PSYCHOLOGIST KEEPS HIS HEAD IN THE GAME
Bob Troutwine has his head in business and sports. He does psychological assessments of players for many N.F.L. teams and talent assessments for other businesses and corporations.
"The bottom line is good psychology wins games and retains customers," says Troutwine, an industrial psychologist in Liberty, MO. Troutwine's consulting firm, Troutwine & Associates, has worked for 17 NFL teams since breaking into the sports psychology business in 1984. The firm also does talent assessments for businesses, including Ford Motor Co., Sprint Corp., Bank of America and Southwestern Bell Corp. Troutwine & Associates even does profiles of entry-level workers. Its "Evaluation of Service Potential" reports help hotels, restaurants, retail stores and other businesses pick the right employees and put them in jobs where they can be the most productive.
"We're trying to help both pick their squad, so to speak," says Troutwine.
Take two college quarterbacks, almost equal in size, with equally gaudy statistics. Pick the right one and your National Football League team's fortunes will quickly improve. Guess wrong and the franchise will continue to founder. Troutwine helped the Indianapolis Colts settle on Tennessee's Peyton Manning over Washington State's Ryan Leaf in the 1998 draft. Only 182 passing yards and three touchdowns separated the two in their senior seasons.
"When you looked at arm strength and all the physical measures and where they projected out to be, that was a tie score," said Troutwine.The Colts, who had a new head coach and the No. 1 pick, asked Troutwine to evaluate the quarterbacks on such intangibles as mental makeup and social style.
Just like a business hiring a new executive, the Colts wanted someone who would not simply perform at a high level, but fit well into the organization and the community, he said.
The Colts chose Manning, the son of former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning. He has met -- and often exceeded -- expectations. The Colts finished with a 3-13 record last year. Leaf struggled in his rookie year with the Chargers and is sidelined with a shoulder injury this season. He has alienated teammates and lashed out at fans.
Although Leaf's poor performance last season surprised Troutwine, his outbursts did not.
"We said the media and the pressure would cause frustration," he said. "He is a very competitive person."
Troutwine broke into the NFL in 1984 when he suggested that the Chiefs start using psychological assessments to screen future players. He noted that his clients in the banking industry used assessments to evaluate candidates for jobs paying as little as $20,000 a year.
Why shouldn't a football team betting millions on its draft picks do the same?
Troutwine hopes to diversify the business further by moving into other pro leagues, such as the National Basketball Association, and by taking his assessment techniques to colleges and high schools.
Troutwine also started the ESP, a report to help organizations select and train employees with the propensity to be dependable and treat coworkers and customers well. The ESP describes how applicants will respond to such training, predict job ratings and work attendance records. The forms take about 10 minutes to fill out. Employers get single-page reports on each applicant within 24 hours. The reports aren't necessarily cheap -- they start at $20 each. But companies that have used the system to reduce turnover and hold down training costs have reported savings of $565 to $1,600 per position
Troutwine strives to make sure his practical advice is backed by sound research. In sports, as in business, preparation is usually a prerequisite for success.
"When a first round draft pick flops in the NFL, it makes headlines and can ruin the careers of many people in the organization. A more common situation is an employee who turns out to be undependable and either ignores or roughs up customers. Often the results can be equally devastating to the company, especially given the fact that it costs three-times more to get one new customer than to keep an old one," says Troutwine.
He has worked with these NFL teams: Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Indianapolis Colts.
Editors: Bob is at 816-415-8400. His company's web page is www.troutwine.com. Please contact me if I can be of any assistance. If you need assistance, contact Steve Infanti at [email protected] or 814-234-4419.
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