PI glossary: common concepts, terms, and features

PI Behavioral Assessment ("BA") — A 2-question, 6-minute survey tool that assesses a person's behavioral drives at work. Can be sent to candidates to find ideal applicants (PI Hire only), or to employees to unlock greater communication and collaboration (various PI products).

PI Cognitive Assessment ("CA" or "Cog") — A 50-question survey tool that assesses a person's cognitive ability across three categories: verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning. Available in 12-minute, 18-minute, and 24-minute formats. Used to find candidates with the right level of cognitive ability for a given role. (Used exclusively in PI Hire.)

Behavioral Report ("BA Report") — The full downloadable readout of a person's Behavioral Assessment results. Contains the person's Behavioral Pattern (the "Self"), their Self-Concept, and a summary of their most prominent behavioral factors, factor combinations, and strongest behaviors. Also contains a readout of their management style, influencing style, preferred work style, and useful strategies when managing them. (See: Self, Self-Concept, Factors, Factor combinations)

Cognitive Report ("CA Report") — The full downloadable readout of a candidate's Cognitive Assessment results. Contains the Cognitive Target for the given role, the candidate's cognitive score, and 3 cognitive subscores: verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning. (Used exclusively in PI Hire.) (See: Cognitive Target)

Factors ("ABCD") — 4 unique behavioral drives (Dominance, Extraversion, Patience, and Formality) that measure how an individual "shows up" to work each day. Each factor is represented as a distinct dot on the person's Behavioral Pattern. (See: Behavioral Pattern)

Dominance ("Factor A") — The drive to exert one’s influence on people or events.

Extraversion ("Factor B") — The drive for social interaction with others.

Patience ("Factor C") — The drive for consistency and stability.

Formality ("Factor D") — The drive to conform to rules or structure.

Behavioral Pattern — A visual of 4 bars that illustrates how a person's behaviors manifest in the workplace. Each bar represents a different behavioral "factor." Each factor can be either "high" prominence, "low" prominence, or "situational." Also known as the "Self." (See: Factors, Midpoint, Sigmas, Self)

Midpoint — The center of the behavioral spectrum. Each factor lies either to the right of the midpoint (i.e., "high"), to the left of the midpoint (i.e., "low"), or within close proximity to (or directly on) the midpoint (i.e., "situational").

Sigmas — Used to quantify the prominence of each behavioral factor in an individual relative to the overall population. Sigmas typically range from -3.0 to +3.0 (with smaller or larger values reserved for those in the 99th percentile of people). Positive sigma values describe high prominence relative to the norm, whereas negative sigma values describe low prominence. A sigma value within -0.2 and +0.2 is considered situational.

Factor combinations — The relational distance between two ABCD factors.

Subjectivity & Objectivity ("Factor E") — A secondary factor to the ABCDs. Measures how heavily a person relies on subjective or objective information when making a decision.

Reference Profile — 17 profiles identified by our Science team based on similarities between certain Behavioral Patterns. Whereas a Behavioral Pattern shows the full, detailed picture of who a person is (i.e., your "behavioral address"), a Reference Profile is a broader label by which to understand them (i.e., your "behavioral zip code").

Self — How a person truly describes themselves behaviorally at work. Calculated based on the answers to question 2 in the PI Behavioral Assessment. A person's Self may change over long periods of time (6+ years) or due to major life events. Also known as a person's "Behavioral Pattern." (See: Behavioral Pattern)

Self-Concept — How a person thinks others expect them to behave at work. Calculated based on the answers to question 1 in the PI Behavioral Assessment. A person's Self-Concept may change as the expectations of their job changes or evolves over time.

Dashboard — Your PI software homepage. Allows you to view recent activity, quickly send assessments to employees, and jump to specific PI products and features.

PI Administration — The main hub for anyone with admin permission to PI. Allows admins to control company-wide settings, manage employee data, and more. Accessible via the gear icon in the top-right corner (denoted as a cog ).

Organization upload ("Org upload") — The primary method of uploading bulk employee information to the PI platform (done in Administration). Can also be used to send an engagement survey (done in Diagnose).

Access levels — Controls employee user access to the PI software. You can customize access levels by product, ensuring employees only have access to the specific PI products they need. Formerly known as "User roles" in the Legacy PI software.

Behavioral data permissions ("BDP") — Controls employee access to PI behavioral data in the software. "Open" BDP allows any PI software user to access anyone else's data, while "Restricted" BDP limits whose behavioral data each software user is allowed to search and view. If you used folders in Legacy PI to control access to employee behavioral data, BDP is designed to replace that functionality. (See: Folders)

Folders — Used to categorize jobs in bulk, so you can then grant (or limit) access to these jobs to specific Hire users at your organization. Folders were previously used to categorize employees in bulk, so you could grant (or limit) access to behavioral data; however, this functionality is being sunsetted in favor of behavioral data permissions. (See: Behavioral data permissions)

More actions — Refers to a button in the PI interface that allows for specific contextual options. Typically denoted either by its name ("More actions") or by an ellipsis (three dots ).

Candidate — Anyone taking an PI assessment for hiring purposes (including internal hires). To send an assessment to a candidate, you must first add that candidate to a job and set a Job Target. (See: Job, Job Target)

Job — The main method of organization in PI Hire. Each Job contains a Job Target, along with any candidates that have been assessed against that target. (See: Job Target, Candidates)

Job Target — A visual representation of the behavioral and cognitive needs of a role. Used in relation to a candidate's application to assess their fit for the role. Consists of two components: the Behavioral Target, and the Cognitive Target. (See: Behavioral Target, Cognitive Target)

Behavioral Target — The collection of ideal behavioral traits necessary to succeed in a given job role. Used to assess candidate's behavioral fit in the context of a specific job. (See: Fit Rating)

Cognitive Target — The ideal level of cognitive ability needed to perform a given job role. Used to assess candidate's cognitive fit in the context of a specific job. (See: Fit Rating)

Fit Rating — An indicator of how well a candidate's behavioral traits or cognitive ability matches up to the needs of a specific job role. Behavioral fit is rated on a 5-star scale (including half stars). Cognitive fit, meanwhile, falls under one of 3 options: cautionary fit, moderate fit, or strong fit. Formerly known as Match Score in Legacy PI. (See: Match Score)

Candidate reports — Refers to any downloadable assets related to a candidate. Includes the Full insights packet, the Behavioral Report, the Self-Concept, the Cognitive Report, and the Interview Guide. (See: Behavioral Report, Self-Concept, Cognitive Report)

Other matches for this job — Used to view a list of candidates who may be a potential behavioral fit for a given job. This feature searches across all candidates in your system, allowing you to view potential matches even if they aren't currently associated with the job.

Marking a candidate as "hired" — An action that lets Hire users (e.g., a recruiter, hiring manager) confirm that a candidate was hired. Upon marking as "hired," the candidate record will be converted to an employee record. Helpful for preserving a candidate's data so you can use PI with them for onboarding and development.

Snapshot — A page in Inspire that contains high-level behavioral insights about an employee, including Reference Profile, Behavioral Pattern, factors, factor combinations, strengths, caution areas, and preferred work style. Also known as an employee's "person page" or "about page."

Relationship Guide — Used to compare two employees by overlaying their Behavioral Patterns. (For use in Inspire only. Cannot be used for candidates.)

Coaching Guide — Used to compare an employee in Inspire to an associated job in Hire. Useful for managers looking to coach or upskill an employee for a future position. (Requires an active subscription to both PI Inspire and PI Hire.)

Explore Other Jobs — Used to compare an employee in Inspire to other open jobs in Hire based on behavioral fit data. Designed to help facilitate employee development and career pathing. Formerly known as "Other job matches" in Legacy PI. (Requires an active subscription to both PI Inspire and PI Hire.)

Employee reports — Refers to any downloadable assets related to an employee in Inspire. Includes the Behavioral Report, the Relationship Guide, self-development guides (such as the Self-Concept), and the Management Strategy Guide. (See: Behavioral Report, Relationship Guide, Self-Concept)

Number of items selected — Located at the bottom of page 1 of an employee's downloadable Behavioral Report in Inspire. Details the number of adjectives an employee selected on the Self (question 2 of the Behavioral Assessment) and on the Self-Concept (question 1 of the BA). Formerly known as M Score in Legacy PI. (See: M Score)

Workspace — A collaborative space to create meeting agendas, capture notes, assign action items, and get PI-powered tips to work better together. There are 2 types of workspace: a 1:1 workspace, and a group workspace. Any person with access to a workspace can contribute to it. (See: Agenda, Meeting Mode)

Agenda — The foundation of a meeting. Create an agenda by adding discussion topics to your workspace. The next time you have a meeting associated with that workspace, your agenda will be there to provide structure and guidance. (See: Workspace, Meeting Mode)

Action item — Assignable tasks associated with a particular workspace. Use action items to ensure every discussion topic has proper next steps, a deadline, and an accountable owner (or owners). (See: Workspace, Agenda)

Meeting Mode — A mode that walks through your meeting agenda, one topic at a time. Useful when the meeting facilitator would like to use a workspace's agenda to help drive the conversation. (See: Workspace, Agenda)

Goal — Where action items track success in a specific workspace, goals are used to track progress across multiple workspaces, or the entire organization. Perfect for key initiatives, OKRs, or other cross-functional efforts that require long-term tracking. (Goals are a paid add-on feature.)

Kudos — A short, informal message of recognition (often accompanied by a positive GIF). Any employee with Perform access can give kudos to another employee.

1:1 feedback — A longer, more formal submission of employee recognition or feedback. Any employee with Perform access can give or request 1:1 feedback.

360 feedback — A form of feedback in which an employee receives feedback from various peers around them. Can be initiated by any employee with Perform access. (360s are a paid add-on feature.)

Review — An employee performance review. Consists of two components: the employee review, and the manager review. Review cycles can only be initiated by a Perform admin (e.g., an HR leader). (Reviews are a paid add-on feature.)

Survey — Refers to our engagement surveys (in PI Diagnose), including the PI Employee Experience ("XP") Survey and our PI pulse surveys. (See: XP Survey, Pulse surveys)

PI Employee Experience Survey ("XP Survey") — A 50-question survey that helps organizations measure the 4 drivers of engagement. Contains a mix of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. The flagship survey of Diagnose, intended to be sent out at least annually.

Pulse surveys — Bite-sized engagement surveys in Diagnose that take ~5 minutes to complete. Designed to help leaders gather employee feedback in targeted areas, often during the off-cycle for the XP Survey.

Likert scale — A widely accepted psychometric scale used to gather survey feedback. Presents respondents with a statement, and then asks them to share their level of agreement (or disagreement). Most Likert scales follow either a 5-point or a 7-point scale. (Diagnose uses 5-point Likert scale questions.)

The drivers of engagement ("JMPO") — 4 aspects of work (Job, Manager, People, Organization) that our Science team has determined contribute to an employee's level of engagement. Occasionally referred to as JMOP, or JMOT (where "People" is instead referred to as "Teams").

Team — A group of employees (in PI Design). Creating a team allows you to view each person's individual behavioral results, as well as the team's collective behavioral identity. (See: Team Type)

Team Map — A visual map in Design used to "plot" team members based on their unique behavioral drives. Each team has its own Team Map, which is divided into 4 quadrants. (See: The quadrants)

The quadrants — 4 distinct categories that illustrate the different ways people prefer to work. Used to help PI Design users (e.g., people managers, individual contributors) understand how each team member works within the context of the overall team.

Innovation & Agility — The top-right quadrant on the Team Map. Tends to include team members whose Behavioral Patterns are A > C and B > D.

Results & Discipline — The bottom-right quadrant on the Team Map. Tends to include team members whose Behavioral Patterns are A > C and D > B.

Process & Precision — The bottom-left quadrant on the Team Map. Tends to include team members whose Behavioral Patterns are C > A and D > B.

Teamwork & Employee Experience — The top-left quadrant on the Team Map. Tends to include team members whose Behavioral Patterns are C > A and B > D.

Team Type — 9 unique team profiles identified by our Science team. Used to illustrate how people's individual behaviors manifest in a team setting. Whereas a Reference Profile gives a picture into the individual, the Type Type gives a picture into the collective team identity. (See: Reference Profile)

Strategy Type — 10 strategy profiles identified by our Science team. Used as a common language to openly discuss strategic goals and ensure the people doing the work (i.e., the Team Type) is aligned with the work at hand (i.e., the Strategy Type). (See: Team Type)

Team Activity Score — An onboarding tool that illustrates how much of PI Design's capabilities you are currently leveraging for a given team. In general, the more you interact with the software (e.g., adding team members, revealing your Team Type), the higher your Team Activity Score will be.

Synthesis — The average of a person's Self and Self-Concept values. While some users found value in the Synthesis in the past, our Science team has found in recent years that the tool offers little additional interpretive value in hiring or employee development. By sunsetting the Synthesis, we are able to invest more heavily in the tools that do offer unique value for our users. (See: Self, Self-Concept)

Full access — An access level that allowed for a degree of permissions between the "limited" and "product admin" levels. Sunsetted as part of an effort to make access levels more intuitive. Instead, admins can now enable "additional permissions" for limited users, allowing for an equivalent set of access options. (See: Access levels)

Employee folders — Used in the Legacy PI software to organize employees and control users' access to employee behavioral data. This functionality is being sunsetted in PI2, in favor of behavioral data permissions. PI2 also supports enhanced sorting and filtering, allowing for easier searchability of employee data. (See: Behavioral data permissions)

M Score — Used in the Legacy PI software to describe the number of adjectives, or "items," a person selected on the PI Behavioral Assessment. M Score is not a validated measure for hiring, and has been sunsetted from PI Hire. However, we understand that M Score has certain value in understanding employees from a coaching and development perspective, and have retained M Score in PI Inspire. (See: Number of items selected)

Match Score — A number from 1 to 10 in Legacy PI that showed a candidate's fit for the job based on their behavioral and cognitive data. We have sunsetted Match Score in favor of two separate "Fit Ratings" in PI2: behavioral fit (on a 5-star scale) and cognitive fit (which consists of 3 potential ratings). This change was made to ensure both behavioral and cognitive data points are assessed as independent data points when making hiring decisions. (See: Fit Rating)