Job Performance Systems, Inc.

COBRA Briefing
February 25, 2009
Agenda

About JPS
What is COBRA?
How to fit COBRA into your plants
hiring process
Product demonstration
Summary
About JPS

We help organizations improve the

performance of their people
JPS Products and Services:
Management Consulting
Selection Tests
Customized Training
Who we are:
Industry Consultants
Process Engineers
Industrial and Organizational Psychologists
Instructional Designers
IT Specialists
Graphic Artists
Client US Public Sector

Federal Aviation Admin. Army

Internal Revenue Service Department of Justice

Department of Commerce Department of Defense

Department of Labor Federal Communications

Commission
Department of State
Department of Agriculture

U. S. Customs
Navy
 Clients Industrial Sector
Alberta Envirofuels Hunt Refining Company
Angola LNG Kinder Morgan
Aughinish Alumina Koch Industries
Bahrain Petroleum Little John & Co, LLC
BP LyondellBasell
Buckeye Partners Magellan Pipeline
Cabinda Gulf Oil Marathon
Caltex Petro-Canada
Caspian Pipeline Plains All American Pipeline
Chevron PPL
Colonial Pipeline Qatar Chemical
ConocoPhillips Ras Laffan Olefins
Eliokem Saudi Chevron Petrochemical
Enbridge Shell
Enterprise Products Sunoco
Ergon Refining Tengizchevroil
Explorer Pipeline TEPPCO
ExxonMobil Valero
 Levels of Console
Operator Expertise
Level 3:
COBRA System Optimizer 10%
Goal: How
to identify
Level 2 & 3
Level 2:
40 - 50% System Users

Level 1:
System Responders 50 - 60%
What is COBRA?

COBRA test consists of:

2 hours of training
1 hour of practice
1 hour of testing
How COBRA was Developed

Job Analysis Studies

Structured interviews
Fleishman Questionnaires (F-JAS)
Critical Incidents

Identified Key Abilities

Evaluated Existing Selection System
Key Console Operator Abilities
that COBRA Measures
Selective Attention - focusing during busy and slow periods
Problem Sensitivity - determining when something is likely to go
wrong
Time Sharing - shifting between several things that need attention
Deductive Reasoning - figuring out the cause of a problem
Resistance to Premature Judgment - avoiding "over-
operating" the board
Response Orientation - quickly choosing among several actions
Visualization forming a mental image of the plant; seeing the big
picture
Speed of Closure - making sense out of large amounts of
information quickly
 Measurement of Key Abilities
COBRA fills in many gaps
Traditional selection methods measure some Key abilities:

Key Abilities Job Paper & Interviews COBRA

Application Pencil
Tests
1. Selective Attention
2. Problem Sensitivity
3. Time Sharing
4. Reasoning
5. Oral Expression
6. Oral Comprehension
7. Resistance to Premature
Judgment
8. Speech Recognition
9. Response Orientation
10. Visualization
11. Speed of Closure
Chevron Technique for
Validation (mid-90s)
3 Empirical Studies at Chevron
Large refinery (151 operators)
Six refineries and one chemical plant (97
operators)
6 chemical plants (81 operators)
In every case, study results supported
the validity of COBRA
More Recent COBRA
Studies
Empirical Study by a major oil
refinery for console operator and
field operator positions
Empirical Study by a chemical
plant in Ohio
Transport study by Chevron
Pipeline Company
Transport study by a major
natural gas utility company
(PG&E)
Transport study by a major oil
refinery on the west coast
(included a mix of console, field,
and maint)
Job analysis and evaluation at a
major liquids pipeline company
in Texas
In every case, study results support the value/validity of COBRA
Diversity hiring data collected by
a major chemical complex on the
Gulf Coast
Transport study at a liquids
pipeline company in
Pennsylvania
Job analysis and evaluation at a
major liquids pipeline company
in Ohio
Transport study for a power
generation company
Job analysis and evaluation at a
major liquids pipeline company
in Kansas
 Nearly 100 locations total

COBRA Sites Available in English, Russian

French, and Portuguese

Refinery Operations Chemical Plant Operations

Chevron** Eliokem
Caltex** SaudiChevron Petrochemical**
LyondellBasell Qatar Chemical**
Shell Eastern LyondellBasell**
Petroleum Ltd. Chevron Oronite**
BAPCO Chevron Phillips**
Ergon Aughinish Alumina
Hunt Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd.**
Alberta Envirofuels

** Multi-site and/or Enterprise-wide

COBRA Sites (cont.)
Pipeline Operations
Chevron Sunoco Logistics**
Colonial ** Enterprise Products**
Kinder Morgan** Plains All American
Shell Enbridge
Caspian Marathon Petroleum
Magellan Explorer
Buckeye** PPL Interstate Energy

Oil & Gas Operations Power Generation

Cabinda Gulf Oil Co.** PPL **
Chevron Nigeria Ltd. **
Tengizchevroil
Angola LNG ** Multi-site and/or Enterprise-wide
Why is COBRA effective?
Assesses cognitive abilities that are difficult
to measure any other way
Reduces training time and training attrition
Realistic job preview
Empirical studies support its validity
Provides objective, computer- scored
assessments
Sample COBRA Scoring
Report
Comments on this particular report:
Scores range
from 45 to 95
Five of the
nine (55%)
who were
tested failed
(score < 70)
Integrating COBRA Into
Your Plants Hiring Process
General
Cognitive Abilities
Competencies
Reasoning
Teamwork
Selective attention
Oral communication
Time sharing
Customer service
orientation

Dependability
Subject Matter Expertise Work ethic
Absence of negative behaviors
Test Administrator
Options
Your company personnel (i.e.
Operations or HR)
JPS personnel
Third-party
COBRA Demo
Thank you!