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By Monika G. Vaccaro, "Special to the Daily Record"
Whether workers see themselves as ``persistent,'' ``audacious,'' ``congenial,'' ``obstinate'' or ``fussy'' can affect how their employers manage and motivate them. At least, that's the case at companies that use the Predictive Index, a personality assessment test that measures work-related behaviors and motivational needs of employees.
The PI is licensed to New Jersey corporations by Augur Inc., a company in Bedminster. Kathleen Frank , the president, founded Augur in 1996 after working for five years with the late Arnold S. Daniels, the tool's developer.
For a fee, client companies license the PI and administer the test. Through the workshops, managers are taught how to get the most out of the assessment, rather than how to simply score it.``We don't just give it (the survey),'' Frank said. ``We teach managers at companies how to use it.''
When Suburban Propane in Whippany embarked on an extensive restructuring of its headquarters and field operations, executives employed the PI to help minimize the company's growing pains and to make sure they placed the right people in the right jobs. Suburban Propane was spun off from Hanson Industries in March 1996 in an initial public offering.
Sense of urgency
"We had a real sense of urgency to get the company in line and profitable,'' said Michael Keating, vice president of human resources and administration at Suburban, the third-largest retailer of propane in the United States.
Keating joined Suburban in August 1996. His mission was to help the chief executive lead the company through the organizational changes that were to take place during the next year. The Predictive Index helped him do that.
"I liked the simplicity of it, the ease of use, and we liked what it did,'' Keating said. ``The executives took the test. We now have an executive team who are impatient; they always push to get things done."
The PI dates to World War II, during which Arnold Daniels performed psychological research for the military. That work led him to the field of psychological tests and measurements. In 1955, he developed his tool for business-related use and created Praendex, publisher of the PI, to sell it.
From the master
Kathleen Frank ``was one of the lucky ones. She learned from the master,'' said Dinah Daniels, Arnold Daniels' daughter and president and chairman of the board at PI Worldwide.
Frank offers an array of workshops that cover areas, such as leadership, management development, team building, hiring, matching people to positions and sales effectiveness.
``Some other tests were built for self-awareness or self-development and they back into the workplace,'' Dinah Daniels said. ``The PI was the only one built for companies, for the workplace.''
The PI has been used by thousands of companies worldwide. It has been translated into 63 languages and has been administered 30 million times, Daniels said.
How it works
The test is organized as a columnar checklist of 86 adjectives. They include ``persistent,'' ``audacious,'' ``congenial,'' ``obstinate'' and ``fussy.''
First, employees place checkmarks next to all the adjectives they feel describe the way they are expected to act by others. Then they turn the page and check the adjectives that they believe describe themselves. The test typically takes about 10 to 15 minutes, although there is no limit on time or on how many adjectives a person may check.
Once completed, the test is scored. The scoring has three elements: self, self-concept and synthesis, Frank said. ``Self is how I describe myself,'' she explained. ``Self-concept is how I need to change or respond to my environment. Synthesis is a combination of the two.''
The test measures four primary traits that have been studied extensively in psychology, Frank said. The factors are labeled A for dominance, B for extroversion, C for patience and D for formality. The adjectives are clustered in these four areas and are plotted graphically from low to high, according to the norm, which is derived from the number of adjectives checked and based on a statistical population norm. The graphical results depict an individual's PI pattern.
A low A equates to unassuming, unselfish, team-oriented behavior, while a high A indicates dominant, assertive, individualist behavior. A low B is reserved, introspective, with energy coming from within, while a high B is more extroverted, sociable, with energy coming from others. A low C points to a driving, intense, multitasker, while a high C points to a patient, relaxed, single-tasker. Finally, a low D is indicative of an informal, independent and unstructured person, while a high D a more formal, conforming, structured person.
Relationships exist between the traits as well. For instance, there is a relationship between traits A and B and A and D. If A is further to the right (higher) than the B, an individual is more interested in things, figuring things out. If B is higher than A, the individual is primarily interested in people. A higher A than D is indicative of a risk-taker, while a higher D than A indicates a more cautious person. The test also measures employees' morale at the time the test was taken and their energy level.
Frank said she is clear with her clients on what the tool does and does not do. ``It zeros in on behavioral drives. It does not measure intelligence, IQ, education or values. You are more than just an instrument.'' She also indicated that the PI shouldn't be used to get people to completely change their behavior. ``You can adapt your style based on the information you learn.''
How it's used
Frank said the PI is invaluable in times of organizational change and staff realignments. It is also a key tool to facilitate hiring, career development and team building.
``No. 1, it is used as a management tool,'' she said. ``How do I manage the people who work with me? In fact, its intended use by Arnold Daniels was that it be a management tool to help leaders of companies better understand their most important asset, their people, by giving them objective data to help them understand how to manage and motivate their people."
NWL Transformers, an electrical manufacturer in Bordentown, initially used the tool in 1998 when the company was making a transition from a departmentalized structure to a cellular environment, where the work is done in teams in one area.
Tom Thorn, human resources director there, took a three-day class to match the right people to the right teams. ``We put some teams together and they were successful,'' he said. ``They wouldn't have been as successful without the index.''
Now, NWL uses the PI as a pre-screening hiring tool. Thorn has an agency administer the test. It sends him the completed test and he scores it. He brings in only those people who have patterns that are right for his company.
Suburban does not use the PI in the hiring process but rather as a management tool once a person is hired. The test is given to every employee, from truck operators to retail store workers to staff managers, Keating said. Suburban uses it to help create better work relationships and to help resolve conflicts among employees, usually between a supervisor and a subordinate, Keating said. ``It enables people to become successful,'' he added.
``For example, my director of benefits is highly detailed,'' Keating said. ``When he brings me something, I know it's going to be right. He's gone through it with a fine-tooth comb. It helps us get our work done.''
In a company that has grown in large part through acquisitions, Telelogic, based in Mount Arlington , has used the PI to facilitate employee interactions and team-building.
``Due to an acquisition, we had managers who had never worked together, and some were having difficulty adjusting to the new situation,'' said Betty Jo Armstrong, director of human resources there. ``To assist them through this process, we asked Kathy to come in and review their PIs and meet with them. Kathy came in and went over their personalities using the PI tool and discussed with them how to better interact with each other."
Telelogic has also used the PI to increase sales force effectiveness. ``We've been restructuring the sales force,'' Armstrong said. ``We've been combing product lines due to the acquisitions so our VP of sales for the eastern region has been using the tool to help her manage her newly combined sales force.''
Of course, there are doubters. ``Initially, I was skeptical, but I'm skeptical about using tools,'' said Mark Alexander, president and chief executive of Suburban Propane. ``When Mike Keating said, `You have to look at this tool,' I almost threw him out of my office, but I took the test and he set up a meeting for me with Kathy Frank. She said, `Let me tell you what I know about Mark Alexander, and she spoke to me for about two hours.' I was amazed that someone who never met me could tell me so much about me.
``I fully supported it from that point on,'' added Alexander, who uses it as an aid to communicate more effectively with his executive team. ``Most people are skeptical when they see it,'' Frank said. ``But when they see the results, they're blown away.''
According to those interviewed, resistance to the tool is minimal and when it does exist, it can usually be dispelled once the tool and its applications are explained. ``Some existing employees felt it was an invasion of privacy, but when it was explained, they were less resistant,'' Armstrong said. ``But we would not force employees (existing) to take it.'' ``I think the first reaction is people don't like hearing about themselves, it's like a label,'' Thorn said. ``But then when I sit down with them and discuss the results, they're OK with it.''
What's the return on the time and money invested in the PI? Reduced employee turnover is a very real benefit to the companies that employ the tool, some said. ``Voluntary turnover was high in August 1996,'' Keating said. ``It was 32 to 33 percent. I'm happy to report that it's been cut in half, it's 16 percent this year.''
``We're hiring the right people for the right jobs,'' said Armstrong, who uses the PI as a part of the hiring process. ``We tend to hire people who are right for the job and our turnover is lower.'' A true believer in the tool's effectiveness, Thorn said that before he used the PI, hiring took twice as long.
``I wish I'd had it 10 years ago,'' he said. ``I've saved myself a lot of time in hiring. I don't hire anyone anymore without having them first fill out this form.'' Companies began using more behavior and personality testing in the 1980s, and Daniels expects the trend to continue.
``I think people will continue to do all types of testing and training because the cost of keeping an employee is so high, you want to do a good job at it,'' she said. As for the tool, she believes, as her father did, that it is able to do much more. ``We are energetically trying to expand our clients' awareness of our applications,'' Daniels said. ``It's really like the little engine that could.''
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