peopleanalytics – Dr. Manahel Thabet

17 Feb 2021

Psychometric Assessments Author: Manahel Thabet 0 comment

A Psychometric Test in Dubai

During the early part of the 21^st century, the preference for using psychometric tests during many organizational functions was on the increase, as substantiated by Alison Wolf and Andrew Jenkins in their article The Growth of Psychometric Testing for Selection: Why has test use increased, will growth continue and what does this mean for Education? (2002). As such, this aligned with the development of Dubai, and, as the city expanded, immense investment was rightly deemed important for making Dubai a modern, efficient city, with a robust infrastructure.

By early April 2016, Bek Frith was also writing in HR Magazine about the increase in confidence allied with utilizing psychometric assessments, though the total number of tests undertaken diminished a little from 2012 to 2016. At this time, the degree of confidence also varied according to nationality, the nationals who placed the most confidence in psychometric tests were those from the Czech Republic – 97% of Czechs said that the tests resulted in fairer, more reliable results. Germans, however, were more skeptical, with only 30% stating trust in the results.

Of course, the chance of finding a psychometric test in Dubai also follows the trend, and the use of a psychometric test in Dubai is on the increase. Many people have been taken on by organizations across all sectors of the marketplace in Dubai based on psychometric test results, and the notion of using a psychometric test in Dubai appears to fit in well with the zeitgeist – the ‘spirit of the times.”

This will be more and more prevalent as the economic recovery continues during the 2020s, a decade which has already proven difficult for a variety of reasons. When a psychometric test in Dubai can be more than just a box ticking exercise, as noted by Nada Osama in Business magazine, 17^th May 2018, it bodes well for improving talent identification and areas for personnel development.

The fundamental aspect of any list, of course, is that it is useful. This is especially true of a list associated with performing a psychometric test in Dubai – or, indeed, anywhere. As Nada Osama also notes, the implementation of psychometric tests involves well defined goals. In short, what does an organization in Dubai require from psychometric testing? Do you want to identify new leadership potential? Do you plan to improve the overall level of competence within the company, in-line with the fast pace of change that is going on in Dubai?

All the above involves the evaluation and implementation of each psychometric test in Dubai by professionals who are competent at interpreting each of the many tests that are available. As such, it is important to have qualified personnel who have taken the requisite courses in, for example, The Thomas Solutions, the Hogan assessments, the Saville WAVE questionnaires, the NEO Pi-3 and the EQ-i-2.0 assessments, to name just a few.

To explain a little the names and numbers that have just been quoted, the Thomas Solutions (as that organization expresses its psychometric tests) cover a wide range of areas, for example, the General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) gives results about cognitive abilities, the Personal Profile Assessment (PPA), analyses personality, the TEIQue, is oriented towards Emotional Intelligence – its full name being the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. There is also the High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI), a relatively recent assessment development which identifies potential within the individual, especially high potential for leadership. Such a psychometric test in Dubai is useful because Dubai has ambitions to expand its horizons, horizons recently and, literally, expanded via the UAE’s Hope Probe, which is now circumnavigating the planet Mars.

The Hogan assessments give insights into the ‘bright side’ of personality, when the participant is calm and relaxed. Hogan assessments also give a view about the ‘dark side’, which is more about identifying talents and strengths, but often ones which can ‘derail’ the participant from achieving fully because the strengths need to be managed carefully and astutely. This kind of self-knowledge is extremely useful for people to know about and reflect upon. The Hogan assessments also analyse values that individuals and groups have, which can make for useful reflection, then open opportunities for development.

The Saville WAVE questionnaires are highly detailed assessments which analyse personality and give data on the process of the assessment too. It is also popular as a 360-degree assessment, meaning that a group of colleagues can give feedback about the assessment taker and a broader view can be obtained via that process.

Another psychometric test in Dubai that is proving popular is called the NEO Pi-3, a test based closely on the Big Five Personality Traits, which are the most prominent traits identified in the world of psychology for describing personality. Backed by decades of research and refined theories of personality, the NEO Pi-3 is the latest in a line of assessments of personality which are worth investigating fully.

Another assessment that has a substantial basis in research is the EQ-i-2.0, which is the latest version of an assessment of Emotional Intelligence. How people react emotionally in various work scenarios and how well emotional responses are managed, both by the individual and those around them, can make for significant improvements at work, especially when considering teamwork and team building.

Furthermore, there are world-class organizations that evaluate, and only propose, the use of psychometric tests that have met rigorous standards for reliability and validity. As a recap, reliability means that the psychometric test consistently records results about what it is set to evaluate, within narrow parameters of accuracy. Validity, however, means that the psychometric test renders precise results about what it is intended to test, and that these results are backed scientifically. Examples of the organizations that provide the benchmarks for standards in testing are the British Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association. Hence, it is vital that reviewing any psychometric test in Dubai involves acknowledging the approval and standards imposed by professional societies. Professional assistance and advice will also help while making a list of prerequisites for the testing regime that finds optimal solutions and results.

These professional psychological organizations also have rigorous standards for the attainment of qualifications for assessing people, standards for psychometric tests in Dubai also reflecting the city’s desire for high quality attainment, with the appropriate certification within its organizations and social entities. Personnel who have the British Psychological Society Assessor qualification at Levels A and B have displayed and been tested to a high standard to achieve that qualification. It is important for prospective clients who want expert advice and guidance during the administration of assessments to recognize what that qualification brings with it.

Another aspect to running a psychometric test in Dubai is the reassurance of appropriate benchmarking of the results. This means that the results and associated data are comparing like-with-like, so the populace of Dubai is compared amongst itself. Basically, to find the best within Dubai, it is significant if you are appropriately comparing people within Dubai, not utilizing data that comes from a distant city where circumstances and required capacities, for example, are vastly different. Such benchmarking comes from many years of compiling data and analyzing it expertly to see trends and areas that are developing or require further development. The data can also be interpreted well so that future trends can be predicted wisely.

Importantly, this last point aligns the taking of a psychometric test in Dubai with the forward-thinking, adaptive, and innovative mindset that Dubai is forever developing. In a speech about innovation back in 2015, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Leader of Dubai, said that organizations need to ‘innovate or stagnate’. The rate of technological change, as indicated, for example, by Moore’s Law – which prognosticates that the density of semiconductor integrated circuits which can be economically constructed doubles every two years – is also making a truly predictive psychometric test in Dubai have immense value to any organization. With a hint of irony too, it is predicted that Moore’s Law will cease by 2022, any exponential growth inevitably diminishing.

As a summary, then, conducting a psychometric test in Dubai is an important aspect to organizational life that is destined to feature more and more as the century and the city move forward, the working life of most people changing rapidly, yet, with vigilance, and the appropriation of skills and abilities, plus the development of human potential, each psychometric test in Dubai can contribute to a brighter future.

15 Feb 2021

Psychometric Assessments Author: Manahel Thabet 0 comment

SMART and Psychometric Assessments

SMART is an acronym that is often used to gauge, and guide, aspects to business, especially project management. SMART is, in effect, a series of goals placed within a neat arrangement of letters for simplicity of remembering. So, SMART is a mnemonic.

The word ‘Mnemonic’ may be a new word for you. Like in many words of Greek origin, the first letter (‘m’) is silent. Psychometric is another word of Greek origin, so the ‘p’ is also written, but without the familiar plosive (‘p’) sound. So, having got the more awkward pronunciation and writing issues out of the way, let us concentrate on SMART and psychometric assessments.

SMART is short for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based.

Why SMART and Psychometric Assessments?

As noted above, the ‘S’ in SMART is about being specific. Psychometrics and SMART is therefore about being ever more precise about specific aspects measured about human abilities, traits, capabilities and potential. Modern psychometric assessments cover personality, emotional intelligence, cognitive abilities (including IQ) and the potential that people display or have within them. Potential can be revealed in the areas of leadership, team working and team building. More about that later.

SMART being allied to psychometric assessments also tunes-in well because of the subdivision of results, what are often called psychometric factors, or scales. These give specific details about the person who has taken the assessment. Often the factors, or scales, have other, even more specific subcategories. An example of this is in the Hogan Leadership Forecast Report, part of the Hogan Personality Inventory, which includes results on the Learning Approach of the participant. Learning Approach is one of seven scales. In total, these seven scales are: adjustment, ambition, sociability, interpersonal sensitivity, prudence, inquisitive[ness], and Learning Approach. Learning approach becomes more specific via results for Education, Math[s] Ability, Good Memory and Reading – the subscales.

The ‘M’ in SMART is for measurable. SMART, in psychometrics, is about measurement at a fundamental level, the measurement of the psyche being part of the origin of the word ‘psychometrics’. Producing more objective data about people, especially for recruitment purposes, is a major step forward, rather than just relying on older, more traditional (and less precise) methods, such as interviewing and reviewing CVs.

Interviewing gains a result within a few seconds, according to research, the remainder of the interview consisting of the interviewer seeking conformation in their mind about the initial impression, hence, about their decision. It is prone to a considerable set of biases as a result, ones which are difficult to verify. The interviewee is, likewise, presenting an image and the person who is present at the interview cannot be evaluated easily for how they will perform whist doing the set job.

Looking at CVs is a time-consuming task, especially if the job is attractive and sought after by many people. CVs are like window shopping, the true substance of the person not coming through until much later, when, indeed, it may be too late to make well-informed, more rational decisions.

This leads to Attainable, which is the ‘A’ in SMART, and psychometric assessments assist in people reaching their recognized, attainable targets, and for expanding the horizon of what is attainable for them. Many people are surprised by what emerges from their psychometric analyses, so aligning SMART and psychometric assessment can be an exciting thing to do. It raises the bar to what is considered ‘attainable’, and, like a sport, can be both enjoyable and add a competitive edge (which can also be measured) so they make people adapt to improve their opportunities in life.

Humans love adapting to increase what is attainable, even if what evolves seems strange, even eccentric. To continue the sports analogy, one thinks of the Fosbury Flop, a seemingly bizarre way of trying to jump over a high bar. Dick Fosbury was regarded as an eccentric when he entered the Olympics in 1968, yet he emerged victorious, clutching a well-earned gold medal, and an almost mythical status as the sport took on his new technique. It is now the dominant method of high jumping and it shows, in physical terms, what some thought and invention can achieve.

The Knowledge Society alongside SMART and Psychometric Assessments

Society is changing rapidly and what you know is becoming ever more important, alongside what you can do. Knowledge is taking over as a resource, and the abilities that accompany knowledge can also grow throughout someone’s life. Though this has always been so, the kudos (and, indeed, the necessity of knowing, plus adapting) is getting more and more prevalent in society, especially in the work environment. Simpler tasks are being taken on by increasingly complex machines and robots, with AI and the Internet of Things, etc., gradually taking over in many spheres of work, and, moreover, in everyday domestic life.

SMART and psychometric assessments are therefore relevant to the world today and will become more and more so in the future. Hence, the ‘R’ in SMART is what is being discussed here because psychometric analyses are relevant to the world and we must apply the SMART approach. Relevant also applies to the people who are adapting to understand and hire the relevant people in the new, vastly different working world compared with just a few years ago.

SMART Psychometric Assessments, Communication and Understanding Across Generations

Another aspect to being relevant is understanding what ‘relevant’ means for different generations of people. Maintaining family unity and harmony has always been an issue, some families attaining it, some not. With the rapidly changing world as it is, the prospects for the future without the relevant understanding of generational differences and the requisite adaptations, could lead to bleak outcomes. The SMART psychometric assessment approach could hold some of the keys to keeping society sufficiently aligned and doing the relevant things for progress to be made.

Time-Specific Aspects to being SMART with Psychometric Assessments

The final ‘T’ of SMART is about being Time-specific. The psychometric assessment of cognitive abilities is usually time-specific, meaning that assessments have a specific time allotted to them, or the results are, in some ways, related to how much time is taken to complete them. In this sense, psychometric assessments parallel many aspects to the working world, where tasks are given out and a time frame attached to get the tasks completed.

SMART and Psychometric Assessments to Assist in Team Building

When many psychometric test results are brought together, covering the broad categories mentioned at the beginning of this article, that is, individual results for personality, emotional intelligence, cognitive abilities, and potential, they can formulate what is often termed a 360-degree assessment. The range of abilities will show variances in levels for most people across all the assessments, so there are further opportunities for applying the SMART approach. SMART and psychometric assessments also go hand in hand to produce a range of results for a team. Ideally, the team will be organized with results which make for an optimal approach to project management (for example). Each member of the team will, ideally, come as part of a complement – a complete set of abilities across the range of results produced by the assessments.

Additionally, SMART and the psychometric assessment approach identifies specifics, via measurement, to attain the goals of the team, allied with the relevant areas for improvement. The associated development programs can be time-specific to gauge the progress made, the ideal time-period for reassessment being around nine months. So, not only the team’s performance in job-related tasks can be monitored, but the abilities and overall development of the team’s individual and collective abilities can also be tracked.

As such, SMART and psychometric assessments assist in setting and adapting key performance indicators for individuals and for teams. This should be viewed positively and produce improved results over time. In the hugely competitive marketplace, and with government sectors facing both greater and more varied demands on them, any information gathered can make a vital difference which assists important elements of working life, such as adaptability and sustainability. The results are also in the form of data, so setting targets and reviewing results can have substance and meaning. With professional interpretation of what is produced, the way forward for an organization, including the way for the staff that make up its processes and behavior, can be decided upon. In that way, it is truly a smart approach.