Most clients of The Computer Psychologist use our system as a pre-employment assessment tool to help them select the best candidates for their jobs. These reports are also very useful once you have hired the candidate, both in training and managing your new co-worker.

Training:
From a training and development standpoint, the report can help you to identify areas that are potentially in need of strengthening. A few of these will be highlighted in the section labeled “Potential Limitations.” Take a look at these, perhaps even discuss them with your new employee, and consider ideas to help them develop these areas. The Developmental Resources section of the report will help you to identify resources to use in the individual’s training and development.

Two of the traits are particularly amenable to training. Passive versus Controlling is best seen as an assertiveness scale. Take a look at the test-taker’s score on this scale, compare it to the target range for the position, and then consider whether an assertiveness training course might be of benefit. These courses are widely available and tend to have substantial impact.

Similarly, take a look at the test-taker’s Unorganized versus Detail-oriented scale. Unless the score is already pretty high, most of us could benefit from being more attentive to detail. The great news is that there are many courses and training programs designed to offer help in this area. They are usually billed as time management programs, personal effectiveness programs, and so forth.

Management:
One of the key aspects of job satisfaction is one’s relationship with the person to whom one directly reports. The more sensitive you are to your employee’s personal characteristics and style of relating, the better the chance that you and they will form a positive, comfortable relationship. In this regard, pay attention to their scores on the Accepting versus Distrustful scale and, at the same time, their score on the Self-disclosing versus Unrevealing scale. You may find that in some cases you will have to work harder, be more sensitive, or go slower in developing a solid relationship. The bottom line here is that the more tuned-in and sensitive you are to the people that report to you, the better your relationship with them will be, leading to increased job satisfaction on their part and, ultimately, better performance for the company.

Upcoming Events

The Computer Psychologist will be attending the Human Resources Forum on May 9-12 in New York, NY aboard the Queen Elizabeth II. We hope to see you there!