Vad innebär det egentligen att göra affärspsykologen digital och skalbar?

Hej Mattias, berätta, vad är CohrEx för något?

”CohrEx är en plattform som hjälper företag att fatta datadrivna och situationsanpassade beslut i rekrytering, succession och utveckling. I över 20 år har Cohr Group genomfört djupintervjuer, psykometrisk testning, coaching och rådgivning för att stödja företag att fatta rätt beslut i urvalsprocessen, och hjälpa individer ta nästa steg i sina karriärer. Med CohrEx har vi digitaliserat och gjort denna analys skalbar utifrån att vi vill göra affärspsykologens analys tillgänglig för flera.

I plattformen används psykometriska tester tillsammans med rollspecifika nyckeltal, kompetenser och förmågor för att mer robust och affärsdrivet bedöma hur en kandidat eller anställd kommer prestera i en framtida roll eller passa in i företagskulturen.

Vårt mål från ett produktperspektiv är att minimera grunda och snedvridna beslut. Detta kräver att man tar hänsyn till kontextbaserade faktorer och relevanta nyckeltal för specifika roller, branscher och miljöer, tillsammans med mänskliga karaktärsdrag och färdigheter. Det är precis vad plattformens maskininlärningsmodeller och omfattande ramverk för roller, förmågor och nyckeltal möjliggör.”

Vilket värde skapas för våra kunder?

”Vi hjälper HR och TA-teamen att bli mer affärsnära och att datadrivet kunna koppla rekryteringsbeslut till strategi. Vi vill att HR enklare ska ta rätt beslut i rekrytering utan att tumma på kvalitet, både mot de interna kunderna och den externa kandidaten. De ska helt enkelt känna att de får mycket mer ut av vår plattform än av andra plattformar som tillhandahåller bara själva testen.”

Vad skiljer CohrEx från andra liknande tjänster?

”Våra kunder kan integrera deras viktigaste affärsdata och samköra det med vårt uppbyggda kartotek av rollspecifika nyckeltal, profiler och psykometriska tester, vilket ger ett objektivt djup till beslutsunderlaget i urvalsprocessen – allt automatiserat efter kundens behov. Detta skapar även en direkt koppling och uppföljningsbarhet för affären, baserat på den senaste neuropsykologiska forskningen, samt kundens egna data.”

Dela gärna med dig av ett lyckat kund-case.

”Vi arbetar i dagsläget både med kunder i Sverige, England och USA, där ett av våra senaste projekt genomfördes i logistikbranschen. Deras stora utmaning var att många förare slutade kort efter anställning på grund av hög arbetsbelastning och svårigheter att klara av upplärningsperioden.

Vi analyserade med våra modeller deras operationella nyckeltal och ruttdata över tid, de viktigaste faktorerna för rollen, samt existerande förares personliga förmågor och karaktärsdrag.

Vår analys visade att planeringsförmåga, rekrytering i god tid innan högsäsongen, samt högre variation i ruttens svårighetsgrad bidrog till ökad prestation och minskad risk att sluta.

Sammanfattningsvis skapades en anpassad rekryteringsprofil, baserat på företagets data och de viktigaste psykometriska faktorerna för rollen, som nu hjälper till att förbättra och förenkla urvalsprocessen, men också bidra till operationella insikter – genom ett HR-drivet initiativ.”

Vad skiljer CohrEx från andra liknande tjänster?

”Vi ser att HR- och TA-team måste bli mer affärsnära och strategiska genom datadrivet underbyggda initiativ och beslut. Den utvecklingen understryker vikten av att HR inte bara är representerade på ledningsnivå, utan även att arbetet integreras tidigt i det strategiska beslutsfattandet så att affären verkligen anställer rätt personer.

Vad som också måste nämnas är den enorma effektivitetspotentialen som generativ AI möjliggör för HR och TA-team. Allt från att hitta kandidater baserat på förbestämda parametrar till kontraktsskrivning, men även effektivisera analysen av kandidatresultat på psykometriska test för att underlätta beslutsfattning – det vill säga att använda den digitala affärspsykologen för att analysera kandidatresultat. Vi ser massvis med nya features och har redan börjat bygga ett par, så håll utkik i plattformen under 2025.”

Mattias Holm
CPO, Cohr Group

Intervjuad av Ebba Vestlund

Messy desk

The Productivity Trap: How Manufactured Urgency kills Success

The unchecked worship of urgency derails progress and exhausts teams. Effective leaders know how to channel urgency strategically, unlocking productivity that lasts.

Urgency: From Productivity Catalyst to Strategic Saboteur

Urgency is often lionized as the heartbeat of productivity, a rallying cry for leaders who urge their teams to “move faster” or “work harder.” But this misplaced worship confuses motion with momentum, and activity with achievement. Urgency, unanchored by strategy, becomes a wrecking ball—smashing decision-making frameworks and unravelling long-term objectives [1]. It typically surfaces when operations falter, tempting organizations to double down on frantic busyness rather than confronting the root inefficiencies. This frenzy doesn’t fix the problem; it amplifies it. Judgment is clouded, reactive decisions replace strategic ones, and success metrics shift disastrously—from delivering results to simply looking busy. In the end, urgency mutates from a supposed cure into the very disease it was meant to heal.

If boosting productivity were as simple as raising demands or commanding subordinates to “hurry up” or “work harder,” leadership would require little skill or sophistication. Executive leadership, however, is fundamentally about strategy—the art of rigging the game to achieve the greatest likelihood of winning [2]. It is about creating structures for precision and effective execution, ensuring that efforts are consistently aligned with well-operationalised objectives.

Leadership Missteps: Why Speed Alone Isn’t Strategy

The price of misplaced urgency is steep and unforgiving. Burnout takes root when employees sense a chasm between their relentless efforts and the rewards they expect to follow [3]. Without clear and tangible outcomes, urgency becomes a ravenous cycle, draining cognitive and physiological reserves until exhaustion sets in. Ironically, as mental capacity wanes under the strain, the perceived need for urgency intensifies—a desperate bid to sustain productivity at the cost of long-term resilience. This vicious feedback loop doesn’t just harm individuals; it erodes the collective capacity of organizations to thrive.

Motivation is a fundamental, evolutionarily ingrained mechanism, deeply rooted in the brain’s dopamine system, which links effort to reward [4]. This system inherently drives engagement by reinforcing behaviours that lead to perceived positive outcomes. However, its efficacy hinges on the alignment between expected rewards and the behaviours required to achieve them. In environments where negative interactions—such as punitive feedback or a lack of recognition—dominate, this alignment falters. The anticipated reward may transform into a deterrent, eroding intrinsic motivation. When employees associate effort with fear of failure or social conflict rather than achievement, the dopamine system shifts from driving engagement to triggering avoidance behaviours.

The Science of Sustainable Urgency: Activating True Engagement

Since the neural systems underpinning engagement are inherent and already existing in every human [4], the question becomes how to ensure that these systems are proficiently activated for the right behaviours and tasks, in the right direction, and with the desired intensity. The dopamine system, which governs motivation by linking effort to reward, thrives on clarity, novelty, and meaningful progress. Clear, attainable goals create a roadmap for action, providing the brain with measurable markers of success that activate reward pathways. Novel and engaging challenges sustain interest and tap into the brain’s natural curiosity, while consistent recognition—be it verbal praise, tangible incentives, or opportunities for growth—ensures that desired behaviours are positively reinforced.

It is a well-documented phenomenon, first observed in the Hawthorne studies of the 1920s, that employees subjected to positive observation tend to enhance their performance[5]. Moreover, urgency can be positively perceived when tied to a motivated pursuit of recognition, leading to increased employee output and engagement [6]. These insights point to two indispensable leadership tools: structured follow-up and recognition.

Establishing a sustainable, long-term approach to tracking employee contributions is not just a managerial strategy—it is a fundamental human necessity. People have an innate need for their work to be noticed and discussed, and when follow-up is conducted thoughtfully and in person, it can significantly boost productivity. Similarly, recognition and positive reinforcement tap into employees’ neural predispositions, allowing leaders to identify and amplify desired behaviours. By doing so, they increase the frequency and intensity of these behaviours, turning observation and recognition into powerful drivers of both individual and organizational performance.

Portrait - Alexander

Alexander Klaréus

Head of Insight

References
[1]    A. Tversky and D. Kahneman, “Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,” Science, vol. 185, no. 4157, pp. 1124–1131, Sep. 1974, doi: 10.1126/science.185.4157.1124.

[2]    L. Tandon, T. Bhatnagar, and T. Sharma, “Leadership agility in the context of organisational agility: a systematic literature review,” Manag. Rev. Q., Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1007/s11301-024-00422-3.

[3]    A. S. Tanimoto, A. Richter, and P. Lindfors, “How do Effort, Reward, and Their Combined Effects Predict Burnout, Self-rated Health, and Work-family Conflict Among Permanent and Fixed-term Faculty?,” Ann. Work Expo. Health, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 462–472, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxac094.

[4]    W. Schultz, “Neuronal reward and decision signals: from theories to data.,” Physiol. Rev., vol. 95, no. 3, pp. 853–951, Jul. 2015, doi: 10.1152/physrev.00023.2014.

[5]    G. Wickström and T. Bendix, “The  ‘Hawthorne  effect’  –  what  did  the  original  Hawthorne    studies actually show?,” Scand. J. Work Environ. Health, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 363–367, Aug. 2000, doi: 10.5271/sjweh.555.

[6]    R. Al Hajj, J. G. Vongas, M. Jamal, and A. R. ElMelegy, “The essential impact of stress appraisals on work engagement.,” PLoS ONE, vol. 18, no. 10, p. e0291676, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291676.

Different Environments

The Illusion of General Validity: Why “One-Size-Fits-All” Tests Mislead in Recruitment

Can a single test capture the complexities of human potential?     It’s time to rethink how we measure talent for real-world success.

Bridging Science and Strategy in Talent Selection

Recruitment is often torn between two seemingly irreconcilable worlds: the scientific idealism of cognitive testing and the practical realities of human resource management. On one hand, scientists present compelling data that general intelligence, or “G,” stands as the most reliable predictor of job performance across roles and contexts [1], [2]. On the other, HR-practitioners, entrenched in the complex realities of hiring, often find such claims simplistic, unable to account for the multifaceted nature of job success [3], [4]. While general intelligence does indeed transfer across contexts [2], [5]–[7], helping bright minds succeed in various domains, the broader truth is far more nuanced. Intelligence, for all its predictive power, explains far less of the variation in job performance than one might hope [8]. 

Too some, it may seem comforting and convenient to rely on a single test to predict future success, but in practice, the one-test-fits-all approach mediates only a fraction of the risks involved in making hiring decisions. After all, what is the point of a measure that offers only vague insights into potential when what we really need is a precise understanding of how a candidate will thrive within the specific demands of our organizational environment?

One-Size-Doesn’t-Fit-All: Rethinking Standardized Testing

Test companies, aligned with the scientific consensus, offer tools that –allegedly– have undergone rigorous validation processes. These standardized assessments, somewhat supported by empirical research, are often marketed as comprehensive solutions for data-driven recruitment. Yet, there is an inherent overreach in these claims. Test producers too often push the idea that a single measure of general intelligence is sufficient for every hiring decision, perpetuating the illusion that this general validity applies universally. 

The crux of the problem lies here: while a test may be valid in a particular context, assuming its conclusions hold true across all environments is both misleading and dangerous. The “one-size-fits-all” approach to cognitive testing falls short because it fails to capture the complexities of real-world performance across varied roles and settings. This reliance on general intelligence not only oversimplifies the hiring process but also introduces unnecessary risk—risk that could easily be mitigated by a more refined approach.

Today’s advances in cognitive neuroscience make this overreliance even more puzzling. We now have the tools to probe deeper into human cognition and explore a wide array of specific abilities [9]—working memory, attention control, problem-solving—each offering insights far more relevant to the unique demands of individual roles [10]. It’s not that standardized tests are without merit, but relying on a singular, overarching measure of general intelligence seems increasingly crude when compared to the richness of what we now know about the brain. 

The solution lies in recalibrating our focus. We could shift from measuring broad intelligence to investigating narrower cognitive abilities that better predict success in specific contexts. The relevance of each cognitive ability can differ significantly depending on the task. 

From Generic to Genious: Targeted Insights for Tomorrow’s Talent

The challenge, then, is not simply one of measurement but of context. Different roles, industries, and organizational cultures demand different cognitive strengths. The question is no longer just whether someone is “intelligent” in a general sense, but which cognitive abilities are most crucial for success in a particular environment. By adopting a more refined, context-specific approach, businesses can reduce the risks of erroneous recruitments and ensure a tighter alignment between cognitive skills and the specific demands of the job. This requires moving beyond the notion that one test can predict all outcomes, toward a more sophisticated understanding of human potential, when and where she is – hopefully – performing.

In doing so, we not only dispel the illusion of general validity but also shift toward a smarter, more context-driven approach to recruitment. This approach acknowledges not only the complexity of cognitive abilities but, more importantly, the specific demands of each organization. Rather than fixating on the tests themselves or their supposed general applicability, the key lies in understanding the unique predictors of success within each company’s particular environment. By studying what truly drives performance in a given role businesses can adopt a more insightful, tailored method of hiring. This focus on what really matters in specific contexts allows companies to make more informed, data-driven decisions, reducing uncertainty and significantly increasing the likelihood that selected candidates will thrive and contribute meaningfully to the organization.

Alex bild

Alexander Klaréus

Head of Insight
References

 

[1]    J. E. Hunter, “Cognitive ability, cognitive aptitudes, job knowledge, and job performance,” J. Vocat. Behav., vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 340–362, Dec. 1986, doi: 10.1016/0001-8791(86)90013-8.

[2]    F. L. Schmidt, “The role of general cognitive ability and job performance: why there cannot be a debate,” HHUP, vol. 15, no. 1–2, pp. 187–210, Apr. 2002, doi: 10.1080/08959285.2002.9668091.

[3]    C. Gill, “Don’t know, don’t care: An exploration of evidence based knowledge and practice in human resource management,” Human Resource Management Review, Jun. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.06.001.

[4]    S. D. Risavy, C. Robie, P. A. Fisher, J. Komar, and A. Perossa, “Selection tool use in Canadian tech companies: Assessing and explaining the research–practice gap.,” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 445–455, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.1037/cbs0000263.

[5]    F. L. Schmidt and J. E. Hunter, “The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings.,” Psychol. Bull., vol. 124, no. 2, pp. 262–274, 1998, doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.262.

[6]    J. E. Hunter, “Test validation for 12, 000 jobs: An application of synthetic validity and validity generalization to the GATB,” US Employment Service, US Department of Labor, 1983, 1983.

[7]    F. L. Schmidt and J. Hunter, “General mental ability in the world of work: occupational attainment and job performance.,” J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 162–173, Jan. 2004, doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.162.

[8]    P. R. Sackett, S. Demeke, I. M. Bazian, A. M. Griebie, R. Priest, and N. R. Kuncel, “A contemporary look at the relationship between general cognitive ability and job performance.,” J. Appl. Psychol., vol. 109, no. 5, pp. 687–713, May 2024, doi: 10.1037/apl0001159.

[9]    A. Diamond, “Executive functions.,” Annu. Rev. Psychol., vol. 64, pp. 135–168, 2013, doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750.

[10]   C. D. Nye, J. Ma, and S. Wee, “Cognitive Ability and Job Performance: Meta-analytic Evidence for the Validity of Narrow Cognitive Abilities,” J. Bus. Psychol., vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 1119–1139, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s10869-022-09796-1. 

 
Conversation w. the Founder - Website Blog

A Conversation with the Founder

In “A Conversation with the Founder”, Johan Hanwin of Cohr Group – a global Swedish born consultancy pushing the boundaries of human capital performance with AI – takes us through the journey of his career and how the company came about.

You started Cohr Group 22 years ago, what was the inspiration behind that decision?

I was working at KornFerry & Futurestep as I was heading the assessment in Sweden in 2001 as part of their Global Assessment team. They did a market analysis of the global assessment market through an American consultancy called Monitor and the outcome was a segmentation of three dominating categories: Recruitment companies like themselves, test suppliers, and the lonely psychologist and his dog. Well, the latter was me and so I got started with Cohr Group.

In your opinion what are the biggest changes you have seen – both internally within the company and externally in the markets?

The greatest change and, partly disrupting the assessment industry, is the gradual take-over conducting digital testing online, which is mainly related to scale and grow like a Saas playbook-model. So, digital tests mean less imposition and the old way of assessing, by being a full-fledged evaluator of humans in face-to-face meetings, have seriously decreased in the last decade. Evolution some say, adapting to the Tech giants-logics others say.

Were these changes what led to the inspiration behind Cohr Group’s predictive analytics platform “CohrEx”?

It definitely was and what we have tried is to emphasize the cross-scientific aspect of how to get the in-data right. Through our AI-modeling we can predict to a totally new level in comparison with the global competition.

In the next 5 years, where do you see Cohr Group?

In the best-case realistic scenario, we are continuing our growth globally by disrupting the assessment industry.

Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing?

I am an energetic person who does my best to regulate my inner neurobiological functioning, so everything truly optimizes this process e.g. exercising, good red wine and exploring the combination of reality, curiosity and spontaneity in order to have the highest state of mind!

Screenshot 2024-02-27 at 3.43.36 PM

A Psychodynamic Perspective of Organizational Life

So, what do we really mean when we use the term psychodynamic? And how can we apply this perspective to the world of business?

Well, to put it simply, psychodynamic perspective has its roots in a set of theories that explain the unconscious mind, initially founded by the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud. In other words, the psychodynamic perspective helps us to understand unconscious psychological processes (for example wishes, fears and impulses) and explores how our current feelings and behavior are shaped by past experiences. In this piece of article, we will highlight a couple of important psychodynamic concepts in order to help you appreciate the relevance of this approach in relation to a business- and organizational context. We start with the maybe most well known one.

Unconscious slips

Freud, along with his followers, discovered that there are parts of our mental life that are hidden, which he referred to as the unconscious. However, he realized that it was difficult for people to accept the unconscious and noticed how there was a form of resistance to it, so he believed it could be accessed by attending to dreams, slips of tongue, and mistakes. These forms of “Freudian slips” were perceived as valuable means of communication that were beyond our awareness. Therefore, Freud recognized the importance to make an interpretation of these symbolic expressions.

But why is it even important to consider the unconscious mind through symbolic expressions?

Well, because it can impact our communication, reaction, and consequently business performance. The unconscious mind can help us understand ourselves and others. It can process beyond the surface and read what’s in between the lines. Attending to the unconscious can therefore give us invaluable insight into relational dynamics at work and in organizations.

From a psychodynamic perspective, communications can have two layers of meaning: While we may say something at the conscious level, we may communicate a hidden meaning unconsciously. As an example, when you hear a group of employees talking about their problems with the AC at work. On one level they may refer to the manager’s difficulty to follow through on his/her promises, at the same time, they may be making an unconscious reference to managers inability to ”fix and cool down” internal conflicts.

Projection as defense – a biased protection from your emotions

The unconscious also uses defenses as a way of protecting itself from painful emotions and external threats. In business context, these emotions could be a consequence of a conflict between different departments or managers and employees being in a competitive struggle with one another.

Having said this, defenses are not always bad or destructive, in fact, they can be quite constructive in that they allow the staff to grow and develop within the organization. But as you figure, there are times when defenses are harmful, resulting in employees leaving the company and/or preventing the organization from growth. As an example, we can see that institutions also develop defense mechanisms as a way of protecting themselves from painful and threatening emotions. One such defense is projection.

Projection is a form of defense that we use by locating unwanted feelings in others rather than in oneself because its simply too painful to acknowledge the ”badness” in oneself. According to Halton (2019), projection of feelings of badness outside the self helps to produce a state of falls goodness and self-idealization.

We end this article with a few scientific conclusions from Petriglieri and Stein (2012), and three things for you to bring along. Petriglieri and Stein discuss how individuals who work as top-level managers can engage in a process, whereby they unconsciously project unwanted aspects of themselves into others, in order to shape and sustain an identity that would fit that particular role. The recipients of the leader’s projections may then project these back at the leader, which can develop a harmful culture and intensify ongoing conflicts – which of course we want to avoid.

Here are three things to keep in mind dealing with projective behaviors:

1. Set aside time for reflection of your own and others’ expressed opinions.

From your recent conversation or digital meeting, try to pinpoint moments where you or someone acted defensive or reflected negative about others – was it a projection?

2. Support those in your surrounding who are under high visibility.

Take away pressure from exposed persons to reduce the risk of expressing negative projection.

3. Leader and follower – view it from both perspectives.

Understand and address both the transmitter’s and receiver’s perspective to see the gap between the leader’s capabilities and follower’s expectations.