Ulf Muller (Interim Management & Consulting in FM | Create Self-Employment Opportunities)
Which are the most effective personality assessment tools for Franchisees?
Any suggestions?
November 2015 Archives
Donna is a 30-year old single parent working at a quick service restaurant. She's been working here for months, but it won't be for much longer. At home on her kitchen counter sits a pile of unopened bills and collection letters. She's been struggling to receive consistent child support, and now she's behind on her rent. Daycare services are expensive and her credit cards are maxed out. She has trouble concentrating at work.
She makes careless mistakes with orders, has a surly attitude with customers, and even considered "borrowing" some of the contents of the cash register. She calls in sick when she needs to deal with occasional financial flare-ups. Last month she borrowed from her parents and sister just to prevent her car from being repossessed. Donna wonders how long she can hold on. She spends time during her lunch break looking at job sites on her phone.
Once Donna leaves or is terminated, her employer will need to interview, hire, and train a new candidate. Her money woes are about to be her boss's problem.
What will it cost to replace Donna? According to studies, the cost of a lost employee vary according to their level of expertise and credentials. For positions earning less than $30,000 annually, every time a business has to replace an employee, it costs an average of 16% of that person's annual salary.1 That's $4800 for someone earning $30,000. But high employee turnover perpetuates itself. When staff members witness a revolving door, they tend to disengage, and become less productive, increasing the odds of their own departure.
Customer service becomes a casualty when staff is stretched, due to the exodus of employees. For management, continually interviewing, selecting, and training the newest hires, becomes exhausting. The monotony leads to cutting corners in the selection process, resulting in bad hires and further spikes in turnover.
How many Donnas work at your franchise? Surveys reveal that 33% of US workers across all industries, report feeling severe financial stress. According to PwC, 37% of these workers report that they spend over 3 hours per week at work thinking about or dealing with personal financial issues.
About 30% of the Gen Y labor force, find it difficult to make their minimum payments on credit cards, while only 19% of baby boomers do. The figures for the relatively unskilled labor force found in quick service franchises are bound to be sadder still, as many teeter on a ledge of despair.
What's more, 29% of money-troubled employees blame their employer for their predicament.2 "Study after study has shown that employees who are financially stressed, experience health problems more often, and are less productive," says personal finance author Gerri Detweiler.
According to Reeta Wolfsohn of the Center for Financial Social Work, financial stress is the number one stressor in people's lives. The absence of a consistent and reliable work schedule for workers in businesses such as quick service restaurants, with a specific amount of income on a regular basis, increases that stress many times over.
These workers need greater stability in all areas of their lives, particularly in their jobs. When that is missing, the challenge of arranging for childcare and transportation can become unmanageable and result in absenteeism, lateness, and job loss.
What can a franchise employer do? The first step is to acknowledge the severity of the problem, and commit to addressing it.
Resources to Help
EAP's - Corporations with extensive benefit packages offer employee assistance programs, where staff can call for help in times of crisis. But franchises are smaller business units, where these services are not as widely offered.
The Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) can help employers select and hire a group to provide assistance. Be sure to compare EAPs according to services provided and fees per employee.
Workplace Posters - Among free resources available, CareConnect USA has published a free workplace poster, for franchise management to print and display for employees. Posters list national helplines for employees to find assistance. The helplines cover critical categories such as Child Support, Housing Assistance, Credit Counseling, Free Bankruptcy Advice and more.
Calls are routed to government, non-profit, and private help centers according to region. Calls are free, and posters are available in large quantities for multi-unit owners.
Mobile App - A free mobile app called "Trusted Helplines" instantly connects employees with financial and crisis resources in a vast array of categories, including mental health, depression, abuse, and addiction. This format is well suited to young workers who primarily use mobile devices to access information. Franchise managers can print the app flyer and post it in the workplace. Employees can then discreetly download the app and explore many free resources on their own time. Posting such a flyer also sends a signal that management cares about the well being of employees outside of work.
Financial Education on Site - For employers willing to play a more active role, the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation (PFEEF) can help them establish effective financial wellness programs and help employees adopt sound financial habits. Using the Personal Financial Wellness Scale™, PFEEF is able to assess the financial wellness of individuals before, during, or after the implementation of a financial wellness program to quantify the benefits of a given program. PFEEF then provides resources and services to help deliver effective instruction and training to employees.
It's no secret that franchise owners face a challenge to deliver quality products and services in a competitive marketplace. But within that challenge lays the tricky task of mobilizing a distracted workforce, walking a tight rope over financial ruin with no safety net. A walk that eventually leads straight out the door.
1 The Harris Poll
2 Center for American Progress
(A financial counselor since 1993, David has worked with housing, debt relief centers nationwide. In 2005, he created a reference tool to help social workers find resources for their trouble clients. Always searching for innovative ways to help employees and families connect with appropriate assistance. For comment or questions he can be reached at [email protected].)
Joe Caruso You may want to start with this article - "Uncovering The Secret History Of Myers-Briggs"
The author Merve Emre has some interesting and shocking things to say about relying Myers-Briggs.
http://digg.com/2015/myers-briggs-secret-history?utm_content=buffer5bf84&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer
"Personality Scores and Job Performance
Are scores on personality tests highly predictive of performance? There is a long history of research showing: maybe. That is, if the employee has all the other performance elements necessary to do the job, and the personality test is job-related, personality can make a difference. Self-descriptive test scores represent how the applicant wants to present themselves -- it may not be reality. So, even if an applicant tells an interviewer he/she is organized, it's no guarantee he or she will be good with details. It is just bad science to claim the DISC (or any other personality test) will accurately predict managerial performance, capability for organization, character, or personal responsibility."http://www.eremedia.com/ere/dissecting-the-disc/
Monique HernandezWhen it comes to discovering individual and organizational personalities, I highly recommend the Myers Briggs personality assessment. Given the persons being assessed understands that the questionnaire is not going to be spot on but everyone has a preference. That preference is key to receive accurate results. I've turned to this assessment when I've noticed a team is having difficulty understanding one another, or the team is not understanding myself. The time spent doing this and openness brings everyone together. I suggest Myers Briggs ! True believer
DISC is also a great tool for management development. Be careful using it as a predictor of performance. Again it will tell you how someone will approach their job, not the outcomes they will get.
There are several profiling tools that have been developed from solid research into franchisee performance. We have one at the Franchise Relationships Institute that is part of a total recruitment system called The Nathan Profiler, and Fred Berni has one that I think is called The FranchiZe Profile.
Don't rely on a personality profiles alone. Structured interviews, on the job trials and past performance are also useful to consider when trying to predict future performance.
By the way I am a registered psychologist with 35 years up my sleeve working with a range of these types of tools, so I speak from experience, not hearsay.
It makes sense to filter using a tool which assesses expected performance, like your tool & Fred's assessment, but we have found sales departments very reluctant to employ them as part of their screening process.
So, I wonder if these predictive assessment tools aren't more usefully deployed right now as part of the onboarding process, by the operational folks.
Ron Bender, CFEI have used (and taken!) many, including MBI, DISC, Wunderlic, ProvenMatch and Spot-On, and I think your development staff can be trained to get great use out of all of them. I love the newer, more 'workstyle and communication-related' programs like ProvenMatch since they become very useful for better training and coaching after they become franchisees.
Michael (Mike) WebsterMariel, have you got a link to your seminar? Thanks. You could post in your comment.
Mariel Miller "The Franchise Advisor"Thanks Michael, here it is:https://prezi.com/yacdqnocdlbv/copy-of-assessing-competence-character-and-compliance-in-franchising/
Michael (Mike) WebsterMariel, you are welcome.
Greg NathanMariel - I just looked through this. It looks fascinating but is a bit hard to follow. Can you explain the context?
Thom CrimansCheck out Proven Match. DISC, Myers Briggs and such are fine, but they are off the self products used for a wide variety of purposes. Proven Match is specifically designed to determine a prospects fit to your business model. Here is the link from the IFA website:http://www.franchise.org/proven-match-supplier Or contact [email protected]
Craig SlavinThe oldest and most reliable franchise profile is the Franchise Navigator. Launched in 1997, after 7 years of research, Franchise Navigator has had incredible success with its clients. http://www.franchisenavigator.com.
Fred BerniGreg - Thanks for the mention.
Craig SlavinLet me know if anyone would like to "test-drive" the Navigator. It was built from the ground up for franchise application. It is also not a "generic "psychometric" assessment but actually becomes customized to each brand that uses it.
Mariel Miller "The Franchise Advisor"Certainly, I was asked to present an objective picture of assessments in the franchise space and discussed several valid and reliable instruments and how they would fit inside the recruitment process - The focus was how to work with an instrument and how to have a better process including "fit" even without an instrument. The key issue is how valid the assessment is and can it, in fact, predict future behavior. There are a good number of valid tests out there, but a franchisor should ask a lot of questions about how long the instrument has been used, how long specifically in the franchise sector, and ask for white papers, studies, etc. to insure the tool is appropriate for selection. Contrary to some commentary, personality has been proven to predict "job performance" in many studies. So has an individuals Value System. Tons of research is out there supporting this. Hope that helps put my work in a bit of context.
Daniel Alberto BernardHere in Brazil we use our own Teste Aldeia Gaulesa. It was based upon studies developed by professor Yves Enrègle, Ph.D. on Psychology and Sociology from Harvard and my professor at Groupe ESSEC in France in the early 90´s. We selected more than 10,000 franchisees by using this very accurate assesment test. It represents an evolution from PEAI and considers laboral relations later from the digital revolution from the mid 80´s. Just check the portuguese version at http://www.netplanconsultoria.com.br/principal/home/?sistema=conteudos|conteudo&id_conteudo=2
Dave SullivanI currently use SpotOn by Zoracle. It has proven to match my candidates with concepts that line up with their competencies and compatibility. When I match a franchisee who shares a company's Values, Stages of Growth, Culture and Work Style they perform better and ramp-up quicker.
http://zoracleprofiles.com/
Jan-Marie HallHello Everyone - Proven Match is a scientific based assessment since 1987, designed specifically for Franchising to help you know the characteristics of your to top performing franchisees which helps you measure your candidates to their attributes.
Proven Match also help you with talking styles to get the best out of all your franchisees plus where to market to attract those top players.
I would be happy to give a demo or connect you with a franchisor using Proven Match
www.provenmatch.com
Craig SlavinSince 1987? I would check on your statistics. Proven Match was launched 5 or 6 years ago at best according to the creator.
Craig SlavinSpot-On is less than 2 years old.
Simon LordMost franchisors I have talked to who started off using general profiling tools stopped using them after a while as they didn't accurately reflect the peculiarities of the franchisor/franchisee relationship. I'd recommend looking at the Nathan Profilerhttp://www.franchiserelationships.com/tools/profiler/
Craig SlavinHere's my take on using assessments/surveys in the franchising space. First, using one is a better idea than not using one. Anytime you can "model" something and be able to replicate it you are likely to be in a better position. Secondly, based on my experience, research, creation, usage and administration of a Behavioral Recognition Assessment called, the Navigator, I personally feel the value of an assessment/survey comes in the ability to use, adapt, and leverage the results. Most of the data, and results, of assessments/surveys becomes either under-utilized or misunderstood. The focus should not be solely about the assessment/survey but should address how to implement the recommendations in real life situations, with franchise operators, employees and others that participate in the franchising efforts.
Michael (Mike) WebsterThanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.
.1.We made a feature & highlighted it at:
https://www.franchise-info.ca/supply_chain/2015/11/personality-assessment-for-franchisees---a-panel-discussion.html#.VmjU1d-rTm0
.2. It was also in the Franchise-Info newsletter.
Thanks for all your insights.
Greg NathanWow that 's been a wild ride. Enjoyed looking back over that thanks!
Fred BerniI apologize in advance if this appears as a duplicate post. I've been told that my original post didn't appear in this thread which is strange as I can see it.
Ulf - Let's start with the basics.
First, decide whether you want a tool designed to give you information on "cultural fit" or are you more concerned with performance? The two are not the same. If you're looking to see if a person is a good cultural fit, then likely any "personality" profile will do the trick.
If, however, you're looking to find out if your candidate will perform, then one of the best ways of identifying how a person will do in a specific job is to measure their skill-sets and their job-specific judgment. Since every job has a unique set of situational judgment needs and skill-sets, no single questionnaire can accurately be used for multiple jobs.
Continued in next post....
Fred BerniThe reason the FBI uses job-specific judgment questions in their agent hiring process is because it's so accurate in predicting performance. That's also why we include situational judgment in our FranchiZe Profile.
Second, make sure the system under consideration was actually designed for selection. Several of the most common personality profiles specifically state on their websites (Meyers Briggs) or in their validation documents (DiSC) that they were not designed for selection. The Meyers Briggs site even goes so far as to say it's unethical to use it for selection. Even so, people are using these profiles for selection purposes.
The article Joe mentioned in an earlier post http://www.eremedia.com/ere/dissecting-the-disc/ does a good job of explaining these first two issues.
continued...
Fred BerniThird, if the "test" you're considering doesn't include job-specific questions you run the risk of running afoul of the EEOC and the ADA. The Supreme Court ruled in Griggs v. Duke Power Co. 401 U.S. 424 (1971): "What Congress has forbidden is giving these devices and mechanisms controlling force unless they are demonstrably a reasonable measure of job performance."
Fourth, make sure the profile you're considering has been validated by an independent third-party with no monetary interest in the results. By validated, I mean proven to demonstrate that it does accurately predict performance, not just that it's internally reliable. Doing so goes a long way to cutting down on your risks with the EEOC.
continued...
Michael (Mike) WebsterThanks for adding in these ideas, Fred.