During the last few new employee orientation sessions at Hogan, I have been asked “what is the most exciting project you have ever worked on in 23 years at Hogan?” Given today’s date, I thought I would share my response.

The most rewarding project I have been a part of was helping America recover from the attacks occurring on 9/11/01. This project was bittersweet, on one hand we were reminded every day about how a group of cowards shattered lives, drove fear into our country, and changed the face of travel forever. On the other hand, the challenge we faced brought out the best in people, it changed perspectives, started conversations, and led individuals to set aside their personal aspirations to help society as a whole.

We rarely talk publicly about Hogan’s involvement post 9/11, primarily because we did it to serve, not to brag. That said, here is a little Hogan history that I hope never gets lost.

Once the shock of the attack had settled, Congress quickly passed the Aviation Transportation Security Act (ATSA), creating DHS and the TSA. Based on Hogan’s reputation, we were quickly asked to help select a workforce of over 100,000 people. Our challenge was to provide a valid, predictive assessment program.

For over three years, members of the Hogan team worked day and night in DC, airports, and conference rooms around the country. We created the Aviation Security Screener Employment Test (ASSET). We validated the ASSET, deployed it on a third-party system, and then trained others in the use of the data.   In the end, we screened several million applicants. TSA agents became the public face of safety and security. Countless studies were carried out and we proved we could predict key criteria.

One year into the project we were challenged to work on another start-up, the FFDO program. This program is the only one in the world that screens, selects, and trains commercial pilots to carry a weapon in the cockpit — as the last line of defense. Once again, our reputation for assessment excellence and experience in military and law enforcement put us front and center.  I will never forget being onsite for the first training program and watching pilots cross the stage as deputized federal agents.

The rest is history and like any government project, eventually our involvement came to an end.

At Hogan, we make it a priority to remind our employees that what they do every day, regardless of their role, makes a difference. It makes a difference not only to the client organizations, but also to their employees, customers, and communities.

Hogan has a strong tradition that all of our employees continue to support – and for that dedication I say thank you to them. They should be proud of who we are and what we do. I know I am.

On December 14^th, 2017 the Australian government launched the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation, and Financial Services Industry. The Commission was launched on the heels of numerous banking scandals involving the Big Four Australian banks. The Commission provided a preliminary report in August of 2018 and the final report was made public in February of 2019. Ultimately, the Commission found evidence of bribery, forgery, inadequate lending practices, lying to regulators, and even charging fees to people who were dead.

The preliminary Commission report concluded that the primary cause of this misconduct was:

“…greed – the pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of basic standards of honesty…From the executive suite to the front line, staff were measured and rewarded by reference to profit and sales…When misconduct was revealed, it either went unpunished or the consequences did not meet the seriousness of what had been done.”

All of this brings back memories of the 2007-08 financial crisis in the US. Much like in the US, calls for more stringent regulations are inevitable. However, such regulations are unlikely to mitigate devious financial practices in the future. Indeed, as the Commission pointed out:

“…The law already requires entities to ‘do all things necessary to ensure’ that the services they are licensed to provide are provided ‘efficiently, honestly and fairly’. Much more often than not, the conduct now condemned was contrary to law. Passing some new law to say, again, ‘Do not do that’, would add an extra layer of legal complexity to an already complex regulatory regime…”

Further, the strategies currently being implemented to mitigate the risk-taking culture of banking and finance risks do not appear to be working. As Alessandra Capezio, a professor at the Australian National University, points out, the problem is not the standards and regulations of the banking and financial industries: it is the people in the industry, particularly the leadership.

It should surprise no one that the banking and financial services industries attract people who are interested in, and motivated by, money. Our own data on the personalities of more than 10,000 leaders in the banking and financial services industries from all over the world confirm this: people in this sector score well-above average on Commerce, a scale measuring the degree to which one is interested in business and financial pursuits.

However, being interested in money is not all that makes banking and finance leaders unique. They also score higher than average on Power – the desire to have authority over others and control of resources, Ambition – the tendency to take charge and compete with others, and Mischievousness – the tendency to manipulate others and bend the rules. Further, banking and finance leaders also tend to score below average on Security – the desire for predictability and stability, Prudence – the tendency to display high moral / ethical standards, and Dutiful – the tendency to conform and obey regulations set by others. Overall, these data paint the picture of the typical banking and financial industry leader just as described by the Commission and Capezio: greedy, risky, manipulative, and self-interested.

This is not to say that all banking leaders fit this description. In fact, the history of corporate financial scandals – including the recent banking scandals in Australia – is peppered with moralistic whistleblowers who brought the truth to the public. But these folks are exceptions to the rule.

What can be done about the problem of risky and malicious practices that seem to run rampant in the banking and financial services industries? The answer is not more regulations. As we have seen time and time again, the kinds of people who become leaders in these institutions are not bound by regulations. If the root cause of the problems facing the banking and financial services industry is the leadership, then the solution is to select better—more ethical—leadership. Fortunately, there are hundreds of years of research on the science of personality, leadership, and organizational effectiveness that can be used to inform leadership decisions. Unfortunately, many organizations – including financial organizations – continue to ignore the benefits of scientifically-validated personality assessments for leadership selection. In doing so, they put themselves, their employees, and their customers at risk.

Are you already Hogan Certified but want to further hone your interpretation or feedback skills? Hogan has you covered.

Earlier this year, Hogan expanded its Global Learning offerings to include the Hogan Advanced Interpretation Workshop and the Hogan Advanced Feedback Workshop. Both workshops were introduced because of popular demand based on survey results from newly Hogan Certified users.

The one-day Hogan Advanced Interpretation Workshop was designed for practitioners looking to gain deeper interpretive insights from Hogan Assessment data. This course teaches professionals to:

• Connect Hogan data points across scales and assessments for more robust interpretations
• Extract maximum value from subscales
• Learn advanced interpretation techniques around low HDS and low MVPI scores

Skills acquired in this applied workshop prepare attendees to analyze Hogan data at a deeper level.

The one-day Hogan Advanced Feedback Workshop was designed for practitioners who wish to receive more extensive instruction and practice delivering effective Hogan feedback. This course teaches professionals to:

• Deliver Hogan feedback within a cohesive frame
• Apply best practices for Hogan feedback delivery
• Troubleshoot common issues, such as resistance to feedback
• Connect assessment results to job context
• Create developmental action plans

Skills acquired in this experiential workshop prepares participants to deliver high-impact Hogan feedback.

The remaining Hogan Advanced Interpretation Workshops in the US in 2019 include:

• Minneapolis, MN – September 12
• Portland, OR – September 19
• Washington, DC – September 26
• Chicago, IL – October 24
• Dallas, TX – November 14
• Atlanta, GA – December 5
• Portland, OR – December 5

The remaining Hogan Advanced Feedback Workshops in the US in 2019 include:

• Minneapolis, MN – September 12
• Washington, DC – September 26
• Chicago, IL – October 24
• Dallas, TX – November 14
• Atlanta, GA – December 5

For those who are not Hogan Certified, two-day Hogan Assessment Certification Workshops will be held during the two days prior to each advanced workshop in all host cities. Each of the two, one-day advanced workshops are also available upon request for those who have previously completed the Hogan Assessment Certification Workshop. Hogan Certified users can email training@hoganassessments.com to register for an advanced workshop separately.

For more information, visit www.hogancertification.com.

*This post was authored by ThreeFish Consulting.

ThreeFish Consulting, the authorized distributor for Hogan Assessments in India, welcomed back Ryan Ross, Managing Partner of Hogan Assessments, for a series of three client events across the country to provide thought leadership around the Science of Personality.

The first stop on the tour was in Pune in the western part of the country. The ThreeFish Breakfast Roundtable on July 30^th at the JW Marriott was well attended by Hogan Users and a wider audience from a range of industries who were interested in learning more about Hogan and the Science of Personality. This was a great “launch” event for Pune as it was the first time ThreeFish-Hogan held a client event in the city. “The growth of ThreeFish into Pune marks an important milestone – while support has existed in the local market for several years, Pune-based businesses are demanding quality assessments, and Threefish is equipped to meet their need” said Ryan. Given the mixture of current and potential clients, Ryan’s talk focused on the link between personality, leadership, and organizational performance. Elaborating on the view, ‘Who you are is how you lead’, Ryan said “it was such a great event, the way the audience engages in such a lively and smart conversation is one of the best things about being in India. Too often participants are quiet or shy, but not in Pune. It was a thrill from a presenter’s standpoint.“ The engaged audience had a lively conversation around how our personality affects the way we think, behave, make decisions, and build relations, ultimately impacting our performance.

After wrapping up in Pune, the team was off to the ‘Garden City of India,’ Bangalore, wheree we hosted the next Breakfast Roundtable on July 31. It was a warm gathering with Hogan users from both corporate and independent practitioners. There was a lot of excitement in the community to participate in a ThreeFish-Hogan gathering given the long gap since the last event. Ryan’s talk, ‘Chasing Leadership Trends – a Recipe for Disaster’, discussed two key macro trends in leadership hiring – ‘short-termism’ which leads to the celebrity CEO and ‘trend-chasing’, where our knowledge on effective leadership is often ignored. Ryan talked about the “multiplier effect” of good and bad leadership across the organization, drawing attention to Laissez Faire leadership. Reflecting on leadership from the lens of the led, Ryan elaborated on what employees actually want from their leaders, which are the four core aspects of effective leadership: Integrity, Inspiration, Competence, and Vision. The talk was a success with the Bangalore audience and was reflected in the lingering conversations over a cup of “chai” and the buzz that followed. “Bangalore is such a smart market, it is an established market, and one in which practitioners are not only implementing current practices, but being bullish about introducing cutting edge ideas,” Ryan said after the event. 

Then, it was off to the premier event, the TechHR Conference 2019 in Gurgaon hosted by People Matters where Hogan-ThreeFish were Gold Sponsors. There was a packed hall on the main stage for Ryan’s session entitled, ‘Bright and Shiny or B.S. – The Role of AI in Talent Acquisition.’ Ryan acknowledged that digital innovations and advances in AI have produced a range of novel talent identification and assessment tools which promise to help organizations improve talent acquisition capabilities. However, he raised the important question of whether these are indeed bright and shiny promises that can propel HR into the digital playing field, or BS promises that are overhyped, over-promising, and perhaps even dangerous to the future of the organization?  Ryan shared his perspective that AI, big data, deep learning all have the potential to help but we must use our ethics and beliefs to guide the future. ‘Bright and Shiny’ can be cool, until it rusts. Ryan’s advice was to choose wisely. The question he posed the audience was “Just because we can, should we?” The immediate discussions among the audience were proof that the question was still very much a subject for debate.

“I have been traveling to India for over a decade,” said Ryan.  “It is such an amazing country with immeasurable potential.  Honestly the amount of skill and talent in the HR/OD space is somewhat intimidating. That said, because India believes in data, it is quite easy to strike up a conversation about assessments and personality – because this is a market that understands assessment has a job to do – that is predict performance.”

At Hogan, we talk a lot about derailers and the dark side of personality. When the pressure’s on, the line between strength and weakness isn’t always clear — drive becomes ruthless ambition, attention to detail becomes micromanaging, perceptiveness turns to cynicism, etc. The dark side of personality derails careers and companies, but it doesn’t have to.

The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) describes the dark side of personality – the qualities that emerge in times of increased strain that can disrupt relationships, damage reputations, and derail peoples’ chance of success. But, how do these situations play out in the workplace? What kind of behaviors should you be on the lookout for? And, most importantly, how do you derail?

In this video, co-workers Kevin, Tina, Diego, Janice, and Lawrence give us an up-close look at the Dark Side of personality. For more information, visit www.howdoyouderail.com.

RELEVANT Managementberatung, an authorized Hogan distributor in Germany, recently hosted its JAM SESSION titled ‘New Leadership? Authentic in Turbulent Times’ with more than 100 attendees on July 4 at the Klassikstadt in Frankfurt. The purpose of the event was to bring clients, HR professionals, and business leaders together to jointly discuss opportunities and risks of leadership in the context of new work.

RELEVANT partnered with Odgers Berndtson to host the event, which featured the following speakers:

• Dr. Robert Hogan, Hogan Assessments – Dr. Hogan spoke to the crowd about how humility outperforms charisma when it comes to effective leadership.
• Dr. Scott Gregory, CEO, Hogan Assessments – Dr. Gregory served as a speaker of one of five breakout sessions. His discussion focused on the science of personality and how to derive value from big data. The other four sessions featured representatives from CMS Legal, Fondsdepot Bank, Beiersdorf, and Daimler.
• Dr. Niklas Friedrich, Vodafone – Dr. Friedrich, who serves as Vodafone’s Head of People & Organizational Strategy, presented to the crowd about Vodafone’s initiative to “futurize leadership” across the organization.
• Marcus Reif, HR expert, speaker and blogger – Mr. Reif spoke about “how to stay relevant in turbulent times” before the official agenda was concluded and the networking continued.

Dr. René Kusch of RELEVANT Managementberatung and Daniel Nerlich of Odgers Berndtson served as facilitators and hosts for the event, creating an atmosphere of curiosity, ease, fun, and sagacity. Thus, attendees who had just met easily engaged in meaningful conversations, laughed together, and challenged each other’s thinking. Dr. René Kusch, initiator of the JAM SESSION said that “There were vivid interactions throughout the entire event, and a heightened common understanding that personality always is the stable factor in turbulent times was palpable. Attendees came to know how to use Hogan for the recruiting and development of leaders and teams.”

Following the event was a celebratory “Dinner with the Hogans,” attended by the RELEVANT team, Hogan’s Managing Director for Europe Zsolt Feher, Dr. Hogan, and Wendy Hogan. The group dined in Frankfurt’s city center, talking shop, sharing personal stories, and enjoying fine cuisine.

Feedback from participants who attended the event was overwhelmingly positive. The event has already led to significant business development opportunities, with people interested in learning more about humility and also how they can get Hogan-certified. Overall, the event was a huge success, and we owe our appreciation to RELEVANT and Odgers Berndtson for making it a reality. Prost!

Our friends at metaBeratung, an authorized Hogan distributor in Germany and Switzerland, recently hosted events in Zurich and Munich, featuring Hogan Founder and Chairman Dr. Robert Hogan, Hogan CEO Dr. Scott Gregory, IMD Business School Professor John Weeks, and metaBeratung CEO Nicole Neubauer.

The events, titled ‘Future of Leadership: From Charisma to Humility,’ were held at Hotel Widder in Zurich on July 2and at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich on July 3, and the events were attended by more than 140 business leaders and talent management professionals in Zurich and more than 70 in Munich.

With humility being the core theme of the events, Dr. Hogan spoke about the importance of identifying and promoting humble leaders, as opposed to their charismatic, and likely ineffective, counterparts. Organizations for decades have heavily leaned toward the promotion of charismatic leaders because they are socially and politically skilled. However, Hogan’s research on leadership shows that although these leaders tend to emerge within organizations, they historically are less effective than humble leaders.

Professor Weeks spoke to attendees about how leaders should act as role models with a positive, skillful, and intentional approach to engaging their teams. This heavily relies on leaders following the age-old adage “actions speak louder than words.”

Neubauer’s presentation focused on the topic of women in leadership. With research showing that women tend to be more humble than men, she highlighted how important it is for women to become more visible within their organizations. Simply put, equality between men and women in organizations is something that does not exist and is in desperate need of improvement.

Overall, the events were a huge success for metaBeratung, IMD Business School, and Hogan. It’s so exciting to see the work our distributors are doing globally to raise awareness about the importance of personality and how it affects leadership and organizational performance.

The success of any organization depends on the people who work in it. Therefore, it is crucial for businesses to hire the right employees. Using valid assessment tools such as General Employability, companies can more easily identify the personality characteristics that predict employability across a wide range of jobs. In turn, businesses are more productive, have less turnover, have more satisfied and engaged employees, and are more financially successful.

Employability is defined as the ability to find a job, the ability to retain it, and the ability to find a new job should the first one go away. There are three key components of employability that the assessment considers:

• People Skills – Getting along well with others and working well in teams. People who score high on this skill seem friendly, pleasant, and helpful.

• Learning Skills – Learning the essential functions of the job and acquiring new skills as the job changes over time. Individuals with learning skills are likely to be bright, curious, and motivated to learn.

• Work Ethic – Taking instruction, working hard, and producing high-quality results in a timely fashion. Employees with good work ethic are hardworking, productive, and dependable.

Gathering responses to items such as “I am sensitive to others’ feelings” and ”I avoid trouble at all costs,” the assessment provides a general employability score. The overall score reflects the degree to which the candidate is generally employable and likely to be a productive employee. Those with exceptionally high scores (e.g., 90% or above) can often be hired straight away assuming they meet other basic job qualifications.

The General Employability assessment is an accurate predictor of on-the-job performance. It is suitable for a wide variety of non-leadership roles in virtually all industries. For instance, it is highly effective in the recruitment of bank tellers. With the General Employability tool, recruiters were able to accurately identify low and high performing bank tellers. Further, they found that the high scorers were two times more likely to be highly rated for their customer service than low scorers.

Zsolt Feher, Managing Director Europe of Hogan Assessments said “Employers report that most of their employee-related complaints concern three basic problems: poor interpersonal skills, poor personal management, and poor problem-solving skills. With General Employability, organizations will be able to obtain valuable insights into these three key areas. It is a huge time-saver for recruiters as they can leverage the power of data and predict candidates’ work ability and future success in the workplace.”  

I have just returned from another fantastic voyage to the East. And since this e-postcard has only so much room to spare, I’ll cut right to the chase. It was my absolute pleasure traveling to and across Australia as I accompanied Peter Berry Consultancy (Hogan’s premier distributor) for their 2019 Thought Leadership Forum. This series of events featured the Australian Psychological Society’s biannual I/O Psychology Conference (IOP) as a capstone, of which PBC continues to be the sole platinum sponsor.

The following was just some of my report from the antipodes:

• The PBC Hogan User conferences in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide were each a huge success. With legendary style, Peter Berry, Managing Director and Shayne Nealon, Managing Partner of PBC delivered presentations on client case studies and the latest innovations on the Hogan 360. A special highlight was when an executive from Australia’s national cricket team gave a ripper presentation on their usage of Hogan and the benefits it has brought to the organization. Public and private sector executives, academics, consultants and coaches were all in attendance.

• Dr. Geoff Trickey, founder of Hogan’s elite UK distributor PCL, not only presented on his well-researched Risk Type Compass (a metric for measuring risk appetite and the behaviors associated with eight different risk orientations), he also won “Best Paper” at the IOP event for a related study. Go Geoff!

• Speaking of IOP, the well-oiled machine that is the PBC team captivated several audiences across the conference halls with their engaging talent management topics:
  
  • Mark Do: Contemporary trends in personality and leadership assessment: Where are we now and where are we headed
  • Adrien Chew: Observed leadership behavior around the world: Exploring reputational differences of leaders across countries using 360s.
  • Kalani Koswatta Liyanage: What makes an effective leader? The impact of gender and personality on perceived leadership effectiveness.
  • Dr. Lynne Cruickshank: (1) Personality and High Performing Teams: Examining the relationship between personality and team performance. / (2) Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce: Investigating differences in Values and Personality.

• I’d also like to take a moment here to state my gratitude to Hogan’s Drs. Darin Nei and Brandon Ferrell, and PBC’s Dr. Lynne Cruickshank for their invaluable contributions as co-authors on a cross cultural paper featuring the Hogan360 (a topic which was also presented across the events). It was recently accepted by a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Congratulations you three! More to come on that soon…

If you didn’t get a chance to join and want to know more about these highly interesting topics, please contact a PBC consultant for more information related to any of the above. They are always happy to oblige. Wait…did you not know any of this was happening? You must not be on the PBC Newsletter. I highly suggest you enroll!

Well, until next time my friends,

Your devoted Asia Pacific correspondent, resident blogger, and current Hogan Senior Strategist,

Michael Sanger

Hogan distributor, RELEVANT Managementberatung, has partnered with the International Coach Federation Germany chapter to present this year´s German Prism Award, awarded to companies making a difference in the coaching community through professionalism, quality, and data.

The selection process and criteria were modeled after ICF’s International Prism Award, which has been granted annually since 2005 to companies that stand out through the establishment of a coaching culture with extraordinary results in difficult change processes. Past winners of this prestigious award include Coca Cola, SAP, Airbus, and several other prominent companies.

“Continuing our partnership with the ICF to present the German Prism Award after a great start in 2018 is a perfect opportunity for us,” says RELEVANT owner, Dr. René Kusch. “At RELEVANT, we are fully committed to advancing the coaching profession, and this award is symbolic of that commitment.”

Those nominated are coaching programs that have innovative concepts and/or have made a significant contribution to achieving important corporate goals. The award will be presented on November 15 during ICF Germany’s Coaching Day in Munich, and applications will be accepted through July 16.

“We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with ICF Germany for many years to come,” says Kusch. “The ICF is the world’s premier coaching organization, and it is an honor to be involved of something we believe will be a high-profile distinction for German coaching programs in the future.”