SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT ON PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS FOR RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

AT LARSEN AND TOUBRO HEAVY ENGINEERING DIVISION

IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF AWARD OF MASTER BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION- HUMAN RESOURCE SUBMITTED BY: ADITI GAUTAM A0102309173 MBA-HR AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL AMITY UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION
Today one of the most important decisions faced by any organization is recruiting the right people. Some organizations appear to be highly effective while others struggle. Recruitment and selection plays a vital role in planning of human resource of an organization. Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting a group of potential candidates from within and outside the organization to evaluate for employment. Once these candidates are identified, the process of selecting appropriate employees for employment can begin. This means collecting, measuring, and evaluating information about candidates qualifications for specified positions. Organizations use these practices to increase the likelihood of hiring individuals who have the right skills and abilities to be successful in the target job. This research is divided into two parts. Part one of this research includes deals with the comparative analysis of the recruitment models L&T and Godrej & Boyce. Conducting a gap analysis of the recruitment model of L&T. Part two of this research deals with the study of psychometric tests which are used in the recruitment and selection process and proposing a recruitment model for L&T. PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS Psychometric tests have been used since the early part of the 20th century and were originally developed for use in educational psychology. These days, outside education, we are most likely to encounter psychometric testing as part of the recruitment or selection process. Tests of this sort are devised by occupational psychologists and their aim is to provide employers with a reliable method of selecting the most suitable job applicants or candidates for promotion. These are powerful tools used by organizations for the selection, development and management of people. They provide help to management in areas such as motivation and team building. When used in recruitment they ensure that candidates are treated fairly and measured against a common yardstick. Tests can be used to challenge the stereo typed judgements made by interviews and often enable a more objective analysis to take place than possible by interview alone.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this project is to have in depth knowledge and analysis about the chosen topic of interest. In a larger perspective the project intended at studying the recruitment and selection process of L&T (HED), finding out the reasons of attrition and problems in the existing model of the organization. Conducting a comparative analysis of recruitment process of L&T and Godrej. The second part of the research deals with the detail study of the psychometric tests which are used in the recruitment and selection processes. In the end proposing a modified model for L&T. Following are the objectives of the study: PART- ONE To understand the recruitment and selection process at L&T (HED). To critique the recruitment and selection process of L&T (HED). To understand the recruitment process of Godrej and Boyce. To conduct a gap analysis of recruitment process of L&T and Godrej & Boyce.

PART- TWO To study the psychometric tests in detail To propose a modified model of recruitment for L&T (HED).

LARSEN & TOUBRO

Larsen and Toubro is one of the largest engineering and construction organization in India. It was founded in 1938 by two Danish engineers Henning Holck Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro in Mumbai. It is one of the largest and most respected companies in Indias private sector. The companys businesses are supported by a wide marketing and distribution network and have established a reputation for strong customer support.

The company has six operating divisions (ODs): Engineering and Construction Projects (E&C) Heavy Engineering Division (HED) Electrical & Electronics (EBG) Machinery & Industrial Products (MIPD) IT and Technology Services.

OVERVIEW OF L&T (HED)

L&T's Heavy Engineering Division has established a reputation in global markets for quality products. The Division manufactures and supplies custom designed and engineered critical equipment and systems to the needs of core-sector industries and the defense sector. It is the preferred supplier of equipment for a select range of products, globally. The various sectors in which HED deals with: Hydrocarbon sector: this sector includes the manufacturing of precision custom engineered critical static hi tech equipment and systems for oil and gas refinery, cracker petrochemical and fertilizer industries. Defense sector: this sector includes the manufacturing of integrated naval combat systems, land based systems, missile systems etc. Aerospace sector: this sector includes the manufacturing of rocket motor casings, convergent and divergent nozzles, titanium gas bottles, solar array deployment mechanisms.

 Nuclear Power sector: this sector includes the manufacturing of pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and fast breeder reactors (FBRs). Ship Building sector: This sector includes the manufacturing of specialized ocean going vessels, high tech vessels and prefabrication facilities. The manufacturing units are in Powai, Vizag, Bangalore, Hazira, Ranoli, Coimbatore, Talegoan, Sohar (Oman).

HED HR & PERSONNEL

HED-HR carries out these functions like Organizational management, Personnel administration, Manpower management accurately; the broad scope of HR is divided into four main categories and further sub-categories, namely; Employee Benefits: Leave Rules, Medical benefits, Long term awards Performance Management System (PMS): FAIR, MRF Talent Acquisition: Recruitment, Amantran Scheme Training & Development: Orientation, Staff Training, Leadership Schemes

RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN HED:

The objective HED is to ensure channeled selection of resources to enable achievement of the companys business goals. For talent acquisition, HR team is very important, it ensures that the selection procedure of the human assets be such that they are capable of selecting the best talent, in accordance with the objectives of creating a pool of skilled and capable employees.

AMANTRAN SCHEME
Amantran scheme is the employee referral scheme which is used in HED. The employees who currently working with L&T qualifies under this scheme can refer a friend of colleague for a suitable position. If the referred employee gets selected the referral will get incentives.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

Recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring best qualified candidates within or outside of an organization for a job vacancy in timely and cost effective manner. The recruitment function is very important for the human resource department of any organization. It provides the organization with the people who have talents needed to achieve the strategic goals. Recruitment and selection is an important strategy for shaping the culture of the organization. Hiring of human assets is not an easy task, in order to select the right people with appropriate skills and qualifications, it is necessary to implement the relevant recruitment strategies which will help in the selection of the right candidate.

STAGES IN RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS

STAGE 1 : ESTABLISHING THE BASIC FACTS (JOB ANALYSIS) In this stage the analysis of various positions is done. Job analysis includes collecting information about the duties, responsibilities, requirements, necessary skills and outcomes and work environment of a particular job. The outcome of a job analysis is job description. In job description , the first step is to prepare a persons specification which defines the background, education training personality and other characteristics of the person best suited to fill the vacancy. A portrait of an ideal candidate is drafted which helps in short listing of people for interview.

STAGE 2 : ATTRACTING A FIELD OF CANDIDATES (SOURCING) In this stage, sourcing of candidates is done. Companies attract candidates from the pool of talent. There are various ways by which a company can do sourcing: Recruitment advertising External services Employment agencies Candidate registers Advertising agencies Selection consultants

STAGE 3: ASSESSING THE CANDIDATE (SCREENING AND SELECTION) This stage is the most important in this whole process and for the candidates it is stressful. Different companies have their own respective selection procedures. Generally this stage

includes an aptitude test (entry level), interview round and result. At senior level most of the companies do not take aptitude test but they prefer to take personality test and interview only. There are various selection techniques: Application form Group discussion method Interview Psychometric tests (Aptitude and personality tests both) Assessment Centre General intelligence tests

The aptitude and intelligence tests measure the abilities like problem solving, decision making, adaptability to change in circumstances. The personality tests assess the behavior of a person and helps in tapping down his interpersonal skills. STAGE 4: PLACEMENT AND FOLLOW UP In this stage candidates are hired and verification of their documents takes place.

EXISTING RECRUITMENT MODEL OF L&T

Requirement and Requisition

Sourcing of CVs

Recruitment round

Scrutiny by Dept.

Written Test

Technical Interview

Position Approval Round with GM/VP

HR Verification

NO

Exit

RECRUITMENT MODEL OF L&T The current recruitment model of L&T discuss about the traditional methods of recruitment and selection. The model starts with the human resource planning which includes planning of workforce, critical job analysis is done in order to create a vacancy. A portrait of an ideal candidate is drafted which helps in screening of the candidates. Sourcing of resumes is done through various methods like posting job vacancies in newspapers, internet portals, recruitment agencies etc. Various resumes reach the organization. After the sourcing of resumes, the screening process starts in which the appropriate resumes are selected. The selected candidates are then called for the written test which measures the aptitude of the candidates. There is a cut off score in the written test. Candidates who qualify the written test are selected for the technical interview round. This round measures the technical skills of the candidates. After the technical interview round there is a position approval round with General Manager or Vice President. It is the formal introduction of the candidate with the seniors. Negotiation of salary also takes place. When this round gets over the HR verification round takes place which consists of verification of documents. The HR verification is an important step for those candidates who have applied for the vacancies which are available in Oman. The candidates have to go under medical check up before joining the organization. This medical check up is done by the hospitals which are certified by the organization. without the medical check up the Oman government will not permit the candidate to work in their nation.

LITERATURE REVIEW ATTRITION AND RETENTION

ATTRITION The above recruitment model of L&T has some drawbacks due to which there is high attrition rate in the organization, employees are leaving the company by working two to three years. If the perception of the company by the labor pool is negative then there are serious recruitment problems which are faced by the organization. Solving recruitment issues will provide us with good pool of new employees. If these people want to join the organization then its the organization which has to make efforts on its part that this pool will contain good men and women who will make excellent additions to the company.

Based on various research papers I have tried to find out the causes of attrition and how the above recruitment model can be modified through psychometric tests so that it will help in reducing the attrition rate. Today attrition is one of the major problems faced by the HR managers of the manufacturing industry. The impact of attrition has received considerable attention by senior management, HR professionals and industrial psychologists. It has proven to be one of the most costly and seemingly intractable human resource challenges confronting organizations. There are many reasons due to which the employees leave the organization. When employee is leaving the organization is considered as attrition in one organization, it appears as talent acquisition by other organization and for an individual it is considered as career growth and better quality of life. (Ammu Anantharaja Causes of Attrition in organization: study of mid-size organization in India, Volume eight, No.11,2009 ) When employee leaves an organization, there is a drain from the area of knowledge management. Attrition is a pain area in any organization that intends to have a knowledge management system in place. In a famous article , attrition (through normal retirement or through resignations) has been discussed as one of the pain areas in the field of knowledge management,

because vacancy of a position might be easier to fill in through the proper people-sourcing approaches, but filling in the knowledge gap is not. This is particularly in context of a tough economy where the concept of all-size-fits-all is no longer working, and vacancy of a position by attrition is basically vacancy of a knowledge-base, and this vacancy in knowledge base cannot be filled in by any person. ( Survo Raychaudhuri Attrition Analytics: A Markov Analysis Attempt for Attrition rate prediction and stabilization, White Paper, Wipro Technologies). The Knowledge Harvest American Productivity and Quality Centre (APQC) has categorized three knowledge types that are under attack through attrition: 1. Cultural Knowledge: this includes the management practices, values and respect of hierarchy. 2. Historical Knowledge: this includes the organizations journey from the day it was founded till present. 3. Functional Knowledge: this includes the technical and operation processes.

The recruitment strategies of an organization should be modified on the basis of the type of knowledge it needs from the market. It is evident that attrition rate among junior employees (2-4 yrs) would be higher for the functional knowledge part associated with technical and operational processes. (Survo Raychaudhuri, Attrition Analytics: A Markov Analysis Attempt for Attrition rate prediction and stabilization, White Paper, Wipro Technologies) Organization should predict the attrition zones and these zones depend upon the type of knowledge which is important to the organization. HR professionals should design such plans so that they can stop the loss of employees from those critical positions. Organizations tend to spend huge sums of money on recruitment, for web-postings, job fairs, ads, employee referral bonuses, etc, and end up with 50% employees leaving before reaching any level of proficiency. Proper testing and screening, training, introduction of the apprenticeship scheme, aptitude

testing (10%), realistic job previews (8%), structured behavioral interviews (3%) can help in preventing attrition. RETENTION Retention of existing employees is one of the major challenges to any organization. The importance of retention rests in following reasons: High turnover often leaves customers and employees in the lurch; departing employees take a great deal of knowledge with them. This lack of continuity makes it hard to meet organizations goals and serve customers well. The replacement of employees costs money. The cost of replacing an employee is estimated as up to twice the individuals annual salary. Recruiting employees consumes a great deal of time and effort, much of it futile. ( Barb Wingfield, Janice Berry Retaining your employees: Fifty Minute series book) In many organizations, losing employees has a domino effect. When one employee leaves, others often wonder about opportunities elsewhere. Those other opportunities start to look better as employees pick up the slack for those who have moved on. Growth and development is an essential part of an employees career. If an employee can not foresee his path of career development in his current organization, there are chances that hell leave the organization as soon as he gets an opportunity. The work profile on which the employee is working should be in sync with his capabilities. The profile should not be too low or too high. This work profile can be matched with the employees capabilities by using psychometric tests such as Thomas Profile.

The goals of organization and individual goals should be synchronized in order to gain the employee satisfaction.

The role of training and development also plays a major role in the retention of employees. Employees should be trained and given chance to improve and enhance their skills. Organization should not limit the resources on which organizations success depends. Need for

trainings can be recognized from individual performance reviews, individual meetings, employee satisfaction surveys and by being in constant touch with the employees. Psychometric tests can help in this process by measuring the effectiveness of a training program. Sometimes, relationships with supervisors and bosses become the reason to leave the organization. The management is sometimes not able to provide an employee a supportive work culture and environment in terms of personal or professional relationships. There are times when an employee starts feeling bitterness towards the management or peers. This leads to less job satisfaction and attrition. A supportive work culture helps grow employee professionally and boosts employee satisfaction. Interpersonal relationship and its orientation towards behavior can be measured by using FIRO-B test. We can also measure the particular team role of a person by using Belbin Team Role. (Manoj Parmesh, The need for new recruitment strategies, HR Perspective, Weatherford India Business Unit)

PART ONE: PROBLEMS FACED BY (HED) LARSEN AND TOUBRO

DATA COMPILED FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS Employee retention starts with recruitment and early departures arise from the wrong recruitment process. Following are the main reasons why an employee leaves organization: 1. Job expectation The job assigned to the employee was not he was expecting. Unexpected job responsibilities lead to job dissatisfaction. The employer should clearly discuss with employees what are their expectations and ask what they expect from organization. 2. Job and person mismatch If a certain type of job is assigned to the employee which mismatches his personality then he will not be able to perform well and will find reasons to quit the job. 3. Difficulty with superiors People leave managers not companies. Many employees leave the organization because of their immediate superiors and bosses. If your superior is awful with you then it directly impacts on your emotional health and productivity. 4. Job Stress Job stress can lead to the imbalance between work and life which lead to employee leaving the organization. 5. Work Life Imbalance The employer should match the benefits and work life services to the needs of your people in the form of non traditional work schedules, extra holidays, simple comfortable office space. 6. Compensation Better compensation packages being offered by other companies. 7. New Job Offer

An attractive job offer which an employee thinks good for him with respect to job responsibility, growth, learning, better work environment and compensation. 8. Higher Studies An employee leaves an organization in order to pursue higher studies. 9. Better Opportunities Abroad An employee leaves his company because there are better career opportunities abroad. 10. Culture Fit If an employee is not able to adapt the work culture of the organization he might face problems. A drastic change in the culture may give a culture shock to the employee.

ANALYSIS OF GAPS
1. Job expectation At the time of recruitment process discuss with the potential candidates what they expect from the organizations. Show them a clear picture of job. A correct assessment should be done in order to know the expectations of candidates. There should be a match between candidates expectations and what organization will provide them. 2. Job and person mismatch There should be a perfect match between job and personality of potential candidate. Personality assessment of employee can be done through various personality tests like MBTI, 16PF and behavior event interview. 3. Difficulty with superiors Different superiors or managers can stress out employees like can be too controlling, too critical, too suspicious. They forget that the employees are not fixed assets they are human beings. Psychometric tests can help the employees in determining the limit up to which they can withstand stress, how they behave in stressful situations and working style of an individual. 4. Culture fit Every organization has its own culture of work and potential candidates have preferences to work in particular organizational cultures. Psychometric tests determines in what kind of a culture a candidate wants to work. At the time of recruitment if psychometric testing is done it can help us in determining the working style of an individual.

PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS AS TOOL FOR RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

Psychometrics is the branch of science which deals with scientific measurement of personality and intelligence. This branch of psychology is primarily concerned with the construction and validation of measurement instruments such as questionnaires, test and personality assessment. Psychometric analysis is done to measure what a person talks and thinks about. It is designed to measure the concept of intelligence of an individual. In an organization, the psychometric tools are used to select the right people for the right job and to increase the organization effectiveness. Various tools are employed for this purpose but an organization will chose only those tools that match their specification. Psychometric tools are used for assessing the behavioral aspects of an individual, it is also used for appraisals, stress management and various training needs. Psychometric tests play a very useful role in both the assessment and development of individuals.

psychometric tests

personality tests

aptitude and ability test

Personality tests
Personality is defined as the particular pattern of behavior and thinking that prevails across time and contexts, and differentiates one person from another. Personality tests describe the character pattern of behavior, thoughts and feelings of a person. Some examples of personality tests are MBTI, FIRO B, 16 PF etc.

Ability Tests
These tests measure general mental ability or intelligence of an individual. Ability tests can categorized into the following: Achievement test: Measures the previous learning and knowledge. Aptitude test: Measures potential for acquiring a specific skill. Intelligence test: Measures the potential to solve problems and adapt to changes.

Ability tests are used at the initial stage of the selection process. The candidates who score high in this test are then selected for further stages. Psychometric tests aim to measure attributes like intelligence, aptitude and personality, providing a potential employer with an insight into how well you work with other people, how well you handle stress, and whether you will be able to cope with the intellectual demands of the job. Most of the established psychometric tests used in recruitment and selection make no attempt to analyze your emotional or psychological stability.

As an indicator of your personality, preferences and abilities, psychometric tests can help prospective employers to find the best match of individual to occupation and working environment. As a recruitment and selection tool, these tests can be applied in a straightforward way at the early stages of selection to screen-out candidates who are likely to be unsuitable for the job or, using a more sophisticated approach, to provide guidance on career progression to existing employees. Because the results of psychometric tests are used to influence such important personnel decisions it is vital that the tests themselves are known to produce accurate results based on standardized methods and statistical principles. Psychometric testing is now used by over 80% of the Fortune 500 companies in the USA and by over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK. Information technology' companies, financial institutions, management consultancies, local authorities, the civil service, police forces, fire services and the armed forces all make extensive use of use psychometric testing.

RECRUITMENT PRACTICES AT GODREJ AND BOYCE

Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. the holding company of the Godrej Group, started its journey with the manufacture of high quality locks in 1897. Today, this company has 15 diverse business divisions offering consumer, office, and industrial products and services of the highest quality to every corner of India and across the globe.

Divisions of Godrej: Appliances, AV Solutions (Prima), Construction, Electricals & Electronics, Furniture (Interio), Lawkim Motors, Locks, Material Handling, Precision Engineering, Precision Systems, Process Equipment, Security Solutions, Storage Solutions, Tooling, Vending (Prima). Godrej Process Equipment is a leader in fabricating unit static equipment for process industries. It manufactures the entire range of process equipments for end users in core industry segments like refineries, petrochemicals, fertilizers. Godrej Process Equipment has gained over the years, through its robust systems to ensure that projects are executed on time. MISSION Godrej Mission is to operate in existing and new businesses which capitalize on the Godrej brand and corporate image of reliability and integrity. Godrej objective is to delight its customer both in India and abroad. VISION Godrej shall strive for excellence by nurturing, developing and empowering its employees and suppliers. RECRUITMENT Godrej hire engineers for their manufacturing, design and quality functions for their process equipment business. They look for engineering streams like mechanical, production, electrical and electronics. At entry level, a n interview is conducted which is followed by written test. This written comprises of two sections:

General Intelligence Test

It measures the potential to solve problems and adaptability to change in circumstances. Mechanical Comprehension Test (MCT)

Bennet Mechanical Comprehension Test (MCT) measures the complex set of abilities composed of three primary constructs. Mechanical Information Spatial Visualization Mechanical Reasoning

The comprehension test measures your natural interest for mechanics and their moving parts, knowledge, mechanical reasoning and spatial intelligence. It assesses the ability of an individual to comprehend simple mechanical and physical principles. There are around 135 questions in the test that cover the categories like levers, belt drive, inertia, optics, centrifugal force, acoustics, heat, hydraulics, electricity etc. The test can be administered through online test, written test and verbal interpretation of mechanical concepts. Applications of MCT: Some jobs require to qualify a mechanical test and different levels of knowledge is required for different jobs such as welding, mechanical, electrical, hydraulics etc. Sometimes new machines are introduced into the organization and managers need to train people. The testing sessions determine the ability to learn complex mechanical expertise. This test is administered on children at basic level to know their interest in mechanics.

The test is used to hire mechanical engineers At this level no personality test is applied, it is judged by interview only. The mechanical comprehension test is administered on mechanical engineers and general intelligence test is common for all.

For middle management positions general intelligence test and interview is taken, for these positions too no personality test is administered. For senior level positions, Godrej takes the help of assessment centre which is out sourced to Thomas International. In this assessment centre Thomas Profile (PPA) is conducted and various other activities are also present. There is a qualifying score in this test and the results of this test are not disclosed to the candidates. After this test, interview is conducted. In this interview the candidate is probed on the basis of the PPA report. Godrej looks for proper combination of knowledge, attitude and skill. The proper balance of these three competencies should be present in the candidate.

APPLY

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE TEST

ASSESSMENT CENTRE (THOMAS INTERNATIONAL)

INTERVIEW SESSION

RESULT

In manufacturing sector, there is no dearth of talent, recruitment and selection becomes essential. Potential candidates are not easily available in this sector. The first step to effective recruiting is to understand the type of employees which we need and the skills and knowledge required by employees to succeed in the business. The second step is to identify potential employees who have the necessary skills and knowledge. It is important at this point that we should think beyond the traditional employee groups from which we have hired always. In this increasingly competitive environment we need to extract people from outside the traditional pools. The objective of Godrej and Boyce is to ensure channeled selection of resources to enable achievement of the companys business goals. For talent acquisition, HR team is very important, it ensures that the selection procedure of the human assets be such that they are capable of selecting the best talent, in accordance with the objectives of creating a pool of skilled and capable employees. There is also an employee referral system in Godrej. In this system an employee working in Godrej can refer his friend or colleague for suitable position. The organization is committed to maintaining the best trained and most knowledgeable workforce in the manufacturing sector, so ongoing learning and continuous professional education becomes a part of life of employees. There is a competency management system which allows the employees to evaluate their current technical skills, identify the competencies which they need to develop and create a training program that keeps their career moving forward. This program helps in the growth of career of employees. employees. The match between person and his job is apt, because of this match employee performs upright. Following are some practices which are followed in Godrej: It also provides self assessment tools and career management training for all

Entrance interviews: Meetings are conducted with new hires during their first week on the job uncovering their specific strengths and weaknesses. Task delegation: The jobs of the employees can be enriched by providing them more meaningful role in the future. Performance and reward: Godrej reward their employees high enough to motivate higher performance. Cash rewards are also available for immediate recognition.

There are various engagement practices to avoid the work life imbalance; Creating and maintaining the culture of giving: Godrej maintains the employee loyalty and demonstrates initial willingness to trust their employees. Godrej takes care of employee stress also by giving them some special holiday packages with their families. It also encourages fun at work place which is a highly effective way of stress busters.

There are various tests and inventories available in the market for assessing the candidate but the selection of the right inventory or test is critical. The reliability and validity of the test are selected for the measurement. The HR specialist should be aware of the above factors which play a crucial role in the assessment of the candidate. Candidates who are best fit for the job are hired at Godrej. The recruitment and selection process of Godrej is very efficient. The screening of the candidates is done through various tests including a psychometric test. Clear job responsibilities and realistic preview of job are also provided at the time of selection process. The expectations of the candidate are discussed as well as the employers expectations. Work culture is also one of the important factors in retaining the employees. At Godrej, people adapt to the organizational culture in less time and their performance is not affected which is due efficient psychological testing processes employed in selection. The individuals capability to adapt to the change is assessed by the psychometric test which is practiced in Godrej.

When new employees join the organization, they are taken care off. There is a buddy system in Godrej, in which a new employee is assigned a buddy who is an old employee and this buddy guides the new employee and clear all his doubts. It is a part of orientation program. The rate of attrition in Godrej is low, because the recruitment and selection process is efficient. Godrej hires right people for the right job and in order to do that Godrej takes the help of psychometric profiling which facilitates the organization to search for the right talent.

MERITS OF USING PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS Psychometric tests are powerful tools used by organizations for the selection, development and management of people. Tests can be used in various fields like: To enhance the decision making process in assessment for selection and promotion, As an aid to management in areas such as motivation and team building To identify development needs, as a basis for employee counseling as well as in organizational areas such as management of change or succession planning. These tests aid in recruitment process, by ensuring that all candidates are assessed and measured against a common standard. Tests can be used to challenge stereotyped judgements made by interviewers and often enable a more objective analysis to take place than is possible by interviewing alone. Occupational tests have consistently been shown to be better predictors of job success than interviews. By using psychometric test Godrej has acquired substantial gains like increased output efficiency, effective performance, lower training costs and reduced turnover. Psychometrics helped this organization to ensure a common language for the assessment standards, matching people to jobs, identifying capabilities and predicting on the job performance. The interpretations of a psychometric test are very important. The effectiveness of the test lies on its interpretation of scores and results. Interpretation of results should be done accurately. Tests should always be interpreted by properly trained individuals in the context of clearly defined criteria. In the case of Godrej, the whole test and its interpretation is outsourced to Thomas International which administers the Thomas personal profile analysis and give the interpretations.

Psychometric tests are likely to lead to considerable cost-benefits in the long term. Whether it is for selection of new staff or development of existing staff, the expenses involved in psychometric assessment are minimal when compared with the costs of high-turnover, underperformance or misemployment of staff.

PART TWO: STUDY OF PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS IN DETAIL

Psychometric tests are used as a process map to plot the psychological traits of an individual in order to measure sensitivity, memory, intelligence aptitude and personality. These tests can help the individual to make the best possible career choice and can enable employees to check the suitability of a potential candidate for a specific vacancy. Following are the tests which are covered under this research: Personality Tests MBTI (Myers Brig Type Indicator) FIRO B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation Behavior) 16 PF (Personality Factors) Thomas PPA (Personal Profile Analysis) Belbin Team Role Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Behavior Event Interview (BEI)

Ability and Aptitude Tests Ravens Advance Progressive Matrix Bennet Mechanical Comprehension Test Technical Test Battery Abstract Reasoning Test (ART)

MYER BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI)

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-report questionnaire and is the world's leading personality assessment instrument. The authors of the MBTI, Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, were sharp observers of human personality differences. They studied and elaborated on the theories of Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung (a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and a leading exponent of Gestalt personality theory) and applied these theories to acquiring a better understanding of people and their preferences for communicating with others. The waste of human potential in World War II sparked the development of the MBTI by Myers, and gave rise to her desire to give a wide range of individual's access to the benefits found in understanding human differences as they relate to various psychological types. The MBTI provides information about people's preferences for communicating and dealing with information.

The MBTI personality instrument, which evolved from Jung's personality types, was developed among non-clinical populations to assess normal individual differences, unlike inventories of psychological adjustment.

In her studies of people and extensive reading of Jung's theories, Myers concluded there were four primary ways people differed from one another. She labeled these differences "preferences" - drawing a similarity to "hand preferences" to illustrate that although we all use both of our hands, most of us have a preference for one over the other and "it" takes the lead in many of the activities in which we use our hands. The MBTI personality instrument consists of four bipolar dimensions. Sensing Intuition (S-N) Thinking Feeling (T-F) Extraversion-Introversion (E-I) Judging-Perceiving (J-P)

Myers Briggs Type Indicator is based on a personality framework that helps individuals explore:

How they direct their energy: ( Extraversion and Introversion) How they gather information: (Sensing and Intuition) How they prefer to make decisions: (Thinking or Feeling) How they connect themselves with the external world: (Judging and perceiving) It provides information about individuals preferred style of working and interacting with others. There is no right or wrong answers and a key feature of the MBTI is its focus on likely strengths and positive qualities of different personality styles and thus the feedback people receive is always constructive. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) describes an individual's personality preferences. The MBTI questionnaire is the most widely used personality questionnaire worldwide. More than 3.5million questionnaires are completed worldwide every year and there are over 13,000 qualified users in Europe. It is based on over 50 years research and development and is available in 19 languages. Over 600 dissertations have been written on the MBTI and there are well over 1,000 articles and dozens of books. An average of 2 million people in the United States takes the MBTI each year and it has been translated into more than 30 languages. The MBTI is a registered trademark of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust and is published by CPP, Inc (formerly Consulting Psychologist Press) who also distributes the Inventory. The MBTI is available from CPP and its licensees in approximately 20 foreign languages. In addition, alternate versions of the inventory have been scientifically customized and validated for other languages and cultures for which a straight translation of English language terms would yield inaccurate results. The Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT) is a non-profit educational organization founded by Myers and psychologist Mary McCaulley to promote continued research into psychological type and application of psychological type to foster enhanced personal development, increased human understanding, and improved management of human conflict. Another non-profit organization, The Association for Psychological Type (APT) is an

international member education and certifying organization for professionals who use type in their occupations and professional practices. Membership is also open to lay persons who want to enrich their understanding and application of type.

BASIC MODEL OF MBTI

The Basic Model of MBTI proposes two kinds of Mental Processes and two kinds of Mental Orientations. Two kinds of mental processes are 1. 2. Sensing Intuition (S-N) Thinking Feeling (T-F)

Two kinds of mental orientations are 1. 2. Extraversion-Introversion (E-I) Judging-Perceiving (J-P)

SENSING - INTUITUION The first set of mental preferences relates to how people "Perceive" or take in information. It distinguishes a predisposition for gathering data directly through the senses as facts, details, and precedents (Sensing) versus indirectly as relationships, patterns, and possibilities (Intuition). A sensing personality prefers to focus on information gained from the five senses and on practical applications whereas intuition prefers to focus on patterns, connections and possible meanings. Hence those who prefer Sensing Perception favor clear, tangible data and information that fits in well with their direct here-and-now experience. In contrast, those who prefer Intuition Perception are drawn to information that is more abstract, conceptual, bigpicture, and represents imaginative possibilities for the future.

THINKING FEELING

The second set of mental preferences identifies how people form "Judgments" or make decisions. It distinguishes a preference for deciding via objective, impersonal logic (Thinking) versus subjective, person-centered values (Feeling). A thinking personality prefers to base decisions on logic and objective analysis of cause and effect on the other hand feeling prefers to base decisions on a valuing process, considering what is important to people. Those who prefer Thinking Judgment have a natural preference for making decisions in an objective, logical, and analytical manner with an emphasis on tasks and results to be accomplished. Those whose preference is for Feeling Judgment make their decisions in a somewhat global, visceral, harmony and value-oriented way, paying particular attention to the impact of decisions and actions on other people. Judging likes a planned, organized approach to life, and prefers to have things decided but perceiving likes a flexible, spontaneous approach and prefers to keep options open. One of the practical applications of the MBTI and understanding these preferences is in supporting better teamwork. Differences in these mental preferences lead to quite different value structures and communication styles, which can hamper mutual understanding and cooperation.
EXTROVERSION - INTROVERSION

It distinguishes a preference for focusing attention on, and drawing energy from, the outer world of people and things versus the inner world of ideas and impressions. Those who prefer Introversion draw their primary energy from the inner world of information, thoughts, ideas, and other reflections. When circumstances require an excessive amount of attention spent in the "outside" world, those preferring Introversion find the need to retreat to a more private setting as if to recharge their drained batteries. In contrast, those who prefer Extraversion are drawn to the outside world as their elemental source of energy. Rarely, if ever, do extraverted preference people feel their energy batteries are "drained" by excessive amounts of interaction with the outside world. They must engage the things, people, places and activities going on in the outside world for their life force. Hence an introvert prefers to draw energy from the outer world of

activity, people and things; an extrovert on the other hand prefers to draw energy from the inner world of reflections, feelings and ideas. While the E-I dimension was Jung's gift to general psychology, unfortunately it has been widely distorted into a well-unwell scale with characteristics of Introversion being cast in a negative light and conversely characteristics of Extraversion cast in a positive light. This cultural bias frequently leads natural introverted types to misidentify their primary preference as Extraversion.
JUDGING PERCEIVING

It distinguishes an outward preference for having things planned and organized (Judging) versus a flexible style based more on staying open to options than deciding (Perceiving). Those who prefer Judging rely upon either their Thinking or Feeling preference to manage their outer life. This typically leads to a style oriented towards closure, organization, planning, or in some fashion managing the things and or people found in the external environment. The drive is to order the outside world.
Those who prefer Perceiving rely upon either their Sensing or INtution preference to run their outer life. This typically results in an open, adaptable, flexible style of relating to the things and people found in the outside world. The drive is to experience the outside world rather than order it; in general lack of closure is easily tolerated.

CODE FOR SIXTEEN PERSONALITY TYPES

The permutations of these four preference dichotomies result in the 16 personality types that form the basis of Myers' model and the MBTI inventory. E or I S or N T or F J or P Which is your most favored Energy Source? Which is your most favored Perceiving Mental Process? Which is your most favored Judging Mental Process? Which kind of mental process leads your Outside World Orientation?

The sixteen personality types of MBTI result from the cross-products of these four dimensions and are shown in the following figure. Each of these is associated with a unique set of behavioral characteristics and values. These provide a useful starting point for individual feedback, selfexploration and group discussion. The Sixteen Types at a Glance
1. ISTJ

For ISTJs the dominant quality in their lives is an abiding sense of responsibility for doing what needs to be done in the here-and-now. Their realism, organizing abilities, and command of the facts lead to their completing tasks thoroughly and with great attention to detail. Logical pragmatists at heart, ISTJs make decisions based on their experience and with an eye to efficiency in all things. ISTJs are intensely committed to people and to the organizations of which they are a part; they take their work seriously and believe others should do so as well.
2. ISFJ

For ISFJs the dominant quality in their lives is an abiding respect and sense of personal responsibility for doing what needs to be done in the here-and-now. Actions that are of practical help to others are of particular importance to ISFJs. Their realism, organizing abilities, and command of the facts lead to their thorough attention in completing tasks. ISFJs bring an aura of quiet warmth, caring, and dependability to all that they do; they take their work seriously and believe others should do so as well.
3. INFJ

For INFJs the dominant quality in their lives is their attention to the inner world of possibilities, ideas, and symbols. Knowing by way of insight is paramount for INFJs, and they often manifest a deep concern for people and relationships as well. INFJs often have deep interests in creative expression as well as issues of spirituality and human development. While the energy and attention of INFJs are naturally drawn to the inner world of ideas and insights, what people often first encounter with INFJs is their drive for closure and for the application of their ideas to people's concerns.

4.

INTJ

For INTJs the dominant force in their lives is their attention to the inner world of possibilities, symbols, abstractions, images, and thoughts. Insight in conjunction with logical analysis is the essence of their approach to the world; they think systemically. Ideas are the substance of life for INTJs and they have a driving need to understand, to know, and to demonstrate competence in their areas of interest. INTJs inherently trust their insights, and with their task-orientation will work intensely to make their visions into realities.
5. ISTP

For ISTPs the driving force in their lives is to understand how things and phenomena in the real world work so they can make the best and most effective use of them. ISTPs are logical and realistic people, and they are natural troubleshooters. When not actively solving a problem, ISTPs are quiet and analytical observers of their environment, and they naturally look for the underlying sense to any facts they have gathered. ISTPs do often pursue variety and even excitement in their hands-on experiences. Although they do have a spontaneous, even playful side, what people often first encounter with them is their detached pragmatism.
6. ISFP

For ISFPs the dominant quality in their lives is a deep-felt caring for living things, combined with a quietly playful and sometimes adventurous approach to life and all its experiences. ISFPs typically show their caring in very practical ways, since they often prefer action to words. Their warmth and concern are generally not expressed openly, and what people often first encounter with ISFPs is their quiet adaptability, realism, and "free spirit" spontaneity.
7. INFP

For INFPs the dominant quality in their lives is a deep-felt caring and idealism about people. They experience this intense caring most often in their relationships with others, but they may also experience it around ideas, projects, or any involvement they see as important. INFPs are often skilled communicators, and they are naturally drawn to ideas that embody a concern for human potential. INFPs live in the inner world of values and ideals, but what

people often first encounter with the INFP in the outer world is their adaptability and concern for possibilities.
8. INTP

For INTPs the driving force in their lives is to understand whatever phenomenon is the focus of their attention. They want to make sense of the world -- as a concept -- and they often enjoy opportunities to be creative. INTPs are logical, analytical, and detached in their approach to the world; they naturally question and critique ideas and events as they strive for understanding. INTPs usually have little need to control the outer world, or to bring order to it, and they often appear very flexible and adaptable in their lifestyle.
9. ESTP

For ESTPs the dominant quality in their lives is their enthusiastic attention to the outer world of hands-on and real-life experiences. ESTPs are excited by continuous involvement in new activities and in the pursuit of new challenges. ESTPs tend to be logical and analytical in their approach to life, and they have an acute sense of how objects, events, and people in the world work. ESTPs are typically energetic and adaptable realists, who prefer to experience and accept life rather than to judge or organize it.

10. ESFP

For ESFPs the dominant quality in their lives is their enthusiastic attention to the outer world of hands-on and real-life experiences. ESFPs are excited by continuous involvement in new activities and new relationships. ESFPs also have a deep concern for people, and they show their caring in warm and pragmatic gestures of helping. ESFPs are typically energetic and adaptable realists, who prefer to experience and accept life rather than to judge or organize it.
11. ENFP

For ENFPs the dominant quality in their lives is their attention to the outer world of possibilities; they are excited by continuous involvement in anything new, whether it be new ideas, new people, or new activities. Though ENFPs thrive on what is possible and what is new, they also experience a deep concern for people as well. Thus, they are especially interested in possibilities for people. ENFPs are typically energetic, enthusiastic people who lead spontaneous and adaptable lives.
12. ENTP

For ENTPs the driving quality in their lives is their attention to the outer world of possibilities; they are excited by continuous involvement in anything new, whether it be new ideas, new people, or new activities. They look for patterns and meaning in the world, and they often have a deep need to analyze, to understand, and to know the nature of things. ENTPs are typically energetic, enthusiastic people who lead spontaneous and adaptable lives.
13. ESTJ

For ESTJs the driving force in their lives is their need to analyze and bring into logical order the outer world of events, people, and things. ESTJs like to organize anything that comes into their domain, and they will work energetically to complete tasks so they can quickly move from one to the next. Sensing orients their thinking to current facts and realities, and thus gives their thinking a pragmatic quality. ESTJs take their responsibilities seriously and believe others should do so as well.
14. ESFJ

For ESFJs the dominant quality in their lives is an active and intense caring about people and a strong desire to bring harmony into their relationships. ESFJs bring an aura of warmth to all that they do, and they naturally move into action to help others, to organize the world around them, and to get things done. Sensing orients their feeling to current facts and realities, and thus gives their feeling a hands-on pragmatic quality. ESFJs take their work seriously and believe others should as well.

15. ENFJ

For ENFJs the dominant quality in their lives is an active and intense caring about people and a strong desire to bring harmony into their relationships. ENFJs are openly expressive and empathic people who bring an aura of warmth to all that they do. Intuition orients their feeling to the new and to the possible, thus ENFJs often enjoy working to manifest a humanitarian vision, or helping others develop their potential. ENFJs naturally and conscientiously move into action to care for others, to organize the world around them, and to get things done.
16. ENTJ

For ENTJs the driving force in their lives is their need to analyze and bring into logical order the outer world of events, people, and things. ENTJs are natural leaders who build conceptual models that serve as plans for strategic action. Intuition orients their thinking to the future, and gives their thinking an abstract quality. ENTJs will actively pursue and direct others in the pursuit of goals they have set, and they prefer a world that is structured and organized.

APPLICATIONS OF MBTI

Individual development

Understanding of preferred working style and how to use it more effectively.

Management and leadership development

Help managers and leaders to appreciate the impact of their personal style on others. Identify their strengths and any areas which they may need to develop to become more effective. Can be used as part of an executive coaching program.
Team Building

Increase awareness of the team's working style. Through this, improve team communication, enhance problem solving, encourage appreciation of diversity and resolve conflict.

Organizational change

Understand why people react differently to change and how to support them though the process.

Improving communication

Help people to understand how to communicate effectively with different people and develop influencing and persuading skills

Education and career counseling

Identify learning styles and motivations, improve teaching and training methods and provide career guidance.
RELIABILITY

Inter rater reliability: 0.61-0.87 Test Retest reliability: 0.71-0.85

VALIDITY

Construct validity

BENEFITS OF MBTI
Increased self-awareness and better self-management Develop and appreciation and value for differences Improved communication and Increased interpersonal skills Can lead to motivated behavior Provides a guideline of how to be a more effective leader, manager, teacher, learner, and team member. Can provide an effective avenue for conflict resolution Increased problem resolution

Better understanding of the decision making process Facilitates team building Assists in diagnosing cultural and organizational issues. Easy to use, score and explain plus Short and quick to complete. Provides a powerful conceptual framework, allowing you to deepen your knowledge and apply it in many situations. Promotes a constructive approach to individual differences.

LIMITATIONS
It does not give information about intelligence, abilities or technical expertise. Should not be the main criteria for selection. Should not be used to type cast others rather emphasize on strengths.

FUNDAMENTAL INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS ORIENTATION BEHAVIOR (FIRO B)

FIRO B instrument was developed by William Schutz, in 1958. It was first used to assess how teams performed in the US Navy. The FIRO-B is an assessment tool used to help individuals and teams better understand their preferences in satisfying three basic social needs:

Inclusion: The degree to which one belongs to a group, team or community. Control: The extent to which one prefers to have structure, hierarchy and influence. Affection: One's preference for warmth, disclosure and intimacy.

For each of these factors, FIRO-B assess individuals as to:

How much they express the needs. How much they want to have the needs expressed to them from others.

It is a highly valid and reliable tool that assesses how an individual's personal needs affect that person's behavior towards other individuals. This highly valid and reliable self-report instrument offers insight into an individual's compatibility with other people, as well as providing insight into that person's own individual characteristics. The FIRO-B questionnaire provides an understanding of the fundamental differences among people and how these impact on relationships. It can dramatically increase an individual's understanding of areas such as how they come across to others, how and why conflict can develop and how to understand and manage their own needs when interacting with others. It measures how a person typically behaves towards others and how that person would like others to behave towards them.

The FIRO-B assessment data is particularly rich in enabling understanding individual and team behavior. By reviewing the assessment report, an individual can gain insight into what kind of teams they prefer to work in, what kind of environment they'd like to work in, and what roles they prefer in the workplace. The FIRO-B model can also provide an information regarding leadership styles and areas of potential conflict. If teams take the assessment together, they can compare the extent to which each person's preferences complement or conflict with colleagues. For example, a team member wanting a high degree of inclusion would appreciate and respond well to a manager who invites him to various meetings. A team member with a high degree of expressed affection is likely to work well with a colleague who seeks affection and attention. The FIRO-B system is a simple and elegant model that particularly assists understanding of team dynamics, greater self-awareness, mutual awareness among team-members and team leadership development. Three primary dimensions of FIRO B are: 1. Need for Inclusion: This describes the persons need for belongingness, recognition and participation. A person with high need for inclusion will make an effort to include others in his activities. He will try to belong to or join social groups; basically will try to be with people as much as possible (expressed behavior). Such a person would also expect or want others to invite him join them and would like people to notice him (wanted behavior). 2. Need for Control: It relates to whether one wants to be super ordinate, subordinate while working with others or in a group. It relates to a person's desire for influencing others, leading others and responsibility. Such a person shall try to exert control and influence over things. He would enjoy organizing things and directing others (expressed behavior). Such a person will feel most comfortable working in well defined situations and would like to get clear expectations and instructions from others (wanted behavior). 3. Need for Affection: This describes the emotional ties and warm connections between people; it determines the extent of closeness that a person seeks. The person makes an effort to get close to people and would be comfortable expressing his personal feelings

and will try to be supportive of others (expressed behavior). This person would also want others to act warmly towards him and will enjoy when people share their feelings with them and would love it when people encourage him and appreciate his efforts (wanted behavior). For each of the three interpersonal needs Inclusion, Control, and Affection, the instrument provides a measure of how much each need is Expressed or Wanted by an individual.
1. Expressed (e): The extent to which an individual will initiate the behavior is called the Expressed dimension of that need. It is the behavior which one feels most comfortable in showing, what a person prefers to do, and how much that person wants to initiate action. 2. Wanted (w): The extent to which an individual will accept the behavior from others is called the Wanted dimension of the need.

APPLICATIONS OF FIRO B
FIRO-B is a highly reliable self-report instrument that offers insight into an individual's compatibility with other people, as well as providing insight into that person's own individual characteristics. The underlying assumption of FIRO-B is that preferences, as well as behavior, can be changed at will. The instrument can be used in one-to-one, team or group situations. The qualified user has a range of applications at their disposal, providing the versatility demanded in contemporary workplace environments. This highly reliable and practical instrument has vast applications such as:
Team building and team development

FIRO-B can help in Identifying likely sources of compatibility or tension between people working in a group or team. By improved communication, openness and trust it can help to resolve conflicts and create better understanding amongst team players. The instrument can hence be effectively used in team building and team development.
Individual development and executive coaching

This powerful tool and can be used in executive coaching or self development. It helps individuals to increase their self-awareness and interpersonal effectiveness, by identifying

and understanding their interpersonal style. Since the instrument increase self-awareness and interpersonal effectiveness it can surely assist in individual development. It can also be used for identifying leadership style. It can be used as part of a coaching process, or for career development or personal growth of people.
Conflict resolution

Identifying the real cause of conflict is pre-requisite to effective management of conflict. By effectively assisting in Identifying the likely causes of conflict between people this instrument can help in effectively dealing with various types of conflicts that may be present in a group.
Selection and placement

FIRO-B can also be used in combination with other assessment techniques. This can help to structure interviews and assess likely team roles or interpersonal behavior.
Management and leadership development

The instrument is ideal to use with new and experienced managers; it will enable them to understand their natural style and what impact this has on the way they communicate, to involve others in decision-making and to delegate responsibility.
RELIABILITY

Inter Rater reliability: 0.85-0.96 Test- Retest reliability: 0.71-0.85

VALIDITY Content Validity

BENEFITS OF FIRO B
It is a practical tool that offers insights into interpersonal needs and behaviors, the FIROB questionnaire gives practical suggestions for improving relationships or increasing effectiveness.

This tool can be easily combined with others, such as the MBTI instrument, to present a comprehensive view of personal style for use in self- and group development.

It is based on a comprehensive and powerful theory of interpersonal behavior .

The tool can be introduced easily to existing HR practices for greater effectiveness. For example, when used in coaching, the FIRO-B instrument will help an individual to understand their motivation, choices and flexibility in working with others. When used as part of a team program, undertaking the FIRO-B assessment enables the team to open up, giving them an objective, practical framework that can be used to overcome barriers to effective team operation and communication.

It has more detailed norms. These are subdivided by gender, age, educational level, occupational level and industry sector and enable precise comparison with individual scores.

LIMITATIONS
FIRO B instrument is more oriented towards interpersonal behavior. It does not individual. The tool should not be used as only criteria for selection. provide information about intelligence and technical expertise of an

16 PF (PERSONALITY FACTORS)
Sixteen Personality Factor questionnaire was developed by Raymond B. Catttell. He used the new techniques of factor analysis to discover and measure the fundamental traits of personality. Cattells theory of personality Cattell and his colleagues first discovered the primary traits which provide the most basic definition of individual personality differences. These primary traits provide the most basic definition of individual personality differences. They are more powerful in understanding and predicting the complexity of actual behavior. Further these primary factors were again factor analyzed in order to investigate personality structure at higher level. From this, they derived the second order or global factors original big five. The global factors provide the larger conceptual, organizing framework for understanding the meaning and function of the primary traits. They provide the broad overview of personality, while primary traits provide the more detailed information about the richness and uniqueness of an individual. The global factors were again factor analyzed into third order traits, at the higher most abstract level of personality. Unlike other common personal profiling tools such as Myers Briggs or Belbin, the 16PF defines our basic, underlying personality, without regard to how we apply it or the environment in which we apply it. A simple analogy would be to think of the human being as a personal computer. Personality profiles such as 16PF measure the basic features of the PC such as the size of the hard disk, RAM, processing speed and so on. They're relatively unchanging features of the PC that strongly influence its performance, but which we don't normally see. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is an indication of the breadth and complexity of the software loaded on the PC, which it uses to process ideas and information. But the way in which the PC performs is mainly influenced by its environment - as represented by the user who gives it information and asks it to perform tasks.

So our underlying personality is there all the time, but the way we see it is affected by our intelligence, and by our upbringing and education, which may have taught us either to emphasize or suppress aspects of our personality. However, if we can understand what our personality is, we can then make better use of the strengths it gives, and make allowances for the resultant weaknesses. Because personality is relatively unchanging through adult life, this understanding will be of long-term value to us. THE 16 PERSONALITY FACTORS
Factor A Warmth B Reasoning C Emotional Stability E Dominance F Liveliness G Rule Consciousness H Social Boldness I Sensitivity L Vigilance M Abstractedness N Privateness O Apprehension Q1 Openness to Change Q2 Self-Reliance Descriptors Reserved Outgoing Less Intelligent More Intelligent Affected by feelings Emotionally stable Humble Assertive Sober Happy-go-lucky Expedient Conscientious Shy Venturesome Tough-minded Tender-minded Trusting Suspicious Practical Imaginative Straightforward Shrewd Self-Assured Apprehensive Conservative Experimenting Group-dependent Self-sufficient

Q3 Perfectionism Q4 Tension

Self-conflict Self-control Relaxed Tense

THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS Big five traits Openness 16 PF descriptive traits Assertive (E), Sober(F), Expedient (G), Venturesome(H), Straightforward( N), Controlled (Q3) Conscientiousness Happy go lucky (F), trusting(L), Experimenting (Q1), self Conflict (Q3) Extraversion Assertive (E), Happy go lucky (F), Venturesome (H), shrewd (N), Conservative( Q1), Self conflict (Q3) Agreeableness Assertive (E),, happy go lucky (F), Conscientious (G), trusting( L), Experimenting (Q1), self conflict(Q3) Neuroticism Emotional (C), assertive (E), Happy go lucky (F), Conscientious (G), Self assured (O), Conservative (Q1), Relaxed (Q4)

APPLICATIONS OF 16PF
Selection

The 16PF factors can be mapped against the competencies required to be successful in a particular role. When used as part of a structured selection process, the questionnaire results can highlight areas to explore further during interview, eliciting a more comprehensive picture of each candidates strengths and development needs. This makes the selection

process more effective. For successful candidates, the 16PF questionnaire can be used to create individual development plans.

Development

The questionnaire can assess the management/leadership potential and style of an individual, which can then be used to formulate an effective development plan.

Team building

Building a team profile using the 16PF instrument will highlight areas that may add to or detract from team effectiveness, allowing key areas for team development to be identified. Each individual will also be able to build an appreciation of other team members strengths, promoting increased productivity and understanding.

Executive training

The questionnaire can be used in combination with additional tools (such as the 360 degree feedback tool etc.) to provide senior-level management with an essential understanding of their own behavior and an objective assessment of how their style impacts on others. The individual can then be coached, building on this platform to establish clear development objectives.

RELIABILITY

Inter rater reliability: 0.66-0.86 Test retest reliability: 0.80-0.86

VALIDITY

Construct validity and predictive validity

BENEFITS OF USING 16PF

It enhances effective communication, conflict resolution, problem solving and decision making.

Providing a platform for career planning and career self-management. Facilitates self understanding and an appreciation of diversity.

LIMITATIONS
It should not be used as the only criteria for selection.

THOMAS PERSONAL PROFILE ANALYSIS (PPA)

Thomas profile test is based on Dr. Marstons theory of emotions of normal people. He believed that the behavior of individuals is expressed in four different categories: Dominance: Aggressive, competitive, strong Influence: Outgoing, charismatic, sociable Steadiness: methodical, patient, steady Compliance: Accurate, Prudent, Analytical

A psychologist named Dr. Thomas Hendrickson then evolved the profiling system. The individual being profiled is asked to choose statements that best describe them and statements that least describe them. From this information the analyst can provide insight about how this individual will handle various situations personally and professionally. The DISC characteristics are present in different proportions in each individual. This profiling checks whether the person is high or low in these for characteristics. DOMINANCE The person with high dominance will be driving, competitive, forceful, inquisitive, direct, self starter and assertive. The one with low dominance will be hesitant, mild, low decision need, non demanding and accommodating. Basic Fear : He hates failure Motivation: Motivates by power and authority Value to the organization: They strive for results.

INFLUENCE The characteristics of this will be Influential, persuasive, friendly, verbally good, communicative, positive and they are people oriented. The one with low influence will be Reserved, reflective, suspicious, self conscious, probing, serious.
Basic Fear: Rejection Motivation: Public Praise Value to the organization: Team Player

STEADINESS An individual with high steadiness characteristics will be dependable, deliberate, amiable, persistent, good listener and kind. These people pace of work will be slow. The one with low steadiness will be mobile, alert, active, restless, demonstrative and his pace of work will be fast. Basic Fear: Sudden Change Motivator : Security Value to the organization: Specialized functions COMPLIANCE Individuals with high compliance will be systematic, careful, precise accurate, perfectionist, logical and policy oriented. Those who have low compliance will be firm, persistent, stubborn, strong willed, independent, and these are not policy oriented. Basic Fear: Conflict Motivator: SOP Value to the organization : Technical Functions

APPLICATIONS OF THOMAS PROFILE

Learning tool The DISC Profile, as a learning tool can be used to create rapid rapport and connection with people is fundamental in selling, managing, and leadership.

Understanding behavioral styles benefits personal and professional relationships by improving communication skills and reducing conflict. Imagine being able to better understand what motivates people and being able to recognize how to effectively deal with others. Recruitment A person's DISC profile series is compared against an ideal Job Profile for a particular career, and the closeness of the match between the two styles will give an indication of how well that individual's style is suited to the career area in question. However it must be noted that there are a multitude of factors that must affect the decisions a person takes about their career. DISC personality testing alone cannot provide a definitive conclusion, but it is able to provide guidance in deciding whether a particular career path is suited to an individual or not. Training and development This online DISC profile report interpersonal success provides targeted strategies and insights for communication, understanding and

through effective

tolerance. These insights have been utilized for personal growth and development, training, coaching and managing of individuals, groups, teams, and organizations.

RELAIBLITY Test Retest reliability: 0.7

VALIDITY Predictive validity

BENEFITS OF THOMAS PROFILE

The Thomas Profile (PPA) report gives an idea of preferred style of a person. It provides the characteristics of behavior. Provide insights into what motivates a person.

LIMITATIONS
It does not give information about the abilities and intelligence of a person. The PPA reports are expensive.

BELBIN TEAM ROLE

Belbin team role inventory was discovered by Dr. Meredith Belbin and his team in 1970 at Henley Management College. They wanted to control the dynamics of teams to discover how problems could be avoided. As the research progressed, the research revealed that the difference between success and failure for a team was not dependent on factors such as intellect, but more on behavior. The research team began to identify separate clusters of behavior, each of which formed distinct team contributions or Team Roles. It describes a pattern of behavior that characterizes one persons behavior in relationship to another in facilitating the progress of a team. The value of Belbin team-role theory lies in enabling an individual or team to benefit from self-knowledge and adjust according to the demands being made by the external situation.

Belbin team roles

Developed from observations of over 200 teams, Belbins Team Roles have become part of standard assessment and HR practice. Belbins framework can be used bot h to predict the performance of existing teams and to construct teams around desired outcomes. It also gives valuable insights for teambuilding and conflict management.
1. Coordinator

Characteristics: The co-coordinator is a person-oriented leader. This person trusts, accepting, dominant and is committed to team goals and objectives. He is a positive thinker who approves of goal attainment, struggle and effort in others. He is someone tolerant enough always to listen to others, but strong enough to reject their advice.

Weakness The co-coordinator may not stand out in a team and usually does not have a sharp intellect.
2. Shaper

Characteristics: The shaper is a task-focused leader who abounds in nervous energy, who has a high motivation to achieve and for whom winning is the name of the game. The shaper is committed to achieve ends and will shape others into achieving the aims of the team. Weakness He or she will challenge, argue or disagree and will display aggression in the pursuit of goal achievement. Two or three shapers in a group, according to Belbin, can lead to conflict, aggravation and in-fighting.

3. Resource Investigator

Characteristics: The resource investigator is someone who explores opportunities and develops contacts. Resource investigators are good negotiators who probe others for information and support and pick up others ideas and develop them. They are characterized by sociability and enthusiasm and are good at liaison work and exploring resources outside the group.

Weakness They have tendency to lose interest after initial fascination with an idea. They are not usually the source of original ideas.

4. Plant

Characteristics: The plant is a specialist idea maker characterized by high IQ and introversion while also being dominant and original. The plant tends to take radical approaches to team functioning and problems. Plants are more concerned with major issues than with details.

Weakness: They have a tendency to disregard practical details and argumentativeness.

5. Implementer

Characteristics: Implementers are aware of external obligations and are disciplined, conscientious and have a good self-image. They tend to be tough-minded and practical, trusting and tolerant, respecting established traditions. They are characterized by low anxiety and tend to work for the team in a practical, realistic way. Implementers figure prominently in positions of responsibility in larger organizations.

Weakness:

Implementers are conservative, inflexible and slow to respond to new possibilities.

6. Specialist

Characteristics: The specialist provides knowledge and technical skills which are in rare supply within the team. They are often highly introverted and anxious and tend to be self-starting, dedicated and committed. Weakness: Their weaknesses are single-mindedness and a lack of interest in other peoples subjects.
7. Monitor Evaluator

Characteristics: Monitor evaluators contribute particularly at times of crucial decision making because they are capable of evaluating competing proposals. This person is a judicious, prudent, intelligent with a low need to achieve.

Weakness:
Weaknesses are that they may appear dry and boring or even over-critical. They are not good at inspiring others.

8. Team workers

Characteristics:

Team workers make helpful interventions to avert potential friction and enable difficult characters within the team to use their skills to positive ends.

They tend to keep team spirit up and allow other members to contribute effectively Their diplomatic skills together with their sense of humor are assets to a team. They tend to have skills in listening, coping with awkward people and to be sociable. Sensitive and people oriented.

Weakness: They tend to be indecisive in moments of crisis and reluctant to do things that might hurt others.
9. Complete Finishers:

Characteristics: They give attention to detail and aim to complete and to do so thoroughly. They make steady effort and are consistent in their work. They are not so interested in the glamour of spectacular success. Weakness:
They tend to be over anxious and have difficulty letting go and delegating work.

APPLICATIONS OF BELBIN TEAM ROLE

This inventory gives insights about team effectiveness. Helps in measuring the team progress. Gives information about the behavior of team players.

BENEFITS OF BELBIN TEAM ROLE

Individual Belbin profiles can offer tremendous insight into individual and team operating methods.

By using the Belbin profiles people can better understand teams and the contributions of the individuals around them. Each individual invariably brings different skills and behaviors to a team.

LIMITATIONS
Can only be used for teams. Does not tell about the intelligence and technical expertise.

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)

The TAT is often administered to individuals as part of a battery, or group, of tests intended to evaluate personality. It is considered to be effective in eliciting information about a person's view of the world and his or her attitudes toward the self and others. It is a projective technique to assess the personality of an individual and consists of 31 picture cards that provide stimulus for candidate to create stories concerning relationships or social situations suggested by the pictures. The stories will project information concerning their needs, attitudes, emotional difficulties etc. Historically, it has been among the most widely used, researched test. It helps in exploring the subjects unconscious to reveal the hidden aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement power, and intimacy and problem solving abilities. As candidates are taking the TAT proceed through the various story cards and tell stories about the pictures, they reveal their expectations of relationships with peers, parents or other authority figures, subordinates. The examiner evaluates the subject's manner, vocal tone, posture, hesitations, and other signs of an emotional response to a particular story picture. For example, a person who is made anxious by a certain picture may make comments about the artistic style of the picture, or remark that he or she does not like the picture; this is a way of avoiding telling a story about it. Some pictures used in TAT are:

APPLICATIONS OF TAT
TAT is used in individual assessment of candidates for employment in felids requiring high degree of skill in dealing with other people and ability to cope with high level of psychological stress.

BENEFITS OF TAT
It gives information about the hidden aspects of personality. Subject cannot figure out how their responses will be interpreted.

LIMITATIONS
Questionable reliability and validity.

BEHAVIOR EVENT INTERVIEW (BEI)

Behavior Event Interview (BEI) is a structured interview that is used to collect information about past behavior. This technique attempts to uncover the past performance by asking open ended questions. Each question helps the interviewer learn about individuals past performance in a key skill area that is critical to success in the position in which he is applying for. BEI is the heart of the job competency assessment process. BEI data are the richest source of competencies that predict superior or effective job performance. The basic principle why it is used for competency assessment is that what people think or say about their motives or skills is not credible. Only what they actually do, in the most critical incidents they have faced, is to be believed. The purpose of the BEI method is to get behind what people say they do to find out what they really do. This is accomplished by asking people to describe how they actually behaved in specific incidents.

BEHAVIOR VS TRADITIONAL INTERVIEWS Traditional Interviews is the most common type of interview. The interview consists of a series of questions that may or may not be standardized. This interview method does not work well to identify the competencies because people what they say they do bear no relation in actual what they do. Secondly, people may not reveal their motives and abilities. Mostly, people give socially desirable answers what they think the interviewer wants to hear. As a result, self-reports of background, strengths, and preferences of people do not provide reliable information about their competencies. The interviewer will ask the interviewee to describe how you did behave and interpret the competencies involved. He keeps on probing the candidate and will ask about the minute details.

APPLICATIONS OF BEI

BEI helps in depth assessment of personality. It assesses the actual behavior of a person at the job. It determines the level of competencies.

BENEFITS OF BEI
It is a cost effective method of assessment. It gives information about the managerial behavior of a person which is not directly observable. It is a content valid assessment method. It determines the actual behavior of a person at the job.

LIMITATIONS
The interview relies on the recall of the memory of respondent, the information which he happens or chooses to remember is presented in the interview. This results in self serving and biased information. They are not used to assess the intelligence and specialized knowledge. An expert is needed to conduct the interview.

ASSESSMENT CENTRE
An assessment centre consists of a group of exercises designed to assess a set of personal characteristics. Recently the concept of traditional assessment centre has been changed to developmental assessment centre. In this kind of assessment centre the individuals actively participate in the process, most of the work is done by the participants and the major function of the centre is to provide them with feedback that is developmental and judgmental in nature. Assessment centers typically involve the participants completing a range of exercises which simulate the activities carried out in the target job. Various combinations of these exercises and sometimes other assessment methods like psychometric testing and interviews are used to assess particular competencies in individuals. The concept behind this is if one wishes to predict the future job performances then the best way is to get the individual perform the set of tasks which are as similar to the target job as possible. The exercises in the assessment centre express an important characteristic; the behavior that is measured and being observed. The trained assessors observe the behavior of participants while they are performing the exercises and the simulations. Compared to normal interviews, at assessment centers judgments about behaviors are made by not one but many, using specifically developed simulations. Data is pooled by the assessors or by a statistical integration process. Trained assessors observe and evaluate candidates on their relevant managerial qualities, while those candidates are performing a variety of situational exercises. These centers include

exercises like in basket, fact findings, group discussions and particular job simulations. Dimensions measured by these centers are leadership, problem solving, decision making, creativity, sensitivity etc.

ABILITY AND APTITUDE TESTS

Ability and aptitude tests are also a part of psychometrics but they do not measure and assesses personality and behavior. These two classifications of tests intend to capture the intelligence and logical reasoning power of an individual. They play a major role in recruitment of fresh graduates. Ability test: This test measures skills in terms of speed and accuracy or both. Aptitude test: This test measures the potential to acquire a specific skill. Achievement Test: This test measures the previous learning. Intelligence Test: It measures the potential to solve problems and adaptability to change in circumstances. Interview plays very important role in selection process but it is not a reliable method to judge aptitudes and abilities of a person. Interview enables us to probe each applicant in depth and discovers individual strengths and weaknesses it will not enable us to objectively assess an applicants reasoning abilities. The information on application blanks and resumes are not very useful up to certain extent. The past academic records and work experience are not good predictor of abilities and future success. They do not determine whether the person is likely to perform well or bad. Aptitude and ability tests play significant role in providing the information about the potential of a person not his achievements up to date. These tests give the true reflection of persons abilities. These tests are all standardized and the same test is given to all the applicants under the same conditions and a standard method is used for scoring and interpreting the test results. Thus the tests should produce the same results no matter who administers and interprets it.

CONCEPT OF FLUID INTELLIGENCE AND CRYSTALISED INTELLIGENCE The assessment of mental abilities or intelligence is one of the oldest areas of psychology. Cattell and his colleagues identified that the general intelligence could be decomposed into two subtypes: FLUID INTELLIGENCE: It is the reasoning ability in purest form. It is the ability to analyze new problems, identify patterns and relationships that emphasize these problems and extrapolate from them using logic. This intelligence is very crucial for solving scientific, technical and mathematical problems. It is independent of educational experience of a person and strongly determined by genetic factors. CRYSTALLISED INTELLIGENCE: It refers to the cultural activities, knowledge and skills that are accumulated over lifetime. It is the product of cultural and educational with high crystallized

experience in interaction with fluid intelligence. A person

intelligence are good in general knowledge and vocabulary. It increases with the age of a person.

RAVENS ADVANCE PROGRESSIVE MATRIX

Ravens Advance Progressive Matrix was developed by Dr. John C. Raven in 1936. It is a multiple choice test which consists of abstract reasoning. It is well known measure for higher order mental ability. The main purpose of Ravens APM is to measure fluid intelligence, analytical intelligence problem solving ability or educative ability. This matrix contains 48 items. These items are again presented in black ink on a white

background, and become increasingly difficult as progress. These items are appropriate for adults and adolescents of above average intelligence. Time required to administer the APM is around 30 minutes.

APPLICATIONS OF APM
APM is mainly used to measure the intelligence and problem solving ability of the candidate. Various companies use this test for recruitment at entry level.
RELIABILITY

Inter related reliability: 0.87

VALIDITY

Construct Validity

BENEFITS OF APM
It is used to assess the fluid intelligence, analytical intelligence and problem solving ability.

LIMITATIONS
It does not give any information on the behavior.

BENNET MECHANICAL COMPREHENSION TEST

Bennet Mechanical Comprehension Test (MCT) measures the complex set of abilities composed of three primary constructs. Mechanical Information Spatial Visualization Mechanical Reasoning

The comprehension test measures your natural interest for mechanics and their moving parts, knowledge, mechanical reasoning and spatial intelligence. It assesses the ability of an individual to comprehend simple mechanical and physical principles. There are around 135 questions in the test that cover the categories like levers, belt drive, inertia, optics, centrifugal force, acoustics, heat, hydraulics, electricity etc. The test can be administered through online test, written test and verbal interpretation of mechanical concepts.

APPLICATIONS OF MCT
Some jobs require to qualify a mechanical test and different levels of knowledge is required for different jobs such as welding, mechanical, electrical, hydraulics etc. Sometimes new machines are introduced into the organization and managers need to train people. The testing sessions determine the ability to learn complex mechanical expertise. This test is administered on children at basic level to know their interest in mechanics.

BENEFITS OF MCT
MCT is an appropriate test for hiring mechanical engineers. The test focuses on spatial perception and mechanical reasoning ability.

LIMITATIONS
It does not fit to the requirements of all jobs. It does not tell anything about the behavior of the candidate.

TECHNICAL TEST BATTERY

The technical test battery comprises of three separate tests each designed to assess a different area of technical ability. This test is suitable for the selection and development of individuals in technically or practically oriented jobs. The three separate tests are: Mechanical Reasoning Test Spatial Reasoning Test Visual Acuity Test

These areas are the ability to reason with mechanical concepts, the ability to manipulate three dimensional spatial relationships and the ability to quickly and accurately find a path through a complex two dimensional maze. Research has amply demonstrated that these technical abilities are not accounted for by general intelligence but are specific, measurable, abilities in their own right. MECHANICAL REASONING TEST The mechanical reasoning test assess the ability to apply basic mechanical principles and ability to grasp the common principles of physics which are evident in everyday life. It also investigates a persons ability to solve problems of a mechanical nature through the application of basic principles. People who perform well in this test may find the work easy and interesting in physical sciences and in shop floor mechanical work which demands thinking and planning rather than skill.

SPATIAL REASONING TEST The spatial reasoning test assesses the ability to manipulate and reason about shapes and spatial relationships. It judges the ability of a person to work with three dimensional relationships. It captures how well a person can visualize or form mental pictures of solid objects from looking at flat paper drawings. A person who performs well on the Spatial Reasoning Test can at the plans and can see the finished house, bridge or machine. He or she could probably mentally walk around the finished structure, looking at it from various angles.

VISUAL ACUITY TEST The visual acuity test measure the persons ability to find the path through complex two dimensional diagrams. It focuses on aptitude of a person for performing tasks which require visual precision. As the test is timed, fifteen mazes have to be solved in complete eight minutes. This test helps in measuring the ability of person to perform precision tasks. The test is suitable for workers in the microprocessor and electronics industries which require detailed work on the extremely small components and circuits.

APPLICATIONS OF TECHNICAL TEST BATTERY

It measures the core and technical skills of candidates. It helps in assessing the mechanical skills. It is suitable for hiring employees for technical occupations mechanical engineers, electronic engineers and architects.
RELIABILITY

Mechanical Reasoning Test: 0.81 Spatial Reasoning Test: 0.84 Visual Acuity Test: 0.80
VALIDITY

Construct validity

LIMITATIONS
Does not tell give any information about the behavior and personality.

ABSTRACT REASONING TEST (ART)

Abstract Reasoning Test (ART) is specifically designed to assess the fluid intelligence of an individual. Fluid intelligence is the purest form of intelligence and does not depend upon educational experience. This test measures the ability to solve abstract and logical problems which does not require any prior knowledge and educational experience. This test is basically designed for technicians, people in scientific engineering, financial roles and senior managers who have to take strategic decisions. The test contains three by three matrix which consists of eight cells containing the geometric patterns. The ninth cell is left blank and the respondents are asked to deduce the logical rules that govern how the sequence of geometric designs progresses (both horizontally and vertically) across the cells of the matrix, and extrapolate from these rules the next design in the sequence. Thirty five matrices are present in the test ordered by item difficulty with respondents having thirty minutes to complete the test.

APPLICATIONS OF ART

This test is appropriate for graduate and managerial level positions. It helps in screening of employees based on their intelligence.

RELIABILITY

Internal Consistency: 0.81

VALIDITY

Construct validity.

RECOMMENDATIONS
By studying the recruitment and selection process of L&T and Godrej, I propose a modified model of recruitment and selection process which includes a psychometric profile. This psychometric profile could be Thomas Profile or a combination of various inventories depending upon the type of hiring process ( entry level, middle level or senior level). Introduction of psychometric profile will help in making the recruitment and selection process effective at L&T. The employer will be able to hire right person for the right job. The job description will harmonize with the candidate profile. The overlap between life and work is growing. Terms and conditions of work , the psychological contract, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics are increasingly important to candidates seeking work. This makes recruitment a more complex process as recruiters are asked to match people with organizations, not just skills with vacancies. Establishment of psychometric tests will help in matching the organization requirements and candidates requirements.

This profile will also help in the lowering down the attrition rate of the organization. If wrong people are hired for the job they are intended to leave their job fast because they are not satisfied with their job and the tasks which are assigned to them. Jobs in which high stress is involved, are vulnerable to attrition. Psychometric profile will help the employer to know whether the candidate can deal with the high stress situations or not.

People resist change in their environment. Change is also one of the major factor in stress. How much a person can endure stress this can also be predicted and measured through psychometric profile.

Recruitment and requisition

Sourcing of CVs

Recruitment Round

Scrutiny by Dept.

Written Test Psychometric Profile Technical Interview

Position approval round with GM/VP

HR Verification

Exit