Predictive Index

The Predictive Index is a management tool for predicting, describing and measuring the work behavior and potential of individuals and groups at all organizational levels. It claims to provide assessment of performance drives, management styles, capabilities, potentials, interests and motivation. It also attempts to measure the effects of job demands, leadership styles, and organization culture on individual performance.

A form of the test, used to pick out specific candidates' qualities, comprises the following:
a two-page leaflet, containing the same set of numerous personal qualifiers and qualities on each page. The first page asks the test subject to choose those qualities that the way you are expected to act by others". There is a warning not to turn on the next page before given time. After that, the tested person is given the same set of qualifiers and qualities and asked to mark out those, that "you yourself believe you really possess". This is a double reflection process, aimed at getting the best possible view of the tested person and his own attitude, as well as his qualities. The list in the test is quite wide, featuring categories both positive and negative, directly related to work performance and non-direct features of the personal appearance.

From the CPA Journal Online:

There are several personality profile tools to assist in assessment, including the widely known Myers-Briggs model and the DISC method. Another tool available, which may not be as familiar, is the Predictive Index System ( www.piworldwide.com). The Predictive Index (PI) can help a company with the recruitment, hiring, training, and management of employees by identifying individual learning and work styles. It can also identify existing employees who may work together more efficiently.

The PI is a simple one-page questionnaire that can be completed in about 10 minutes. On each side of the questionnaire are identical lists of adjectives. On one side, respondents select the adjectives that they think describe the way others perceive them (self-concept), and on the other side respondents select the adjectives that they think truly describe them (self).

The scoring of PI produces a pattern with elements: self, self-concept, and synthesis. The self measures the individual’s basic pattern of behavior, “doing what comes naturally.” The self-concept measures the way individuals try to modify personal behavior to satisfy the demands placed on them. The synthesis measures how individuals behave in their environment.

The PI assesses four primary and two resultant personality traits in individuals. The four primary traits are dominant (Factor-A), extroverted (Factor-B), patient (Factor-C), and formal (Factor-D). The two resultant traits are response level (Factor-M) and subjectivity level (Factor-E).

Factor-A measures the drive for self-expression or level of assertiveness ranging from “submissive” to “arrogant.” Factor-B measures the social drive or level of introversion or extroversion from “withdrawn” to “gregarious.” Factor-C measures emotional tension or urgency in an individual from “volatile” to “lethargic.” Factor-D measures an individual’s level of detail or style in approaching work from “sloppy” to “perfectionist.” The resultant Factor-M score is used to identify the “norm” relative to the measurements of the other factors. It is referred to as the “response level” and is used to measure an individual’s stamina and capacity to adapt and handle stress. Finally, Factor-E measures the tendency for an individual’s judgment to be subjective versus objective (or emotional versus logical).

The PI literature proposes that every personality and every PI pattern is always composed of the four primary factors. The pairing of these four factors is called factor emphasis combination. Particular combinations emphasize or modify aspects of behavior and can be analyzed to predict expected influences on performance. The scoring of each PI survey form yields a pattern or profile for each individual, and a resulting score from eight through 96 integrates the four primary factors. The PI literature provides a brief profile for each score and identifies several scores by attaching a descriptive name, such as “scholar” for pattern 22 or “altruistic service” for pattern 46. The profile provides a comprehensive description of the individual’s expected behavior and potential. The PI literature suggests that a well-balanced business organization needs employees with a variety of different personalities to effectively complete the many different jobs that must be done.

One accounting firm that has used the PI as an important piece of its hiring process is BDMP, a regional CPA firm headquartered in Portland, Maine. The director of recruiting at this firm believes that PI is a “cost and time effective means” to obtain information about prospective employees that helps to determine how well a candidate will fit with the firm’s culture.
The PI instrument is used prior to an on-campus interview “to help identify areas may want to explore in the interview.” The PI results help “confirm information gathered in the interviewing process.” While the PI is just “one piece” in BDMP’s recruitment process, Asherman calls it an “excellent piece.”

Another accounting firm that has been using the PI is Clifton Gunderson. Its experience is documented in a case study at www.piworldwide.com. The firm has used the PI for employee development and retention, and also in due diligence to assess company leadership and culture before potential acquisitions. The firm reported that it cut employee turnover in half since adopting the PI.

Several other uses of the PI are presented online in about 20 case studies of various businesses that have been using the PI. The case studies present businesses ranging from financial institutions and medical centers to automobile dealerships.

Criticism

The Predictive Index has never been peer reviewed, and in general has not had the same level of scrutiny as the MBTI and the 5-factor model; nor was its original creator a psychologist (although he had the help of psychologists in refining the system, once he could afford their help). Thus, one can wonder about its accuracy; and meanwhile the tool is sold and used -- on a very large scale, particularly in hiring and management decisions -- as possessing a level of reliability and accuracy equal to the MBTI.

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