The Skills Gap Paradox: Discovering your employees' untapped potential
Discovering Talent and Potential
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Transcript of Discovering Talent and Potential
Copyright :Cognadev UK Ltd Discovering Talent and Potential
Dr Maretha Prinsloo
Discovering Talent and Potential
The future of assessment
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Demands on assessment:
dynamic complexity integrated and contextualised nature of human
functioning collective consciousness & the evolution of
consciousness ethical considerations societal needs technology theoretical trends
The future of assessment
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The future of assessment
Thus much room for improvement of current assessment methodologies
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Psychometrics criticised for:
little innovation commercial viability
“We have a relatively stable, mature, market consisting of a few standard assessment formats … which are liberally branded by a variety of companies. These tests barely differ in content, accuracy, or utility; they differ solely in
terms of their marketing.” (Barrett, 2011)
Barrett regards conventional psychometrics as a “pathology of science”
Discovering Talent and Potential
The future of assessment
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Psychometrics:
• use of limited experimental designs
• weak quantification
• weaker assessment methodologies
• causal inference based on correlational models
Discovering Talent and Potential
The future of assessment
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Research focus on:
• the number of constructs • the level at which these are to be conceptualized • the structure of the model (single, multiple,
hierarchical, facet, phases, interactive, cube, overlapping , linear-causal, quadrants…)
• the statistical methods to be used (correlations or correlations)
• the constructs e.g. IQ, personality and EQ• researched via individual differences
Discovering Talent and Potential
The future of assessment
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The Scientific status of Psychology
• explanatory sciences • descriptive sciences• speculative sciences
These fields are characterized by differences in:
• ontology (entities / object of study) • epistemology (how we get to know) • methodology (investigative techniques)
Discovering Talent and Potential
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Psychology: a descriptive science with a weak rational basis and only
some empirical grounding
David Freedman (1991), a mathematician, recommends a “low-tech” approach which “relies on intimate knowledge of the subject matter and a meticulous research design …”
“Simplicity after complexity” given robust design and rigour
Discovering Talent and Potential
The future of assessment
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Why do we want to test
• commercial viability
• statistical challenges posed
• pragmatic considerations of HR
• clinical applications
• educational development
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The future of assessment
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The future of assessment
The future of assessment:
- Constructs - Methodology
- Innovation - Dynamic modeling
- Integration - Contextualisation
- Internet - Statistics
- Effectiveness of assessment - Legal & ethical
- Practical utility - International collaboration
- Psychophysiological
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Future constructs:
• Intelligence → cognitive processing → wisdom → intuition
• Personality assessment → motivation → consciousness
• Integrity → compassion• Leadership → intention
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Future methodology
Statistics not well suited to Psychology
Johnson (1936): "Those data should be measured which can be measured; those which cannot be measured should be treated otherwise.”
“Statistics has failed to demonstrate the true structure of the attributes it is studying. … It has failed to understand the difference between quantity and quality as distinguishable modes of being”
(Grice, 2012)
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Statistics in Psychometrics:
• averages• group membership and category • bell curve (not for random data / qualitative
differences)• standard deviation• correlations • null hypotheses (no proof)
Discovering Talent and Potential
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Dilemma: meaning lost via testing and statistical analysis
Resulted in: devising more complex analytical techniques without reconsidering the fundamental premises
But, psychology operates in a subtle, complex, dynamic and interactive world, one that appears random because we don’t understand the dynamics involved
Although statistical inference has not served psychology that well, formal analysis of data is important in any science
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Statistics
“Substantive methodological synergies” (Marsh et al 2009)
integrating multilevel and structural equation approaches
to control measurement and sampling error
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A call for Innovation:
An approach which caters for the dynamic and complex nature of human functioning is required
• Brad Woods (2011): very little progress except for Observation Oriented
Modelling (OOM) – behaviour seen as goal directed and purposeful, not mechanical and responsive
• Barrett (2011, 2012): Innovations include: Cognitive Process Profile (CPP) Read et al’s (2010) neural net research in personality Gigerenzer and colleagues from the ABC group: "fast and
frugal heuristics”
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Dynamic modeling Move from broad generalizations into more
precisely modeling the individual
Not for psychometrics and statisticians, but for
“scientist-philosopher-heuristics specialists” (Barrett)
Consider technology platforms and business intelligence / rules for dynamic assessment
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Dynamic modeling • to capture the output of a "complex", self-
organizing, adaptive system• may require a new kind of systems-modeling• where trajectory mapping for an individual is the
goal • rather than "measurement" of psychological
attributes The issue is thus not "psychometrics - measurability", but the "outcome-consequences" of a dynamic complex system (Barrett, 2011)
Discovering Talent and Potential
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Dynamic modeling techniques:
Neural net applications and algorithmically based, “if-then” expert systems
• CPP • OOM
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Integration of study fields and constructs
Human functioning is integrated(physiological, emotional, motivational, psychological, spiritual and collective factors)
Holistic assessment practices Human functioning is contextualised Integration of disciplines (e.g. psychology & neurology /
sociology …) Integration of nomological networks of concepts
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Building of an integrated science
Across epistemologies: both emic (meaningful to actor) and etic (objective description) perspectives
Across disciplines
Across schools of psychology
Across constructs
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Contextualisation of assessment results
Human functioning involves individual, collective and contextual components Currently dealt with via:• competency approach• person-job-matching • situational judgement methodology
Challenge: cross-cultural bias
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Internet options and delivery
• Spread to a wider audience• The individual taking charge of own growth • Social networks• New functionalities e.g. alternative item
generation
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Ensuring the effectiveness of assessment
• Determining the actual value that tests add to the
user• Evidence of the utility of assessment is required to
guide investment in psychometric research and application
• But how to measure it• Maybe also systems modeling plus rigorous
evidence-base designs
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Ethical and legal implications
• Current pragmatic value of psychometrics • Benefits of the test subject: self-assessment and
self-development offerings, job applications• Feuerstein: assessment should have a
developmental impact• Cross-cultural bias and fairness• Addressing values of business leadership• Intellectual property challenges
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Practical utility of assessment
• Clinical purposes• Legal field• Moral-ethical matters• Optimising the man-machine interface • Advertising • Learning disabilities• Relationship counselling • Self-development
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International collaboration and group research
Barrett suggests large scale international academic collaboration
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Psychophysiological
Medical imaging to integrate functional and structural aspects of mental functioning
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Summary
• Theoretical integration• New constructs, models and nomological networks• New research methodologies (dynamic modeling)• New delivery mechanisms• New analytical techniques• New purposes• Contextualisation• Practical everyday uses• Ethical approach • Measurement of impact
Discovering Talent and Potential
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Conclusion
The psychometrics paradigm thus needs to make way for something more:• comprehensive • relevant • dynamic• purposeful
Discovering Talent and Potential
The future of assessment
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Thank you for your valuable time
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