Predictive Index

Predictive Index (PI) is a widely adopted skill and behavior assessment test used by many^[2] organizations to aid in the understanding of how employees, or candidates, will likely deal with employment situations and managerial styles.^[1][3][4][5] The software and technology of the PI system is developed and owned by PI Worldwide, which has 45 licensees worldwide and 400 consultants distributing the assessment.^[6] While some required to participate in the assessment may worry about selecting the "correct" answers, there are actually no correct nor incorrect answers.^[7] Rather the goal of the predictive index is to match the correct people to the correct situations to avoid future conflict. Some companies, such as Bullhorn Reach, have fully integrated the PI system into their hiring strategy to assist in talent acquisition, despite earlier reservations on the effectiveness of behavioral assessments.^[8]

History of the Predictive Index

Arnold S. Daniels sold the first Predictive Index Assessment from his home office in Boston in 1955. Many years earlier, Daniels first learned about psychological tests and their power to predict behavior when he worked with the United States Army Air Corps to find explanations for failed bombing missions. He became intensely interested in the power of predictive analytics and went on to take a course at Harvard and take jobs working for organizational development and personnel management business consultants. From this experience, he decided that a simpler format was required if behavioral tests were going to be adopted by enough companies to have a significant impact on business operations. Therefore he set off on his own to build a simpler test. Starting in 1952 and for the next three years, Daniels worked on prototypes of the Predictive Index. When he was satisfied with his product, he opened the assessment up for purchase. His first year of business was a boom, and by the early 1960s his client list had grown to over 120. ^[9]

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