PsyAsia is pleased to advise clients that we have extended our special 50% discount offer for those who register for our Psychometric Test Training Course: BPS Level A & B in Singapore until the end of January. Any client who registers for the Level A and B course will be offered a 50% discount on the Saville Consulting Wave accreditation course that follows the day after the Level B training; and/or, 50% off our Behaviour-based Interview Course which is confirmed for the day immediately before the Level A training.  Furthermore, we are pleased to continue to offer a 50% discount off the Behaviour Based Interview Course for any client who registers for our 4-day Human Resource Management Course in Singapore on 22-25 February. 

Training places are limited and courses are now beginning to fill, so please register asap to ensure your place. The above discount offers will expire on 31 January.

If you are in Hong Kong, you can also avail the offers by joining our Hong Kong Psychometric Assessment Level A and B course in March.

All course dates and details as well as email links can be found from here: http://dates.psyasia.com

Kindly contact us on Singapore +65 6521 3131 or Hong Kong +852 8200 6005 for full details.

PsyAsia International invites you to a complimentary webinar on the features of the Saville Consulting Wave Personality Test.

The webinar will run at 6pm Singapore time on 20 December 2010.

At the webinar we will discuss the following:

- Introduction to the Saville Consulting Wave

- What makes Wave a real revolution in personality assessment?

- Comparative validity of Wave with other personality assessments

- Applications of the Wave Framework (selection, team-building, 360 appraisal etc)

- Introduction to the new Wave Leadership and Interview reports

- Overview of other Wave reports

Register Now

Professor Peter Saville recently appeared on BBC TV to discuss the Saville Consulting Wave Psychometric Personality Assessment. The BBC’s Technology Correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones underwent the Wave questionnaire and then received feedback from Professor Saville.

The Leadership Report discussed by Professor Saville is powered by Wave Professional Styles and based on Saville Consulting’s brand new Leadership Model. It has been validated both against theoretical leadership constructs and empirically using international workplace performance and effectiveness criterion data.

It combines styles, situations and underlying leadership potential to assess the impact of leadership on people, tasks and the growth of the organization as a whole. As it is based on the Wave model, the Leadership Report can also distinguish between motives and talents and highlights areas of potential over or under-rating.

The Leadership Report has a wide range of applications including in selection, succession planning, coaching or development and in assessing a leader’s fit to their environment.

PsyAsia International is offering a 15% discount on Saville Consulting Wave training for anybody who registers after viewing this video and before 15 December 2010. Use promotion code BBC when booking your place. The next courses will run in March 2011 in Singapore and Hong Kong. Full details at http://www.psyasia.com/saville-consulting-wave-training-module.php.

Introduction

Psychologist Vincent Wong carried out an analysis of psychometric tests in use in Singapore and across Asia.  In this analysis, more than 40 tests were reviewed which involved no less than 20 test developers.  There were several focuses in the analysis which included practical information of the tests (information such as price and practical design issues), construct of the test, report design, technical details and training requirements.

Practical Information

Pricing

There exists a wide pricing range among tests developed by different test developers. In the lower end of the continuum one test provider provides tests for free in their entire product range and a section of the chargeable report will be produced. Obviously for user to obtain useful information they have to pay for the full report and this is certainly a marketing strategy. However in the perspective of psychometric this practice serious harm the integrity of the test as anybody can get access to the tests for unlimited number of times. Therefore it can only been seen as tests for people who are interested in trying out tests, rather than being usable in organizational settings. For more protected tests, prices range from USD$10 to more than USD$120 with some of the providers charge per usage while the others charge for subscription fee as well (usually paid annually).

Design

In this analysis, several design dimensions of the test were considered and they were the split between ipsative and normative measures, the type of scales that were employed, and other practical issue like medium of test administration.

The majority of the personality assessment tools (over 80%) employ normative measures (the type of psychometric tools that compare the respondent with a group of similar others, or the norm group) while the remaining ones employ an ipsative style (the type of psychometric tools that determine the preference among different personality traits within the respondent). Two exceptional case was identified which employs a mixed style, i.e. normative plus ipsative. The reason behind the popularity of normative style might down to the fact that for tests that were designed for selection purpose normative style was the better style to go with as it actually compare the respondents with the others. On the other hand ipsative measures can provide us with better knowledge about the preference or strength within the respondents. In line with this we found that most of the ipsative tests were preference or value tests which were designed for coaching or counselling purposes, although some ipsative measures that were designed for selection purposes were also identified. For the only tests that incorporated both normative and ipsative styles, the underlying connotation of the difference between normative and ipsative scales were utilized and it represented the discrepancy between the real and ideal self of the respondents.

The type of scale used by the tests is actually a function of whether they are ipsative or normative tests. For normative test the most popular scale type used was 5-point Likert Scale (Likert Scale is the type of scale that respondents choose among several options for the one that represent their thought most). 7-point scale was also quite common and there were a few occurrences of 3-point and 9-point scales. Other than using Likert scales, a few normative tests employed true or false scale. For ipsative tests force-choice scale was employed. One of the more popular version of ipsative scales asked the respondents to pick the option that describes them the best (usually termed as ‘most like me’) as well as option that describes them the worst (usually termed as ‘least like me’). Another appearing version of ipsative scale asked the respondents to put the available options into order, although this version was very uncommon.

Most of the surveyed tests, if not all, were designed for completing on computerized environment. While some of the tests can be administered online in an unsupervised manner, there were quite a few that required supervised administration. Whereas there were few test that provided different versions for supervised and unsupervised administration. Having more than one version allowed the result to be checked in a supervised manner after the candidates had passed the unsupervised session. Paper and pencil version of the tests were usually available with similar price of the computerized version although there were a few tests that did not provide paper and pencil version.

Although all the surveyed tests were not designed to be completed in a designated time, timer was identified in one test and it served the function of checking against random or thoughtful responses.

Measured Attributes

Personality

Among the different attributes, personality was the most popular one being measured. The majority of the personality measurements were built on the Big Five model of personality identified by Costa and McCrae (1985). While some of them retained the original five factors within the tests, about half of the surveyed tests restructured the factor compositions based on the result of the factor analysis or other theoretical support, for example one test split the factor of conscientiousness into ‘Industriousness’ and ‘Methodicalness’ while another developer incorporate the five factor model with behavioural tendencies and came up with a seven factor model. Another common phenomenon observed was that under each of the five factors the primary factors (ranges from 3-5 facets, also known as facets) were also measured, and they were actually more commonly used by test developers in report generation and interpretation. This was probably because the primary factors offer more detailed information thus higher flexibility in using them. Besides the Big Five model, another very popular personality model employed by test developers was Jung’s (1920) typology of personality. For instance two of the tests were developed from this theory as their entire theoretical foundation but one employed the original categorical model while the other one developed a continuum model.  Besides building upon one theory, many tests extract personality factors from multiple personality theories and some of them measured as many as 34 personality dimensions. Example of the measured personality dimension includes ambition, initiative, concern for others, flexibility, and energy. Nearly most of the surveyed personality tests served multiple functions which included selection, training/development need analysis, counselling and other related applications such as personal development, conflict management and team building. Test developers further added the applicability of personality tests in different situations by providing multiple versions of reports alongside with a general personality profile.

Value, Motive and Preference

Another popular attributes being measured were value, motive and preference. Although these are three distinct attributes, we found it was common that test publisher combine either two or all three attributes into one test. These tests were less commonly employed in the situation of selection but more widely used in counselling and developmental scenarios, although some of them were also designed to be used in selection as well. For tests that measures value and motive, normative measures were found to be more common and ipsative measures were more common among preference tests.  Another related attribute being measured was interest and they were mainly designed to be a career development tool.

Others

Other measured attributes included measure of leadership styles, team role, behavioural tendency, Emotional Intelligence, self-efficacy, work ethic, interpersonal communication, sales orientation, customer service orientation, learning style and even work effectiveness tendency.

Report Style

Nearly all of the surveyed tests have multiple reports and they are all in narrative form alongside with a graphic representation (usually bar charts) of the measured characteristic. However there was one test that did not employ narrative style in their report at all. Graphical representations with a sentence long description for each factor were employed instead of the narrative format. 2 dimensional typology graphs and score matrix were also employed for some type of reports. Some reports made use of different colours in representing different dimensions being measured yet some others used colour to indicate extreme scores (for example green representing high scores while red representing low scores). Colour was also frequently employed for matching test scores with a standard or an established profile, with green meaning a good match and red representing a poor match.

Report Content

Generic  Personality Profile

For all the surveyed tests, there was at least some form of generic personality profile provided in the report, whether in the form of narrative writing, matrix of scores, 2 dimensional typology graphs, bar charts or broken line graphs. Most commonly the personality profile was consisted of a graphical representation of the test scores on different dimensions with a brief descriptive narrative alongside it. In this generic personality profile the test scores, usually in form of sten scores or percentile were presented. Raw scores were also found in some reports. About half of the survey tests also presented the variation of the test score in the report and a few had an explanation on the meaning behind that. In all cases primary dimensions measured by the tests were reported in this section. Secondary or higher-level composite dimensions were also frequently reported in this section.

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths and limitations were another very popular qualities being reported, although we identified a few tests that do not report them. In reporting strengths and limitations some tests referred them to very specific behavioural terms while there existed some tests simply referred high or low scores in particular dimensions as strengths or limitations. Few tests incorporated contextual factors into the reporting of strengths and limitations were identified and they were more common in purpose-specific reports (for example reports designed for leadership development or team building). Overall tests tended to present information about strengths and limitations of the candidates.

Competencies

Leadership, team work, interpersonal skills or orientation and problem solving orientation were found to be the most popular competencies being tapped. Other competencies being tackled by the surveyed tests included achievement orientation, customer service orientation, management style, decision making, planning and organization, influence and negotiation, delivery, creativity, analytic orientation, coping style and thinking style. Rather than being measured directly in the tests, these competencies were often generated from several primary dimensions of personality. They were found to be written in context of work and behavioural terms were employed heavily in order to aid comprehensibility of the report. Furthermore competency based reports were identified and leadership related reports were the one which appeared most. Competency based reports for sales and managerial positions were also popular.

Interview prompts

Interview prompts were found in some reports. These included general instruction of how to use the report correctly to enhance the effectiveness of a follow-up interview as well as specific suggested interview questions to be asked for a particular candidate. The number of interview prompts varies from three to ten plus suggested questions and some reports even included the expected answer from the candidate. These interview prompts also served as a check or back up of the validity of the tests.

Training (Development) Needs

Several tests with a separated training need or developmental report were identified. For tests that did not have a designated report for training needs, it was surprising to found that the section outlining training was absent for majority of the surveyed tests, given most of them were designed to be used in training need analysis. When present, the training needs outlined (or some tests referred it to be ‘action plans’) were usually generated from the unfit aspects identified or areas that were not up to the normative standard. Simple description about the needs per se was common and a few reports were found to be providing concrete training suggestions.

Cultural Fit

Cultural fit information was identified in a few test reports. This information could include the fit of the candidate with the organizational culture, task nature as well as co-workers and it existed in several forms. The more popular way to compute it was comparing between the candidate’s score with the norm or an ideal profile. One test generated this information by comparing the candidate with the best performers. Yet another test presented the information in light of the candidate himself by stating what culture or environment will be the best fit for the candidate.

Technical Information

Technical information of the test included normative data, reliability and validity data as well as development procedure of the test. They are the most important information to be readily accessible to the public but unfortunately some of them were virtually absent for some of the surveyed tests. Normative data were found to be the most reported information and reliability data followed. However evidence for validity as well as development procedure of the test were absent for some of the tests despite the claim of ‘scientifically validated’ in their marketing materials. For tests that did not provide any of the above mentioned information the integrity of them were seriously in doubt.

Training Requirement

Training requirement of the tests varied from no need training for an extreme case (which was the free online test) to BPS Level B plus additional training (approximately 7 days of training in total). For most of the tests 2-3 days of training for the specific test was common but this type of training would not be recognized by a different test provider. The BPS (British Psychological Society) Competence in Occupational Testing was found to be the most widely accepted qualification by the test providers. Most of the tests could be administered by a BPS Level B qualified user but there existed some tests which required a conversion training (1-2 days long) in order to be a qualified user of them.

It’s perhaps quite natural to believe that the Chinese personality is so different to others that it requires a special psychometric test to assess it. What better way to sell your new Chinese personality test than to state that it is “high time a test for the Chinese” were developed. However, this throws doubt upon the utility of rigorously developed international psychometric tests of personality.

Given the above, we embarked on a research program to assess whether Chinese people differ significantly comparied to others in terms of personality structure and whether personality tests that purport to assess Chinese Personality are able to predict any more work performance than internationally developed tests have already been proven to do!

You can read our research findings it: personality.cn, our Chinese Personality at Work Research Site.

No time to read the whole site? Here’s a quick summary:

Locally developed psychometric tests which purport to assess “indigenous” aspects of Chinese Personality were found to be less reliable than reputable internationally developed tests of personality. Furthermore, there is a big question as to whether so-called “indigenous” traits are Chinese-specific. Issues such as traditionalism or face also exist in other cultures! Moreover, the research has demonstrated that whatever we choose to believe about Chinese Personality, locally developed (Hong Kong) tests of “indigenous” personality add nothing to the prediction of performance at work that is not already accounted for by reputable internationally developed personality tests.

We present this research in a free HRM webinar which you can watch here. We held a vote at the beginning and end of our webinar whereby we asked attendees if they believed that Chinese Personality is so different that Chinese people need their own personality test. At the beginning of the webinar, the majority of the attendees said yes! By the end of the webinar only one attendee still believed this to be the case!  We recommend choosing well designed psychometric tests with high reliability and validity. Personality is a universal construct, thus locally developed tests may have little benefit to the hiring manager!

PsyAsia International has released dates for their annual public course in Human Resource Management in Singapore. The course runs usually as an in-house course, but once per year the company offers it as a public course. This year all those who had previously registered their interest were surveyed for their preferred dates and locations so PsyAsia expects the course to run at or near capacity. There’s an early bird discount of 10% on offer for all those who register before 30 August entering discount code HRMEB on page 3 of the booking form. Full details and online registration at the HRM course webpage: http://www.psyasia.com/human_resource_management_training_course.php

Our HRM Training in Asia

PsyAsia International’s Human Resource Management Training course is run by an award-winning and experienced registered orgranisational psychologist (with doctorate) who previously taught the course at Master’s level for the UK’s University of Leicester and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The facilitator has the unique advantage of also being a practitioner so can tie theory with cutting edge practice in each interactive session.

Public Training Course

PsyAsia’s Human Resource Management course runs all over Asia on an in-house basis. About once each year we open the course up as a public course in Hong Kong and/or Singapore. We’ve received an influx of enquiries recently and so believe now is the time to find out potential delegate preferences for dates and venue. If there is sufficient interest we will run the course publically sometime between November and March.

Survey for dates and location

To register your interest and tell us whether you’d rather attend in Singapore, Hong Kong or Online, please click the link below to complete our rapid survey. It will take you less than 60 seconds.

Rapid 60 Second Survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hrmcourse

For full details about the course, please see here:
http://www.psyasia.com/human_resource_management_training_course.php

If the claims of some HR practitioners in Asia are founded, we may need customised Personality Tests for every group out there, Singaporeans included. Is this really the case? Find out what science tells us at PsyAsia’s FREE webinar on Chinese Personality and its assessment for predicting workplace performance. Full details of the webinar can be found by clicking the graphic below:

Register for the Free HRM Webinar

Saville Consulting Wave® – Highest Validity per 15 minutes of test-time!

The Saville Consulting Wave was developed by the originator of the OPQ and co-founder of SHL, Professor Peter Saville as an alternative to the static assessments available in the market. Wave assesses candidate’s motives and talents within a validation-centric framework. It was validated within 100 separate businesses.

The tool uses both normative and dynamic ipsative questions and has been shown to have greater validity in predicting performance and leadership than any tool it has been compared to in research. Furthermore, the shorter version of Wave, the Focus Questionnaire has more validity per 15 minutes of test-taking time than any comparison questionnaire.

Profile jobs, run 360 performance appraisal, assess personality type for team-building, assess entrepreneurial potential and provide extensive development advice all within one framework

The performance culture framework which underlies the Saville Consulting Wave allows the tool to be used extensively for different HR applications from recruitment/selection through to performance appraisal and development.
Follow the links below for further details:

Wave Professional Styles	Performance Card Set
Wave Focus Styles	Wave Performance 360
Wave Types	Wave Development
Wave Entrepreneurial	Wave Culture
Wave Job Profiler

View some sample reports from Wave here

For the early-bird offer (25% discount), please register at http://www.psyasia.com/register
and quote WAVESEB for Singapore courses and WAVEHEB
for Hong Kong Courses. Deadline is 15 May for Singapore and 31 May for Hong
Kong.

Note – delegates on our BPS Level B course in
Singapore always get 50% discount off the Wave Conversion
course which follows their Level B training. More details at http://www.psyasia.com/bpscourses

Course Reviews from Previous Attendees

“Informative, relevant to work, knowledgeable facilitator”

Danny
Hay Group

“Good introduction to the tool and practical session was useful”

Geraldyn Fong
Managing Consultant (Psychologist)

Hudson Global Resources, Singapore

“Insightful and informative. The methodology behind the Saville
Consulting Wave Report is light years ahead of other psychometric tests yet
it is a breeze to use! The interface between motives, competencies and culture
is exactly the missing link that recruiters are looking for.”

Diana Yeo
Ministry of Defence, Singapore

“A highly practical and enjoyable approach to the application
of an extremely useful tool for selection and development – well worth the investment,
highly recommended.”

Neville Pearsall
Director HR
RMIT International University, Vietnam

Not ready for training and accreditation
but still want to use the Wave?

Then please consider PsyAsia’s Psychologist-on-Call™
service instead. Our registered psychologists will take care of the complete process for you, including a call and behavioural interview for your candidates and a feedback session with the decision-maker. More details at http://www.psyasia.com/psychologist_candidate_screening.php.