Monday, September 21, 2009

New Pittsburgh Firm Offers Proven Workplace Behavior Assessment Tools

After harnessing the power of psychometric assessment throughout his career to improve the effectiveness and productivity of his companies, Dan Courser is now leveraging his experience as he offers these same tools and insight to the Western Pennsylvania marketplace.

Courser, a former chief operating officer for Busch's, Southeast Michigan's largest independent supermarket chain, has become one of only 48 licensees of PI Worldwide's Predictive Index®. Through his new business, Predictive Synergistic Systems, Courser will license use of the Predictive Index and train and support clients in their use of it.

"As a practical, reliable indicator of workplace behavior, the Predictive Index helps organizations make sound, people-smart decisions with the best results for the company and for the people themselves," Courser said.

"Business leaders know all too well the difficulty in finding the right people who are a good fit, not only with an open position, but also with an organization's culture," he said. "They also know what can happen when the wrong person is brought on board, from the time and money lost, to the ongoing frustration in trying to fill the position. The Predictive Index process can alleviate that frustration."

The Predictive Index process combines employee assessment, education and consulting. Using a Performance Requirement Options (PRO) worksheet, organizational leaders can better understand the specific behaviors that lead to the most effective performance in a particular job. The Predictive Index (PI) survey, used in conjunction with the PRO, is an assessment tool that provides insight into the natural workplace behaviors of prospective and existing employees. Applying the results of the PRO and PI tools together results in improved hiring decisions, better team performance, enhanced communication, and greater workforce productivity.

A key element of the Predictive Index process is the education of key managers to interpret and use the Predictive Index data so that these tools become part of the organization's ongoing strategy for identifying the right people for the right jobs and assuring that workers are in jobs that maximize their potential.

"We have found the Predictive Index survey to be a much more effective way to evaluate individual capabilities and styles when considering candidates for open positions within the company," said Audrey Dunning, CEO of Summa, an IT consulting and software development firm. "With the data and insight the survey provides and our ability to interpret the information, the Predictive Index has improved our ability to not only place the right people in the right positions, but also provide effective coaching and mentoring to existing employees that takes into account their individual work styles. The result is employees who are more productive and satisfied in their positions, which ultimately results in increased value we can deliver to our customers."

Alpern Rosenthal is another company having success with the Predictive Index. Its development of a training program built around the Predictive Index earned a People Do Matter award from the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association.

To complement Predictive Synergistic Systems, Courser has aligned with George Borowsky, a management consultant with 20 years' experience working with PI Worldwide and its suite of management consulting tools. Borowsky is founder and president of managerial consulting firm InSight 3. Borowsky focuses on one-on-one leadership coaching, strategy plan and execution, new product development, and culture change management.

"By joining forces, Dan and I can focus more of our energy in our respective areas of specialized expertise and interest," Borowsky said.

About Predictive Synergistic Systems

Predictive Synergistic Systems™ is a Pittsburgh-based management consulting organization that combines expertise in employee and organizational issues with the tools of the Predictive Index® process to provide business management with process improvement, effectiveness and productivity across all levels of an organization. As a practical, reliable indicator of workplace behavior, the PI process helps organizational leaders make sound, people-smart decisions with the best results for the organization and for the people themselves.

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