Entrepreneurs are distinguished by the following Apollo Profile characteristics:

• Very High Ambition – this reflects the passion and drive they have to succeed in whatever endeavour they believe in.

• High Innovation – Entrepreneurs are innovators and ideas people, and in love with their ideas and their desire to push them forward.

• Low Independence – entrepreneurs see things differently and they are willing to “go alone” independently of rules and barriers if they have to.

• High Persistence/Conscientious – they will not be easily discouraged and will keep going despite obstacles.

Successful entrepreneurs need to be supported in two other personal characteristics:

• They ideally need to be Persuasive to explain their concepts and influence others

• Extraversion so that they can network and enlist support from others.

Our Apollo profiles are based already on a Model of Excellence. That is, we have mapped the qualities of successful people and incorporated those qualities in our 34 scales for success (listed below as requested) . Using the Apollo Profile at Executive level, and looking particularly at the six characteristics outlined above will reveal people with entrepreneurial abilities. The Apollo Profile is a very appropriate tool to identify high performers and entrepreneurs as well as people with potential not immediately engaged in the “entrepreneurial cycle”.

Jim Bowden, the Apollo’s creator has noted that Leadership styles and Social factors and Values do not seem important for determining entrepreneurs. It should be noted too that not all entrepreneurs eventually succeed. Also entrepreneurs may sometimes be going through a stage when they are motivated by some passionate drives.  When not so motivated their scores are likely to return to more “normal” ranges.  A person may be a strong potential or  “sleeper” entrepreneur that needs to be awakened with a special purpose or belief or project.

Apollo-Executive-Level-Narrative-Personality-Report.pdf Download this file

Apollo-Executive-Level-Exception-Personality-Report.pdf Download this file

PsyAsia International is pleased to announce that we have just 3 places remaining on our Human Resource Management Course which will run from 12-15 December 2011 in Hong Kong.  The course will welcome delegates from Hong Kong, mainland China, Philippines, Singapore and Australia to name but a few! This course will not run again for another year in Hong Kong, so if you are interested, please do register soon.  The course outline is below and you can find full details of the course at the Human Resource Management Course webpage.

 Module 1: An Introduction to HRM – Day 1
 

   Defining HRM
Difference between Personnel Management and HRM
HRM as an international model
Broad and Narrow, Soft and Hard HRM
Why study and practice HRM?
HRM as a strategy – internal and external

We’ll spend some time getting to know each other and discussing the course content and the HR Cycle. Methods of assessment (for those who are aiming for our certificate of competence) will also be discussed, alongside different learning and study skills.

We will then move on to consider what HRM is and where it has come from. Personnel management will be introduced and its links with HRM discussed. Different formulations of the HR model such as narrow versus broad and soft versus hard will be cited. We will discuss the extent to which HRM has been applied in delegate’s workplaces and whether it is a useful model to apply. This will require some understanding of HRM as a corporate strategy as well as understanding of your organisation’s strategy in general. Cultural issues within HRM will be introduced, but focused on in greater detail in a subsequent module.

   Module 2: Job Analysis – Day 1
 

   What job analysis is
The importance of job analysis
The principal methods of job analysis and their advantages/disadvantages
The type of data that is collected during job analysis
Criticisms about the lack of reliability in job analysis
Criteria for assessing job analysis
How job analysis informs the job description and person specification
Why organisations use or are turning to competency-based job analysis
Links between job analysis and the HR cycle

During Module One it was noted that job analysis is often viewed as the most important element within the HR cycle. This is because it links with all aspects, and if done poorly or not at all, there will be negative repercussions in, for example, selection, training and development and performance appraisal. This module introduces job analysis, underlines its importance and demonstrates a number of methods of conducting this important task. We will consider the advantages and disadvantages of each type of job analysis and briefly practice some methods. We will also consider issues of reliability in job analysis and introduce how reliability is a theme which recurs within HR practices and methods and something to be aware of throughout the course. Finally, delegates will learn about competency-based job analysis and person specifications and why these are becoming more popular among today’s top organisations.  

Module 3: Planning, Recruitment, Selection – Day 1
 

   The link between forecasting of personnel needs and strategic HRM
Ways in which personnel and competency requirements can be planned
Sources of internal and external candidates
How and why recruitment policy should be consistent with the company’s strategy, image and other policies
How to design application forms that mirror best practice and do not violate employment law
How to select applicants from the recruitment pool to transfer to the selection phase

In this module, delegates will learn about forecasting the supply and demand of candidates in order to fill jobs and cover required organisational competencies. We will consider some of the principles of manpower planning. Delegates will be asked to consider the needs of their own organisations given the current and future environments within which they operate. We will then move on to consider the potential sources of job candidates to ensure that our recruitment procedure results in a high quality selection pool. Design of job application forms in line with local and international employment law and best practice will be covered. Finally, we will start to build expertise in selection by considering how to sift through job applications. We will discuss the dangers in using CVs at this stage. This will prepare us for the next two modules where we will look in some detail at selection tools, namely interviews, assessment centres and psychometric tests (among others).

   Module 4: Assessment Methods (Excluding Psychometric Tests) – Day 2
 

   Methods of assessment available such as assessment centres, application forms, interviews and more
Controversial methods such as graphology, astrology and phrenology
Reliability and validity of various methods
How to prepare for and design objective, behaviour-based interviews

So far we have seen how HRM must be strategic and that in order to be so, we must understand both our internal and external environments. We have also seen how it is necessary to thoroughly and competently analyse all jobs within an organisation and to make personnel plans on the basis of predictions of trends and changes to our environments. In the previous module we considered how to recruit in line with the organisation’s strategy and image and how to design a legal and scoreable application form. In this module, we move on to look at how we select employees on the basis of all of the information that we have available. The focus will be on objective assessment. Many of the methods considered may also also be used to assist in employee development.

   Module 5: Assessment Methods: Psychometric Testing – Day 2
What a psychometric assessment is
The major competence issues in psychometric assessment
Why proper training and practice is required in order to make psychometric assessment useful
Why standardisation is a key repetitive theme in psychometrics
Psychometric Test Reliability and Validity
Error associated with tests as well as all other methods of assessment
How to ensure that bias does not occur in testing using the 4/5 rule
The use of psychometric tests in Asia
Whether using indigenous tests has any incremental validity over and above internationally-developed tests in Asia

This module takes the theme of selection and assessment within the HR function further by considering psychometric assessment in some depth. This is probably one of the areas of HR that is practiced with least competence in Asia at the current time. The competence issue also existed in other parts of the world in their early HR development. It was only with the set-up of institutions and bodies that ensured competence in psychometrics that things became better. If psychometric tests are not used in a competent manner they are of no use. This module will provide delegates with an overview of some of the major areas of necessary competence in psychometrics. The second part of the module will address the extent to which psychometric tests work in Asia by looking at local published research. International models of personality will be addressed alongside local ones and we will consider the incremental validity of using indigenous tools in psychometric testing in Asia.

   Module 6: Training and Development – Day 3
 

   The difference between training and education
The importance of training and development
Training and HRM
Learning styles
The training cycle
Training Needs Analysis
Training Design
Training Implementation
The training transfer problem
The often ignored evaluation and the importance of training evaluation
Solomon’s four-group training evaluation design
Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model
The learning organization and the concept of continuous learning
Cross-cultural comparisons of training

No organisation can boast that it has an HRM strategy if it does not include training and development. This module capitalises upon this statement and explores the issues surrounding the effective use of the training function. Delegates will be introduced to the training cycle and the necessity of following it. The lack of evaluation of training by organisations will be addressed, alongside how training needs analysis should be carried out, how training programmes should be designed, how training should be implemented and how the evaluation results should feedback into this cycle. We will compare training and development and its legislative context cross-culturally.

   Module 7: Performance Appraisal – Day 3
 

   History of performance appraisal
Purposes of performance appraisal
Advantages and disadvantages of linking performance appraisal with pay
The design of performance appraisal systems
Issues in the implementation of performance appraisal systems
Rating scales
Common errors in evaluation
Characteristics of effective performance appraisal interviews
Monitoring and maintaining appraisal systems
Improving performance appraisal for the future

The use of formal systems for appraising employee performance is on the increase. With this in mind, it is necessary for delegates to understand the advantages and disadvantages of these systems and to learn how to alleviate some of the common pitfalls in the design and maintenance of performance appraisal systems. Delegates will learn about the reliability and validity of different appraisal techniques, how appraisal should be carried out and how performance appraisal can be improved in order to be an effective HR tool.

   Module 8: Motivating and Rewarding Employees – Day 4
 

   The main theories of motivation: need, cognitive and reinforcement.
The evidence that supports or fails to support each theory.
The implications of each theory for workplace performance and motivation.
How to design work in order to maximise motivation and increase employee retention.
Why managers prefer to use Maslow’s theory despite the lack of evidence to support it.
What influences pay?
Pay and behaviour modification
Pay and equity
The importance of equity for employees and managers
Motivational issues in the design of salary-systems
Problems associated with different salary-systems
Performance-related pay and motivation
Performance-related pay and performance appraisal

Within a strategic HRM function, there needs to be room for consideration of how to motivate employees, and how top employees can be retained by the organisation. We have already seen how training and development and creation of a learning organisation may assist in this. Likewise, investment in career management may lead to affective commitment because the employee feels that the psychological contract has been upheld by the organisation. Additionally, it is important to consider other methods of motivation in order to enhance performance and quality of working life and increase employee retention. This module will consider the development of motivation theories over time and, given the research evidence, suggest that no theory is adequate on its own. The best insight can be gained by subscribing to a number of theories.

   Module 9: Ethical HRM & Equal Opportunities – Day 4
 

   What ethical HRM entails
Why HRM needs to aim to be ethical
What equal opportunities is and why it is required in terms of law and ethics
Factors affecting decision-making
Theoretical components of ethical HRM
The rhetoric versus the reality of ethical HRM
Rights and duties of employer and employee
The moral development of the organisation
A framework for ethical decision-making

This module considers the ethical processes and decisions that HRM is required to consider on an almost daily basis. First, we’ll reconsider some of the topics that we have already touched upon throughout the course in relation to equal opportunities. Then we’ll look at how ethics and ethical behaviour are shaped and fed into organisational culture. We’ll consider if HRM can ever be truly ethical given that some writers have noted that it is a morally conflictual function. We will look at some of the rights and duties of both employee and employer before finishing with a case study that aims to stimulate some thinking about the ethical issues facing HR professionals.  

Module 10: Global HRM and expatriate assignments – Day 4
 

   How to increase the chances of success of international assignments and expatriate assignees
Personal and organisational factors that lead to expatriate success
What issues need to be planned into an overseas assignment policy
Why training is rarely carried out (but should be)
Factors affecting the expatriate partner or spouse that ultimately also affect the assignment
Women and expatriate assignments: why the biggest barrier faced by females in expatriate assignments is often in the original country

This module will provide delegates with an overview of some of the international dimensions of HRM and organisational behaviour. The focus will be on expatriate assignments and how to plan and design expatriate packages that will lead to successful assignments overseas as well as positive reintegration at the end of the assignment. We will consider individual and organisational factors that lead to success, training for the assignment and new culture, the issue of expatriate partners/spouses and female expatriatism.

It’s that time of year again when we celebrate Singapore’s birthday!  Happy Birthday Singapore!!  Our Singapore office will be closed on Tuesday 9 August. However our other offices across Asia will remain open.

As Singapore’s leading independent psychometric test specialist, the Straits Times commissioned PsyAsia to design a brief test of friendliness a few years back just for Singapore National Day.  Why not have a go at the quick fun test again today as part of your National Day Celebrations: Click here to download!

Massive 25% discount on our Behavior Based Interviewing Course in Singapore when sending 2 or more people. Offer applies only to June 21 Course and only for bookings made online at http://www.psyasia.com/register by noon on 10 June 2011. Course run by expert organisational psychologist. Full course details here.

To avail the discount, register at http://www.psyasia.com/register and in page 3 of the registration form enter promo code 588. Discount only valid when registering 2 participants. Regular course fee is SG$785. Discounted fee for 2 or more participants is SG$588. Discount expires on Friday 10 June at 12pm.

Recruit with Apollo Personality Test 90 mins from now!
Details at http://www.psyasia.com/personality_tests_apollo.php

View all of our world-leading personality assessments.

Join our advanced training in psychometric tests in Singapore or Hong Kong.

PsyAsia Live at SIOP: PsyAsia’s consultants are currently attending the SIOP Conference in Chicago and posting brief summaries of the most interesting talks they attend. Here is one of them!

At PsyAsia we’ve been talking for years about the necessity of using narrowband traits when trying to predict performance at work from psychometric personality tests. Personality is complex and trying to summarize it under a few scales does nobody any favors, least of all the test candidates who you are assessing and in turn, the recruiting organization.  In pursuit of increasingly simple tests that frankly assess little and even then do so unfairly, we come across people who show a strong preference for broadband tests. Broadband tests are useful in some scenarios, notably coaching, counselling, team-building and so on, where it would be impractical to try to explain to those involved the multitude of scales that narrowband tools assess.  However, in high stakes recruitment and selection it is necessary to use tests which produce scales which are able to assess a complete range of personality variables and therefore allow for highest accuracy in work performance prediction. 

This assertion was supported in PsyAsia’s own peer reviewed and published research in Asia and received further support in research presented at the SIOP conference. Narrow traits, also termed facets, did a better job of predicting performance in a number of work areas than higher level broadband traits. If you are using a test that has fewer than around 16 personality scales, you need to question how useful it really is. Multiple research streams are showing that such tools lack specificity and do not add sufficient predictiveness to the assessment process when compared with narrowband tools.

Note: All of PsyAsia’s Personality Tests are Narrowband tools that can also be systematically compounded to enable them to assess at a broad level should that be necessary.

PsyAsia Live at SIOP: PsyAsia’s consultants are currently attending the SIOP Conference in Chicago and posting brief summaries of the most interesting talks they attend. Here is one of them!

One obvious way to develop the cultural intelligence or CQ of employees and executives is to provide them with experiences in cultures which are significantly different to their own. Research has shown that it is not good enough to simply provide for interactivity across cultures within a diverse organization.  Another stream of research presented at the SIOP conference demonstrated the importance of knowing when an overseas assignment will end. Executives who had little or no idea when their assignment would end were less likely to develop in terms of CQ. However, those with such knowledge tended to focus their behavior on improving CQ.  The simple lesson from this research then is that if organizations wish to improve the CQ of their executives they need to ensure that they are clear in terms of assignment length.  Such information is likely to also assist in adjustment and understanding what other aspects of the individual to invest in the new location. This ultimately prevents a feeling of limbo and results in superior work performance. Note that organizations with culturally compentent employees tend to be better performers in the age of globalization.

Visit PsyAsia International for HR Consulting, Training and Psychometric Tests

One of the most interesting discussion panels at the conference concentrated on the movement of internet activity to cell phones and other mobile devices. As we noted in a previous article, I-O Psychologists were playing catch-up with the internet in the design and utilization of psychometric tests.  Things are moving fast in the IT age and more and more applications are becoming available on mobile devices. With this comes an expectation from clients of psychometric tests along with their candidates that tests should be made available on the devices.

There are some obvious advantages in using these mobile devices to administer online psychometric tests to candidates. Advantages include making the tests more inclusive. Research data shows that in many parts of the world, even where people may lack a home computer with internet access, they do have a cell phone with such connectivity.  A number of large organizations provide downloadable apps for cell phones that assist in job searches. At the current time, whilst candidates can find out about job openings and even start to apply for jobs, most organizations do not allow psychometric testing within the same app and thus the candidate needs to be able to relocate themselves to a connected desktop computer at some point. Providing follow through for all stages of the initial recruitment process in the app will likely make the candidate experience more positive, result in more candidates actually following through and enhance an organization’s “connected” image.

However, the discussion addressed a number of potential negative issues that clients and I-O Psychologists themselves need to be aware of in moving psychometric tests to mobile devices.  One of the biggest issues in ensuring psychometric test validity is standardization.  PsyAsia constantly reinforces during our psychometric training courses that to mess up in terms of standardization is also to mess up in terms of reliability which in turn impacts upon test validity. Mobile device platforms differ much more than desktop platforms. One needs to consider operating system, screen resolution, reliability of the internet connection and even where the user is at the time of testing.  There was little chance of the candidate taking their desktop with them to the local bar and to complete the test there. As laptops became more accessible price-wise, there was more chance. Now, with cell phones there is a high chance. So, if the candidate gets stuck on a question, perhaps they just ask a friend or even a stranger in the bar!  The environment has become much more difficult to control now and hence standardization is at threat.  There will need to be tests of differential item functioning for each type of mobile device and given that in the USA 33% white, 46% black and 51% Hispanic have Smartphones according to recent research, further research needs to address possible differential performance by subgroup. 

Given that there are so many different smartphones or mobile devices and a multitude of operating systems, the support required by candidates must also be forecast to increase. Candidates need to have a positive experience of the testing process and providing poor support will detract from this and may mean that test candidates don’t make deadlines for testing.

In conclusion, it seems that we are going to need to accept that testing will take place on mobile devices. We may however not be able to offer all types of tests – items may be dictated by what mobile applications allow us to do and by the performance of various types of items in pilot tests. It’s likely that given these issues, the testing industry will probably go with the lowest common acceptable and workable denominator.

As always, PsyAsia will ensure that we are at the cutting edge of these developments and be ready to offer advice to candidates and clients. In the meantime however, there is perhaps a need for updating and rethinking of guidelines on psychological test use to encompass testing on mobile devices.  This goes to show just how fast things are moving given that at last year’s SIOP conference in Atlanta the test committee reported they were nearly ready to publish revised testing guidelines (which did not include thought on mobile testing!).  Oh dear, they need revising again!!

PsyAsia Live at SIOP: PsyAsia’s consultants are currently attending the SIOP Conference in Chicago and posting brief summaries of the most interesting talks they attend. Here is one of them!

We attended an interesting presentation on employee engagement. It was frightening to see how all of the panellists had a different explanation and operationalization as to what engagement is. Why is this shocking? Because as a science, I-O Psychology should agree on constructs such as this so that research goes ahead in such a way that results can be aggregated and compared.  That said, one of the presenters noted how custom definitions of engagement are good from a client’s practical standpoint. What is seen as engagement in one organization may not be seen as such in another. Thus I would suggest that scientifically we need to work to establish a clear definition of engagement for research purposes whilst allowing flexibility in its practical use.

One of the presenters noted how there is often confusion between engagement and satisfaction.  They are definitely related in that those who are engaged are often satisfied and those who are satisfied are often engaged, However, they are separate constructs. Engagement is more about what the employee will give to the organization, whereas satisfaction is more concerned with what the employee gets.  According to the panel, there are both behavioural and emotional/feeling elements to being engaged and the organization needs to seek out both.  One of the most interesting points of the presentation was the recognition from research of how in many organizations, employees are perfectly aligned to the organization’s values and cultures and highly engaged and yet the organization does not have a system in place to manage that engagement – what the employee does with their behaviours! This may result eventually in actually disengaging engaged employees and should be taken seriously by any organization looking to engage and motivate employees over the long-term.

Visit PsyAsia International for Psychometric Tests, Human Resource Training and Business Psychology Consultancy