Last month we wrote about our use of the Hogan Personality Inventory to assess values and drivers. This month we thought it would be useful to share our insights into another popular psychometric, the OPQ Occupational Personality Assessment. 
The OPQ32r* is one of the most popular personality profiling methods in the NHS, providing organisations with information on the aspects of an individual’s behavioural style that will impact on their performance at work. It considers personality relative to team working, to the work environment, and to particular job requirements.
Finding potential. Whilst often applied in a recruitment context, the OPQ32r is a popular choice for identifying strengths as well as training or development needs for existing staff – with applications ranging from team building to succession planning to organisational change.
The key outputs from Dearden’s OPQ assessments derive from the expert feedback conversation. When used for existing staff this results in our analysis and suggestions of areas for development. When used for recruitment exercises it results in proposals on areas for further exploration at final interview.
Key benefits of receiving feedback on an OPQ profile includes:
- To validate results by inviting participants to provide examples of their behaviours and preferences in the workplace.
- To provide individuals with a greater insight into their own behaviour. It should also allow them to clarify and confirm the results obtained. Understanding the data on which potential personnel decisions may be made will promote an atmosphere of fairness. In turn, this can then reduce feelings of bias and prejudice towards management.
Developing ownership of the OPQ results means people can develop an understanding of their own profile. This can help to make them take more responsibility for developing themselves. In this sense, the feedback process becomes as important as the results themselves. Feedback can also help to develop peoples own interpretation skills. It can do this by pointing out the reasoning behind certain behaviour and attitudes. (Doherty.s. The Benefits of Occupational Personality Questionnaire Feedback Jan 14)
Summer offer
We are delighted to be able to offer access to the OPQ32r at a significant reduction between 1st August and 14th September 2014. We are able to provide both organisations and individuals with an Occupational Personality Assessment profile and individual feedback discussion from £100.
A range of other options including in depth reports for employers are also available, again with significant reductions. Please contact us for more information.
*The OPQ32r personality assessment describes 32 crucial components of an individual’s preferred behavioural style at work. These are grouped into three key domains: Relationships with People, Thinking Styles and Feelings and Emotions. The reports are clear, targeted and in-depth, with potential strengths and areas for development identified. They can be used by trained HR personnel or by line managers. Comparison groups are also available, which enable specific role, level, industry, and cultural group comparisons.
The OPQ helps thousands of organisations to • Identify future leaders • Recommend senior managers for cross system engagements • Evaluate the talent pool for restructure • Re-deploy talent across the organisation • Identify best-fit applicants against job competencies • Create a project team • Manage the transformation of a technical specialist to an effective people manager .