3 sources,
triangulated.

1. I

   Big Five (OCEAN model)

   Costa & McCrae · National Institutes of Health · 1980 to 1990 · worldwide academic consensus

   The most studied and most widely agreed personality model in research.

   The dominant model in contemporary personality psychology: 5 continuous traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional stability). Its traits, conscientiousness first, help predict job performance, modestly when taken alone (meta-analyses by Schmidt and Hunter, 1998, then Sackett et al., 2022): which is why the HRS never relies on it alone.

   Operationalised at Psycomet through AssessFirst, where Hugues is a certified Expert.

2. II

   Self-determination theory (intrinsic motivation)

   Deci & Ryan · University of Rochester · 1985 · validated in 80+ countries

   3 universal needs. Met, performance lasts. Ignored, even a brilliant profile fades.

   The dominant theory of human motivation in work psychology. It posits 3 fundamental, universal psychological needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness. When the context meets these 3 needs, performance and engagement last. When it does not, the person fades, however brilliant at the start.

   Crossed at Psycomet with the real context of the role: motivation is not assessed in a vacuum, we look at whether the proposed environment feeds it or starves it.

3. III

   Systemic reading of the context

   Edgar Schein · MIT Sloan · Argyris & Schön · Harvard · Palo Alto School

   What no individual test sees: the balance of power around the person.

   Founding work on organisational culture (Schein), organisational learning and theories of action (Argyris & Schön), and the systemic reading of interactions (Bateson, Watzlawick, Palo Alto School). What no individual test ever captures: the situation around the person, the balance of power, the games people play, the coherence or contradictions of the system that receives them.

   Built into Psycomet through a preliminary strategic brief with the sponsor and a systematic contextual analysis grid before any interview.

4. IV

   Structured behavioural interview

   Janz · behaviour description interview · 1982 · Campion, Palmer and Campion · 1997

   The structured interview is the top-ranked predictor in recent meta-analyses, far ahead of free-form conversation. 1 of the 3 HRS sources.

   The structured behavioural interview (standardised questions about lived situations, anchored in observable professional history) is the top-ranked predictor in selection research: a validity of about 0.51 in the founding Schmidt & Hunter meta-analysis (1998), revised to about 0.42 by Sackett et al. (2022), far ahead of free-form conversation. It is the best-documented lever for reducing the bias of the improvised interview.

   A 90-minute Psycomet conversation led by Hugues on a protocol grid. Where a human says what no data captures: verification, nuance, warning.

5. V

   Methodological triangulation

   Denzin · 1978 · Lincoln & Guba · 1985 · epistemological principle of the social sciences

   A single source is suspect. 3 converging sources validate the reading.

   In qualitative research, the validity of a reading rests on the convergence of several independent sources: data, methods, observers. A single source remains suspect. 3 converging sources validate the reading. This principle, codified by Denzin and then Lincoln & Guba, now structures all qualitative research in the social sciences.

   The founding principle of the HRS: psychometric measurement (I + II) + reading of the context (III) + human expertise (IV). No source decides alone. The reading only holds on their crossing.

The HRS did not invent psychometrics. It instruments it, adds the context, qualifies it through the structured interview, and crosses the whole for a reasoned decision.