Human Potential Blog

Here’s the thing you need to know about Harrison Assessments:
it’s actually very good at predicting who is likely to be successful and who is likely to struggle … which is (of course) the reason companies choose it for screening promotions and new hires … but the accuracy of prediction can be very high, and is much much more accurate than a traditional process of interviews.  Even assessment centers are usually less accurate than a single Harrison Assessments report.

Scary?  Maybe, but maybe not.  Look at it this way …

You see what THAT means is if Harrison Assessments says you would be better off doing a different job than the one you were assessed for, it is probably right about it.  And while that might sound like a disappointment, I actually suggest it’s excellent news.  Nothing is worse than having to do a job that you struggle at and end up disappointing yourself and the people who rely on you.  Nothing is better than finding out the risks, in advance, before committing your time and reputation or risking damage to your successful track record.

So – worst case – IF you show up as being less suitable for a position you applied for what usually happens is
a) you can see exactly what needs to change in order to be more successful, e.g. next time, and
b) often you can see ways in which you can achieve more in your current job, or
c) you can change your current job just a little to make a big difference …
a big difference not just to your job performance (which your employer likes) but also to your personal job satisfaction.  Of course, ultimately doing a better job always leads to more money, more time freedom, and more opportunities self-expression.

I’m being a bit long here.  Here it is, simpler:-

I assume you’re genuine, and you don’t want a cheat-sheet.  It’s certainly very hard to cheat – much harder than other assessments I’ve seen.  I’ve seen a lot of people try, and have tried myself.  The reality is even the inventor of HA says he can’t fake a perfect assessment result for a position he wouldn’t be good at … and he’s the guy who knows just exactly what it’s looking for! … he knows ALL the research and the calcualtions it does!!  Certainly, I’ve studied HA extensively myself for 5 years – I teach it to experts including psychologists – and have completed the questionnaire 6 times, I still can’t make a perfect result for myself for my own job.

So I won’t say it can’t be cheated at all – in an infinite universe I guess anything’s possible – but frankly if anyone is going to try to cheat they would need to know the right answers in the first place.  And that means becoming an expert in the requirements of the job you’re aiming to do … which in itself is a good thing, really … which means their performance in that job would improve.  I’ve read a psychological research paper that proved people who learn the right answers to a test do better in the job!  That research wasn’t about psychometric testing specifically, but the principle is reasonably general.

The good news (I hope) is that whatever the result is,
- it is likely to be useful to you
- you can learn from it and do better, not just at the assessment but in your job and your career
- it will help your employer recognise hidden talents in you that they may have missed.

Your question was “how can I have the best result in the HA evaluation?”.

My first answer: if you answer it truthfully it will actually tell you exactly what you should do to maximise your performance, accellerate your career success, and achieve your goals.  In my mind – as a 40-something year old successful guy – that IS the best possible result to get, even if it means you don’t get the promotion you applied for today.

My second answer: you CAN improve your HA evaluation for a specific job that you want to get.  The good news is if you do that your performance in that job will also improve.

You can do it with a course of coaching, which would give you the insight you need into how to succeed in that job and, obviously, in the assessment.  Through coaching
- you would know just exactly what are your greatest strengths for the new role,
- you would know ahead of time what are your chances, and what contingency plans to make
- you would discover unexpected ways you can actually perform better in your current role
- you would know just exactly what to do, both short and long term, to increase your chances for promotion

Did any of that make sense?  Hope it did – your question is an important one.

Would you like to improve your results?

Please do write to me directly at John.Bower@HumanPotentialGlobal.com with your questions – I promise your identity will be confidential! – and your question might just give an answer to someone else as well.  So please do share!!

Or if you’re interested in trying Harrison Assessments yourself, sign up for our free demo at http://www.humanpotentialglobal.com/demo.html

Heartfelt best wishes,

John