Linking personality data to HMCE’s competency framework

Date01 May 2006
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/14754390680000888
Published date01 May 2006
Pages10-11
AuthorGeoff Trickey
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour
10 Volume 5 Issue 4 May/June 2006
HR at WORK
,
Short case studies that demonstrate best practice in HR
Linking personality data to
HMCE’s competency framework
B
ridging the gap between traits (the
language of psychologists) and
competencies (the language of the
workplace) at Her Majesty’s Customs and
Excise (HMCE), was made possible
through the development of a new
algorithmic mapping technology that
matches personality profiles to
competency requirements. This approach
puts the power of psychometrics behind
the competency rating process, assisting
in a company’s recruitment strategies.
The roots of personality testing
Personality assessment is relevant to staff
selection and development because it
highlights any aspects of temperament
that are a particular asset or a potential
hindrance to achieving success in any
role. The term “temperament” is used in
this context because, although it’s often
used as a synonym for “personality,” it
emphasizes the underlying aspects of
personality, the deeper roots as distinct
from more superficial or controlled
interpersonal strategies, shaped by
cultural influences such as manners and
social etiquette.
Temperament undoubtedly influences
job performance and, at the extremes,
may determine whether an individual
will take to a particular role “like a duck
to water” or will be unable to function
effectively in it at all. The basic elements
of temperament are whether an
individual will be prickly or
approachable, compliant or unrestrained,
assertive or easygoing, passionate or
calm, conservative or adventurous. We all
fall somewhere between these extremes.
Personality measurement in business
Although personality reports for
organizational use may strive to present
their findings in more business-focused
and user-friendly ways, there’s still a false
assumption that those who use such
reports will be versed in the structure of
personality, trained in test interpretation
and draw inferences about the probable
behavior of any candidate and their
likely competence for the role, but often
this isn’t the case.
In many cases there will be no one on
the selection panel with these skills. The
language of personality assessment will
be familiar to psychologists and trained
HR professionals, but employers are likely
to take a more immediate and pragmatic
perspective to the competencies of
prospective employees. To survive in
business, they must have employees who
will add value and make a net
contribution rather than a net decrement
to company finances.
Matching personality to competency
Over the past decade at Psychological
Consultancy Ltd (PCL), professional
business psychologists based in the UK,
we’ve repeatedly been asked to report
our assessments in language that reflects
the competency framework of the
organization.
Since personality assessments are used
to predict workplace competence, it
makes sense to address those
competencies directly and, by so doing,
bring the psychometric contribution into
line with other approaches to staff
recruitment (competency-based
interviews, assessment centers and the
evaluation of resumés, career histories
and so on).
Planning an automated system
It’s clear that ensuring the consistency of
competency ratings from personality
data can only be achieved by a
systematic approach and that this needs
to be automated. At PCL, we envisaged a
database driven system in which:
the relationships between personality
traits and competency definitions could
be defined; and
test scores could be combined and
weighted to generate competency
ratings.
Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (HMCE)
was a UK governmental organization
which existed to ensure the payment of
correct tax. HMCE was merged with
Inland Revenue and HM Customs and
Excise in April 2005 to form Her Majesty’s
Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
HMCE
Geoff Trickey, managing director at Psychological Consultancy Ltd, explains how using psychometric testing at
Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise helped discover connections between competency and performance.

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