Framework Variables and Indicators

Introduction

This document presents the variables and indicators used by the GRI general framework. Variables and indicators are set after the hypotheses are formulated and the framework is represented. The framework helps link the independent variable, the use of assessment techniques, with the dependent variable: the organization’s performance. The different variables and their indicators are specified, as well as the relationships between the variables.

Framework Representation

The general framework presented below was first built from field research, with an initial focus on the use of personality assessment by managers, and was successfully tested in organizations. It has undergone further corrections and refinements over the years, while enlarging the scope of analyses to other assessments and other uses and users, but keeping the focus on performance and its three types: strategic, social, and economic.

Variables

The framework includes 16 variables regrouped into three categories: independent, antecedent, and dependent.

• Independent variables. There are nine of them in two categories:
  • Practical use: "Organizational Development", "Leadership", "Recruitment", "Coaching", "Clinical", and "Medium Effect".
  • Abstract Use: "Self and Social Awareness", "Learning", and "Language".
• Antecedent variables. There are four. "Assessment Technique", "User", "Environment", "Publisher and Consultant".
• Dependent variables. There are three. "Strategic", "Social", and "Economic".

The relationship between the variables that seemed the most relevant was translated into hypotheses. The practical and abstract independent variables influence each other without being able to say which of the variables of each of the two groups precedes the other. There is no latency between the two. They are nested. For example, the following relationships were noted:

• The use in "Leadership", "Recruitment", "Language", "Self and Social Awareness", and "Organizational Development" has the effect of continuing to improve the skills acquired through the "Learning" process. The acquired skills reinforce other uses and the "Language" associated with the assessment technique used to communicate with other users in the company.
• The use of the assessment technique in "Recruitment" and "Organizational Development" improves "Self and Social Awareness" and "Leadership". "Leadership" will, in turn, foster "Language" use and vice versa. Better quality "Language" to communicate helps in "Leadership."
• Facilitating the development of "Language" reinforces all other uses, especially in "Learning". In return, the use of "Learning" reinforces the use of the assessment technique’s "Language" in communications.

Other Relationships Between Variables

With the antecedent variables, the characteristics of the "Assessment Technique" are related to the "Publisher and Consultant." The quality of the results, as well as how the results are learned, favors some users, such as expert practitioners, over operational management.

The relationship between the variables "Environment" and "User" is obvious. "Users" will naturally fit into jobs that answer their aspirations and require their experience and skills. This applies to adaptive profiles as well: some individuals prefer structured environments (High 4), while others enjoy risky environments, such as starting a start-up in emerging markets (Low 4).

Relationships between variables can also be evidenced between "User" and "Environment" on the one hand, and uses in "Organizational Development", "Leadership", and "Recruitment" on the other hand. A relationship between "User" and the "Assessment Technique" exists as well, as some people are tightly bound to the technique they use. Similarly, a relation exists between "Environment" and "Assessment Technique" when a technique is part of a company's culture.

When the assessment technique's use is included in the company's general policies, some uses require consensus at the highest level of the organization. Their implementation and effects can be long-term, require a strategic vision, and involve the company’s leadership and board.

Indicators

The indicators were designed to acquire value through field observations and interviews. They are either objective or subjective. The indicators and their possible values ​​are presented in a separate document.

• Objective indicators are those that are measured by an objective measurement process that is quantified with or without the help of statistics. With the GRI framework, objective indicators only apply to the Performance variables.

• Subjective indicators were obtained during the first exploratory phase in the large field. Each indicator is coded and comes with a definition and comments on how its intensity is measured.

The indicator values are gathered through interviews with users of the assessment technique or with people they are in contact with. Values are allocated based on the intensity of use, the significance of the effects, like decisions made as a result of use, the changes enacted in the company's processes or policies and culture, and the impact on individuals and their environment, among other factors.

Additionally, the values given to indicators are affected by the person's conviction, voice tone, and attitudes (enthusiasm, neutrality, weariness, etc.). All these factors are recorded in the test interview report to assign the most accurate indicator values possible. On the other hand, it is not necessary to use a highly detailed graduated scale. Scales with three or four points seem sufficient.

Dependent and Independent Variables' Indicators

The objective indicators of the dependent performance variables are obtained with GRI’s adaptive profiles of the company or team concerned, on the one hand, and by recording economic performance indicators on the other.

The subjective performance indicators and the indicators of the independent variables of use are evaluated on an ordinal scale with four values: very strong (VS), strong (S), low (L), and very low VL). The "average" value is not retained in order to force the assessment into low or high and avoid an overly neutral assessment. A symbol is assigned for each level of value.

Value Level	Code
Very strong (intense, very good, excellent, etc.)	VS
Strong (frequent, good, etc.)	S
Low (opportunistic, infrequent, etc.)	L
Very low (rare, non-existent, etc.)	VL

Indicators of Antecedent Variables

The indicators of the antecedent variables are measured from field interviews, observations, and other information on users, assessment techniques, publishers, consultants, the environment, including the company and its culture, typically available from the Internet and social media.

The ordinal scale on three values: high (H), intermediate (I), and low (L) allows, unlike the indicators for the dependent and independent variables, a "neutral" intermediate value. Measurements of the lower or upper values are less precise but sufficient. Symbols are assigned according to the values. The indicators of the “Assessment Technique” and the “Publisher and Consultant” variables are, in principle, relatively stable. Some indicators of the “User” and “Environment” variables may change over the observation period.

Value Level	Code
High	H
Intermediate	I
Low	L

Indicators Recap. Table

The names and values ​​taken by the 110 subjective indicators and the four objective indicators of the model are summarized in the following table. The indicators are specified in a separate document.

Variable Names	Variable Name	Nbr of Indicators	Scales	Code
Dependent Variables
Strategic Performance	iopstra		Measured. Discrete values ​​between 0 and 1.	P
Social Performance	iopsoc		Measured. Discrete values ​​between 0 and 1.	Q
	igpsoc	2	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.
Economic performance	iopcon	1	Measured. Discrete values.	R
	igpecon		Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.
Independent Variables
Organizational Development	isuorga	7	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	O
Leadership	isulead	15	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	L
Recruitment	isusele	7	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	S
Coaching	isucome		Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	G
Clinical	isuclin		Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	N
Medium Effect	isuagen		Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	D
Self and Social Awareness	isucosa	3	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	A
Learning	isuaprt	4	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	F
Language	isucomm	8	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	C
Antecedent Variables
Assessment Technique	isatest	23	3 groups. Surveyed. Ordinal. 3 values.	T
User	isapers	13	Surveyed. Ordinal. 3 values.	I
Environment	isaenvi	7	Surveyed. Ordinal. 3 values.	E
	iopolig		Measured. Discrete values in %	E
	igpolig	6	Surveyed. Ordinal. 3 values.	E
	supolig		Composite from igpolig	E
	igpecon	1	Surveyed. Ordinal. 4 values.	E
Publisher and Consultant	isabuis	14	Surveyed. Ordinal. 3 values.	B