Why is thorough research important?

Thorough research provides the foundation for our business. Since we know that Emotional Intelligence can drastically benefit an organization's personnel, one of our goals is to provide the most trustworthy way to measure this ability. If you can’t prove what you’re testing is objective and accurate, then the findings are meaningless. That is why thorough research is our top priority.

What are the superior tools jobEQ uses to research people?

1. An Integral Approach - We don't limit ourselves to testing just "competencies" or "personality." Instead, we use an integral approach, allowing to test attitude (iWAM), values (VSQ) and competencies (COMET) separately. A good attitude-focused test can predict job performance with up to 60% accuracy, and a very good competence-focused test might also achieve 60% accuracy. By combining both approaches, we can get a higher validity and bring our customers the most information about an individual. Learn which elements fit together to form the mental process that leads to results.

2. Model of Excellence – By having an organization’s top performers take the iWAM or VSQ, we can build a Model of Excellence to illustrate the ideal attitudes and motivations for employees to have. We compare the profiles of each candidate to this model and rank them based on their potential to become a top performer. Click here to learn more about this cutting-edge technique.

3. Metaprograms – We measure more. People don’t fit into just 2 categories, or 4, or even 16. Every person in the world is different, and a test must be able to reflect these differences. The iWAM measures 48 cognitive patterns, called metaprograms, which are classified into 16 groups. The results are reported on a scale, so it won’t just say a person is “proactive” or “reactive.” Instead it will show you just how proactive and reactive each person is. By measuring so many metaprograms on this scale, the iWAM delivers you the most information about candidates. Click here to learn more about metaprograms.

4. Standard Groups – The iWAM is a normalized test, meaning it compares candidates to their peers specific to each country. This helps to eliminate interpretation errors caused by cultural differences. jobEQ presents a variety of features like this to help you understand test results. Click here to see exactly how jobEQ utilizes stardard groups.

5. Reliability – The jobEQ questionnaires were built to prevent test falsification. jobEQ has achieved this by eliminating “right” and “wrong” answers, using a ranking system to answer questions, and examining the consistency of all answers. Language is another high priority for jobEQ. Our products are available in a variety of languages, each of which has been carefully translated by a native speaker of the new language, so that the tests have worldwide uniformity and reliability. More on Reliability

6. Research Background – The current jobEQ products are the most recent evolution in cognitive style research, which started off in the beginning of the 20th century with Carl Jung's work concerning psychological types. The second step was the development of MBTI®, an innovative personality test, between 1942 and 1957. The third milestone came from the development of cognitive science, starting around 1975. Cognitive scientists found that cognitive patterns differ between countries as well as between contexts. This led to several new pathways, three of which were instrumental in the development of our products:

• The work of Geert Hofstede, Fons Trompenaars, and Charles Hampden-Turner about cultural differences in patterns
• The work of Kolb et al. concerning learning styles
• The work of Robert Sternberg, David McClelland concerning thinking styles and motivation.
• The work of Leslie Cameron, Ross M. Steward et al. about the application of cognitive patterns in the context of work (motivation, working and thinking), which led to the LAB Profile® in 1980. In short, the LAB Profile is a systematic way of gathering information about a person, which helps to predict the person’s behavior based on his or her use of certain types of language patterns.
• The work of Clare W. Graves, Don Beck, Christopher Cowen on value systems and Spiral Dynamics

While the LAB profile methodology on which iWAM is based originated in 1980, the iWAM questionnaire was only developed fairly recently. The current version was first introduced in 2000. Now the iWAM is the best tool available for measuring attitudes and motivations in the workplace. VSQ followed as a similar way to measure value systems and cultural fit, and COMET was created to provide the technology for other new tests. jobEQ’s products offer unmatched objectivity and accuracy, in a format that saves you time.

Can I use jobEQ's tools for academic research?

Our questionnaires have been used in a number of research projects and Masters dissertations for universities. You can see for yourself some of the unexpected findings in the COMET/EQ Research Overview., or you may Contact Us to ask about a research project of your own.

For more discussion on the science behind jobEQ, check out these books and articles:

Books Page
Article 1: HR Management – An Integral Vision
Article 2: How to Judge a Psychological Test
Article 3: How COMET Breaks Through the Challenges of Self-Assessment
Article 4: Are Men From Mars and Women From Venus?
Article 5: Do Metaprograms Evolve with Age?
Article 6: Cultural Modeling using iWAM - Comparing Australia, UK, USA
Article 7: Cultural Modeling using VSQ & COMET
Article 8: Metaprograms and Occupations
Further References