How does ERGOMETRICS' COVT support modern corrections?
Modern corrections trends focus on the interaction of the officer with the inmate, often with no bars between them. The increasing diversity of our corrections population calls for officers who are skilled in dealing appropriately with all kinds of people. In asking hundreds of corrections specialists what the difference is between an average officer and an outstanding officer, the answer is consistently, that the outstanding officer has good judgment and good human relations skills.
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What will ERGOMETRICS' COVT tell you about an applicant?
ERGOMETRICS' COVT is designed to assess a person's abilities in the areas of situational judgment, unbiased enforcement of the rules, gaining cooperation, ethics, human interaction, handling authority, social maturity, observation and analysis, and responding calmly to provocation and frustrating situations. This test represents a major breakthrough in screening and hiring. For the first time, you can accurately and efficiently predict, before you hire, how an applicant will perform in these key skill areas after being hired.
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How does ERGOMETRICS' COVT work?
ERGOMETRICS' COVT is a video based multiple choice test of eighty-three scenarios. Applicants see a typical situation they will face on the job, observe the various elements present, analyze the situation and make a quick judgment about how to respond. To score well on the test, they must evaluate each scenario as an entirely new situation and project the likely outcome of any given action.
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Who should take this test?
The most efficient and effective way to use ERGOMETRICS' COVT is to test everyone who applies. This test is designed to be the initial screening tool to identify those applicants who have outstanding skills in the area of human relations. Screening out applicants prior to testing with ERGOMETRICS' COVT limits the possibility of finding people with good judgment and outstanding human relations skills. Validation studies conducted by ERGOMETRICS show that prior experience and education are not reliable predictors of human interaction skills because they say nothing of how the person performed in those areas. Various administrative methods of reducing the applicant pool, such as evaluating applications, yield very poor results and waste the effort of recruiting.
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How do you give these tests?
Any number of applicants can be tested at one time, so long as they can all see and hear the video. The tests are easy to administer -- as simple as putting a video cassette in the player -- and takes less than two hours. The test is machine scored- for ease of administration and quick results. There is no additional per-applicant charge for testing. Test security is simplified because there are no test booklets to print or track.
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Why is work simulation used for these tests?
Actually simulating critical job demands is a more powerful employment testing technique than either traditional paper-and-pencil tests or oral interviews. Simulation not only gives candidates a realistic job preview, but it ensures that the actual skills required on the job are directly measured by the test. A written test cannot possibly tell you very much about a person's people-handling skills.
Video is a practical job simulation medium for assessing human relations skills. Written and oral tests are dependent on the ability to completely describe situations with language. Not only is it impossible and impractical to describe the minute details of a situation, the question is dependent on each applicant's interpretation of what the scene is supposed to be. Video scenarios present exactly the same information to everyone, allow for careful staging of the events and the surrounding environment, and require applicants to observe and analyze the situation themselves. It is a realistic way to see how a person reacts to actual job situations before being hired and put on the job.
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What is the cost benefit of using ERGOMETRICS' COVT?
Hiring and training a new officer is a major expense in terms of both time and money. Validation studies on ERGOMETRICS' COVT and similar ERGOMETRICS' video tests show that improving the match between the applicant and the job dramatically lowers turnover and the use of leave. In the first year this test was used in the state of Oregon, turnover was reduced by 73% and the use of sick leave and leave without pay was reduced by 49%.
ERGOMETRICS' COVT enables you to identify those applicants who have the key skills necessary to be a successful officer, early in the screening process, thereby increasing the efficiency of subsequent testing procedures.
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Has this test been validated?
Yes. This test conforms to legal and professional standards for validation, including those established by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance and the American Psychological Association. To ensure high content validity, the test was developed in conjunction with hundreds of corrections officers and administrators in maximum, medium and minimum security facilities. The content of the scenarios and the answers to each were developed by corrections professionals working with test development experts from ERGOMETRICS. The video production was directed by test development experts from ERGOMETRICS working on site with corrections subject matter specialists to ensure that every detail is accurate and realistic.
Criterion related validation studies were initially conducted in Oregon, Ohio, Missouri and Georgia. The test was given to officers from participating departments. Their test scores were compared to special research based performance evaluations completed by their supervisors. High correlation between test scores and actual job performance validates this test's capability to predict the future job performance of applicants. Other video tests developed by ERGOMETRICS all show extremely high correlation between test score and job performance.
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What other testing is necessary?
This test will supplement your existing process. You may find that ERGOMETRICS' COVT will reduce the need for various types of oral tests that attempt to assess human relations and judgment skill areas. Other important job skills should be evaluated, as well. Also available are job related reading, writing and counting tests that ERGOMETRICS has develop specifically for the corrections environment.
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What is the cost of ERGOMETRICS' COVT and what is included?
This test is available both for purchase and for rental. The cost is based on the number of commissioned personnel in your department. If you purchase ERGOMETRICS' COVT your department will receive two copies of the video test and a license for perpetual use. You will also receive a job analysis, to be filled out by your officers, to document the job-relatedness of this test within your department. Finally, you will receive a validation report.
Smaller agencies may find it cost-effective to rent the test. Rental clients receive two copies of the video test for specified use in their agency, during the rental period.
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ERGOMETRICS' COVT is priced in relation to the size of your organization. Contact Karen Strom at ERGOMETRICS (425-774-5700) to find the most affordable option for your agency.
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Who is ERGOMETRICS?
ERGOMETRICS and Applied Personnel Research, Inc., is a Seattle-based firm established in 1980. The co-founders are Carla Swander, nationally noted for the development of video-based testing tools, and Oscar Spurlin, Ph.D., Organizational and industrial Psychologist. This cutting-edge firm has an extensive public- and private-sector clientele across the United States and Canada. ERGOMETRICS specializes in personnel selection and training and is recognized for its expertise in the development of video-based selection and training programs, physical abilities testing, work simulation tests and validation research.
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How do I order ERGOMETRICS' COVT?
For more information about ERGOMETRICS' COVT or to place your order, call ERGOMETRICS at (425) 774-5700 or FAX (425) 774-0829.
We are very happy to answer your questions via e-mail, contact us here.
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