“Here’s what we were wondering. Since values play an integral role in company identity, we wanted to know if any commercially available online tools existed that could measure someone’s core values.” - John Sumser

Assessing Values in Online Technology

Ten Things We Learned

Part One

This article and study was co-authored by Zachary Harper, Tejal Raval, Anum Malik, and Michael Kannisto.

When I was researching and writing The 2020 Index of Intelligent Tools in HR Technology I needed some expert help with an important avenue of inquiry – assessing values in online technology. Michael Kannisto came to my aid along with Tejal Raval, Zachary Harper, and Anum Malik (their bios are at the end of this article). Here’s what we were wondering. Since values play an integral role in company identity, we wanted to know if any commercially available online tools existed that could measure someone’s core values. Michael and the team identified 74 companies that sell a tool that purports to measure values. We decided to evaluate as many of them as we could and this is a summary of that work. – John Sumser

Here’s where we are in the series:

• Assessing Values in Online Technology – Part 1
• Assessing Values in Online Technology – Part 2
• Assessing Values in Online Technology – Part 3
• Assessing Values in Online Technology – Part 4

Abstract

Using searches and word-of-mouth recommendations, we identified a number of companies who sell a tool that purports to measure values. We decided to evaluate as many of them as we could identify, and this is a summary of our experience.

Company Values are an important aspect of corporate culture. Enabling job seekers to discover and understand their own core values, and to then compare them to a set of company values before beginning an application process could be a powerful way of ensuring a good culture match. While many of us could probably list values that are important to us in our daily lives, few have probably participated in a formalized structured values assessment.

The assessment industry has been an important part of the corporate landscape for decades, and the “select the best answer” format of many of the more popular assessment tools makes them easy to deliver online. Indeed, many companies now administer assessments as part of pre-employment screening. These assessments evaluate such traits as honesty, personality, competency in a particular function or field, and many others. Since values play such an important role in company identity, we wondered if any commercially available online tools exist that could measure someone’s core values.

The answer was a resounding yes. Using searches and word-of-mouth recommendations, we identified a number of companies that sell a tool that purports to measure values. We decided to evaluate as many of them as we could identify, and this is a summary of our experience.

Methodology

We reached out to 74 companies who sell an online tool for assessing values. Twenty-three companies never responded to our inquiry. Eighteen companies determined they would not be able to help us. Thirty-three companies let us take their assessment, and provided us with an assessment output.

The test subject demonstrated a strong “ethical/altruism” component in their control values profile. Therefore, it came as a surprise when one assessment gravely suggested that the candidate might be unable to resist the urge to steal office supplies.

We utilized the same test subject for all assessments. In preparation, we administered a traditional paper/pencil assessment to establish a baseline values profile (subsequently validated through interviews with a trained assessor). The test subject then took each assessment, and captured notes about: the ease of use for each interface, the time required to complete each assessment, and how easy it was to interpret the results (this also included the degree to which the output aligned with their own pre-established values profile).

It may be interesting to note that the test subject demonstrated a strong “ethical/altruism” component in their control values profile. Therefore, it came as a surprise when one assessment gravely suggested that the candidate might be unable to resist the urge to steal office supplies. An inventory of the test subject’s workspace revealed no missing items.

For those companies who offered to let us take their assessment, we asked them for some additional information:

• Do you have your own I/O psychologists, researchers, psychometricians, or other science/research professionals on staff?
• Does your platform have integration capabilities with Workday?
• What is being assessed by your tool?
• What can be predicted?
• What is your assessment accuracy?
• Does your assessment use ‘AI,’ machine learning, NLP, or other?
• What does your platform provide in terms of mitigating bias?
• What ethical issues can arise from your software/platform?
• Does your tool account for regional variation in cultural dimensions? (In other words, will a score suggesting an ideal fit for the Bay Area headquarters be able to account for cultural differences in the Beijing office?)
• What sets you apart?

In part two of this series we’ll pick things up by exploring the ten things we learned from this exercise. This post will be updated with links to the articles published in this series.

Authors

Tejai Raval Tejai Raval is a Talent Operations expert with experience in Fashion, Consumer Goods, and the Financial Industry. She has a Master’s Degree in Human Resources from Farleigh.

Zachary Harper Zachary Harper is a Master’s Student at Iowa State University and a recent graduate from Washington State University Tri-Cities. He received a B.A. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resource Management as well as a Global Leadership Certificate.

Anum Mlik Anum Malik is an Organizational Development specialist. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychology from Harvard University.

Michael Kannisto Michael Kannisto is a Talent Acqusition professional with a strong interest in the Future of Work and Scenario Planning. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University.