1. COBRA Briefing February 25, 2009
Job Performance Systems, Inc.
COBRA Briefing
February 25, 2009

2. Agenda About JPS What is COBRA?
How to fit COBRA into your plant’s hiring process
Product demonstration
Summary

3. 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

4. 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

5. Clients – Industrial Sector
Alberta Envirofuels
Angola LNG
Aughinish Alumina
Bahrain Petroleum BP
Buckeye Partners
Cabinda Gulf Oil
Caltex
Caspian Pipeline
Chevron
Colonial Pipeline
ConocoPhillips
Eliokem
Enbridge
Enterprise Products
Ergon Refining
Explorer Pipeline
ExxonMobil
Hunt Refining Company
Kinder Morgan
Koch Industries
Little John & Co, LLC
LyondellBasell
Magellan Pipeline
Marathon
Petro-Canada
Plains All American Pipeline
PPL
Qatar Chemical
Ras Laffan Olefins
Saudi Chevron Petrochemical
Shell
Sunoco
Tengizchevroil
TEPPCO
Valero

6. Levels of Console Operator Expertise
System Optimizer
10%
COBRA Goal: How to identify Level 2 & 3
Level 2:
System Users %
Level 1:
System Responders %

7. What is COBRA? COBRA test consists of: 2 hours of training
1 hour of practice
1 hour of testing

8. How COBRA was Developed
Job Analysis Studies
Structured interviews
Fleishman Questionnaires (F-JAS)
Critical Incidents
Identified Key Abilities
Evaluated Existing Selection System

9. 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

10. Measurement of Key Abilities
COBRA fills in many gaps
Traditional selection methods measure some “Key” abilities:
Key Abilities
Job
Application
Paper & Pencil Tests
Interviews
COBRA
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

11. Chevron Technique for Validation (mid-90’s)
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

12. 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
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
In every case, study results support the value/validity of COBRA

13. COBRA Sites Nearly 100 locations total
Available in English, Russian French, and Portuguese
Chevron**
Caltex**
LyondellBasell
Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd.
BAPCO
Ergon
Hunt
Refinery Operations
Eliokem
SaudiChevron Petrochemical**
Qatar Chemical**
LyondellBasell**
Chevron Oronite**
Chevron Phillips**
Aughinish Alumina
Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd.**
Alberta Envirofuels
Chemical Plant Operations
** Multi-site and/or Enterprise-wide

14. COBRA Sites (cont.) Pipeline Operations Chevron Sunoco Logistics**
Colonial **
Kinder Morgan**
Shell
Caspian
Magellan
Buckeye**
Pipeline Operations
Sunoco Logistics**
Enterprise Products**
Plains All American
Enbridge
Marathon Petroleum
Explorer
PPL Interstate Energy
Oil & Gas Operations
Cabinda Gulf Oil Co.**
Chevron Nigeria Ltd. **
Tengizchevroil
Angola LNG
PPL **
Power Generation
** Multi-site and/or Enterprise-wide

15. 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

16. 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)

17. Integrating COBRA Into Your Plant’s Hiring Process
Teamwork
Oral communication
Customer service orientation
General Competencies
Reasoning
Selective attention
Time sharing
Cognitive Abilities
Work ethic
Absence of negative behaviors
Dependability
Subject Matter Expertise

18. Test Administrator Options
Your company personnel (i.e. Operations or HR)
JPS personnel
Third-party

19. COBRA Demo

20. Thank you!