annually.⁴ Burnout’s impact on individuals includes prolonged stress, stress-related health issues, and decreased productivity. Moreover, the effects may be disproportionate for different demographics. In 2020, when COVID-19 made remote work prevalent and schools shut down, the rate of burnout increased among women, in particular.⁵ Women began dropping out of the workforce at an alarming rate to manage home responsibilities, which exacerbated the burnout many were already experiencing.

Employer response to burnout can no longer be reactive. Employers must start proactively addressing burnout before it happens. While all six burnout factors are critical for organizations to diagnose and address, there’s a practical solution for addressing potential value conflicts. The Motives, Values, and Preferences Inventory (MVPI) is often described as assessing “the inside of personality” because it measures our core drivers, values, and interests. The values someone holds give us insight into what that person strives to attain both personally and professionally. Alignment between employee and organizational values ultimately leads to increased well-being, productivity, retention, and more desirable outcomes. On the other hand, when an employee’s values are not being met in their role or organization, the organization tends to see poorer employee outcomes, which may eventually result in turnover of that employee.    

The COVID-19 pandemic put healthcare workers at increased risk for burnout due to the heavy demands they face and the lack of control they have over their environment. A nurse who scored high on the MVPI for Recognition, Altruistic, and Affiliation may have been getting their values met prior to the pandemic by receiving frequent recognition for their accomplishments from their manager (Recognition), connecting with patients (Altruistic), and having numerous opportunities to form relationships with team members (Affiliation). Under those prepandemic circumstances, the nurse likely would have felt good about their work.

But the circumstances of the pandemic are different. The nurse must now maintain distance from both patients and coworkers, which means the Affiliation value is not being met anymore. Being an essential worker means increased demands, which may interfere with the nurse’s sense of altruism. The nurse’s manager is also overworked and overwhelmed and is unable to provide the level of recognition the nurse needs to feel motivated and valued. This is clear example of someone who is already at risk for burnout due to the pandemic and whose value conflict may accelerate burnout.

Although it is a challenging problem to solve, it is up to the organization to figure out creative ways to help employees who are experiencing burnout. In addition to value alignment, employers can seek an understanding of the personality characteristics measured by the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) and the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) that might be predictive of burnout. In addition to helping employers understand and prevent burnout, our tools can also help employees become aware of their unique burnout indicators and — with the support of their employers — take actionable steps in preventing burnout.

Want to learn more about the specific personality characteristics that are predictive of burnout? Check out our on-demand webinar!

This post was authored by Jessie McClure, corporate solutions consultant, and Jessica Walker, talent analytics consultant.

References

1. Mendoza, N.F. (2020, August 24). COVID-19 Has Exacerbated a 75% Job Burnout Rate, Study Says. TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/covid-19-has-exacerbated-a-75-job-burnout-rate-study-says/
2. Burn-out an “Occupational Phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. (2019, May 28). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
3. Moss, J. (2019, December 11). Burnout Is About Your Workplace, Not Your People. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/12/burnout-is-about-your-workplace-not-your-people
4. Weiss, L. (2020, October 20). Burnout From an Organizational Perspective. Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/burnout_from_an_organizational_perspective
5. Kashen, J., Glynn, S.J., Novello, A. (2020, October 30). How COVID-19 Sent Women’s Workforce Progress Backward. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/10/30/492582/covid-19-sent-womens-workforce-progress-backward

Between closures, downsizing, and lost revenue, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the retail industry, hastening the ongoing retail apocalypse. In April 2020 the industry’s employment level hit a record low for the first time since December 2009.¹ Since April 2020, employment rates have increased drastically, reaching 41,100 jobs added in February 2021.² However, even as more jobs are added, many businesses continue to downsize or close. In 2020, a record number of major chains closed, resulting in the highest vacancy rate since 2015 and the first drop in retail rent for the first time in nine years.³ As of March, more than 1,000 stores had already closed in 2021, with about 9,000 more expected to close by year-end.⁴

As brick-and-mortar stores diminished in number, e-commerce sales grew to $861.12 billion in 2020, an amount that was not expected until 2022.⁵ With the dramatic shift toward e-commerce come new forecasted trends, such as livestreaming (e.g., try-on sessions), robotics technology (e.g., food delivery robots), new purposes for malls (e.g., microfulfillment centers), and virtual fitting rooms.⁶

As consumer shopping preferences and industry trends change, organizations will need leaders who are agile, adaptable, and open to the changes. If an organization cannot keep up with these accelerated changes, the organization may very well find itself a statistic. Reliable and well-validated personality assessments can help organizations develop their existing leaders by identifying the strengths and weaknesses that will allow them to meet consumer demands and keep up with trends. Using personality, Hogan can also help organizations select leaders who can easily pivot to stay ahead of the industry changes.

While the retail industry is in such flux, organizations can’t afford to lose customers by hiring people who provide poor customer service — whether due to having a poor temperament, being inactively helpful, or demonstrating low self-awareness. In fact, 65% of customers end their relationship with a business and switch to a different brand after experiencing poor customer service.⁷ Worse, acquiring new customers can cost five times as much as it does to retain existing customers.⁸ Using personality assessment, organizations can select applicants who will excel in areas such as customer service or sales. Hogan can help organizations identify which candidates will maintain a positive temperament, help customers actively, be strategically self-aware, and ultimately, keep customers satisfied. 

Hogan has helped numerous companies in the retail industry improve their selection of well-qualified candidates and their leadership development initiatives. For example, a global retailer increased sales by 61%after implementing Hogan’s solutions into its selection procedures. The following case study explains how.

Case Study: Increasing Annual Sales by 61%

The global retailer, which specializes in high-quality fashion and homeware, approached ThreeFish Consulting, an authorized distributor of Hogan’s assessments in India, for help in identifying talent for the role of store manager. After developing an understanding of the retailer’s needs, ThreeFish recommended a custom personality assessment solution from Hogan. While Hogan does offer prevalidated, off-the-shelf personality solutions, this retail company was growing rapidly and needed an individualized solution.

The research process to create the custom profile involved several steps. Hogan started with a job analysis to better understand the critical job requirements for store managers at this retail company. The job analysis allowed ThreeFish to identify key traits of store managers who would excel in the position and support the company’s continued growth. Next, Hogan and ThreeFish collected performance data for current store managers through a criterion-related validity study. Hogan analyzed validity evidence for the store manager position, comparing successful store managers from similar companies in the retail industry. Through this step, Hogan found a significant relationship between personality and performance in the store manager job.

By going through these steps of collecting validity evidence and performance data, Hogan was able to create a personality profile to identify store managers who would be responsible and honest, drive results and sales, encourage customer loyalty, and lead others effectively.

The global retailer wanted to ensure a strong return on investment by implementing the custom personality profile in selection procedures. Based on the criterion evidence, store managers who fit the profile were rated five times greater on overall effectiveness and other critical competencies than store managers who did not fit the profile. Additionally, store managers who fit the custom profile received higher store performance ratings.

With more effective store managers in place, the global retailer can improve the bottom line of its stores. Hogan’s research indicates an annual sales increase of 61% as a result of using the profile to select store managers. This increase in sales translates to millions of dollars in revenue.

This is just one of many success stories demonstrating how Hogan has helped companies in the retail industry improve. For decades, Hogan has collected performance data from millions of working adults to help select higher-performing candidates for all kinds of jobs, ultimately helping clients realize strong returns on their investments. Investing in selection and development tools that have been backed by scientific rigor can help retailers avoid being part of the retail apocalypse “death” count. As the retail industry shifts and new skills are required, finding the right and best candidates is critical not just to survive but thrive.

Download our Retail Industry Spotlight to learn more about how Hogan helps retail organizations improve their talent strategies.

References

1. Statista (2021, March). Monthly Employment in the Retail Industry in the United States from 2009 to 2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1081368/monthly-retail-employment-us/
2. Franck, T. (2021, March 5). Here’s Where the Jobs Are – in One Chart. CNBC EVOLVE. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/where-the-jobs-are-february-2021-chart.html
3. Cheng, A. (2021, January 13). U.S. 2021 Retail Vacancy Rate May Rise to 7-Year High After Record Store Closings. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andriacheng/2021/01/13/us-2021-retail-vacancy-rate-may-rise-to-7-year-high-after-record-store-closings/?sh=12da310668e8
4. Meisenzahl, M. (2021, March 17). More Than 1000 Stores Are Closing in 2021 as the Retail Apocalypse Drags On. Here’s the Full List. Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/stores-closing-in-2021-list-2021-3
5. Ali, F. (2021, January 29). US Ecommerce Grows 44.0% in 2020. Digital Commerce 360. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/us-ecommerce-sales/
6. Reda, S. (2020, December 2). Retail in 2021: What Will Endure and What’s Going to Change? National Retail Federation.https://nrf.com/blog/retail-2021-what-will-endure-and-whats-going-change
7. Harold, F. (2021, May 25). Must-know Customer Service Statistics of 2021 (So Far). Khoros. https://khoros.com/blog/must-know-customer-service-statistics
8. Landis, T. (2021, April 20). Customer Retention Marketing vs. Customer Acquisition Marketing. Outbound Engine. https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/customer-retention-marketing-vs-customer-acquisition-marketing/