Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND THE RESEARCH DESIGN

Rationale
Fact or fiction? A job interview will tell you much more about a person than any other psychological tests. The interview process will offer an accurate report of the actual behaviors of the person at work, the genuine skills that the person possesses, the productivity of the person and that the happy and affable responses of a prospective employee during the interview suggest that the person is most likely to like his/her job.
If you think that the aforementioned statements are nothing more than a common sense, then you must know that common sense is not always reasonable. As a matter of fact, those abovementioned statements are untrue. In most cases, psychometricians who interpret psychological tests and conduct preliminary interviews have confirmed that interviews alone are not particularly good selection tool to distinguish the productivity, skills, behavior and the motivation of the employee. Using interviews alone does not give sufficient information for effective selection decision making, particularly in areas that are not amenable to training, such as cognitive ability and attitude ( Webster, 2010).
Psychological assessments are used in succession planning, employee screening, pre-employment decisions, and employee counseling situations. From a purely financial view, if psychological testing can prevent you from making one bad hire, it probably saves you tens of thousands of dollars. From an organizational perspective, there is no better growth strategy than using every tool available to hire and develop the best people (Lakin, 2011).
Engaging in pre-employment testing methods is of utmost importance in today’s workforce. First, Human Resource managers and hiring managers want to select the most qualified candidates to fill open positions within their organizations because the most qualified candidates’ job performance is a direct reflection on the hiring managers.
Secondly, recruitment and hiring costs are excessively high for organizations in today’s workforce, and Human Resource managers and hiring managers cannot afford to use organizational funds negligently. Thirdly, negligent hiring practices may lead to unnecessary lawsuits filed against organizations in the long term (Carrigan, 2007).
One of the critical elements in ensuring outstanding organizational performance is the selection and development of excellent staff. International as well as local research has demonstrated the role that psychometric assessment can play in significantly improving the selection process for both new entrants and internal promotions. Effective psychometric assessment can also play a key role in staff development processes – an important challenge presently facing EastWest Banking Corporation.
Given the high costs of staff turnover and the heightened importance of identifying key staff, proper psychometric assessment can make a major contribution to human resource management in EastWest Banking Corporation. In line with the aforementioned statements, the researcher chose to do the study for the reason that in doing so; it will help the researcher have a clearer picture of the company’s utility of the psychometric reports and as to what skills or attributes do they consider in the rank and file position.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND To add further on the definition of psychological assessment: Burden (1996) defines it as the process of collection of data, usually by a psychologist, with specific purposes in mind. Purposes may include making decisions about placement, diagnosis, referral, planning and empowerment. Owen and Taljaard (1996) state that psychological assessment has to be done carefully under three basic concepts. This aspect of psychological assessment is being addressed under three headings namely: principles, application and lastly, issues.
Owen and Taljaard (1996) are of the opinion that the construction of an instrument used to collect data requires careful planning. He argues that attention should be given to a variety of things. These include the purpose of the assessment tool, content, kind of items, procedure and methods of data collection and processing. Owen and Taljaard (1996) further claim that consideration should be borne in mind as to what the assessment tool to be constructed aims to measure. Does it assess aptitude, achievement, personality attitude and or interest? It should also be considered whether it is meant for school children or adults, applicants and whether those to be assessed must have a certain educational level.
For Thorndike, Cunningham, Thorndike and Hagen (1991) validity refers to whether an assessment tool measures accurately what it is supposed to measure. For them, no matter how carefully the assessment tool has been constructed, if it does not measure what it ought to, it does not fulfil its aims and is thus worthless to the user. They stress that validity is the absolute essential component of an assessment tool.
Thorndike et al (1991) describe reliability of a test as the degree of accuracy and consistency with which the test measures in repeated administrations. In other words, for an assessment tool to be viewed as being reliable, it has to yield the same results consistently if administered repeatedly over the same learner who is assessed.
Beyond concerns of validity and reliability, any professional who uses educational, psychological, or other types of tests must be aware of any sources of error and bias that might exist. Since “bias is a factor inherent within a test that systematically prevents accurate, impartial measurement” (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2001, p. 179), it is essential to eliminate as much potential and actual bias as possible before the results of the test can be utilized effectively. The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999) has written standards of practice with reference to eliminating possible error and bias in testing. The committee identified several different areas that need to be carefully examined by administrators. These areas cover bias both inside and outside of a test and test situation:
• Construct irrelevant components—those items that may lower or higher scores for different groups of examinees.
• Content related—those items, especially in educational testing, which discuss how well a given test covers the domain and whether that domain is appropriate. How clear the questions and instructions are written. The type of response necessary from the test taker, i.e. essay, short answer, bubble, etc.
• Testwiseness—those issues relating to the familiarity with skills to take a test, answer questions in a timely manner, and ability to guess well on questions the test taker does not know.
• Equitable treatment of test takers—those issues that are concerned with fair treatment of all test takers by the administrator.
• Testing environment—those aspects related to the physical test environment, such as temperature, comfort level, noise, etc.
• Perceived relationship between test taker and administrator—aspects related to how test administrator and test taker relate during the evaluation period.
• State of test taker—emotional, physical, mental condition of the test taker.
Even if all test biases can be limited to a hypercritical point, the psychologist must still consider the possible sources of error in the interpretation of scores or responses on any given evaluation. Raters may be too lenient in their scoring, known as leniency error, may take an extreme negative attitude, severity error, may fail to give any extreme scores causing the test taker’s scores to center in the continuum, central tendency error, or may “see” the ratee in an excessively positive manner, causing the scores to be unnaturally skewed, halo effect (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2002, p.181-182).
In addition to the many sources of error in construction, development, implementation, scoring, interpretation, and application, psychologists must utilize a number of different psychometric tools in order to assess clients in a wide spectrum of areas. Different aspects psychologists may need to assess are intelligence (including achievement tests and aptitude tests), personality (including behavioral aspects), and neuropsychological mental status. The assessment of these areas differs greatly with regard to the specific design of tools, approach to assessment, testing environment, data collection, and interpretation of client information. The variety and style of tests and assessments is as varied as the human condition. The choice of which test to use in any given situation depends upon a number of criteria including the purpose of assessment, time available, monetary cost, or level of diagnosis.
While the immediate causes of test use may include a variety of factors internal and external to the company, the adoption of formal tests for selection rests on the belief that they provide reliable and valid information about a variety of relevant characteristics. Do the tests predict job performance i.e. do those who score well in psychometric tests go on to do well in the job? There is compelling evidence from the research literature that cognitive ability tests are successful in predicting performance. There is a long history of investigation of this topic amongst psychologists and a great deal of evidence had accumulated on the predictive power of measures of general intelligence, for example in Ghiselli’s (1966) well-known study. However, until about twenty-five or thirty years ago there was an apparent tendency for different measures to vary enormously in their predictive power, implying that the validity of a given measure was highly sector and indeed firm specific. This perception has now changed due largely to the work of Schmidt and Hunter (1998) who conducted meta-analytic studies which demonstrated the underlying consistency in this set of work. Schmidt and Hunter showed that the apparent variability was in fact largely the result of sampling error (deriving from small sample sizes) along with a number of other measurement artefacts. Cognitive tests were confirmed as good predictors of performance across a very broad range of jobs.
The predictive validity of personality testing is more controversial. There has been a good deal of debate about whether personality measures are valid predictors, with some commentators suggesting that reported correlations in this field could be of little value, or even entirely spurious (Blinkhorn and Johnson, 1990). Meta-analysis has given some support to the use of personality tests in recruitment and selection. Tett et al (1991) conducted a meta-analytic review of 494 studies in this field, and found significant correlations between personality scales and measures of job performance. Unlike the case of cognitive ability measures, however, there is no unifying ‘g’ factor for personality measures, so that careful attention has to be paid to the relevant characteristics for each type of job. Indeed Tett et al found that studies which were ‘confirmatory’ i.e. had clear prior hypotheses about the traits likely to be relevant for particular occupations obtained much higher validities than studies which were ‘exploratory’ or data-driven. Studies that made use of job analysis so as to be clear about which characteristics were required for the job also obtained higher validities than those which made no use of job analysis. Cook (1997) is of the opinion that psychometric tests are still sometimes used by people who are not well informed about the issues of measurement and bias. He refers to the fact that the task of the profession is made more difficult by a lack of sophistication among users in the field. According to him, contrary to what was found in the present study, it is clear that tests are still used by some people without a deep understanding of the nature of assessment and the problems associated with it. Under these conditions, information and general education in terms of testing, seem to be the most efficient way of action. Gregoire (1999) mentioned that academic education, continuing education, as well as more publications on test and assessment methods, will raise the competency level on testing and will improve the quality of actions in the professional field – undoubtedly a very important goal in this regard.
According to Cook (1997), provided the issue of bias can be dealt with, psychometric tests offer an inexpensive and time-efficient solution. However, work will have to be done with regard to test construction, validation research and norm collection, the training of test users, and marketing the concept of testing –especially with unions. If employers are not to lose the utility which ability testing provides, they will have to support research efforts to validate the newer testing products and promote an extensive education campaign to convince opinion makers that testing is not unfairly discriminatory. Whilst bias can be addressed in research, the issue of fairness remains a political issue which can only be addressed at the political level.
According to Huysamen (1996), one of the major stumbling blocks regarding the use of psychometric tests, stems from the complexity of creating tests which may be used across a diversity of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Of major concern are the implications of possible discrimination and therefore many of the organizations in the present study are presently working towards the validation of tests in their own work environments. Based on the frequently expressed needs for culture-fair tests by the representatives of these organizations, it appears that they are aware of the importance to try and implement fair and equal treatment to all individuals.
Muniz, Prieto, Almeida and Bartram (1999) studied thesituation of test construction and test use in Spanish-speakingand Portuguese-speaking countries. They found thetranslation and adaptation of tests to be an especially relevantproblem. According to them, the commonest problems in the practice of tests were: failure to respect the copyright of the test, use of tests inappropriate to the case, use of out-of-date tests, and failure to check interpretations of tests with other colleagues.
Chan, Drasgow and Sawin (1999) found with their research that time has an effect on the effectiveness of psychological items and tests. They found that certain types of cognitive ability measures are more susceptible to the effects of time than others. They also warned that test developers and test users should pay attention to the shelf life of their tests –especially large scale and well-established non-cognitive measures, such as inter alia the 16 PF. According to them, it is possible that over time such measures may be less stable than cognitive measures. Although this regular updating of test material might be regarded by some as very idealistic, the negative implications of not adhering to these guidelines, must not be underestimated. With regard to personality tests, Cook (1997) is of the opinion that the difficulty of designing a questionnaire which is applicable across the cultural and linguistic range of candidates, appears to be insurmountable. He suggested that what could work well and would be defensible in court, would be to identify specific attributes that are demonstrably job-related, then use an instrument which can be shown to measure that specific attribute with reasonable validity across groups. This, he said, would be easier to establish than validating a personality test as a whole. He therefore recommended that personality tests should only be used for selection purposes where the job requirements clearly indicate specific traits measured by the test, and then only in conjunction with other information.
Intelligence and Personality Tests
Tests designed to measure intelligence take varied forms dependent upon the test creator’s theory of intelligence (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2002). While there are literally hundreds of intelligence tests available, several have taken the spotlight in recent times. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SB:FE) is considered a sound, reliable, and valid measure of overall general ability (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2002). Recently, however, its use has declined significantly by practitioners due to the ease and comprehensiveness of the Wechsler tests.
The Wechsler tests are perhaps the most widely used intelligence assessments. This may be due to the ease of administration, exceptionally good reliability and validity coefficients, and the fact that because so much research has been done on these tests, psychologists consider them extremely reliable. Many other types of intelligence assessments are available. “The Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence test focuses on fluid and crystallized intelligence while also assessing immediate and intermediate-term memory” (Daniel, 1997). A popular intelligence test in school settings is the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised. This test has been called a thorough implementation of a multifactor model, assessing seven dimensions of ability (Daniel, 1997).
Measures of personality can be divided into two distinct categories: Objective and Projective. Objective measures contain short answer items where the assessee selects one response from two or more answers (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2002). The respondent’s pattern of responses is measured and interpreted in order to measure the strength or absence of a given personality trait or state. Objective measures may be administered by computer or paper-and-pencil, and scored easily by either a computer or template. Generally objective measures are quick, cheap, and beneficial for preliminary identification of personality factors. However, objective measures have distinct disadvantages such as the test taker “faking” good or bad in order to impart a certain picture of themselves to the assessor for various reasons.
Personality tests can be subjective as well as objective. Subjective measures require the assessee to make a judgment on a particular piece of unstructured stimuli; of which the assessor then uses the information given to discover personality aspects (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2002). The advantage of projective measures is their flexibility. Masling (1997) has written specifically on the ability of projective measures to predict long-term behavior more efficiently than objective tests. The Rorschach Inkblot Test may be the most widely recognized icon of psychology. This controversial personality test uses inkblots smashed on white cards as the unstructured stimuli. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a collection of 31 cards, one blank, illustrating human situations. Both tests require the assessee to project responses, which are written down verbatim by the assessor. The responses as well as body language are then analyzed to determine personality aspects.
Applications of psychological assessment
Growth in test use seems to have taken off at some point in the 1980s. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, researchers were beginning to discern substantial shifts in companies’ selection techniques. Shackleton and Newell (1991), comparing their survey results with those of Mabey five years previously, reported what they felt was an encouraging trend towards higher proportions of companies making use of more reliable and valid methods of selection. Since then surveys have continued to suggest that more organizations have adopted psychological testing. In the main, it is large organizations which have chosen to use tests. Psychometric testing is not unknown in smaller organizations, but they tend to be deterred by the costs of the tests and the low numbers of vacancies which they have. There are now a wide range of tests on the market, and new products are being introduced all the time. These may be completely new products , or up-dates of well-established tests. Some tests measure broad skills while others are more narrowly focused on particular occupations, whether managerial, technical, or manual. There are tests of cognitive ability, literacy and numeracy skills, as well as personality questionnaires designed to assess softer, people-oriented competencies.
Foxcroft (1997) suggests that tests used in combination with information gathered from other sources, enhance decision making during psychological assessment. She claims that demographic information and psychological assessment results could assist in the development of fair and unbiased decisions. Foxcroft (1997) further argues that during the application of a test, test users should combine them with interviews for admission and job selection. She states that test results gain in meaning and relevance when they are integrated with information gathered from other sources. She seems to be of an opinion that the application of a psychological assessment and its results become more meaningful if and when they are reflected against the total past and present context of the learner being assessed. Assessment has a potential to create some levels of stress and anxiety in the person being assessed. This should also be observed and considered when applying and interpreting test scores.
Moreover, psychological testing has found a valuable place in selecting and retaining employees. Psychological tests measure a variety of characteristics and traits, including personality. Ultimately, they are used to match a person's capacities and qualifying characteristics to a job within an organization. Other than employee selection, testing accommodates the retention of employees through assessing their abilities and performance along with other important information. Although ethical issues exist, many types of psychological testing is both valid and reliable and a benefit for both the prospective or current employee and the organization when used appropriately (Spector, 2008).
In addition, Allen (2001) states that psychological testing and assessment is the best selection approach. According to Allen, all organizations have to be concerned with employee performance. He stated that the benefits of selecting employees who can learn quickly and perform expectations are obvious. For him, selection is without doubt one of the most powerful tools available to achieve these productivity increases. Specifically, he feels that there is no magical test, interview technique, background check or experience requirement to insure that every pick will be a winner. As such, he stated that there is only a choice of scientific methods and procedures designed to reduce the risk of a bad hire. Hence, it is psychological testing and assessment that should be considered most effective to implement selection in which better performances of can be expected. Further, it is clear that through psychological testing, particular skills such as leadership competencies can be identified considering that one of the most important contributions psychology has made to the field of business has been in determining the key traits of acknowledged leaders. Psychological tests surely have been used to determine what characteristics are most commonly noted among successful leaders.
On another vein, the result of the psychological testing gives light to the employers as to what personality skills are present to prospective employees. Every employer is looking for a specific set of skills and work behaviors that match the factors necessary to perform a particular job. But beyond these job-specific personality and skills, certain work skills are nearly universally sought by employers (Hansen, 1996). Employers want evidence that a candidate is already strong in the personality and skills deemed critical for a particular job. This is because it is difficult to improve people’s personality skills through training (Washington, 2004).
Psychometric assessments help people understand and predict behavior. They are scientifically designed to provide a standardized measure of a candidate’s general intellectual ability, work competencies and personality traits. Employees vary widely in their productivity and psychometric assessments can help predict these differences. Using psychometric assessments can help organizations improve business performance through the identification and selection of effective employees. By distinguishing which candidates have the characteristics necessary to be successful, organizations can increase performance while decreasing training costs and employee turnover. While there are many different tests available, they can generally be classified into two broad types: ability and personality (Bakker, 2006).
Owen (1998) made comments on debates around psychological assessment in companies. He stated that there are conflicting views on it. He maintains that psychological assessment has “ardent supporters and equally fervent opponents” (Owen, 1998, p. 10). He highlights these conflicting views by stating that “Many people are opposed to measurement and evaluation, yet at the same time favour excellence, which is facilitated by and can be identified only through measurement and evaluation” (Owen, 1998: p. 10). Owen (1998) is of a notion that the negative aspects of psychological assessment should be carefully weighed against that, which is to be gained by its careful practice. It should also be borne in mind that psychological assessment gives no answers, but merely provides relevant information so that sounder conclusions may follow. However, misconceptions regarding its use and interpretation hamper the utility of standardized assessment tools. Nonetheless, it has a significant role to play today and in the future. He further claims that it has many valid uses and when used correctly, can provide invaluable information. Burden’s (1996) sentiments should also be reiterated when he states that psychological assessment associated with opportunities has great merits. Attributes by Hopkins and Stanley in Owen (1998) hit the nail on the head: “…people are opposed to measurement and evaluation, yet at the same time favour excellence, which is facilitated by and can be identified only through assessment” (Owen, 1998: p. 10). There should therefore, be a strife for the (unbiased and fair) use of psychological assessment.
Burden in Engelbrecht et al (1992) claims that internationally, psychological assessment is undergoing considerable soul-searching and a radical departure from traditional paradigms. He maintains that its goals are being examined. In addition, psychological assessment is being viewed in relation to the values and ideological stances that it represents. He further stresses that the efficacy of its techniques is being reassessed in respect of special needs and some guidelines are being established for meeting them.
Indeed, work place assessment is a growing trend with large companies. Selection of employees that are best suited and capable of performing certain duties is important to companies that wish to maintain a productive and safe working environment. To many companies, assessment of aptitude, physical ability, motivation, personality, and organizational and leadership skills makes business sense because of the value of future potential predictors of efficiency, growth, productivity, motivation, and satisfaction (Joint Committee on Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, 1999).
The suitability of a psychological test for a group that did not form part of the standardization group, has become a major issue. Attention should be paid to the fair use of tests, otherwise this may lead to what Owen (1992) refers to as test bias. He explains test bias as any one of a number of factors that cause test scores to be consistently higher or lower than they would be if measurement were more accurate. These factors, according to Foxcroft and Roodt (2001), include culture, language, the quality of school education and socio-economic status. For Foxcroft et al (2004), psychological assessments can be useful if they are used in combination with other methods. Another claim that they highlight is that psychological assessment results provide a wealth of information in a short space of time. They however caution against relying on test data only. An argument put forward is that if practitioners follow good psychological assessment practices, they will not use psychological tests in isolation. But they would utilise them in conjunction with interviewing, reference checking and clinical insight. This would be to ensure that the requirements and objectives of the assessment are met. According to them, results should also never be evaluated in isolation. They further argue that together with other methods, psychological assessments provide a picture of the individual learner. When an instrument is well-designed, well-researched and relevantly applied, “valid predictions can be made and an indication can be obtained of the probability of success” (Foxcroft et al, 2004: p. 107

Survey of Related Literature
In Ancient Greece, the word “psyche” integrated the essence of an individual and their physical being, their life spirit and soul, their heart, their personhood, as well as their spirit after death (Morwood and Taylor 2002). According to Kline, the etymological definition of psychometrics is “measuring the soul” and explicates that it can be understood as “the study of individual differences”. There is much literature on the development of the theories of personality, and the history of personality profiling, from the late 19th century onwards.
One of the leading psychometric tests is the MBTI, which is based on Jung’s theory of personality. Jung rejected Freud’s view that trauma at a young age led to neurosis: for him these neuroses were more to do with archetypes, a synthesis of what had occurred, rather than Freud’s “reductive” approach which focused on the initial event itself (Casement, in Wiley 1996 p. 85). Jung’s work on psychological types, published in 1921, particularly in relation to the attitudes of introversion and extraversion, has carried through to the present day (Nelson-Jones 2006 p. 53). Theories of personality were also being developed by trait theorists such as Gordon W.Allport. Later, Hans Eysenck and Raymond Cattell developed their factor-analytic theories of personality traits, namely the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor Test (16PF). Kline (1993 p. 454) describes the EPQ as a “benchmark” personality test and considers that Cattell’s research into factor analysis methods is “superlative” (Kline 1993 p. 474). This area of the literature is significant in establishing that psychometric tests did not develop simply in isolation. Rather, they evolved organically alongside the heightened interest in understanding and developing theories of personality at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Given the differences of opinion of even the early theorists, it is perhaps unsurprising that there are now so many different varieties of psychometric tests which measure personality.
The literature reveals a considerable amount of evidence regarding the application of psychometric tests in business settings. Correspondingly, there would appear to be many and varied factors as to why psychometric tests are used in the industry. It may be straightly linked to simple economics: to improve a company’s competitive edge; increase profits, develop better HR strategies (Williams and Dobson 1997; Jenkins 2001). However, the administration of psychometric tests may not always achieve the desired result if they are incorrectly applied (McDonald and Edwards 2007).
On another vein, there are still a number of organizations that struggle with consistently finding and hiring successful employees. Often, they do not know if the person hired will work out until they have been on the job for a while. Hence, in order to make better selection decisions, organizations use a variety of methods, including application forms, interviews, reference checks, and increasingly, psychometric assessments. More so, psychometric assessments help people understand and predict behavior. They are scientifically designed to provide a standardized measure of candidates’ abilities, competencies, and personality traits. Considering that employees vary widely in their productivity, psychometric assessments can predict these differences. By identifying the candidates that have the characteristics necessary to be successful, organizations can increase performance, while decreasing training costs and employee turnover (Bakker, 2007).

Personality Assessments in the Field of Business
Personality assessments have been used by individuals and psychologists for years to help them understand how a person is likely to act, or react, and how that person can more effectively interact with others. The use of personality assessments in the workplace is on the rise. These assessments can provide HR professionals with insight into an employee’s professional self. Personality assessments are generally used to understand the connection between people’s personalities and their performance. While personality assessments are intended to measure personality traits, personal styles and behavioral inclinations, not work performance, these assessments can be used to explore how a person may perform in the workplace in certain situations (Birkman, 2007). According to McHenry, when you measure personality, you can predict how people are likely toperform at work and in teams, and where they will need most management support. You can gauge career ‘headroom’ and potential for growth, as well as prevent rising stars from ‘de-railing’. At a senior level, you can coach executives to high performance and build resilience. It boils down to this: if you know more about human variables, you can manage risk and optimize talent.

Benefits of Psychometric Testing in Business Settings
More and more employers are seeing the advantages of psychometric testing during the hiring process. With the current influx of applicants in the job market, employers and companies are looking for more cost and time efficient techniques to speed along the hiring process. The personality assessments are perfect for determining who would be most compatible with others and with the desired position amongst all the applicants. The results of the ability and aptitude assessment will show the employers which of the applicants is most able or has the greatest capacity to perform the particular task or job.
Employment assessments can be a cost effective way to pare down the applicant pool. They make the decision process more efficient because less time is spent with individuals whose characteristics, skills, and abilities do not match what is needed. Choosing the wrong candidates is also very costly in terms of training, errors made by a poor performer, and turnover (Bakker, 2007). Investing in pre-employment assessments quickly pays for itself by reducing the number of poor hiring decisions.
According to the Vantage Human Capital, a recruitment specialist and a consulting firm, psychometric testing allows you to measure and analyze specific information that may otherwise be very difficult, or time consuming to accurately gauge. For example, if you know from past experience that the most successful candidates for your role have been highly intelligent, it makes sense to consider intelligence as a fairly important selection criterion. An IQ test will accurately measure intelligence, although as an interviewer you may get a ‘feel’ for how intelligent a subject is your views are based upon your own perceptions and observations, there is a possibility that you could over, or underestimate a candidate’s intelligence. If you are using a credible testing method you can be assured that the results are an accurate indicator of the candidate’s ability or potential without relying on guesswork or intuition.
Furthermore, psychometric tests can be a cost-effective way to pare down the applicant pool. Tests can make the decision process more efficient because less time is spent with individuals whose characteristics, skills and abilities do not match what is needed. However, some tests require more time up front with individuals to determine who is and who isn’t qualified. In these cases, tests can still result in savings from not training and compensating individuals whose productivity would be low or who would not remain on the job. Choosing the wrong candidate can be very costly in terms of training, errors made by a poor performer as well as turnover. Investing in testing can be a particularly worthwhile endeavor if it reduces the number of wrong hiring decisions (Bakker, 2006).
With the recruitment and training process being expensive, psychometric assessment are designed to assist the employer gauge whether or not a candidate's skills and behavioral style makes them suitable for a specific role. The tests can reveal, with a great deal of accuracy, information about the applicant's suitability. Organization should however not use psychometric assessments in isolation for their decisions given that the assessment only reflects the candidate's performance on that given day.
Faced with an increasingly competitive business environment, many employers are turning to employment testing as a way to improve their workforces. In a recent survey, forty percent of Fortune 100 companies indicated that their employment selection systems included some form of psychological testing. A similar survey by the American Management Association showed that forty-four percent of its responding members used testing to select employees. While cognitive ability tests continue to be the most commonly used form of psychological testing in the workplace, personality tests are being used more and more frequently (Shaffer & Schmidt, 1999). As a matter of fact, psychological testing in the Philippines is also flourishing. Nowadays, a number of companies in the country such as Rustan Commercial Corporation, ABS-CBN Corporation, Philippine Mining Service Corporation, and other small and medium enterprises are seeing the benefits of having such testing in their prospective and current employees. Similarly, the practice of psychometric testing in various companies in the country is strengthened by the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009 or the Republic Act No. 100029 which regulates the practice of Psychology wherein a professional regulatory board of psychology will be created. This particular act involves the need for those who conduct and interpret psychological tests to undergo a licensure examination.
Reliability and Validity of Tests
Whereas reliability concerns the accuracy with which an instrument measures something, validity is concerned with what is being measured. The two are related because before we can talk about what we are measuring we must have a reliable measure of it - because of this validity depends on reliability (Healy, 2011).
The notion of validity is more difficult to get to grips with than that of reliability, the British Psychological Society has defined it thus: Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure - the extent to which it is possible to make appropriate inferences from the test scores (BPS Steering Committee on Test Standards).
A principal reason for the growth in psychometric tests’ use in the corporate world is that results of professionally developed tests are more reliable and accurate assessments of human capabilities and behavior than those based on the observation of individuals alone, however well informed or insightful those observations might be. Psychometric testing is an accurate and reliable method of selection. Correspondingly, psychometric tests need to be both reliable - that is to say that whatever they measure, they do it with accuracy and precision - and valid, which means that the test fulfills its objectives and measures what it purports to. They also need to be standardized. Being standardized means that the test has been used on a wide population sample against which subsequent respondents' results can be compared. This comparative measure enables detailed and accurate predictions to be made from the test results about a person's likely responses to and behaviour in a variety of different situations - for example in a new job (Maxwell, 2011).
Using standardized tools ensures candidates are treated objectively by gathering the same information on each one. The standardized tests prevent subjective biases from creeping into hiring decisions. More so, choosing the right test is the trickiest, and most important, step in using psychometric assessments. A recruiter needs to know what she is looking for in terms of the required knowledge, skills, and traits for the position. If she is hiring an accountant she might need someone who pays close attention to detail and has good math skills. If she is hiring a salesperson she might want someone who is outgoing, enjoys helping people and has a high level of stress tolerance.
Once the recruiter knows what it takes for a person to be successful on the job, she can search for tests that measure those traits and abilities (Bakker, 2006).

Effectiveness of Psychometric Testing

According to Owen and Taljaard (1996), it appears that psychometric tests can contribute to the efficiency of selection and placement in industry, if used carefully and responsibly. Freidenberg (1995) referred to research which compared different selection procedures (application forms, letters of reference, interviews, testing) and confirmed that although each technique has its own merits, standardized tests are the most psychometrically sound.
Moerdyk, in an article by Mittner (1998), also mentioned that if psychometric tests are handled with insight and sensitivity, they remain the most effective way of predicting behavior. Kemp (1999) said that tests are an aid in the selection process and if used properly, supply invaluable information which is not easily gleaned in interviews. According to Van der Walt (1998), experience has proved that tests are generally much more reliable and more valid than other techniques. Van der Walt (1998) also mentioned that studies in trade and industry have indicated that psychometric tests are about four times more effective than screening interviews.

Related Studies

To assure that the present study is not a duplication of any researches, some studies that are related to the study are presented below:
The Krispy Kreme HR team was under pressure to identify new staff who could work within a changing environment whilst maintaining the company’s standards in delivering consistent quality service across all stores. Krispy Kreme found that this was a challenge at all levels of staffing from the store manager right through to customer service and operations staff. As well as recruiting good retail staff, Krispy Kreme wanted to select staff who would fit with the Krispy Kreme culture.
To give a solution to their concern, Krispy Kreme was introduced to a series of psychometric assessments including a customer service questionnaire, an occupational personality questionnaire (OPQ32) and assessment centres, which involve candidates undertaking simulation exercises and group testing. Test and questionnaire report outputs were presented in Krispy Kreme’s ‘language’ and reflected the organization’s culture.
As a result, Krispy Kreme’s managers were ‘sold’ on psychometric assessment when they saw first-hand how effectively it helped identify staff more likely to succeed in its work environment. After that, Krispy Kreme estimates that psychometric assessment has reduced the rate of unsuccessful hires by 50 percent and management attrition is under 10 percent.
The new process has saved the company in hard costs as well as reduced the amount of time spent by managers in recruiting and selecting staff. Krispy Kreme now has plans to roll out psychometric assessment programs throughout the organization.

Statement of the Problem This study seeks to explore Eastwest Banking Corporation’s treatment of the psychometric reports towards selection processing with the intention of proposing an intervention program for a better understanding of the psychometric data. The following questions will serve as guideposts in the conduct of the study: 1. What standardized psychometric tests are being utilized in the selection process? 2. What are the factors that affect the recruitment officer and human resource head’s treatment of the psychometric reports? 3. What skills or attributes in the psychometric data do the recruitment officer and human resource head consider most for the rank and file position? 4. How many percent of those who passed the psychological tests have been accepted by the company based on the following conditions: 1.1 minimally recommended; 1.2 minimally to moderately recommended; 1.3 moderately recommended; 1.4 moderately to highly recommended; 1.5 highly recommended; 5. Based on the findings of the study, what schemes can be proposed to better the EastWest Banking Corporation’s understanding of the psychometric data?

Significance of the Study

This section will provide a brief description on the various implications of the study: The proposed study will help the management and the Human Resource Department to have a clearer picture on the benefits of conducting psychological testing on their recruitment and promotion process. This will also allow them to understand that psychological testing will aid them in screening competent employees considering that there is much competition in the industrial world nowadays. Further, through this study, they will clearly understand that their treatment of the psychological reports is very crucial to the stability of the company in the long run.

This study will enable the tests providers to appreciate the beauty of their field and the contribution that it offers in the various facets especially in the business industry. This will allow the professionals on this field to enhance their expertise more by broadening their knowledge on the area of assessment.

This study will empower the students in the field of psychology to grasp the idea that the psychometric discipline is flourishing. For that reason, they will try to study better in order for them to acquire the proficiency to handle such kind of work in the future. It will also encourage them to further their study after completing their undergraduate degree.

This study will stimulate teachers/professors in the field of psychology to broaden their knowledge on the area of assessment in order for them to provide a more beneficial contribution to the people who aim to have a grip on such area. Their improved knowledge will also contribute to the stability of such field.

RESEARCH DESIGN
Research Environment
Figure 1 The Company
Figure 1 The Company
The other company wherein the research would be conducted is the EastWest Bank. The establishment was created on July 6, 1994 as the Philippines' thirty-fourth commercial bank. It

Figure 1 The Company

Figure 1 The Company was on that date that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas granted EastWest Bank its commercial banking license. Backed-up by the Filinvest Group of Companies, EastWest Bank opened to the public along Senator Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati on August 1, 1994.

Figure 2 The EastWest Banking Corporation Map
Figure 2 The EastWest Banking Corporation Map
EastWest Bank has developed its online banking facilities and has embarked on a full computerization program for a more efficient system to deliver bank products and services. It moved to its present headquarters at the 20th floor of PBCom Tower in November 2001.
In 2004, the Bank received the prestigious Best Website Award in the Banking and Finance category of the 7th Philippine Web Awards, the most coveted award in the field of web design.
EastWest Bank has a network of 129 branches and 145 ATM terminals, this after the merger with the former AIG Philam Savings Bank. The merger resulted in EastWest Bank becoming the sixth largest lender for housing, auto and credit cards in the country.
EastWest Bank joined the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 7, 2012. The bank was later on granted a universal banking license on July 31, 2012.

Sampling Techniques
A non-probability sampling technique specifically the purposive sampling will be used in this study. This will enable the researcher to examine the specific details that are of significance to the research from which are gathered from the most suitable people that will be selected.

Research Subjects The respondents of the study will be the recruitment officers and the human resources supervisor/manager/director of Rustans Commercial Corporation and EastWest Banking Corporation. They are regular employees of the said establishments and have weighty functions on the treatment of psychometric reports in consonance with the recruitments and promotions in their respective companies. Moreover, in order to smooth the progress of data gathering and validation, the respondents will be divided into two categories.

Table 1
Categories of Respondents Category | Position | A | Recruitment Officers | B | Human Resources Head |

Research Instruments The following tools will be used in order to get hold of the imperative data for the research: A semi-structured interview will be implemented amongst the respondents in order to allow them to talk freely about the various details that will be significant to the study. This tool will also enable the researcher to widen the discussions of the research that are particularly in line with the topic that will be delved into. Additionally, the researcher will develop a questionnaire that would determine and quantify the factors in the psychometric data that are deemed to be essential in a the rank and file position.

Validation Techniques
The questionnaires as well as the semi-structured interview process will be examined and verified by the other human resources practitioners that are also utilizing psychometric procedures in their recruitment in order to come up with a clear-cut process of the actual discussion with the respondents. Correspondingly, the results will be used to have a gauge of the validity of the findings.

Data Gathering Procedures The researcher will inform and ask permission to the human resources head of EastWest Banking Corporation with regards to their part on the study that the researcher wants to push through. A letter of consent for an interview and involvement to the study will be given to the respondents in order to come up with a formal research process. Additionally, the researcher will make sure that the respondents will understand that their participation to the study is voluntary. Confidentiality on the information that they will disclose will be ensured except for those that they will allow to share in public.

Data Analysis
Three main analysis techniques will be used: Descriptive statistics for the quantitative questionnaire. Thematic content analysis will be used for the qualitative responses from the focus groups so as to make sense of the data that will be obtained from the questionnaire. Methodological triangulation will then be used in this study for the overall analysis. This entails the consolidation of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Patton (2002) states that data triangulation involves comparing and cross-checking the consistency of data from different sources at different times using different means. As this will be a mix study using both quantitative as well as qualitative methods, data triangulation will be used to interpret the findings from the two sets of data in order to determine exactly how psychological assessments are being used currently within the organization.