The Hogan Guide

The Hogan Guide

Interpretation and Use of Hogan Inventories

By Robert Hogan, Joyce Hogan, and Rodney Warrenfeltz
Hogan Assessment Systems, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9794448-2-1

Chapter 10
Hogan Performance Model

The material we have covered so far focuses on interpreting the inventories based on a person's score on one or more scales. This approach is effective when there are no other data involved or additional data simply provide contextual information for an interpretation. However, situations often arise in which inventory results are only one piece of a larger performance puzzle that requires integration. We developed the Hogan Performance Model for such situations. The model is essentially a heuristic that provides guidance when considering multiple data sources in relation to performance.

The model has three components. Attributes describe "why we do what we do." Competency Domains describe "what and how we do it." Job Performance represents the requirements necessary to be successful in a job. If you have assessment information on Attributes and Competency Domains, you can relate that information to job requirements. The following section illustrates the Hogan Performance Model (see Figure 1) with a brief description of each component.

Figure 1: Hogan Performance Model

Attributes

Attributes are concerned with "why people do what they do" and are best predicted by inventories that are capable of looking beyond a sample of behaviors to provide a description of broad, general trends in behavior that are rooted in reputation. If you will recall our discussion from Chapter 1, we made a distinction between reputation and identity. Reputation concerns what you do, while identity concerns why you do it. Our inventories are windows into a person's reputation, reflecting past behavior that has consistently been proven to be the best single predictor of future behavior. Directly measuring identity is difficult, if not impossible. However, by measuring reputation we provide an effective link between attributes (why you do what you do) and competency domains (what and how you do it).

Attributes can include personality characteristics, cognitive abilities, and motivational characteristics (see Figure 2). The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) and Hogan Development Survey (HDS) provide excellent measures of personality characteristics. A measure of critical thinking such as the Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory (HBRI) would be a good measure of cognitive abilities. Motivational characteristics speak to our wants, desires, and interests and are often founded in our values. The Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) will provide a good understanding of motivational characteristics. Understanding personality characteristics, cognitive abilities, and motivational characteristics is the foundation for understanding performance effectiveness. These attributes dictate "why you do what you do" and are usually quite enduring across a person's career.

Other data or assessment tools that purport to measure "signs" (as opposed to "samples") of behavior would group under the Attribute component of our model, as they largely try to explain "why you do what you do." This notion is quite important because there are more than 2,500 test vendors in the United States alone. They offer countless numbers of inventories, all purporting to measure some aspect of the Attributes component of our model. Furthermore, it is often the case that multiple inventories are used to measure similar things from a slightly different perspective and add little more than noise to the understanding of "why you do what you do."

There are two important things to consider when using data targeting the Attributes component. First, have the data sufficiently covered personality characteristics, cognitive abilities, and motivational characteristics? Second, to what extent do the data sources overlap or conflict in understanding "why you do what you do"? To the extent you can sort out the answers to these questions, you will, as they say, "be able to separate the wheat from the chaff" with respect to these data sources. For example, there is little point to including two measures of personality in a measurement process if both measures were developed to assess the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality. The measures would likely be highly correlated with one another and would produce little in the way of additional explanatory value, while increasing the cost and time of the assessment process. To reiterate, the key to measuring Attributes is to measure personality characteristics, cognitive abilities, and motivational characteristics as efficiently as possible.

Figure 2: Measuring Attributes

Competency Domains

Competency Domains are clusters of competencies that tend to go together. They are best measured using on-the-job behavioral examples, actual "samples" of behavior, or ratings of job behavior. For personnel selection, the most common methods for gathering this information are the job application, the résumé, and the job interview. Structured job interviews seem to yield the best results. However, certain types of bio-data have also proven to be quite useful. Once on the job, the most common way for competency data to be collected is through a multi-rater assessment. These assessments can take many forms, but their underlying features are relatively similar. Someone is asked to complete a rating or ratings on the person being assessed. These ratings address the performance of job behaviors in terms of proficiency or frequency.

Four domains capture most of the competencies that commonly occur in business (Hogan and Warrenfeltz, 2003). Business Skills include competencies that can be done on one's own and usually involve information processing. Leadership Skills include competencies used in managing others. Interpersonal Skills encompass competencies used in getting along with others. Finally, Intrapersonal Skills refer to self-regulatory competencies considered to be at the core of how one approaches any work assignment. The Competency Domains have an important developmental relationship to one another. Intrapersonal Skills develop early in life, followed by Interpersonal, Leadership, and Business Skills. The earlier in life a skill is developed, the more difficult it is to change. For example, it is much easier to develop problem-solving skills (Business Skills Domain) than work attitude (Intrapersonal Skills Domain). This distinction should be considered when choosing development targets. The following diagram (see Figure 3) illustrates the four Competency Domains with actual competencies aligned to them. As we will see in later chapters, the Competency Domains are quite robust and can be used to structure virtually any competency model.

Figure 3: Competency Domains

We have examined the relationships between the four domains and the scales on our inventories. These relationships depend on the competencies that have been used to populate the domains, but we have seen results that are relatively stable regardless of the competencies evaluated (as long as they are effectively classified into the domains). The results also make some intuitive sense when one considers important aspects of the scales in relation to the domains. The following diagram (see Figure 4) illustrates these relationships. We have also provided a brief description of each domain from the standpoint of an effective leadership profile.

Continues...

Excerpted from The Hogan Guide by Robert Hogan, Joyce Hogan, and Rodney Warrenfeltz. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Hogan Assessment Systems, Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Robert Hogan, Ph.D.
Robert Hogan, president of Hogan Assessment Systems, is an authority on personality assessment, leadership, and organizational effectiveness. He was a psychology professor for more than 30 years at The University of Tulsa and at Johns Hopkins University. Hogan is the author of more than 300 journal articles, chapters and books, including "Personality and the Fate of Organizations," published in 2006. Hogan received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in personality assessment. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Joyce Hogan, Ph.D.
Joyce Hogan, vice president of Hogan Assessment Systems, is responsible for the development of assessment products and directs research projects to validate customized employment testing programs. Hogan served for 22 years on the faculty at The Johns Hopkins University and at The University of Tulsa. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Hogan is an international authority on personnel selection, and serves as a consultant and expert witness regarding employment discrimination for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rodney Warrenfeltz Ph.D.
Rodney Warrenfeltz, managing partner with Hogan Assessment Systems, has more than 20 years of experience in executive assessment and development, including working as executive vice president and national practice leader for coaching and consulting services at Manchester, Inc., and working as vice president at Development Dimensions International (DDI), where he established a consulting business for the assessment and development of executives. Warrenfeltz, who earned a Ph.D. degree in industrial/organizational psychology from Colorado State University, is the author of more than 100 publications and technical reports.

"Like a coach who assists an individual realize his or her inherent ability, The Hogan Guide is a must-have resource for all who wish to be maximally effective in their use of the Hogan Assessment suite."

Tom Vitro
Vice President
Talent Sustainability & Executive Development
Quaker Tropicana Gatorade

"The Hogan Guide is a real gem. New users to Hogan assessments will find it a valuable reference of the core concepts for each of the inventories. Advanced users will also appreciate its breadth - every conceivable aspect of the tools is covered in one concise document."

Paul M. Connolly, Ph.D.
President
Performance Programs Inc.

"The more I use the Hogan assessments, the more I appreciate the complexities and the power of the information. This book goes a long way towards satisfying my desire to learn more about them."

Glenn L. DeBiasi, Ph.D., SPHR
Vice President, Human Resources
Alex Lee, Inc.

"The Hogan Guide is a "must have" for all those aiming to get the maximum value from their use of Hogan Assessment Systems' tools. This guide provides assistance for in-depth interpretation and application of the assessments - the section on dealing with seemingly conflicting scales is particularly useful. As we have come to expect with products from HAS, the emphasis is on predicting real world outcomes and this manual helps practitioners do just that. I strongly recommend this book to all those serious about improving performance in their organisations."

Bev Marshall
Managing Director
Winsborough Limited
New Zealand

"We build our careers on our abilities to increase the breadth and depth of our clients' understanding of themselves and their performance on the job. The power of the Hogan assessment tools, now put in even clearer focus in The Hogan Guide, helps assure our consulting effectiveness. The Hogan Guide's multidimensional approach to interpretation dramatically enhances the quality of performance prediction and customer feedback."

James M. Fico, Ph.D.
Consulting Psychologist
AlphaCourage Leadership Development

"The Hogan Guide captures much of the thinking and consulting we get through direct interactions with the Hogan staff. It's a fantastic, one-stop resource that our team can draw from in a variety of assessment and coaching contexts. The Hogan Guide is a much-appreciated tool - for those of us who have been using the inventories for years and for those newly certified.

Personally, I'm almost as excited about The Hogan Guide as I was about Harry Potter #7."

Kristie Wright, Ph.D.
Director, Executive Assessment
Cisco Systems, Inc.