Cognitive Process Profile Assessment

How do you know whether an individual will succeed in an important executive role, such as CEO, CFO, CIO or COO? Who has the potential to be a top performer in your organisation?

The science is clear - measures of complexity of intellectual processing (CIP) account for about 30% of the variance in executive performance. There is no substitute for measuring the effectiveness of styles and competencies of problem-solving when deciding on the most suitable people to fill executive roles.

Your brightest, most talented leaders contribute a disproportionate amount of value in your enterprise. Without the best talent you will not be a leader in your sector so you need to use the right tools to put people with powerful thinking skills and good judgement in leadership roles.

When the research findings of the many business success studies and psychological research are distilled, the consensus is that intellect is a powerful predictor of success. "Intellect is the most important competency in the modern working environment," James Quinn, author of best selling commentaries on successful business, Innovation Explosion and Intelligent Enterprise.

Frequently asked questions of the Cognitive Process Profile

Why should my organisation be using modern assessment methods?

More successful organisations tend to apply rigorous methods to screen for recruitment and promotion. We offer the means to accurately and efficiently take a reading of the potential of individuals and advise on their developmental needs, to optimise the value they add as future executives in the organisation. The CPP allows you to increase your confidence in making people decisions.

Using the CPP will reduce business risk by providing essential information on how key decision makers are likely to function. For example in start-ups or following mergers and acquisitions where it is critical to:

  • Ensure that the top team has what it takes to work co-operatively to solve problems.
  • Increase innovation and effective change management.
  • Avoid costly mistakes and trial and error learning when entering uncharted waters.
  • Improve profitability and competitiveness.
  • Speed up growth.

Can intellectual talent provide a competitive advantage?

The most recent research on Management in the UK by JQA associate and “Role Transition Expert”, Alan Robertson, shows that it takes up to 18 months for newly appointed managers to make successful transitions in their new roles. Knowing the intellectual profile of people who can adapt to changing demands is of strategic importance in maintaining your competitive edge.

The assessment of the way people think and learn is very important. To a large extent, an individual’s thinking and learning capacity determines the kind of complexity they can handle best and the kinds of tasks to which they are best and least suited. The CPP provides clear guidance as to whether an individual’s strengths lie in their focus on achieving short term results or whether they tend to deal with more abstract issues over a longer time frame. Getting these individuals matched to the wrong challenges will have a major adverse impact on the organisation.

This area of assessment is referred to as cognition, and the CPP has been developed to provide a comprehensive analysis of an individual’s:

  • Problem solving strategies and competencies.
  • Preferred thinking styles (14 styles are measured).
  • Suggested work environment best suited to problem solving approach.
  • Assessment of strengths, development areas and learning potential.

What is the CPP?

The Cognitive Process Profile is:

  • Technology that matches people to the changing demands of work.
  • Computer based, self-administered, assessment of problem solving in the form of  simulated card exercises which take approximately two hours to complete, unobtrusively gathering over 10,000 measures of how people solve novel problems.
  • A means of observing what is happening inside the black box of the mind through the examination of how individuals explore new information, analyse, structure, and reason.
  • An assessment of their use of concepts, memory strategies and ability to incorporate new learning.
  • A way of showing current and potential suitability for work at different levels, from purely operational to strategic roles, giving the company an insight into future capability of individuals.
  • A decision-making support tool that provides a comprehensive report showing the candidate’s strengths, development areas and goodness of fit for job requirements.

View a sample report of the Cognitive Process Profile:

Adobe PDF icon CPP Sample Report (PDF, 217Kb) Get Adobe Reader

What is the link between Complexity of Intellectual Functioning and Performance?

Peter Drucker and Elliot Jaques identified the role of good or bad “judgement” as pivotal factors. Jaques defines work as: “the exercise of judgement and discretion in making decisions necessary to solve and overcome the problems that arise in the course of carrying out tasks.” He goes on to define judgement and discretion as: “processing information and making decisions that have to be made in order to cope with the obstacles that arise.” Human Capability.

We have used the Cognitive Process Profile (CPP) in our mix of intellectual assessments because it requires candidates to undergo a computer-based “learning process” which simulates the solving of unfamiliar problems and requires them to demonstrate thinking competencies akin to those needed in the real world of business. The output is a report which clarifies what happens inside the “black box” of the mind when people need to perform the following mental functions: explore alternatives, plan, apply selective focus, reason, identify relevance, identify links, clarify relationships, memorise, integrate discrepant information, make judgements, transform according to context, verbalise the over-arching theme, think in concrete terms, think in abstract terms, make choices, figure things out, reflect on performance, re-view and so on. The CPP allows a skilled interpreter to comment on a wide range of thinking strategies and processes (fourteen styles and fourteen competencies).

Depending on the diagnostic context, other measures of intellectual functioning used by our Occupational Psychologists are individual measures of intellectual functioning such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS 111). We also use pencil and paper measures of what is termed “Crystallised Intelligence” such as the Watson Glaser and similar measures of verbal ability and critical reasoning ability which give insights into how intellect has been shaped by education. The Advanced Progressive Matrices is regarded as a useful measure of logical reasoning ability and is claimed to provide insight into “Fluid Intelligence” or the capacity to deal with the ambiguity of unfamiliar thinking challenges.

When should clients use the CPP?

The CPP should be used to:

  • Make decisions about key professionals or executives without knowing a lot about the candidates.
  • Ensure that new entrants add to the pool of intellectual talent which generates profits and takes the initiative in solving problems.
  • Assess future development potential and plan career paths for staff.
  • Identify the best person for a new challenge.

What feedback does the candidate get?

The authors have made it a condition of the use of the CPP that all candidates receive feedback from a trained person. A comprehensive report is generated and discussed with the candidate first and then interpreted for the organisation’s decision-makers. Clients can either use our consultants to conduct the assessment and feedback, or we will train client staff to administer and interpret the profiles in-house.

What does the research show about Validity and Reliability of the CPP?

The CPP is the product of extensive research spanning 10 years. A comprehensive research manual is available on request which contains a large number of studies which establish the validity of the CPP and these include a variety of studies in different cultural contexts. The CPP has demonstrated its value in predicting success in work environments and in tertiary education.

Other studies have shown that CPP does not have gender or race bias. One of the outstanding features is that it has been demonstrated to support fairness in assessment.

Validity studies have confirmed that CPP measures aspects of intellectual functioning with the accuracy of more established cognitive tests, but that the features of the CPP go well beyond IQ tests.

Where do I find out more?

Please outline your needs for a quotation on training, software and reports via our Contact Us Form. The CPP can be used in assessments conducted by our consultants or your HR staff can be trained to use CPP within your company.