16pf | White Papers

Combating Bias in Hiring Decisions

When meeting a person for the first time, our initial judgements are often coloured by bias. ‘Filling in the gaps’ by making assumptions is an inbuilt response, enabling us to process information quickly. In a hiring context, this natural tendency can cause problems. If decision-makers allow bias to override their impartial, professional judgements, a poor hiring decision may result, with all its related negative implications. This paper looks at how and why hiring managers are at risk of letting biases shape their hiring decisions and at why HR professionals may have to work hard to convince managers to use best practice.

Best People In = Best Results Out

There is a wide array of selection methods for recruiters to choose from, ranging from in-depth work simulations to old-fashioned interviews, but the amount of choice can be confusing. In addition, technology can become a hindrance when online job applications overwhelm the recruitment processes, without improving the quality of the candidates who apply. This paper shows how to put a reliable, valid, fair and cost-effective selection process together that will not only lead to better selection decisions, but also boost the reputation of your brand.

Millennial Development: Cultivating the Next Generation of Leaders

This is the prime time for businesses to focus on Millennials; in 2015, they are projected to become the largest living generation. Some estimates have as much as 80% of the professional knowledge workforce comprised of Millennials by 2016. This paper examines both what Millennials need to develop as leaders as well as what they don’t need to develop.

Emotionally Unstable? It Spells Trouble for Work, Relationships and Life

This presentation explores a range of studies of resilience using the 16PF Questionnaire, focusing on Anxiety and its subscales. To show the wide-ranging implications of high Anxiety and low Emotional Stability, the outcomes relate to both work life and home life. This is to remind occupational experts that emotional concerns are unlikely to stay at home. Outcomes included engagement, promotion, tenure, happiness, satisfaction with romantic relationships, and self-perceptions of luckiness.

Overcoming Barriers to Development: Talent Discovery and Inspiration

People experience varying degrees of frustration about their educational, job and career progress in life. And many of our university administrators, career counselors and corporate executives become frustrated by employee turnover, increased operating costs, and reduced productivity that can be attributed to a lack of deliberate career planning. Many times, this is due to a common set of barriers to career development.

Practical Considerations for Using the 16PF Protective Services Report

For a comprehensive assessment strategy, psychologists need a tool that will help them understand how an applicant will typically behave, given the job requirements of law enforcement. Generated from the 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire, the 16PF Protective Services Report (16PF PSR) provides insight into the normal aspects of an applicant’s personality, with a focus on the qualities that lead to good performance in positions of public safety.

Personality Without Borders: Do Questionnaire Languages and Smart Phones Bias Results?

It is not enough to assume that assessment in one language will be equivalent to another: there are linguistic, cultural and psychological reasons why results might differ. Similarly, as mobile devices become a major route to internet services, it would be risky to assume that putting a personality instrument on a smart-phone app will yield personality measurement equivalent to administration of the same assessment over a website. This research examines the equivalence of multi-language 16PF Questionnaire administrations as well as the equivalence of web vs smart phone administrations.

Selecting for Potential: Improving the Outcomes of Your Selection Process

Forward-thinking employers are keenly aware of the investment required to find the right fit for a particular job. Determining the underlying abilities and anticipated working styles of a candidate during the selection process is fundamental to successful recruiting.

Age and Work Characteristics: The Role of Personality

Given our growing life expectancy and the recent increase in mandatory retirement age, it is more important than ever to evaluate the effect of age on organizational outcomes. This study has found that age is a pertinent factor in influencing how comfortable people are with certain characteristics of the workplace. Furthermore, the association of age with certain personality traits may partly explain this relationship. Implications, theories and research developments are discussed.

Why Covert Integrity Testing is Useful in Screening Security Officers

The increased demand for security officers comes with the need to accurately assess candidates so ideally only the best are selected, as they will be entrusted with the safety of others. Integrity is one of the foundational aspects of protective services work, and underlies a candidates ability to follow policy and meet the responsibilities of security work.

Selecting Successful Salespersons with the 16PF: Form A Validity Studies

This report summarizes a series of studies that were undertaken to evaluate the validity of 16PF traits for predicting success in sales occupations.

Interpreting the Inwald Personality Inventory-2 (IPI-2)

The IPI-2 is a valuable tool that is used in the selection of law enforcement officers, public safety personnel and other candidates vying for employment in high-risk occupations or positions of authority. This paper outlines a step-by-step process for interpreting the IPI-2 and provides suggestions for ways to conceptualize and organize the information to facilitate efficient report writing.

Predicting Performance from Personality: Fewer Factors Produce Feebler Forecasts

The Single Factor of Personality (SFP) is the idea that personality can be summarized most parsimoniously not by five big factors, but by the smallest possible number: just one factor. Supporters of the SFP claim it predicts overall work performance. This paper presents thorough analyses to see if the SFP lives up to its claims. We investigated whether the SFP, a Five Factor model, or a 16 Factor model turned out to be a better predictor of work engagement, work performance, salary, and promotion.

Using Broad vs. Narrow Personality Measures to Predict Leadership Success

Does keeping it simple have an impact on predictive power and utility? This white paper sets out the arguments for using broad versus narrow personality traits to predict leadership success.

Predicting Talent Management Indices Using the 16 Primary Personality Factors

This study investigates whether or not talent management indices can be predicted from narrow personality traits.

Best Practices in Assessment: Public Safety Hiring

When hiring for public safety positions, such as Police Officers and Firefighters, there are two common models: the bifurcated model and the post-conditional offer model. The difference between the two models is when and what type of testing is conducted, based upon when a conditional job offer is extended to candidates.