The Science
BEHIND ULTRAVIOLET
Want to dig deeper into the 50+ years of
Industrial/Organizational Psychology science that powers
Plum’s Talent Recommendation Engine, Ultraviolet?
You’re in the right place.
Plum's team of scientists have automated and redesigned the same quality psychometric testing that
selects CEOs for Fortune 500 companies, making these capabilities available at all levels of your
organization. In other words, you now have the data you need to make predictive talent decisions at
every stage of the employee journey — predicting successful hires, professional development plans,
internal mobility pathing, and emerging leader capability.
What is Industrial/Organizational Psychology?
Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology is the study of human behavior in the workplace. The
practice of I/O Psychology applies psychological theories and principles to organizations. I/O
Psychologists contribute to an organization’s success by improving performance, motivation, team
effectiveness, job satisfaction, innovation, occupational health and well-being, and more. I/O
Psychologists improve hiring, training, and management by studying worker behavior, evaluating
companies, and conducting leadership training. I/O Psychology is one of the 15 recognized speciali-
ties in professional psychology in the United States.
The following organizations are just a few of the Fortune 500 companies that have in-house I/O
Psychologists improving their employee selection, development, feedback, and more:
Walmart Dell Inc. Starbucks
Apple State Farm Halliburton
Amazon Johnson & Johnson Union Pacific Railroad
AT&T Procter & Gamble CenturyLink
General Motors PepsiCo Nordstrom
Verizon Facebook The Kellogg Company
IBM Marriott International eBay
While the “organizational” side of I/O Psychology focuses on understanding how organizational
structures and management styles affect individual behavior, the “industrial” side involves under-
standing how to best match individuals to specific jobs. A priority on this end of I/O Psychology is to
gather evidence that identifies which selection methods best predict performance, such as personal-
ity tests. One of the biggest challenges facing I/O Psychologists is disrupting the age-old usage of
pseudo-personality tests, like Myers-Briggs (MBTI) and DISC, in selection processes.
MBTI/DISC Tests as I/O Psychology-validated
Selection Methods Selection Methods
Predict performance
Measure personality as a
spectrum (not dichotomies)
Measure job relatedness
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WHY WE USE There is a better way to make talent decisions
than “gut instinct.” Plum leverages the power of
THE SCIENCE
Industrial/Organizational Psychology to help
you select the right people for the right jobs at
your organization — whether they’re new hires
THAT WE USE or internally mobilized talent. Here’s how.
PLUM DISCOVERY SURVEY
Assess talents that predict performance with a 25-minute
job seeker- and employee-facing assessment.
PLUM MATCH CRITERIA SURVEY
Capture insights from employers and uncover job needs to
determine the specific criteria for each role through a 6-8
minute survey.
PLUM MATCH SCORE
Determine an individual’s fit in a role with a single score
that results from merging a person’s profile with the
needs of the job.
TALENT MANAGEMENT USE CASES
Leverage Plum’s Talent Recommendation Engine for multiple
scenarios, such as hiring, professional development planning,
high-potential selection, career pathing, and strategic work-
force planning.
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THE PLUM DISCOVERY SURVEY: PERFORMANCE PREDICTION
Plum’s Discovery Survey assesses candidates on 10 Talents:
TALENT THE ABILITY TO...
Adjust to changes in the workplace while maintaining a positive
Adaptation
demeanour
Convey ideas effectively and identify messages others are
Communication
attempting to convey
Conflict Resolution Bring others together to resolve conflict and reconcile differences
Decision Making Make high-quality decisions based on limited information
Understand others’ perspectives and deal effectively with
Embracing Diversity
different types of people
Set goals, monitor progress, and take the initiative to improve
Execution
your work
Innovation Generate novel solutions and creative ideas to solve problems
Take charge of a group and motivate group members toward
Managing Others
common goals
Convince others of a direction, activity, or idea, and influence
Persuasion
decision-making
Teamwork Work effectively with people and cooperate with others
Our validity studies show that these talents are predictive of performance on the job.
We measure candidates’ talents by using a proprietary algorithm to combine their scores on
personality traits and cognitive abilities as assessed by the Plum Discovery Survey. Research has
shown that combining the results of multidimensional assessments of personality and intelligence will
typically have twice the ability to predict job success than either type of assessment alone1, 2.
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ASSESSING PERSONALITY
Plum assesses personality traits based on the psychological five-factor model (FFM) or “Big Five”
personality model. Hundreds of research studies have conclusively demonstrated the relationships
between personality and job performance3,4.
Plum measures narrow dimensions within each of the Big 5 traits, in line with findings that specific
dimensions often predict performance better than broad personality factors2.
Applicants will often try to “game” personality tests by denying negative behavioral tendencies in
order to raise their scores. Most commercial personality inventories do not make it difficult for
applicants to do this, using simple ratings scales or true/false formats where the desirable response is
obvious. Research has consistently shown that candidate "faking" happens on these types of invento-
ries with alarming frequency and that it can destroy the capability to predict future job perfor-
mance5,6.
Here is a typical question used in some of the most popular assessments today
A. You typically hand in work:
__ Late with occasional mistakes
__ Late with no mistakes
__ On time with occasional mistakes
__ On time with no mistakes
B. I keep my work space neat and organized at all times:
1 2 3 4 5
Not at all True Somewhat True Very True
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The personality sections of the Plum assessment are specifically designed to
prevent applicants from misrepresenting their behavioral tendencies and
claiming to have only positive dispositions at work.
Plum uses clusters of adjectives and behavioral statements and asks candidates to choose those that
are most true of them. The key is that the options have all been matched on how attractive they
appear while candidates do not know how they are being scored for a particular role or job in an
organization.
Plum implements a “Forced-Choice” personality survey
Least True Most True
I tend to sympathize with others’ feelings.
I always know what I am doing.
I like to solve complex problems.
The science behind the “forced-choice” methodology has been firmly established to demonstrate
that applicants cannot successfully game the test. Research has consistently shown that
forced-choice inventories maintain their validity even when given to the most motivated job
applicants, but commercial inventories using rating scales or true/false formats do not7,8,9.
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ASSESSING PROBLEM SOLVING
The problem solving portion of the Discovery Survey leverages Raven’s Progressive Matrices to
assess the capacity to think logically and solve new problems. The questions are designed to estimate
candidates’ potential in using mental processes required to solve work-related problems or to acquire
new job knowledge. Research has shown that scores on these tests consistently predict how
successful candidates are in training and making effective decisions on the job.
SECTION I: PROBLEM SOLVING
Select the missing piece ? below
Our test measures “fluid” abilities, in that it does not require language or much by way of acquired
knowledge to solve the problems. These fluid abilities are most related to pattern recognition and
deductive reasoning. The most comprehensive review of the validity of this type of employment test
was conducted by Postlethwaite10 based on the results of dozens of studies and thousands of job
candidates. This review showed that scores have a strong statistical relationship to job performance.
Most importantly, high performers get more questions correct on such tests than low performers
because all jobs require learning and problem solving. Because of this, cognitive ability tests have
been shown to predict performance across jobs and organizations that use them in hiring are more
productive and have lower turnover as a result11. Moreover, problem solving predicts job success
beyond other prerequisites, such as work experience and employment interviews12.
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ASSESSING SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
Organizations have become increasingly aware that having interpersonally effective employees
represents a competitive advantage. Assessment tools such as structured interviews and assessment
centers are useful for gauging interpersonal competencies, yet they are costly and impractical when
there are large numbers of individuals that need to be assessed.
The social intelligence section of the Discovery Survey assesses individual differences in the ability to
understand social cues and anticipate the impact of different actions on the thoughts and feelings of
others. The situational judgment item format involves presenting a work situation and requesting the
candidate to evaluate the effectiveness of different courses of action, selecting the actions they
believe would be the least and most effective responses. McDaniel and colleagues12 examined over
100 research studies that linked social intelligence test scores to job success and showed that there
was a strong relationship.
The questions on our social intelligence test have been extensively researched. Scores on the items of
the test have been linked to performance in work situations common to most jobs and to actual
observations of socially effective work behavior13.
SECTION IV: SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
Read the below work situation and pick the statement that is Least effective and Most effective.
Work Situation:
Mila has been asked to facilitate a meeting to identify new marketing opportunities. However,
during the meeting none of the team members express opinions about which strategies to choose
and how to implement them. This is uncharacteristic of the group, as they are usually very vocal
and creative. Mila is concerned about implementing any new marketing strategies without getting
useful feedback from the group. If you were Mila, which responses would be the most effective
and least effective?
Choose One Choose One
Least effective Most effective
Bring the meeting to a close and touch base with each team member separately
about their recommendations.
Finish the meeting and go ahead with your own ideas about how to implement
the strategies.
Continue the meeting and try to convince the team to share their opinions as
their input is needed to make the implementation successful.
Share your own opinions about marketing opportunities and see if the team has
any concerns and if they support your ideas.
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THE PLUM MATCH CRITERIA SURVEY:
UNCOVERING JOB NEEDS
The profile of what is important for success as a customer service representative will look very
different than that of a software developer.
For any given position, at least half of the dimensions on a psychometric assessment may not actually
predict success. The key is narrowing down which talents are crucial to the specific job you are hiring
for. Research has shown that scores on dimensions identified as relevant by job experts predict
performance much better than those that were not14.
A job analysis, based on the expert judgments of hiring managers and top performers in the role, are
a reliable and valid way of determining job criteria15,16. This process can often be time-consuming and
arduous, with the use of interviews and focus groups. Plum has designed a 6-8 minute Match Criteria
Survey that quickly captures that information and feeds it back to decision-makers.
Results of the Match Criteria Survey are aggregated across job experts and the talents are ranked in
terms of importance. The results are then used to determine the 5 Talent scores that will be
combined to determine candidate Match Scores.
THE PLUM MATCH SCORE: GREATER VALIDITY
Plum merges candidates’ talent scores with the results of the Match Criteria Survey to generate an
overall estimate of how each candidate fits with role requirements — a Match Score.
Plum Match Scores have several advantages over the assessment results of other commercial
personality inventories. First, Plum customizes the scoring of the assessment to focus on those
dimensions that are important for success, as determined by the Match Criteria Survey. This means
that every candidate can take a universal assessment, but be considered for multiple roles. Match
Scores also act as a simple way for users to sort individuals based on the extent they have what is
needed for success.
The process of merging the results of psychometric assessments with the judgments of job experts
has proven to be the most robust method for identifying top candidates15,16. This also allows decision
makers to not be distracted by assessment results that do not predict success. The science behind
how the Plum Match Scores are computed ignores talents that are not important and prioritizes
those that are.
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TALENT MANAGEMENT USE CASES
Plum’s Talent Recommendation Engine, Ultraviolet, takes a talent-first approach to talent
management. Role requirements and individuals’ capabilities are assessed using a common talent
framework. Then, the match between individuals’ natural talents and the talent requirements of a role
are intelligently calculated.
This process forms the foundation for a number of talent management use cases. Some of these use
cases are described below.
Succession Planning and Career Mobility
Organizations recognize the need to retain top talent by providing them with opportunities to
explore new roles. Whether employees are climbing the career ladder (promotion) or navigating a
career lattice (e.g., moving across business units or departments), matching for talent ensures that
they have the best chance for success.
In the case of succession planning, potential successors can be chosen by identifying individuals with
high talent Match Scores for the role in question.
Haruto Uchida
96
Lisa Bridel
Managing Director
89
Lena Szymczyk
62
In the case of career mobility, an individual’s talent profile can be compared to a range of roles. Roles
that have the best fit can be considered as possible moves.
Regional VP
96
Managing Director
Haruto Uchida 89
COO
62
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Learning and Development
Retaining your top talent means keeping them engaged. One of the best ways to promote
engagement is through targeted learning and development opportunities involving feedback17.
Ultraviolet leverages individuals’ Discovery Survey results to produce Talent Grow professional
development guides for employees. Talent Grow provides detailed feedback on individuals’ natural
tendency to engage in the behaviors within the 10 Plum Talents.
ADAPTATION
Adaptation includes the following competencies:
Preparing for change
Anticipating change and planning for possible contingencies which involves:
Anticipating problems and choosing forward-thinking solutions
Developing plans to accomplish the work
Identifying and developing solutions to potential problems
Responding to change
Effectively reacting, responding, and adapting to change which involves:
Persisting through ambiguity and change
Remaining calm and level-headed in the midst of change
Rebounding from the challenges associated with change
Adjusting to change and integrating changes into existing plans and
procedures
Embracing uncertainty
Demonstrating composure and resilience when faced with setbacks, ambiguity,
and stressful situations which involves:
Maintaining productivity during times of change
Operating effectively in stressful situations
Employees can target development areas of their choosing based on their personal goals, manager
input, and organizational priorities. They can also choose to target development areas that are
relevant to the talents required for particular roles.
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Recruitment and Selection
Making hiring decisions based on the results of psychometric assessments means that you are relying
on data that is highly predictive of success on the job1. This is in contrast to information like
education and experience, which are readily available on a resume, but are poor predictors of job
performance.
In Ultraviolet, job candidates are matched to the requirements of a job and sorted based on their
talent Match Score.
Haruto Uchida Lisa Bridel Lena Szymczyk
96 89 62
Jerome Arboleda Will Wilson Aarav Joshi
92 87 75
Chloe Bertrand Jack Weir Alex Donos
97 92 52
This provides employers with a prioritized list of candidates for inclusion in further stages of the hiring
process. Candidates are vetted for their match based on the talents for the role before employers
waste time interviewing candidates who appear like stars on a resume, but do not meet the behavioral
requirements of the role.
AUTOMATING 50+ YEARS OF I/O PSYCHOLOGY
There was once a time when organizations could only gain access to the deep insight of
Industrial/Organizational Psychology through (often time-consuming and costly) consulting services.
At Plum, we automate I/O Psychology with AI to make the certainty of I/O Psychology available to
all. By providing our customers with valid talent data at every stage of the employee lifecycle, they’re
able to make better hiring, internal mobility, professional development, and emerging leader
decisions.
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REFERENCES
1. Schmidt, F., & Hunter, J. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical
implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274.
2. Tett, R.P. & Christiansen, N.D. (2007). Personality tests at the crossroads: A reply to Morgeson, Campion, Dipboye, Hollenbeck,
Murphy, and Schmitt. Personnel Psychology, 60, 267-293.
3. Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel
Psychology, 44, 1-26.
4. Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Judge, T. A. (2001). Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millenium: What do
we know and where do we go next? International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 9-30.
5. Griffith, R. L., & Peterson, M. H. (2006). A closer examination of applicant faking behavior. Greenwich, CT: Information Age
Publishing.
6. Ziegler, M., McCann, C. & Roberts, R. (2012). New perspectives on faking in personality assessments. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
7. Bartram, D. (2007). Increasing validity with forced-choice criterion measurement formats. International Journal of Selection and
Assessment, 15, 263-272.
8. Christiansen, N.D., Burns, G., & Montgomery, G.E. (2005). Reconsidering the use of forced-choice formats for applicant
personality assessment. Human Performance, 18, 267-307.
9. Hirsh, J. B., & Peterson, J. B. (2008). Predicting creativity and academic success with a "fake-proof" measure of the Big Five.
Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1323-1333.
10. Postlethwaite, B. E. (2011). Fluid ability, crystallized ability, and performance across multiple domains: A meta-analysis (Doctoral
dissertation). University of Iowa.
11. Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1981). Employment testing: Old theories and new research findings. American Psychologist,
36(10), 1128-1137.
12. McDaniel, M. A., Hartman, N. S., Whetzel, D. L., & Lee Grubb III, W. (2007). Situational judgment tests, response instructions,
and validity: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 60, 63-91.
13. Unterborn, K. (2011). Creating a performance-based social intelligence measure using a situational judgement test format
(Doctoral Dissertation). Central Michigan University.
14. O’Neill, T., Goffin, R., & Rothstein, M. (2013). Personality and the need for personality-oriented work analysis. In N. Christiansen
& R. Tett (Eds). Handbook of Personality at Work. New York, Taylor-Francis/Routledge Press.
15. Tett, R.P., Jackson, D.N., & Rothstein, M. (1991). Meta-analysis of personality-job performance relationships. Personnel
Psychology, 47, 157-172.
16. Tett, R. P., Jackson, D. N., Rothstein, M., & Reddon, J. R. (1999). Meta-analysis of bidirectional relations in personality-job
performance research. Human Performance, 12, 1-29.
17. Menguc, B., Auh, S., Fisher, M., & Haddad, A. (2013). To be engaged or not to be engaged: The antecedents and consequences of
service employee engagement. Journal of Business Research, 66, 2163-2170.
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AUTHORS
Neil Christiansen, Ph.D.
Dr. Christiansen's University page
Handbook of Personality at Work
Neil D. Christiansen, Ph.D., is an expert in the areas of employment testing and psychological
measurement. He has worked extensively with corporations to improve their hiring processes and
help them identify the most talented job candidates.
Dr. Christiansen specializes in developing innovative assessments to measure personality and
interpersonal competencies.
He is currently a Professor of Psychology at Central Michigan University and has published
numerous papers on the topic of personality in the workplace. He published the edited volume
Handbook of Personality at Work, which is regarded as the most comprehensive book on the subject
to date.
Leann Schneider, Ph.D.
Leann Schneider, PhD., is the Product Manager at Plum. In this role she applies her passion for
research-based practice, practical insight, and coaching-supported development to Plum’s product
development and client delivery.
She obtained her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of Guelph. Her
research focuses on personality, employment interviews, and the assessment of individual
differences, and is published in peer-reviewed journals including the International Journal of
Selection and Assessment, Journal of Research in Personality, and Social Indicators Research.
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