Frequently Asked Questions

The WSP™ Inventory includes two assessments in one: Your Preference for how you want to approach work and your Position Actual for how you are working. This produces a report on the degree of similarity or difference between them and what this means. An Action Planning process follows for achieving alignment assisted with a WorkStyle Fit analytics resource.

No.  There are no right or wrong answers.  Rather, it is a self-assessment of how you approach and think about work. You will rank order responses to work statements indicating the activities you prefer to do and those activities you are actually doing – all based upon your own perspective.

We recommend setting aside twenty to thirty minutes of undisturbed time.  There are two assessments in the Inventory, each of which will take about ten minutes. It may take a little more or less time depending upon your registration process.

No. When work is referenced, think about what you do wherever you are – volunteering in community activities, at school, at home, with your family or friends – wherever you are active.

On your computer, tablet, ipad or smartphone set aside thirty minutes of undisturbed time and: Register and create your password; Thoughtfully rank order the Preference statements as they best relate to how you prefer (the WANT) to work and the Position Actual statements on how you are/were working (the IS); For the Preference assessment, give yourself permission to choose those activities you would most enjoy doing. Picture yourself as if you were completely in charge – like a hobby or favorite pastime; For the Position Actual assessment, select those activities that most reflect how you are currently performing or have performed the work – think in terms of reality, no hopes, ideals or shoulds

If you purchased the WSP™ Inventory through the website (workstylealignment.com), only you and McFletcher Corporation have access. If a person certified in the WSP™ Inventories provided you with a WSP™ access code, they also have access to your WSP™ results. However, they do not have access to your personal data. There is a privacy notice with details about data security and integrity within the Inventory for your review.

Many of these questions are optional to answer. The information is gathered on a composite basis, not by individuals, to conduct comparative analytics. These data provide people and organizations with accurate and timely information about how work is being performed today. For example, the WorkStyle Fit information within the Inventory helps people find their best workplace options.

The WSP™ is not a personality test. It measures work activities, not behaviors or personality traits. The WSP™ Inventory measures how you think about and perform work. There are no better or worse results, scores or Profiles. Each WSP™ Profile has an equally important and distinct contribution for effective work accomplishment.

You will be able to download, save and print your WSP™ results. You can then use the information for any number of things. For example, if taken for work it can be used there, if for school purposes, your instructor will guide you in its use.

Access to your results is available indefinitely at no additional charge. We want people to be able to refer to their Preference for future work opportunities.

No. The WSP™ Inventory is a one-time experience. You can purchase new access codes, secure one through your place of work or through someone who is Certified in the WSP™ Inventories.

Yes, there are two – both a Quick and a Full report option you can click on to review on this website. When you take the WSP™ Inventory, we recommend the Full report to learn as much as you can about your Preference and your Position Actual and the degree of alignment between them.

Click here to see a sample Full report.

The WSP™ Inventory is a complete assessment with an unlimited number of options to explore for your work life. Behind it are 40 plus years of workforce and workplace research validated by hundreds of organizations and many thousands of people in multiple cultures and countries. The WSP™ Inventory authors plan to continue to invest in research and development and deliver to those like you the best possible WorkStyle Alignment products to the world.

All 29 WorkStyle Profiles are needed for work to be performed each and every day. No Profile is better or worse than another. All Profiles make contributions and require the contributions by the others for the completion of task, assignments, projects and assignments, however small or large in scale.

Prior to its release, The McFletcher Corporation administered the first WSP™ Inventory to over 12,000 individuals. Construct validity testing was then facilitated through Arizona State University and New Mexico State University’s Educational Testing Department using technology at Stanford University. The results proved to have extremely high validity ratings in all categories tested, which the University subsequently published and presented at conferences.

The origins of the WSP™ Inventory trace to the mid-1970’s when The McFletcher Corporation was helping organizations transition their people from technical to management roles. They discovered very few people and organizations could make a successful transition without either experiencing personal or work environment stress.

Therefore, the purpose of the WSP™ Inventory is to help people and their work environments address the eternal question: How is it possible to simultaneously maximize the productivity of the work environment while having satisfied and fulfilled people?

WorkStyle Alignment is when the way in which a person is working (the IS) matches with how he or she prefers (the WANT) to work. WorkStyle Alignment occurs when people, the work they do, the environment in which they work, and those they serve – in relationship with each other – fulfill a shared purpose and outcome, each drawing and contributing strength to the other.

“Approach” is a term to describe the ‘how’ versus the ‘what’ of work. When we work, we apply our skills, experience and attributes. We also perform work in a particular manner guided by how we think about work. For example, some people try to solve a problem first by discussing it with others whereas others prefer to try to solve it by themselves and then seek input from others. This is what is meant by “approach” to work.

‘WSP™’ is an abbreviation for WorkStyle Patterns®, a registered trademark of The McFletcher Corporation. The words represent the authors’ desire to discover and provide answers for ‘Positions and Patterns of People in Organizations,’ – to be the resource for workplace and workforce patterns.

There are 29 Preferred WorkStyle Profiles. Most people have a specific preference for one of these WorkStyle Profiles. Each Profile description has a unique set of work contributions. Your Preference Profile represents how you prefer to think about and perform work activities. It provides insight into what gives your greatest satisfaction and fulfillment.

The WSP™ Inventory does not measure skills or abilities but it does give a description of how your WorkStyle Preference can further enhance to development and use of your skills, especially when the work you do is in alignment with your preference.

There are two types of WorkStyle Stress – Personal and Organizational. Personal stress is when you want to experience more work activities associated with your Preference than you are doing. Organizational stress is when work requires more specific activities than you prefer to do. The WSP™ Inventory report provides detailed information of each person’s WorkStyle Stress. WorkStyle Stress does not mean a stressful person or lifestyle. It simply represents a potential for work dissatisfaction for the person and in the performance of the work.

WorkStyle discrepancies can help identify what is occurring for the person and the work. Discrepancies indicate that a change is needed for the person or the work – or both. Use this information to complete the rest of the WSP™ Inventory’s Make A Plan section and then seek further clarification of your situation.

People are amazing and can just about do anything for a short period of time. However, there are many reasons not to continue working in ways that are very different from how you prefer to work, WorkStyle Stress being one of them.

Instead of concluding you can’t do the work, take a moment and consider what the differences mean: Are there things you can let go of where you have a preference score higher than the work requires or are there others in your work environment that can support you where you have a lower preference score than the work requires?

The goal of the WSP™ Inventory and WorkStyle Alignment process is to help work environments and people create a better match-alignment in their work – which leads to greater personal fulfillment and workplace performance. Do some exploring!

All these potential individual applications apply, whether you are working from home with family, have a workplace job, a school project or doing community volunteering:

Understand what you like or don’t like about the work you are doing; Find where you are aligned/misaligned in your current work; Develop self awareness and a deeper understanding of self in terms of work; Improve your work relationships with others – especially in work situations where there are different ways to think about and perform the work; Find the work, job path, career that fits with how you like to work; Identify the learning and work path that most fits for your education and training; Use for job interviews for clarity of what you most have to offer and gain insight to how well the job you’re applying for fits or does not fit; Hone in and craft your resume; Identify key skills that you may need to further development; Stop seeking or accepting the type of work that is not your Preference; Develop an understanding and tolerance of self and others’ Preference as it takes a combination of WSP™ Profiles to achieve work in a successful way

There are more ways businesses, schools, community groups, teams and religious organizations can use these results – but don’t be limited to these!

Your WSP™ Preference scores and Profile will remain fairly stable over your lifetime except for moments of high stress (a death in the family divorce, loss of job or health, etc.). Your WSP™ Position Actual scores and Profile can and should change depending upon changes in your work and work environment.

Is it the name of the Profile that you do not like? If instead of the title you look at your Profile’s many listed contributions, do you still want to change it? Every Profile has strengths and vulnerabilities and the challenge is to build upon your strengths and minimize the areas of your Profile vulnerabilities. Wherever your areas of low preference, there are others who have this as a high preference. Can you find ways for them to work with you? Our hope is that you would see the good in your Preference and celebrate what you uniquely have to offer. Also know that others depend upon you for this!

First, did you reverse your scoring – did you select a 1 for most preferred instead of a 4? This is the most common error people make. Second, if you believe you used the correct scoring process but still do not agree with your results, try showing your results to those who know you well and ask them if anything in the Profile description fits you. However, there are times of severe stress (e.g. going through a divorce, death in the family or financial crisis) when your true Preference will not be evident. In this event, give yourself at least six months before re-taking an Inventory.

For further assistance, either click on the Help button on this WSP™ website and enter your question or concern and you will be contacted by a WSP™ team member. If you have a certified WSP™ coach, please contact that person.

If a certified WSP™ coach or your organization purchased the WSP™ Inventory for you, it is highly likely that it is part of a larger program to help improve business, team, or individual work alignment and performance. If you purchased the Inventory yourself for your own learning and development, we recommend that you go to the Action Strategy suggestions at the end of the Inventory and take the insights you gain to make self-improvements or changes you may have discovered need to be addressed. Ask yourself, Who do I need to share this with in order to make my improvements? If you have a good relationship with the person you report to, it could be a really good idea to help that person understand you better and the way you think about and like to perform work.

You can contact the McFletcher Corporation to obtain more resource information. You can also request a one-to-one results debrief and further coaching for a fee. Additionally, we can introduce you to a network of WSP™ Inventory certified professionals who may be able to provide coaching services for you.