Workplace Productivity Profile (WPP)
Updated
by
Amy Thomas
At a glance
Type of assessment | Risk |
Measures | Conscientiousness Productivity Reliability Rule-adherence |
Time | The WPP is untimed and takes around 7 minutes to complete |
Format | Candidates complete 50 questions. |
Workplace outcomes | Reduced counterproductive work behaviours Reduced costs from theft, fraud, or shrinkage Lower costs of insurance More productive workforce |
Recommended for | Ideal for entry-level positions, when factors such as attendance, rule adherence, work ethic, and trustworthiness are important, such as cashiers and clerks, retail store associates, home health care aides, field service technicians and security guards, and more. |
Description
The WPP is a risk assessment that is used to help predict whether an individual will be a conscientious, productive, and reliable employee. Employees with a propensity to behave unreliably can not only pose a threat to the organization by causing significant financial costs, but they can also pose a risk to the culture of the organization by having more lenient attitudes towards dishonesty, theft, and counterproductive behaviours.
The WPP enables you to screen out potentially risky candidates during your recruitment process by identifying how likely they are to behave dishonestly, or to condone counterproductive behaviours from others.
Format
The WPP contains 50 self-report items and typically takes about 7 minutes to complete. When candidates complete the WSP, they indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with each statement. Candidates respond to each question by selecting one of the five options from an agreement scale, a frequency scale, or a probability scale.
The assessment measures a variety of beliefs about how candidates see themselves, other people, and their environment. It also assesses the extent to which candidates may be distorting or faking their responses.
Measures
The WPP measures four traits:
- Conscientiousness - measures a person’s tendencies with respect to being deliberate, self-disciplined, organized and dependable.
- Perseverance - measures a person’s tendencies with respect to being diligent, having consistent interests, and persevering in the face of adversity.
- Integrity/Honesty - measures a person’s beliefs in the importance of adherence to rules and laws, and with respect to the value of honesty.
- Attitudes towards Theft and Fraud - measures a person’s attitudes towards theft, fraud, and other forms of dishonest financial dealings.
Score Reports
Each individual is given a percentile ranking for each of the four traits, as well as an Overall Rating of High, Medium, or Low, based on a combined score derived from the four individual trait scores. An internal "Self-enhancing scale" is used to adjust scores up or down in the event that the test detects unusually positive or negative response styles. In extreme cases of self-enhancing, the test will also be flagged as a potentially invalid result. Score reports also contain brief text descriptions for each of the four traits and provide information as to how a candidate's score in individual traits may affect job suitability.
Candidate Experience
The WPP is a brief assessment that is optimised to be taken anytime, anywhere. The assessment provides a quick and seamless test-taking experience on any device. This provides a high level of flexibility and convenience for the candidate.
Intended Use and Legal Compliance
The WPP can be used to help predict the likelihood of a wide range of outcomes including performance, general reliability and rule-following, and risk for counterproductive work behaviors such as theft or fraud. While it can be used for many positions it is of particular utility for employers screening entry- and mid-level employees where attendance, punctuality, work ethic and trustworthiness are valued, and is particularly popular for positions where employees will be handling cash or inventory, or working in a client's home or business.
It is estimated that employee theft costs U.S. businesses between $15 and $25 billion per year, and as a result about 40% of U.S. employers use integrity tests as part of their employee screening process. The WPP, like other integrity tests, has been shown to have no adverse impact on protected minority groups. There are no federal prohibitions on the use of integrity tests; however, the state of Massachusetts prohibits the use of any written assessment of honesty for hiring purposes, so the WPP should not be used in MA. The state of Rhode Island prohibits using integrity tests as the primary basis of employment decisions; users in RI should consult their legal counsel before using the WPP.
Standardization Sample
Norms for the WPP were developed using a sample of 1,107 individuals. The sample was made up of adults aged 18 and older, including both incumbents and job applicants. These individuals were being assessed for employee selection and/or benchmarking purposes, and represented a sample of individuals from over 50 companies, in an extremely broad and diverse range of positions.
Additional resources
Get an overview of the WPP assessment. | |
View the sample report available for the WPP assessment. | |
A guide for interpreting the WPP Score Report. | |
Watch the video on interpreting the WPP Score Report. |
