Airlink chose Thomas International’s psychometric assessments to evaluate the nominated employees objectively. Thomas’ leadership potential assessment, the High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI) and aptitude assessment General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) were used to rank employees.

The HPTI measures personality traits proven to predict a person’s likelihood of success as a leader as well as possible risk for derailment. Employees could score a 1, 2 or 3 per HPTI trait:

• 1 score for either low or excessive traits as these might decrease leadership effectiveness

• 2 score for a moderate trait as the trait might be easier to develop into the optimal zone

• 3 score of traits in the optimal zone.

The GIA measures a person’s aptitude and ability in order to predict a person’s response to training, mental processing speed, concentration and fast track potential. The employees could once again receive a score of 1, 2 or 3:

• 1 score for employees whose GIA results were less than other people in the population group

• 2 score for employees whose GIA results came out as same as other people in the population group

• 3 score for employees whose GIA results came out as more than other people in the population group (as this typically predicts faster learning and mental processing, as well as higher levels of concentration and ability to fast track their potential).

The Thomas psychometric assessment results assisted Airlink by providing them with valid and reliable information regarding each assessed employee’s leadership potential and trainability. They could therefore follow a fair and accurate process in selecting the 25 best ranked employees to attend their first ever LDP.

This was significant as employees with higher leadership potential and higher trainability were more likely to respond better to the content of the LDP and apply the insights learnt with greater ease. The cost of an LDP is substantial to the business and by using scientifically proven results to predict performance, the likely return on investment for Airlink on their LDP will be notable.