While the concept of “Emotional Intelligence” has only taken hold in the last 10 to 15 years, Simmons Management Systems, based in Memphis, Tennessee, has invested nearly thirty years developing and continually refining an instrument that measures the characteristics we now associate with emotional intelligence.  

The Problem with Assessment Devices  
A clinical psychologist by training, I was taught to approach all assessment devices with skepticism.  It takes years of research to demonstrate that an instrument provides a valid and reliable measure.  These devices are subject to the following problems:

 Easy to manipulate the outcome.   Some instruments are highly transparent.  People can easily produce a favorable outcome by selecting choices carefully.

 Too little data; Too many conclusions. Other instruments draw too many conclusions based on too little information gathered by the instrument.  I’ve seen some instruments that gather 40-50 data points and produce long, elaborate reports.  The scientific study of assessment devices shows this is impossible.  With so little information, the instrument is only measuring one, maybe two, independent factors and basing too many predictions on too little data.

 Insufficient validation research. Some instruments may have not validation studies behind them at all.  The developer was operating on “face validity,” that is, creating measures based on a theory or model of something like emotional intelligence.  The instrument appears to be providing valid results but only extensive validation studies can support the claims made by the developer.

 Broad generalizations. Finally, other instruments provide results that seem valid but closer examination of the report reveals it is filled with broad generalities that apply to many people.  This instruments are all but useless in making the fine distinctions necessary to select the right job candidate or serve as a coaching tool.

 Why You Can Trust the EQ Profile
Thirty years of continuous research has created a highly accurate and discerning instrument.  Users of the Profile rate it between 97-100% accurate.

Profiles are based on collection of great deal of data.  The instrument gathers an enormous amount of information, even though it only takes the average person fifteen minutes or so to complete.  This has allowed the developers to create 13 highly independent measures.  The scoring includes 22,000 cross checks to assure valid measures.  The instrument only requires an ability to read English at the 6th grade level.

Superb validity and reliability.  Studies generating correlations with job success yield results ranging from .82 to 1.0.  These are results that are unheard of in the assessment industry.

High degree of accuracy. At a large pharmaceutical company, correspondence between the Profile and independent, in-depth, structured interviewing was 99% with ninety-one people in the study.  Users of the instrument rate it between 97 to 100% accurate.

Proven ability to reduce costs by making correct hiring decisions.  Using the Profile, MAPCO, a large convenience store chain, reduced their turnover rate from 171% to 19%, producing and annual savings of more than $1,112,000!

Demonstrated ability to reduce turnover.  Methodist Hospital in Memphis reduced their turnover in critical care nursing from 65% to 15% and have kept it at the level for 17 years by using the Profile to find the nurses with the right combination of emotional competencies to handle the job.

Impossible to manipulate the outcome.  I have taken it regularly for years and I still can’t figure out how it is scored.  In taking the instrument online, you are review a list of 360 adjectives twice.  The first time, you check all adjectives that describe “how you think others feel about you.”  The second time, you check all adjectives that describe “how you feel about yourself.”  The list of adjectives are so varied that it is still impossible for me to select adjectives to manipulate my Profile.  In scoring the instruments, a total of 22,000 combinations of checked and unchecked adjectives are cross-check to develop the highest possible accuracy.

Proven accuracy in the field.  In consulting projects, I gather enormous amounts of information about how leaders on a team are perceived by members of the team.  Then I give those leaders the Profile and 99.9% of the time the Profile results are highly congruent with the interview data I’ve collected.

Help avoid disastrous hiring decisions. After experiencing the accuracy of the Profile, my clients use it to screen potential hires.  On several occasions, I have helped clients avoid making a disastrous hire.  One look at a Profile and I know whether or not a person will fit into the culture of the company and have the qualities to succeed in a position. 

Can be used cross-culturally. I’ve used the EQ Profile successfully in the following countries: USA, Canada, UK, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, India, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, China, Thailand, and Australia.  All that is required is the ability to read English (or Mexican Spanish) at the 6th Grade level.  

Comments Heard in a Current Project

I am coaching high-potential employees from a Fortune 500 company.  Participants in the project come from all over the world.  Here are a few of the comments made by the participants and their managers after reviewing the employee’s EQ Profile:

I feel like I understand my employee much better as a result of the Profile.
I used to work for GE and I also have an MBA.  I’ve taken a lot of tests.  This is the first instrument I’ve ever taken that gave me specific information I can use in my development
This is the most accurate instrument I’ve ever taken.
How in the world can you know so much about me?
I feel like I’ve just been to a seance and had a total stranger describe me in great detail.
This EQ Profile is eerily clairvoyant.
I can’t thank you enough.  This Profile is the best tool I’ve ever seen.  You’ve given me specific areas I need to work on.
I want to start using this with my team.  I think it would help me manage them better.
How could you have possibly known that I am in the middle of a serious crisis in my personal life?
This is amazing.  I’ve never seen anything like it.
You’ve just told me more about myself than you have any way of knowing.

Want to learn more about the EQ Profile?  Go to www.eqhelp.com.  If you want to take a sample Profile, send me an email or call me at (203) 431-9989.http://www.eqhelp.comshapeimage_1_link_0
 
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MEASURING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
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