How annoying are you?

Science reveals the Irritating, the Picky and the Arrogant: take the free assessment

We have something a little light and fun to start off the summer of 2011. . .

I had the opportunity recently to work with Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman of National Public Radio’s Science Friday. They recently published the book, Annoying—The Science of What Bugs Us. Joe’s interviews with people about what makes some so annoying had led him to our colleague Bob Hogan, whose Hogan Development Survey is all about how people can unintentionally derail their reputations and careers.

So we all worked to develop a short survey, sent it out to a few hundred of our closest friends and developed the "Annoying Inventory." When we got the results, we did a quick factor analysis and found that annoying people fall into three categories: Irritating, Picky and Arrogant.

The "Picky" person has a detail focus and often the micromanager’s “my way or the highway” approach to working with others. "Arrogant" people are, well, arrogant. They criticize others’ efforts and like to be the focus of attention. People who can’t trust others or who are hard to please are in the "Irritating" category. It’s all very annoying.

Palca writes: What is the recipe for annoyance? For starters, it should be temporary, unpleasant, and unpredictable, like a boring meeting or mosquito bites. For example, why is that guy talking on his cell phone over there so annoying? For one, it’s unpleasant and distracting. Second, we don’t know, and can’t control, when it will end. Third, we can’t not listen! Our brains are hardwired to pay close attention to people talking and follow the conversations. The loud chatter pulls our brains away to listen to half of something we’re never going to understand.

In Annoying—The Science of What Bugs Us, Palca and Lichtman look at annoying behaviors at work, in politics, sports, science and, yes, even romance.

How annoying are you? You can find out for free by taking the assessment here.

We’ll compare your answers to the current norms for Arrogance, Irritating-ness and Pickiness, and tell you where you rank on general Annoyingness.

Wall Street Journal Says Some Employers May Increase Testing Following New Haven Firefighters Decision

In spite of the many advances made in the testing industry regarding fairness, many employers are still hesitant to use it during employment screening. A recent WSJ article says that some are encouraged by the recent Supreme Court ruling in the New Haven Firefighters case. We thought you'd like to know about this article on pre-employment testing.

Three Steps to Getting the Most from Career Assessment

If you're in a career change right now, be sure to take advantage of the advice offered in our latest white paper: Three Steps to Getting the Most from Career Assessments. This white paper shows where formal career tests and assessments fit in the overall process of planning a career. It provides an introduction to best practices for tests and assessments in a career counseling environment. It is based on the actual experience of Dr. Wendy Alfus-Rothman, of Wenroth Consulting, and one of her clients, David Fabricant of Stryker Spine. The article also quotes the president of the National Career Development Association, Judith Hoppin.

Read the complete Three Steps to Career Tests article.

Download the PDF.

Tests & Assessments for Career Direction: An Overview

Formal career assessment has become very popular and, when used judiciously, provides reliable information in a concentrated timeframe to support career changes and job searches. There are four major categories of career tests: interest inventories, motives and values inventories, personality tests, and ability tests. Each addresses a different part of the puzzle. This paper provides a tour of career tests and assessments and what some have to offer. It is intended for a general business audience, but it is not an exhaustive review of all career-related tests. Career coaches and counselors may offer it to their clients to help them understand the range of options. Others may find it helpful in seeking out the right kinds of tests for themselves.

Download the white paper on Career Tests in PDF format.

Professional Certification for Hogan Personality Inventory

No one can predict the future performance of a new hire, but we have found that employers who use personality tests from Hogan Assessments take a lot of the guesswork out of their hiring. To assure best use of these tests, Hogan Assessment Systems requires certification for coaches and HR professionals prior to delivering test results to their clients and workgroups.

Next Sessions: September 24 and November 12, 2009

Performance Programs chose Hogan instruments over the many others available in the market because they meet all the criteria of excellence in workplace assessment, including rigorous scientific standards and no adverse impact. We have worked with Hogan instruments for 10 years, helping hundreds of clients implement them for both candidate selection and development.

We use all of the Hogan-authorized materials, workbooks, PowerPoint, assessments, information and complete all Hogan training objectives. The Hogan Workshops have pre-work modules and a self-assessment. Registration should be completed at least two weeks in advance. All Hogan workshops are pre-approved for credit by the SHRMS's Human Resource Certification Institute for SPHR, PHR, and GPHR certifications. APA credits are also available.

These one-day seminars are scheduled from 8:30 – 4:30 in Westbrook, CT at Water's Edge Resort. This is close to Rt. 95 and accessible by Amtrak or Shoreline East/MetroNorth trains. The workshop location is within one hour of either the Providence, RI or Hartford, CT airports.

All seminars are $1200, discounted from the full retail value of $ 2300. Certification includes: a personal assessment ($450 value), a copy of The Hogan Guide ($75 value), all Certification Materials ($300), two free assessment IDs for post-workshop use ($800 value), one hour of pre-conference telephone review of your own reports and one-half hour of post-conference telephone review of your first live case ($675 value). In addition, you receive access to the DYAD Training Tool for rapid report interpretation.

Please inquire about rates for additional telephone consultation beyond the first hour.

Please call if we can be of assistance: 1-800-565-4223 or register now.

Another Way to Identify High Potential Candidates

We keep hearing about the importance of talent identification and management. We thought our friends and customers would like to know about a new tool: the High Potential Candidate Assessment Report from Hogan Assessments.

The High Potential Candidate Assessment Report allows employers to identify top candidates in relation to specific business competencies. It is based on research from a global sample of more than a thousand executive MBA program graduates. This sample group represents one of the highest-level talent pools ever used to create a profile of high potential candidates for leadership roles. The assessment involves three instruments and provides a highly integrated view of the candidate's strengths and challenges.

Visit our site and obtain a sample report for more information.