Expertise
Over a decade of psychological assessment expertise
Clinical psychologists are uniquely qualified to design, administer, and interpret psychological assessment instruments. It’s why all of our assessments are designed and supervised by licensed clinical psychologists, not “experts” with degrees in business or an unlicensed psychology subspecialty.
Did You Know?
Before completing a year-long clinical internship – the final step before earning a PhD – clinical psychology doctoral students average over 90 hours of graduate assessment coursework and 230 hours of assessment experience – nearly twice that of counseling psychologists. Unlicensed subspecialties, such as industrial-organizational and social psychology, do not report assessment training hours (APPIC, 2018).
Rely on Science, Not Surface
Assessment batteries are designed with rigorous care by our doctoral level consultants. Leveraging expertise in test theory and construction, instruments selected for use by OAP must pass stringent validity, reliability, and standardization benchmarks, as well as receive acclaim from peer-reviewed sources, such as professional journals, The Mental Measurements Yearbook, and articles included in the database of the Education Resources Information Center.
OAP’s comprehensive selection assessment – our most popular assessment service – boasts a validity coefficient greater than .65, significantly higher than the minimum .35 required for a test to be very beneficial (U.S. Department of Labor, 2000).
Organizations throughout the United States are increasingly recognizing the value psychological assessment brings to selection, development, and promotion decisions. According to Harvard Business Review, the number of companies using assessment in the hiring process is growing by 10-15% per year, and about 76% of organizations with 100+ employees rely on assessment tools for external hiring. Currently, assessment is used for 59% of entry-level positions, 72% of middle management positions, and up to 80% of senior roles.
Key Research
Turnover is a significant problem. One in four new hires leaves within a year.
(CEB, 2012)
Cognitive ability and critical thinking assessments have proven to be extremely useful predictors of job performance with strong predictive validity coefficients.
(Hunter, 1986; Ree et al., 1994; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998)
Personality assessment, particularly measures of conscientiousness and achievement orientation, is a strong performance predictor in many jobs.
(Barrick et al., 1991; Hough, 1992; Ones et al., 2007; Tett & Christiansen, 2007)
Applicants hold generally favorable views toward cognitive ability and personality assessments as part of the selection process.
(Anderson et al., 2010)
Experience Minus Ego
Our consultants hold doctoral and master’s degrees in the fields of clinical psychology, behavioral science, industrial-organizational psychology, and business. All OAP assessment services are designed and supervised by a licensed clinical psychologist.
Working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, each of our consultants has a minimum of three years consulting experience. Senior consultants possess a minimum of five years assessment experience and 300 or more assessment reports written.
While larger firms rely on name recognition and entrenched relationships to enforce an our-way-or-the-highway approach, OAP’s technological advancements allow us to respond dynamically to client needs. We craft truly customized solutions to address each organization’s unique talent management challenges, and we do it all without an ego.
Agile and Affordable
When time is of the essence, OAP delivers. Signature assessment reports and 360 degree feedback reports are routinely available in three business days or less after participants complete testing. Client organizations receive access to the OAP Portal, which includes 24/7 tracking of the assessment process.
Gone are the days of requiring participants to visit an inconveniently located office for in-person testing. Via the secure OAP Portal, our assessments are accessible from any location with internet access. Each instrument is backed by research demonstrating equivalence between in-person and computerized administrations.
Using OAP’s Domain Model (six key competencies for predicting success), signature assessment services provide not only a clear, data-based recommendation (for selection and promotion services), but also suggestions for the participant’s continued development, many of which may serve as the foundation for creation of a more detailed development plan. A thorough narrative describing the results, along with clear explanatory graphs, is the centerpiece of our powerful yet accessible reports. To aid hiring managers and OD and HR professionals in the selection process, follow-up interview questions, based on assessment results, are also provided for selection and promotion candidates.
Combining speed, scientific rigor, and value-added features with over a decade of assessment expertise, OAP assessments and other consultative services remain an exceptional value. Our comprehensive assessments, for example, are priced 20-30% below area competitors’ fees.