Resources
The Client
Anderson Independent-Mail, in Anderson, South Carolina is a division of E.W. Scripps Company, a diverse media concern with interests in newspaper publishing, broadcast television, national television networks, interactive media and television-retailing. Scripps operates 21 daily newspapers, 10 broadcast TV stations, four cable and satellite television programming services and a home shopping network. All of the company’s media businesses provide content and advertising services via the Internet.
The Anderson Independent-Mail had its beginnings in 1899, when G. Pierce Browne began publishing the afternoon Anderson Daily Mail. In 1924 Wilton E. Hall began publishing the Anderson Independent as a morning newspaper. In 1930, the Anderson Independent purchased the Anderson Daily Mail for a reputed sales price of $50,000.
For many years Hall published The Daily Mail, Monday through Saturday afternoons and the Anderson Independent seven mornings a week. In 1972 he sold both papers to Harte-Hanks Newspapers, Inc., which later became Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. In 1981 the name was changed to Anderson Independent-Mail. E.W. Scripps bought the paper in 1997. It now has roughly 200 employees.
The Product
PersonalCharacteristics Inventory® (PCI): The PCI forecasts job-related behavior, enabling hiring managers at Anderson Independent Mail to match personalities to specific positions. Developed by personality experts Murray Barrick, Ph.D., and Michael Mount, Ph.D., the PCI provides occupational scores for positions such as managers, sales people, clerical employees and production workers.
This instrument links five key personality dimensions, known as “The Big Five,” to successful job performance. The Big Five measure agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, stability, and openness.
Regardless of job type, the core personal characteristics measured by the PCI are critical factors to the long-term achievements of employees. Using the Big Five and its 12 personality subscales, Anderson can predict a sales person’s behavior and likelihood of success in specific sales roles.
Personality Inventory Matches Salespeople to Specific Client Types
Two years ago, turnover was a chronic problem in the advertising sales department at Anderson Independent-Mail newspaper, in Anderson, South Carolina. “We were hiring account executives who appeared to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, then they turned out to be terrible,” says Rebecca Morlok, Vice President of Human Resources. Frustrated, she went looking for a tool that would help her more concisely judge candidates’ strengths and weaknesses so that they could better predict on-the-job performance.
“Someone who’s a good salesperson in one role won’t automatically be good in another. The PCI helps me identify whether a person has the specific skills necessary for a particular position.”
— Karen Rommelmeyer
Retail Advertising Manager
Years before, the newspaper had used Wonderlic tests to evaluate job applicants, but when the company changed hands, they changed their hiring procedures, Morlok says. Later on, after being acquired by E.W. Scripps, Morlok was encouraged to re-establish the relationship. After investigating all the testing options available from Wonderlic, she chose the Personal Characteristics Inventory (PCI), which evaluates candidates based on five key personality dimensions that are linked directly to job success- agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, stability and openness.
Twelve sub-scales further define the characteristics as they pertain to work behaviors and performance techniques. To be sure it was the right test for their needs, Morlok took the PCI herself and gave it to other employees. “I thought my test results were dead on,” she says. In fact, she was so impressed with the accuracy of the test, she encouraged employees to use the PCI as a self-development tool to help them identify their own areas for improvement. “People are often blind to their own shortcomings. The PCI gives them insight,” she says.
The advertising department now gives the PCI to finalists for every advertising sales position, says Karen Rommelmeyer, Retail Advertising Manager. There are certain characteristics that she looks for in every sales candidate, such as a high level of confidence and only a moderate level of
aggressiveness. “I want them to want to do well, but they also need to be team players,” she says. The report she receives with each candidate’s personality characteristics profile tells her exactly whose level of “achievement striving” does not overwhelm their willingness to support their team members.
“I may have a good feeling about a person but I sometimes question whether I’m right,” Rommelmeyer says. “The Wonderlic test gives me confidence that I’ve made the best decision.”
Rommelmeyer also uses the PCI to identify unique characteristics that are ideal for different sales positions. “Someone who’s a good salesperson in one role won’t automatically be good in another,” she says. “The PCI helps me find people with the specific skills necessary for particular territories and clients.” For example, one territory is made up almost entirely of doctor’s offices, so that salesperson needs to be patient, professional, and to the point. “These clients aren’t going to sit around and chit chat,” she says. They also offer little feedback or thanks, so the salesperson’s “need for recognition” should not be high.
On the other hand, in the regions made up of mom and pop shops she needs salespeople who are personable, easy going, creative and helpful. “They often need to walk clients through the advertising process, helping them choose items for their ads and guiding them to the best decisions,” she says. “It’s relationship selling.” These smaller clients also offer a lot of feedback and appreciation, so this role is more appropriate for a salesperson who needs praise to build their confidence.
The PCI goes deeper than an interview because it determines who has the exact techniques required to succeed in each role. Ultimately, it helps Rommelmeyer make her final hiring decision because it reinforces her own intuition. “I may have a good feeling about a person but I sometimes question whether I’m right,” she says. “The Wonderlic test gives me confidence that I’ve made the best decision.” Since implementing the test 18 months ago, turnover has dropped dramatically. Most of her team has been there for a year or more and Rommelmeyer is considering using the test to measure changes in their behavior. “It would be interesting to see how far we’ve come.”
This website works best with a modern browser using Cascading Style Sheets (CCS). You are viewing this website with either an old browser or with CSS turned off.
Please update your browser or turn on CSS.