Retail Case Study

Problem and Setting
A large U.S. grocery store chain contracted PsyMetrics to create a test battery to help them select top quality employees.

Strategy
The Store’s Management had identified four behavioral characteristics as being critical for the success of all store personnel. These behavioral traits were: helping disposition, reliability, rules compliance and dependability with respect to punctuality and attendance. Based on these requirements, four PsyMetrics scales designed to measure these behavioral characteristics were identified.
The PsyMetrics scales identified as relevant to the job (i.e., Helping Disposition, Reliability, Rules Compliance and Responsibility) were administered to 108 grocery store personnel. Study participants included cashiers, stock clerks, deli personnel and butchers. The supervisors of these employees were then asked to rate them on reliability, attendance and punctuality, helping disposition, policy compliance and trustworthiness. Statistical analyses were then performed to determine the degree to which the PsyMetrics scale scores were related to job performance.

Conclusion The results of the statistical analyses concluded that the PsyMetrics scales were highly predictive of overall job performance. By implementing a cut score that would screen out 35% of applicants the grocery store would reduce the percentage of unsatisfactory performers by 67% without causing adverse impact.

After the first year of assessment use, the CEO reported a significant return on investment, documenting the company saved $750,000 in turnover costs.

Use of these assessments significantly increased the
standardization, objectivity, fairness and validity of
the grocery store chain’s selection process.