Measurement of IQ level and Integrity of

persons
By Job Anbalagan

IQ Level Measurement
• Variable component 100 points on
scale
Integrity Aptitute Measurement
• Invariable component : 100 points on
scale

A personality test is to be taken on a two pronged scale. The invariable component is Integrity.
A perso s i tegrity a ot e a varia le o po e t. I tegrity has to e full. It a ot e put
on a diminishing scale. A person cannot have partial integrity . In other words, a person can
have either integrity or no integrity. A person with zero integrity can be imparted integrity
through ethics program. The integrity of a person depends upon the way his parents have
brought up him/her and also upon the environment in which he/she has lived in the society.

The variable component is IQ level. A person can have an IQ level ranging from zero to 100
points. The level of IQ increases during a cognitive learning process.

Integrity aptitude test put to a person or an employee would reveal whether the person or the
employee concerned has integrity or not. It has to be both structured and unstructured
interview. The interviewee has to thoroughly understand the question. A simple question easy
to be understood by the interviewee has to be framed during both structured and unstructured
interviews.

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The sele ted a didates have to e arra ged i the order of poi ts s ored o the 200 poi ts
scale. If a person with 100 points score on the IQ side may get 0 on the integrity side. Similarly,
a person with 100 points on integrity side may get at least 10 points on the IQ level side. The
person of the second category should be above the person of the first category in the merit list.
The person with integrity will definitely improve his or her IQ level during cognitive learning
process.

The Integrity Aptitude Test cannot accurately judge the integrity component on this two-
pronged scale in respect of a person who is being interviewed for fresh recruitment. However,
the same can be effectively used in respect of an employee already serving the company. The
integrity of the employee concerned can also be measured by other tools like appraisal reports
by reporting managers and by Ethics Department.

Integrity Aptitude Test and Integrity assessment procedure

An integrity aptitude test has to be designed for both new recruits and for promotion of
employees. For promotion of employees to senior cadres, integrity has to be on the 100 points
scale only. Apart from the Integrity Aptitude Test, there has to be confidential appraisal report
on the integrity of the official due for promotion to be submitted by his/her reporting manager
and also by the Ethics Department. The assessing authorities concerned should not completely
go by the confidential appraisal report of the reporting manager/Ethics Department but also by
the integrity aptitude test specially designed for the employee concerned being considered for
promotion. Due marks have to be awarded for integrity assessment through appraisal reports
and through tests.

Model Integrity Aptitude Test Questionnaire

(i) You are on the Board of a company. Before the Board, a proposal is put up for
awarding a contract to a lowest bidder evaluated by the Contracts/Marketing
Department. This bidder happens to be one of your close friends/relatives. Will you
inform the other Board members that this bidder is your close friend/relative,
though the bidder has been shortlisted on merit by the said Department?
(ii) The company allows you to travel by air according to your entitlement. But on a
particular occasion, you have decided to travel by train only according to your
convenience. The Finance Department always passes your T.A claims including the
air travel by a simple self-certification only. Will you make the routine self-
certification that you have traveled by air and claim the air fare or will you claim only
the train fare? The company does not insist on your producing any evidence of your

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 travel by air, train or cab as the company is very much interested in your achieving
the targets fixed for you.
(iii) The company provides you a laptop for your official use both in office and in your
residence. Every year, you can get a new laptop by a simple self-certification saying
that the laptop has become non-functional and beyond repairs. Your laptop has
developed some virus problem and after formatting the laptop you have given the
same to your daughter at home who uses it in her college. You have now decided to
get a new laptop this year by giving the routine self-certification after giving the old
one to your daughter. Do you justify your action?
(iv) The Finance Department, while calculating your incentive bonus based on your
performance has wrongly allowed some excess payment for you and this fact is
known to you. But you keep mum and do not want to inform the Finance
Department about their wrong calculation.

ASSESSING THE APTITUDE FOR INTEGRITY DURING THE INTERVIEWS

For the above four questions, you can fix 25 marks for each question. The total marks are 100. If
any candidate answers positively three questions and negatively the remaining question, you
can award 75 marks during structured interview. As an interviewer, you can frame similar
questions like the above to prepare yourself for the integrity aptitude test. Some candidates
would cleverly answer positively during the structured interview. But you have to measure the
integrity level of those candidates during the subsequent unstructured interviews also. You
have to put embarrassing questions to the interviewees so as to bring out the inner man with
regard to his/her personal integrity.

Cross-examination out of answers giving during structured interviews

You can cross-question the candidates with reference to his/her positive answers during the
structured interview.

You can even suggest to the candidate with reference to question No.1 that there is nothing
wrong in keeping silent during the Board meeting because the lowest bidder has been
evaluated on merits by the contracts department.

With reference to the second question, you can even suggest that there is nothing wrong in
getting the airfare according to his/her entitlement because the assigned work needed to be
performed on time at the outstation with the utmost efficiency and that efficiency and
promptness in carrying out the assigned work at an outstation might result in savings to the
company on account of hotel accommodation and other expenses for a prolonged period.

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With regard to the third question, you can suggest to the candidate that there is nothing wrong
in giving the old laptop to his/her daughter by giving the self-certification because it should be
treated as an incentive for his/her hard work at office and at residence using the laptop at odd
hours to pro ote the o pa y s usi ess.

With regard to the fourth question, you can suggest to the candidate that there is nothing
wrong in his/her keeping mum over the excess amount of incentive sanctioned to him by the
Finance Department by a mistake because the Management has failed to assess his/her
performance properly.

During the aggressive cross-examination, if the candidate sticks to all her/his earlier positive
answers, then you can give 100 marks on the integrity side. If the candidate fails in any question
during the unstructured interview, then you can reduce the marks accordingly.

Suppose, there are some candidates on the border line during the integrity aptitude test and
you may not be able to correctly measure their integrity level and you cannot judge them
properly. The selection committee can give suitable allowance for such candidates on the
border line.

Precautions to be taken for framing structured questions

(a) Questions have to be framed keeping in mind the business activities of the company and
the status of the post (whether executive or non-executive) for which the candidate is
being interviewed.
(b) The candidate should be made to understand the question thoroughly during the
structured and unstructured interviews.

Acting on the Integrity Aptitude Test

The company has to record the result of the individual candidates in their evaluation sheet.
Even if the candidate does not get the full 100 point on the integrity side, the company should
not reject the candidate because after induction the candidate can be subjected to rigorous
ethics programs and the aptitude of the candidate is bound to undergo a drastic change during
such ethics programs. The selection committee has to be very broad-minded and lenient in
assessing the integrity level of the candidates. The integrity aptitude test helps the company to
assess the integrity of the candidates to be selected to some extent only. However, an
employee during the course of his/her employment has to be put on the two-pronged scale of
IQ/Performance and integrity for the purpose of promotion. He or she has to be declared a
person of integrity or a person of no integrity (or of doubtful integrity). He or she cannot be
declared to be having partial integrity.

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For the purpose of recruitment, application of the two-pronged IQ/Performance and integrity
measurement scale should not be made applicable because during the initial recruitment
process because it is very difficult to assess a candidate on the 100 point integrity
measurement scale merely by virtue of the integrity aptitude test. However, it is not very
difficult to assess the integrity of an internal candidate due for promotion on the 100 point
integrity measurement scale because his/her reputation for integrity can be easily known
through confidential appraisal reports and through integrity aptitude tests specially designed
for the candidate. If the employee due for promotion has come to adverse notice, he/she can
be classified as an official of doubtful integrity and should be assigned zero point on the
integrity side of the two-pronged scale.
@Ethics Management - Email: jobanbalagan@gmail.com