Workplace Productivity Profile (WPP)

Updated by Amy Thomas

At a glance

Type of assessment

Risk

Measures

Conscientiousness

Productivity

Reliability

Rule-adherence

Time 

The WPP is untimed and takes around 7 minutes to complete

Format

Candidates complete 50 questions.

Workplace outcomes

Reduced counterproductive work behaviours

Reduced costs from theft, fraud, or shrinkage

Lower costs of insurance

More productive workforce

Recommended for

Ideal for entry-level positions, when factors such as attendance, rule adherence, work ethic, and trustworthiness are important, such as cashiers and clerks, retail store associates, home health care aides, field service technicians and security guards, and more.

Description 

The WPP is a risk assessment that is used to help predict whether an individual will be a conscientious, productive, and reliable employee. Employees with a propensity to behave unreliably can not only pose a threat to the organisation by causing significant financial costs, but they can also pose a risk to the culture of the organisation by having more lenient attitudes towards dishonesty, theft, and counterproductive behaviours. 

The WPP enables you to screen out potentially risky candidates during your recruitment process by identifying how likely they are to behave dishonestly, or to condone counterproductive behaviours from others. 

Format 

The WPP contains 50 self-report items and typically takes about 7 minutes to complete. When candidates complete the WSP, they indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with each statement. Candidates respond to each question by selecting one of the five options from an agreement scale, a frequency scale, or a probability scale.

The assessment measures a variety of beliefs about how candidates see themselves, other people, and their environment. It also assesses the extent to which candidates may be distorting or faking their responses. 

Measures 

The WPP measures four traits:

  • Conscientiousness - measures a person’s tendencies with respect to being deliberate, self-disciplined, organised and dependable.
  • Perseverance - measures a person’s tendencies with respect to being diligent, having consistent interests, and persevering in the face of adversity.
  • Integrity/Honesty - measures a person’s beliefs in the importance of adherence to rules and laws, and with respect to the value of honesty.
  • Attitudes towards Theft and Fraud - measures a person’s attitudes towards theft, fraud, and other forms of dishonest financial dealings.

Score Reports

Each individual is given a percentile ranking for each of the four traits, as well as an Overall Rating of High, Medium, or Low, based on a combined score derived from the four individual trait scores. An internal "Self-enhancing scale" is used to adjust scores up or down in the event that the test detects unusually positive or negative response styles. In extreme cases of self-enhancing, the test will also be flagged as a potentially invalid result. Score reports also contain brief text descriptions for each of the four traits and provide information as to how a candidate's score in individual traits may affect job suitability.

Candidate Experience

The WPP is a brief assessment that is optimised to be taken anytime, anywhere. The assessment provides a quick and seamless test-taking experience on any device. This provides a high level of flexibility and convenience for the candidate.

Standardisation Sample

Norms for the WPP were developed using a sample of 1,107 individuals. The sample was made up of adults aged 18 and older, including both incumbents and job applicants. These individuals were being assessed for employee selection and/or benchmarking purposes, and represented a sample of individuals from over 50 companies, in an extremely broad and diverse range of positions.

Additional resources

About the WPP

Get an overview of the WPP assessment.

Score Report Guide

A guide for interpreting the WPP Score Report.

Video: Interpreting the the score report

Watch the video on interpreting the WPP Score Report.

Case study: Manufacturer increases training completion rates and retention for technicians

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Case study: Clean MD reduces turnover and achieves major cost savings

Case study: Janico adopts a mobile-friendly assessment process to find candidates where they are

Case study: Retailer uses WPP integrity test to reduce disciplinary problem

Case study: Criteria helps Armorous improve quality of hire for security officers

Case study: Employees who pass the WPP are 4x more likely to have good attendance

View case studies where the Workplace Productivity Profile helped organisations improve their recruitment process. 


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