Management Psychology Group has extensive experience and a successful track record working with clients across a broad range of industries. Below are a few examples.
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Increase of $10 million/year by hiring the right people: global telecom company.
Presenting Issue/Business Need
The company needed to staff a new global accounts division with directors who could successfully manage the complexities of large global accounts. Time was of the essence.
Solution
Management Psychology Group worked with HR and the sales leaders to determine the foundation competencies necessary for a candidate to perform effectively on the critical success dimensions defined by a functional job analysis. We conducted psychological assessments to determine conceptual ability, high level social skills and drive/intensity, which enabled us to generate an overall rating of suitability for the new position. This was a crash program to get the best internal and external people into position to begin to increase revenue. Over 350 people were assessed over a period of 90 days.
The first year’s revenue figures revealed that there was a clear relationship between the psychologist’s overall rating and performance on the job. The average performance of people who had been rated “Marginal” from the pre-hire assessment was a little under $30 million, while the average performance of those in the “Acceptable” category was about $40 million.
As the chart below illustrates, if the client had chosen just one more person who performed at the average level of “Acceptable” candidates rather than one who performed at the average level of the “Marginal” candidates, the net revenue increase for the year would have been $10 million. If the client had hired just six people in the “Acceptable” category rather than the six people in the “Not Recommended” category, the total revenue increase would have been over $70 million. THAT’S ROI.
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Determination of best fit in-house candidates for a new, strategically important position: telecom customer service and call centers across the U.S.
Presenting Issue/Business Need
The organization kicked off a strategic selling initiative in their customer care call centers in an effort to increase revenue by using such methods as up-selling and cross-selling. This required a significant cultural shift to expand the scope from primarily a customer care orientation to both a care and sales focus. A major task was to redefine the position of the first-line manager to include more responsibility for generating sales revenue. By providing managers with the necessary skills to drive revenue and manage in an increasingly competitive sales culture, the organization wanted to upgrade its current talent pool without hiring from outside the company.
Solution
We conducted a strategic job analysis to outline how the current position differed from the desired role and analyzed performance measures to determine which managers were most successful. This enabled us to develop a profile of the most critical individual characteristics which would predict success in the new sales- and service-oriented job. Incumbents were assessed and compared to this success profile using a customized 360-degree feedback survey and a well-validated personality inventory. Managers received detailed feedback from this assessment process and were provided assistance in creating developmental action plans to address gaps identified from the assessment. The organization was able to provide targeted training to address specific developmental needs, particularly in the areas of sales skills and coaching and motivating employees. After the intervention, managers were much better equipped to deal with the challenges and uncertainties associated with the new sales-focused environment. The results of this engagement also provided the organization systematic data for redefining the job, a testing process to assist in the selection of future managers, performance management systems, and incentive programs to help meet competitive challenges.
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Increased retention rate for unit managers, saving the client $15 million in two years: privately-owned restaurant company, with more than 1,300 units in operation across the U.S.
Presenting Issue/Business Need
The company was experiencing a high rate of turnover in the Unit Manager position. Retention was at 55%. In addition to improving retention, the company wanted to maximize performance of its Unit Managers and enhance the consistency and objectivity of its selection system.
Solution
Management Psychology Group collaborated with the VP of HR to analyze the Unit Manager job, determine the characteristics of top performers, recommend/develop appropriate selection instruments, and validate the selection system. A customized and validated eTest personality and problem solving assessment was put into place that predicted effective job performance and had minimal adverse impact against protected employee groups. The customized assessment is administered to candidates online, with assessment results sent to the company’s HR department immediately after the candidate finishes the test. Retention of Unit Managers improved to 67% within a year after the selection system was implemented, then increased to 72% the following year.
Based on the average salary of $42,000 and the average cost of recruitment and training, the implementation of the system saved the client over $15 million at the end of the first two years.
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Positive impact on partners considering dissolution of practice: small medical partnership.
Presenting Issue/Business Need
The partners of a medical practice sought assistance to negotiate their interpersonal differences. On-going conflict had led several to consider breaking up the practice but they wanted to make one more attempt to resolve their differences through professional intervention.
Solution
Management Psychology Group met with the partners separately to gather data from each perspective. The partners individually completed an on-line assessment to give us some personality information we could share with them for developmental insights and to help us understand them as a group. We then designed a series of meetings and interventions with the partners as a group where we facilitated individual confrontation and helped analyze the impact of various solutions to their key problems. As a result of this process, the partners realized that they wanted to renew their commitment to working as an effective partnership. They requested continued follow-up on a semiannual basis to ensure open dialogue.
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Successful pre-screening prior to employment interview: major U.S. airline.
Presenting Issue/Business Need
The client needed to update their selection system to screen large numbers of candidates efficiently with a valid process to predict good performers. They also wanted to take advantage of online testing. The training of flight attendants is expensive, so they wanted to insure that a high percentage of those selected stay with the company and perform well.
Solution
Management Psychology Group partnered with the Employment and In-Flight departments to analyze the Flight Attendant job, recommend/develop appropriate selection instruments, and validate the selection system.
The job analysis revealed that there were several competencies that were critical to performing the job effectively. These competencies fell into three broad areas: Customer Service, Safety, and Physical Abilities. This part of the selection system focused on the customer service and safety competencies.
Several personality and problem solving assessments were included in a validation study of 102 FAs to determine which test combination best predicted good performance. A combination of the eTest personality assessment and vocabulary measure significantly predicted performance. This test battery identified eight personality characteristics, such as discipline, good organizing habits, and ability to conform to rules, as differentiating the strong performers from the poor performers.
The customized assessment was programmed to be administered to candidates over the Internet. Candidates see only the airline logo. MPG is transparent in the process. The test administration process provides a hire/no-hire recommendation immediately after the candidate finishes the test. Candidates who pass are automatically linked to a scheduler to make an appointment for an interview, the next step in the selection process.
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Increasing the effectiveness of pre-employment screening assessment: global packaging manufacturing and services company.
Presenting Issue/Business Need
The company had previously engaged us to help develop and validate an online assessment (eTest.net) to help select better candidates for their plant manager and sales positions. They now wanted to make sure their hiring managers knew how to conduct fair, valid and defensible interviews in the field, making maximum effective use of the eTest validated profile.
Solution
We helped the client determine what job-relevant and cultural dimensions would be most important for success during and after the transition for new hires. With the help of company subject matter experts and the HR staff, we were able to focus on a few well-defined areas for assessment in the pre-employment interview. From this analysis, we developed a half-day structured behavioral interview (SBI) workshop to help decision makers get the right information through behavioral questioning, rather than the more typical loosely structured interview practices employed previously. We focused on conducting fair, focused and behaviorally based interviews that helped get the necessary job relevant information while avoiding the potential regulatory problems associated with unstructured interviews. All of the global HR staff received the training and were able to tailor it to their unique country requirements. They then used the information to train the hiring managers in their multiple locations.