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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Assessments

WHY USE ASSESSMENTS?
Have you ever been faced with a recruiting, employee relations, or employee/team development situation with the following challenges:

  1. How do I identify top performers before I hire them?
  2. When doing succession planning, who are the best candidates for promotion?
  3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of any given work team and how can I maximize their performance?
  4. How can I hire in a way that will reduce turnover?

Assessments can aid in all of the above. Primary reasons for using assessments are:

  1. Assessments are objective.
  2. Assessments help measure knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes and/or personality traits that may be hard to assess through an interview.

Think of assessments as the third leg of a three-legged stool. All three legs combined - behavioral interviewing, assessments, and reference checking - make for stronger selection decisions.

WHAT TYPE OF ASSESSMENT IS APPLICABLE?

Selection Tools

  1. The ProfileXT
    Assesses the individual's Thinking and Reasoning, Occupational Interests, and Behavioral Traits relative to a particular position . . . the Total Person.
  2. Behavior ForcasterTM
    It is used to help predict behavior on the job. It evaluates the following key job behaviors:
    3 Interpersonal Skills - Friendliness, Teamwork, Assertiveness;
    5 Personality Traits - Optimism, Poise, Objectivity, Rule-following preferences, Focus on feelings vs. facts;
    5 Motivations - Money, Power, Creativity, Knowledge, Customer Service.
  3. Profiles Sales Indicator
    Measures five key qualities (Competitiveness, Persistence, Self-Reliance, Energy, Sales Drive) of successful salespeople and predicts performance in seven critical sales behaviors.
  4. Profiles Customer Service Perspective
    This assessment is customized to mesh with the company's specific policies and is helpful in identifying individuals who will be successful in fulfilling the service needs of customers. The CSP measures 8 Behavioral Characteristics (Trust, Tact, Empathy, Conscientiousness, Conformity, Focus, Courtesy, Flexibility), 2 Proficiencies (Vocabulary and Numerical), Job Match, and Alignment to the company's service perspective.
  5. Profiles Call Center Survey
    Measures suitability for call center work - both inbound and outbound. Similar to the CS survey but with sales practices measure added.
  6. Step One Survey
    This is an employment-screening tool to assess the job candidate's attitudes towards integrity, substance abuse, reliability, and work ethic.
  7. Pass-III® Data® Survey
    It is used in pre-employment situations to help predict a candidate's character. It evaluates 3 important attitudes: Drugs/Drinking, Alienation/Work Ethic, Trustworthiness.
  8. The Attentional and Interpersonal Style Inventory (TAIS)
    This self-assessment provides insights into an individual's concentration skills and interpersonal skills; designed to increase the ability to understand, predict, and manage the behavior of highly effective individuals.

Employee Development
(for performance coaching and as a training needs analysis)

  1. Profiles Performance Indicator
    Measures five key personality factors (Productivity, Quality of Work, Initiative, Teamwork, and Problem Solving) and their impact on seven critically important aspects of success in business. This report helps you understand how an individual is effectively understood, motivated, and managed.
  2. The ProfileXT
    Assesses the individual's Thinking and Reasoning, Occupational Interests, and Behavioral Traits relative to a particular position . . . the Total Person.
  3. Behavior ForcasterTM
    It is used to help predict behavior on the job. It evaluates the following key job behaviors:
    3 Interpersonal Skills - Friendliness, Teamwork, Assertiveness;
    5 Personality Traits - Optimism, Poise, Objectivity, Rule-following preferences, Focus on feelings vs. facts;
    5 Motivations - Money, Power, Creativity, Knowledge, Customer Service.
  4. Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI)
    This personality assessment provides the individual with personal insights into his/her own style and behaviors. It offers information to help the individual gain an understanding of his/her preferences with respect to:
    1. How the individual is energized (extrovert/introvert)
    2. What the individual attends to (facts/intuition)
    3. How the individual makes decisions (think/feel)
    4. The "lifestyle" the individual adopts (judgment/perception)
  5. The Attentional and Interpersonal Style Inventory (TAIS)
    See above. The TAIS can also be used for executive coaching as well.
  6. CheckPoint 360
    This is a 360° or multi-rater assessment to help managers become more effective. Managers receive feedback from the full circle of people with whom they interact. Results explain how to improve training, management techniques, and communication for greater success. It describes the manager's skills in eight major skill groups and in 18 Universal Management Competencies. It also includes a Personal Development Section that coaches the manager on ways to improve job performance.
  7. Management & Leadership Profile (MLP)
    The Management & Leadership Profile (MLP) is a 360° or multi-rater assessment for use with existing supervisors, managers, and leaders. Feedback from the individual's manager, direct reports and peers is compared to the individual's self-assessment on 14 dimensions. Raters assess the individual's IS or current behaviors and what the behavior SHOULD BE (or expected behavior) allowing for an analysis of gaps as well as differences between raters.
  8. Management Candidate Profile (MCP)
    The Management Candidate Profile (MCP) is a 360° or multi-rater assessment for use in assessing individuals not yet in supervision or management. Feedback from the individual's manager, coworkers, and others (such as customers) is compared to the individual's self-assessment on a variety of dimensions. Also the individual is given feedback on his/her decisions relative to two business situations.
  9. Profiles Career Coach
    Provides an analysis of the individual's thinking style, occupational interests, and job-related behavior traits and provides a Job Match Percentage that shows how the individual's traits match the requirements of various occupations. One possible application for this assessment is in outplacement situations.

Team Development/Team Building
(for performance coaching and as a training needs analysis)

  1. Profiles Team Analysis
    This assessment reports the attributes of each team member and shows the team's strengths and alerts the team leader of potential problem areas. This assessment assesses the following team factors: Control, Social, Patience, Precision, Ambition, Positive Expectancy, Composure, Analytical, Results Orientation, Emotions, Team Player, and Quality Orientation.
  2. CheckPoint 360
    See above.
  3. The Team Effectiveness Profile (TEP)
    The Team Effectiveness Profile (TEP) is based on the Management & Leadership Profile, yielding a team evaluation on various dimensions. The TEP is useful for identifying team development needs.
  4. Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI)
    See above. The results of the MBTI can be used to heighten understanding and appreciation for individual differences and to facilitate discussion in team building workshops.

HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK?
Member companies are invited to call Pat Butler 262.696.3329 directly or e-mail their request to assessments@mranet.org. Pat will serve in a consultative role helping to identify your needs, objectives and how an assessment tool may help. Once a decision has been made, Pat will manage the details.

WHAT IS THE COST OF AN ASSESSMENT?
The Profiles products are set up on a de-escalating fee arrangement. High volume use decreases the price per unit. An additional mark-up will be applied to non-member companies. Large volume users may choose to host their own site allowing them immediate access to the assessment products. The fee associated with this option will reflect the Web site setup and maintenance of the site and the assessments. Inquiries requesting specific price information should be directed to Pat Butler.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO OBTAIN RESULTS?
Assessment completed using MRA's Assessment Central will be available almost immediately. If the assessment is taken in the "paper and pencil" version, the paperwork has to arrive and be manually entered. At that point the results are immediately available. (Note: The non-Profiles assessments offered through MRA take anywhere from 1 day to 1 week or more to get results.)

WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION CAN I EXPECT FROM AN ASSESSMENT?
All assessments offered through MRA yield written reports. The Profiles product assessments have the added benefit of providing additional reports at no extra charge. For example, The Profile offers the following reports: Individual Report, Placement Report, Multi-Job Match Report, Coaching Report, Job Profile Summary Report, Summary Reports, and Graph Report. The Profile Performance Indicator offers an Individual Report and a Manager Report.

ARE THESE ASSESSMENTS VALIDATED?
Below are the validation dates for the Profiles assessments:

  1. The Profile (1999, 2000, 2001)
    In addition, to develop a customized benchmark the member company may complete a Job Profile Survey and/or do a concurrent validity study (test best performers).
  2. Profiles Sales Indicator (2000, 2001)
  3. Profiles Customer Service Survey (Annually, 1987 through 1996)
  4. Profiles Call Center Survey (Annually, 1991- through 1998)
  5. Profiles Team Analysis (1998, 2001)
  6. Step One Survey (1996)
  7. Profiles Performance Indicator (1998, 2001)
  8. Profiles CheckPoint 360 (1992 through 1996)
  9. Profiles Career Coach (1999, 2000, 2001)
  10. Forecaster tests validated using APA (American Psychological Association) standards.

The other products used by MRA are also validated.

WHOM SHOULD I CONTACT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS?

Pat Windle regarding administrative questions - Phone: 262-696-3542 - E-Mail: Patricia@mranet.org
MRA-The Management Association, Inc. MRA-The Management Association, Inc.

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