Date: 18.10.24 @ 12.30pm (online)

Speaker: Dr Rainer Kurz, Chief Psychologist, HUCAMA

Summary:

Dr Rainer Kurz, Chief Psychologist of HUCAMA, will provide a synopsis of his 2024 Conference Season where he convened Symposia at SIOP, ITC, BPS DOP and ICP conferences in Chicago, Granada, Sheffield and Prague respectively, and prepared a dozen papers (including at the ABP Conference in Denham). He will discuss the evolving landscape of occupational testing and business psychology, focusing on key industry issues that have been shaping these fields. He will explore four pivotal questions:

1. From Big 5 personality factors to Great 8 Success Factors: How can the latest advances in personality assessment theory be harnessed to deliver nuanced assessment solutions for the employee life cycle? Rainer will delve into how advances in assessment technologies can drive better understanding of individuals, groups and organisations.
2. Integrating assessment of potential and performance: What synergies can be created by combining the assessment of personality and competency? He will discuss how Response Style (self-efficacy beliefs in self-reports and halo/horn effects in 360 ratings) can be eliminated and diverse assessment modalities be put on a common metric.
3. Understanding the drivers of job satisfaction and effectiveness: How can business psychology support an evidence-based approach to wellbeing and performance management? Rainer will share a short Job Success measure and how it relates to 8 underpinning factors.
4. Emotional Intelligence and Learning Agility: What are the issues with ‘trendy’ assessment approaches today? Emotional and operational aspects underpinning work agility will be explored.

By addressing these questions, Rainer aims to provide an overview of classic conundrums in assessment psychology, and outline solutions to these vexing problems that have been perplexing many in HR and business psychology.

Biography:

Rainer is the Chief Psychologist of HUCAMA, an international assessment consultancy headquartered in Copenhagen. He is also a Consultant Editor at the BPS Psychometric Testing Centre and a Board Member of US Charity Survivorship. He has published more than 150 book chapters, articles and papers on a wide range of assessment issues.

Rainer writes and speaks widely on the development of assessment tools, the world of work, and the key issues underlying assessment of leadership, culture and organisation, people and skills.

In 2002, he authored with Prof Dave Bartram a frequently cited book chapter on the ‘World of Work (WoW) Model’ that remains timely and topical in the light of the emergence of Skill-based assessment practices.

Prior to joining HUCAMA in 2020, Rainer supported SHL’s OPQ and reasoning tests, co-authored Saville Consulting Wave and Swift, and developed half a dozen tools at Cubiks (now Talogy).

He is an Associate Fellow of the BPS and a Certified Principal Business Psychologist.