Press Release

Behavioral Assessment Used to Guide Coaching

Cleveland, April 12, 2006: Less than 20 percent of employee coaching is based on sound psychological testing, according to Dr. Wayne Nemeroff, CEO of PsyMax Solutions, Cleveland. "Coaching is typically based on a coach's intuition and experience, without benefit of scientific or behavioral insight," said Nemeroff. "Only recently are new assessment tools being used to guide the coaching process."

Because coaching is increasingly crucial for employee development and retention, Nemeroff said, companies are providing it to more staff levels. "At large organizations, hundreds of managers and employees may be getting coached at different locations nationally or even globally. How is all this coaching shaped or evaluated? Management's challenge isn't just about accountability, but providing some scientific means to focus the coaching."

Without the benefit of an assessment tool, for instance, employers would be slow to realize that a staff member or job candidate needs help with an attribute like creativity, observed Nemeroff. "With an assessment, such a weakness can be quickly identified and the coaching manager given specific ways to help the individual to develop more creative behaviors. The manager might encourage the person to use brainstorming techniques to uncover possible solutions to a departmental problem. Or, to take an existing idea a step further, to consider all the possible consequences of various new approaches. All throughout the coaching process a manager would offer assistance and reassurance."

Decisiveness is another aspect of an employee's profile that may be gauged through testing, said Nemeroff. "If indecisiveness were to emerge as an issue, a coaching intervention might provide practice and feedback in analyzing problems in order to facilitate 'little decisions' as well as to emphasize the need for closure. These are practical suggestions that offer observable, measurable steps to improve a complex, mental task."

On the other hand, when a candidate or employee tests strong in decisiveness it may pose a different challenge. "The person may demonstrate a sense of urgency and ability to respond quickly to issues," Nemeroff said. "But if such behavior is over-used it may become a liability that encourages rash decisions or inordinate risk-taking. Testing would alert the coach to this part of a person's behavior and offer remedies that may not be obvious to a layperson or traditional coach. The value of a work style assessment is the objective data it provides which can complement a coach's soft skills."

Initially, it was just professionals that provided coaching, Nemeroff observed. "Nevertheless, coaching is now becoming the responsibility of most managers. And they need a cost-effective, methodical approach. Managers who may not have been trained in coaching can get the help they need with today's behavioral assessment tools."

Psychological tests, believes Nemeroff, have comparable predictive validity to some medical tests. And while some companies use the lengthy 360-degree feedback to help coaching efforts, Nemeroff said more efficient tools are gaining ground. "New assessment methods can assist managers in improving an individual's on-the-job performance as well as their contribution to the organization. The tools work and the coaches don't have to rely on guesswork."

PsyMax Solutions

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Wayne Nemeroff and headquartered in Cleveland, PsyMax Solutions is a pioneer in the application of smart systems to human capital assessment for employee selection and development. For more information call 440-603-9000 or visit www.psymaxsolutions.com.

# # #