Resources
The Client
At almost 160,000 square feet, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA, is one of the largest aquariums in the United States. More than 500 species fill 19 major habitats and 32 exhibits, taking visitors on a journey throughout the Pacific Ocean’s three regions: Southern California/Baja, the Tropical Pacific, and the Northern Pacific.
The Product
Personality Characteristics Inventory® (PCI): The Personality Characteristics Inventory provides personality testing that measures the personality traits deemed desirable by most employers. The PCI can be used for pre-employment screening when hiring employees or when personality testing is needed for existing personnel. Developed by personality experts Murray Barrick, Ph.D. and Michael Mount, Ph.D., the PCI predicts successful job performance using five primary dimensions of personality known as the “Big Five”: Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, stability and openness to experience. It also measures teamwork, commitment, integrity, learning orientation, and many other traits.
How Wonderlic’s PCI Helps Make Aquarium of the Pacific The Place to Work in Long Beach
For Kathie Nirschl, Vice President of Human Resources for Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA, her goal is a simple one: Make the aquarium the place to work in Long Beach for certain individuals who are built for face-to-face service and information work.
“I want us to be the gold standard” says Nirschl. “I want to hire the best-of-the-best employees who will stay with us a long time, and when they do leave, I want our name on their resumé to really mean something to other employers in Southern California. If another employer sees that a job applicant has worked for us, I want that to be the mark of a quality candidate.”
“I find myself saying again and again how valuable Wonderlic has been to us. Managers frequently sing its praises because they’re getting stable, reliable, happy employees. It has definitely raised our bar.”
— Kathie Nirschl, Vice President of Human Resources, Aquarium of the Pacific
It’s a lofty goal, especially because, until last year, Nirschl wasn’t seeing that caliber of employee come through the doors.
“We had some lackluster employees here,” Nirschl explains. “I’d look around and would not see the fire and enthusiasm I wanted to see in our people. Hiring people who are not right for their positions is bad news for the employee and the employer.”
Nirschl tried to set a higher bar for positions requiring direct contact with aquarium guests. An employee theft problem two years ago convinced her to take a more formal approach. She contacted Wonderlic with the goal of revamping the selection process for four key positions on the front lines of customer service: Guest Services Associate, Retail Associate, Presenter and Education Associate. Wonderlic consultant Sarah Person recommended the Hire Results program.
Hire Results is an in-depth study of the core competencies necessary for success in specific jobs. Via interviews with subject matter experts, employees, supervisors and managers, Wonderlic defines the qualities, attributes and skills necessary to do those jobs well. What does it take to be a great Guest Service Associate at Aquarium of the Pacific? What makes a great Presenter? Armed with that information, Wonderlic then recommends specific tests that can accurately measure whether a candidate has the right stuff for the job.
At the Aquarium of the Pacific, frontline employees must not only be able to perform their jobs—dispensing guest information, answering questions, guiding tours and the like—but they must be able to perform their jobs in an environment of constant, hectic activity.
With almost 160,000 square feet, and more than 1.3 million visitors, annually, the Aquarium of the Pacific is one of the largest aquariums in the United States. There are more than 500 species filling 19 major habitats and 32 exhibits, taking visitors on a journey throughout the Pacific Ocean’s three regions: Southern California/Baja, the Tropical Pacific, and the Northern Pacific. Visitors can get up close and personal with one of the fiercest predators of the deep in the Shark Lagoon, take a behind-the-scenes tour with an Aquarium guide or even help feed the animals who call this aquarium home.
On any given day, employees deal with masses of tourists, bus es of local schoolchildren, throngs of mothers pushing strollers, and groups of senior citizens on educational outings. Everywhere you look, something different is happening—kids learning about coral reefs in one classroom, guests laughing at the sea lions’ antics during a presentation, mothers asking for directions, a daily parade to the seals and sea lions (complete with music, and
sea jelly umbrellas, and more), a multi-media show in the Great Hall, and the ever-present line of people waiting for tickets just to get in.
It’s vital for the aquarium to hire people who can not only perform their jobs well, but do it in a high-pressure, hectic, and often filled-to-capacity atmosphere.
Wonderlic Consultant Sarah Person recommended that Nirschl use the Personal Characteristic Inventory (PCI) to hire those frontline positions.
The PCI is a personality assessment that measures the personality traits deemed desirable by most employers. Developed by personality experts Murray Barrick, Ph.D. and Michael Mount, Ph.D., the PCI predicts successful job performance using five primary dimensions of personality known as the “Big Five”:
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Conscientiousness
- Stability
- Openness to experience
It also measures teamwork, commitment, integrity, learning orientation, and a host of other traits.
Candidates for the Guest Services Position at Aquarium of the Pacific need to be excited about meeting strangers, be friendly, and be able to juggle a myriad of things at once, all with a smile. Candidates for Presenter need to be comfortable with a microphone, outgoing and vivacious, but they also need to be time-conscious because presentations are on a schedule.
Based on the initial research on the specific positions at the aquarium, Person recommended the ideal score a candidate needs to achieve on the PCI in order to do that job well. Nirschl began using the PCI more than a year ago, and since then, she has noticed a different caliber of employee on the job.
“We don’t tell candidates that they’ve failed the test, we tell them, ‘Look, you didn’t get the scores that we need. You wouldn’t be fulfilled by this job.”
— Kathie Nirschl, Vice President of Human Resources
“The work environment here is so important in hiring,” says Nirschl. “If we hire the wrong people for these jobs, we notice that over time they wilt with the press of humanity. They might be outgoing and cheerful and have the right attitude, but if they can’t keep it up all day with the throng that is constantly here, they can’t do the job. They won’t like the job. Since we’ve been using the PCI, I see people who treat each guest like the first guest of the day. They’re thriving in this environment instead of being burned out by it.”
Nirschl doesn’t hire people who don’t get the desired scores on the PCI.
“We don’t tell candidates that they’ve failed the test, we tell them, ‘Look, you didn’t get the scores that we need. You wouldn’t be fulfilled by this job.’ By using the PCI, we’re not only finding the best employees for ourselves, but we’re also helping people we don’t hire by keeping them from spending months or more in a job they won’t find gratifying”
Other results? Nirschl reports that terminations for cause have gone down by rougly 80% since she began using the PCI in hiring. She’s also promoting from within more than ever.
“It’s a lot of work going through the Hire Results process,” Nirschl explains. “But it’s worth it. I find myself saying again and again how valuable Wonderlic has been to us. Managers constantly sing its praises because they’re getting stable, reliable, happy employees. It has definitely raised our bar.”
And have they achieved the goal of becoming the place to work in Long Beach for people interested in guest service, retail or education work?
“With the PCI, we’re getting there,” she says.
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