What HermanCheckStart Measures

The HermanCheckStart Assessment^SM measures six work-related interpersonal competencies or personality traits. These competencies are :

Extroversion - This is a well established scale that at a high level reflects characteristics which include, being gregarious, outgoing behavior, being engaging, a propensity toward risk, the desire to talk rather than listen, and preferring to interact with others rather than be alone. At a low level, the scale indicates characteristics which include preferring to be and work alone, not engaging others, avoidance of risk, and being reserved.

Rules - Rules is a construct that was established to measure people's tendencies to observe and comply with rules, regulations, and established policies and procedures. The hypothesis that this construct follows is that persons who are high in rules-oriented behavior exhibit a conventional manner. They tend to be amenable to following established policies and procedures, and generally prefer a well ordered environment. Those individuals who are low in rules-oriented behavior exhibit traits which reflect innovation, a tendency to look for shortcuts in procedures, an ability to work with few guidelines, and a preference for minimal structure in the environment.

Assertiveness - Assertiveness is a well established psychological construct. It measures behavior at the high end of the scale, of those who are forthright, willing to speak their mind, face conflict and controversy, and take charge, among other things. The converse of these behaviors are reflected at the low end of the scale and include a submissive nature, a preference for following as opposed to leading, a tendency to avoid conflict, and a reluctance to state one's opinions directly.

Team - The team construct is a hypothesis that suggests that the high end of the scale, describes those persons who are primarily cooperative, put the needs of others before their own, value harmony, tend to be more fulfilled by engaging in consensus related activities, and consequently would be more team-oriented. The people described by the low end of the scale would tend to be extremely competitive, particularly on an individual basis. Such persons generally put their own needs first; prefer individual recognition; and often view their team members as either their audience or as competitors.

Organization - Another well recognized psychological construct, this measures on the high end, people who are planful, precise, orderly, punctual, and comfortable with details. On the low end, the Organization scale measures people who tend to be spontaneous, preferring little or no planning. They have a relaxed view of time, and tend to focus on the big picture rather than the details.

Sensitivity - This construct measures the traits which reflect immaturity, worry, anxiety, and tendencies to have generally inconsistent and negative moods. Sensitivity measured on the high end of this scale represents people whose emotions are subject to frequent external influences. The low end of this scale measures behavior that is characterized by stable moods, freedom from worry, lack of anxiety and apprehensiveness, and a generally positive outlook.

Social Desirability - The social desirability scale came into wide spread use in the late 1950's. At that time psychologists using 1st Generation assessment instruments were finding that candidates could manipulate their answers by analyzing the intent of questions. Candidates would readily choose those adjectives or phrases which they felt presented favorable descriptions of themselves. This caused a great deal of concern about the accuracy and the validity of those instruments. To protect the validity and accuracy, social desirability scales were developed. These have been variously known as "faking good/faking bad", "impression management", and measures of distortion. They are all basically checks which ensure that a person's report is reliable. It allows the users of the HermanCheckStart Assessmentª system to be confident that the report that they are reading reflects a true picture of the candidate.

General Reasoning - This measure of cognitive ability is a construct of several primary factors of intelligence, including verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, and spatial reasoning. This composite provides a broad assessment of the fluid intelligence or basic reasoning ability of an individual. This reflects the efficiency with which they deal with information. It is the basis for job-related abilities such as speed of learning, problem solving ability, logical thinking, and the ability to express ideas.