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1. Conquer Human Resource Challenges
with Predictive Assessments
Human Resource Challenges
FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
The biggest challenge that your business will face is hiring the right people. What makes
someone “right” for a job? Work experience has a lot to do with it, but it isn’t everything.
Optimal employee performance is based on three things: talent, effort and opportunity.
A thorough interview process will reveal a lot about talent, but most of us rely on instincts for the
rest. We assume that that we’ll know the “right person” when we meet them. Sometimes that
works out, but when the long-term success of your company hangs in the balance, it’s best not
to leave hiring to chance.
TALENT EFFORT
PERFORMANCE
OPPORTUNITY

2. KEEPING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
HR challenges do not end with the hiring process. It can be difficult to retain a talented
employee or improve employee performance when their personality, attitudes, beliefs and
actions do not align with the requirements of an opportunity.
OPPORTUNITYTALENT EFFORT
EMPLOYMENT RETENTION
Inherent traits
Knowledge (learned behaviors,
communication styles and skills)
Attitudes and beliefs
Actions
Job Requirements
Work environment
or company culture
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Predictive Assessments
Predictive assessment profiles, which provide an objective and statistically reliable perspective
and calibration of inherent talent and natural effort, can help assess the foundations of job
performance, both in the hiring process and throughout working life.
Simply put, they can help you to hire and retain high performing employees.
FAQS
How is this assessment different from others?
You may be familiar with or have even taken an assessments like:
Myers-Briggs—The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) is a personality inventory that
describes 16 personality types based on a person’s personality traits, including introversion,
extroversion, sensing, intuiting, feeling, thinking, perceiving and judging.
DISC®—The DISC® profile describes four categories of behavior that are linked to an
individual’s perceptions of self in relationship to his or her environment. Familiar spin-offs
of DISC® are known by names such as Social Style SM, Predictive Index® and Interaction
Styles.
Five Factors®—The Five Factors® assessment is a variation of the original work by Marston
and the DISC® that adds the Extroversion/Introversion trait from the work of Karl Jung and
Meyers-Briggs.
Caliper—The Caliper personality test measures over twenty-five personality traits that
relate to job performance. A trained psychologist is required to interpret results and
recommend actions.

3. All of these are well-regarded tools that can be valuable in certain circumstances; however,
they all focus primarily on description and are classified as ipsative assessments (using
forced-choice, yes/no constructs). These tools describe the preferred behavioral styles of
an individual but are not designed for comparing one individual with another. In contrast,
statistically normative instruments, which use comparatives and the Likert scale, can be
used predictively when one individual’s results are compared to another’s.
McSwain Hiott CPAs offers predictive assessments that are based on more than 30 years
of statistical research and analysis. A profile doesn’t just describe someone—it actually
predicts, with up to 99.5% statistical probability, the results compared to empirically (or
observed) correlated data from other employees in other companies.
Generally speaking, the more data included in the analysis, the more accurate the resulting
norm. The developers of these predictive assessment have gathered more than 10 million
assessments taken by people around the world with the goal of determining norms related
to high performance in certain jobs—that is, the traits, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that
are held by people who are extremely successful in their work and life.
By studying the psychometrics of high performance, the developers and researchers
understand the traits and behaviors that have the greatest impact on an individual’s
potential for successful performance. And they have analyzed hundreds of jobs in
hundreds of companies to identify which profile is the best fit for each company and each
type of management assignment.
Numerous studies across vastly different industries have shown conclusively that individuals
whose personal profiles closely match a company’s superior performance profile can be
highly successful in those companies.
What does a predictive assessment contain?
Predictive assessment results are summarized on a Profile Scales Summary. The summary
includes graphs (scales) that represent:
An inherent trait
A learned behavior
A learned style
An attitude or belief
The responses that relate to each of these constructs are statistically analyzed. Results are
presented in the form of a number that places the candidate somewhere between two
extremes.
There is no such thing as a “good” number or a “bad” number.
The scales used to measure inherent traits and learned behaviors aren’t like school grades.
Someone cannot pass or fail. None of these items have a “right” or “wrong” answer.
An individual’s position on any given scale compares them to the normal distribution
(sometimes referred to as a Bell Curve), and that comparison helps predict what
management cultures are a “good fit” for someone.

4. Remember that a “good fit” is when an individual’s approach (based on natural
traits, behaviors, styles and attitudes) closely relates to the opportunity (a situation or
circumstance.
What traits are measured in a profile?
A profile measures inherent traits that are known to have the greatest impact on success.
Those traits are:
Enterprising Orientation—A measure of potential for planning and directing
oneself effectively; an indication of the ability to establish, focus on and achieve
goals.
Achievement Orientation—An assessment of the factors that motivate someone
to achieve or perform well. These are internal motivators.
Independence Orientation—A measure of the need for structure, feedback or
affirmation and team orientation. Does a person prefer to go their own way, or do
they flourish working with others using a shared structure?
Why are these particular traits so important?
Enterprising, Achievement and Independence orientations provide a measure of self-
management. Generally speaking, self-management refers to an individual’s ability and
willingness to…
Identify what needs to be done
Take action
Assess results
Make adjustments
…And to do all this without external direction or pressure.
Self-Management is the level of initiative (measured by Enterprising Orientation) that
individuals can and will invest in pursuit of results that are important to them (Achievement
Orientation) in an environment that adequately balances freedom and structure
(Independence Orientation).
You will learn more about self-management, why it’s important, and how someone can
make the most of their self-management potential later.
Which learned behaviors and styles are measured?
Predictive assessment profiles measure two learned behaviors:
Comfort with Conflict—Someone’s comfort with situations where conflict exists
or where there is the potential for conflict.
Emotional Quotient—Someone’s ability to monitor their emotions, other
people’s emotions and then act accordingly.

5. Profiles also provide measurements for two learned communication styles:
People Orientation—Someone’s approach to building relationships
with other people and the degree to which they enjoy meeting or
working closely with others.
Analytical Orientation—Someone’s interest in learning for its own
sake, and their comfort/preferences dealing with technical, detailed
information.
Why are these particular behaviors so important?
These four behavioral constructs reflect someone’s preferred approach to working
with people and with information. These are the essence of performance. Because
they are learned, they could be changed; however, at some point early in one’s career,
these behaviors become deeply ingrained. Given that these are critical to success,
understanding someone’s natural preferences on these behaviors is a key element to
finding the areas of greatest challenge and potential.
Which attitudes and beliefs are measured?
The attitudes and beliefs indicators give a snapshot of the responder’s feelings and
thoughts around the time when they took the assessment. These indicators may not
reflect someone’s long-term feelings, but they still provide valuable insights.
For example, personal problems or a major life change (e.g., illness, relocation, new
boss, major relationship change, etc.) can impact self-confidence or someone’s sense
of control. Attitudes and beliefs results would most likely be different for an assessment
taken under those circumstances as compared to the results from an assessment taken
after those issues have been resolved and stabilized.
The Uncertainty Indicator—A measure of how accurate someone’s
attitudes and beliefs measurements are. Where questions answered
honestly without over-analyzing, second-guessing or trying to give
the “right” answer?
The Self-Confidence Scale—A measure of someone’s belief that
they have control over various circumstances.
The Lifestyle Management Scale—A measure of how well someone
manages demands and the resulting stress.
The Commitment Reluctance Scale—A measure of someone’s
ability to commit to their job or career responsibilities. This indicator
also gauges someone’s comfort with asking others to make and keep
commitments.
The Listening Style Scale—A measure of someone’s ability to listen
(attentive listening). Do they practice active-listening? Are they
patient, courteous and/or eager to understand others?

6. SUMMARY
Performance is derived from complimentary talent, effort and opportunity.
With a predictive assessment profile, you will have a much deeper understanding of two of
those elements:
Talent—The combination of inherent traits and knowledge (learned
behaviors, communication styles and skills).
Effort—The combination of what someone thinks (their attitudes and beliefs)
and their actions.
Generally speaking, individuals are happier and more successful in assignments where
the requirements of the opportunity align well with their natural talent and effort profiles.
Compare these profiles to job requirements and environment to determine a match.
Your results will offer statistically predictive information about areas that can be naturally
leveraged and those that will require extra effort.
Learn More
Predictive assessments are useful in any phase of employment (hiring, promoting, etc.). If
you are interested in using these assessments to conquer your HR challenges, please email
info@mcswainhiott.com or fill out our customer form. Your first assessment will include a
consultation to interpret assessment results.
TALENT EFFORT
PERFORMANCE
OPPORTUNITY