Grocery Chain Management Psychological Evaluation Testing?

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wayne winterland jr.
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Grocery Chain Management Psychological Evaluation Testing?

Post by wayne winterland jr. »

Does anyone remember the Psychological Testing of Grocery Store Chains Management Employees? I was a management trainee for Ralphs Grocery Company in the early 1970's and I was hired right off the street to enter this unoffical program. I started out being the 5th level of management at the store which usually meant that I was the night store management person in charge of the store. I was sent to a newly built store just 3 days before the grand opening. There were a lot of new employees as there always is and also several transferred employees from other Ralphs stores. Well I had been working for the company for 6 months and I asked one of the other management people how long do you have to be working for this company before you start moving up and being promoted. He then asked me how I had done on my John Martin Testing?
I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I was hired directly by the District Manager after interviewing with him for nearly 2 hours. I was training at his home store for 2 weeks and then he was transferred to Northern Calif. to open a district there. The new District Manager thought that I had already been working for the company since I was picked to go to the new store. I found out later that at that time management employees were supposed to have gone and been tested by a Clinical Psychologist named John Martin to be evaluated by him for Ralphs Grocery Company, (although he also tested and evaluated people for other major grocery store chains and other businesses). You weren't supposed to be either opening the store in the morning or closing up at night by yourself as the only menber of management unless you had been evaluated and tested by the John Martin Test. When it was found out that I hadn't taken the testing I was immediately taken off either opening or closing the store which was ok with me because that meant that I had a good daytime schedule. I was then scheduled for testing but had to wait about 2 or 3 months until my appointment time came up and then I took the testing. I still remember some of the questions that were on the written part of the testing and some of them are as follows:

1) In 10 minutes or less answer the question Who Are You?

2) Describe your father in words.

3) Describe your mother in words.

4) Tell in words what do your friends think of you.

It was really pretty intense testing and the Clinical Psychologist, John Martin kept telling the 5 or 6 of us who were being tested for various companies not to worry because there wasn't really any pass or fail on the test, (however what he didn't mention was that his evaluation of the written testing and oral questioning afterwards would determine just how high up within your company that you would be able to advance until you would have to come back to be tested and evaluated by him again before being promoted to a Store Managers position. For Ralphs Grocery Company if you did very well you didn't have to return for more testing until you were being considered for promotion to Store Manager. I thought that the first questiion was the hardest because you were under a 10 minute timed limit. Then it was about 2 or 3 months later that you would meet with the Vice President of Personnel and that person would go over the results of your testing and tell you what kind of career you would have with the company. I know that Alpha Beta Markets also had some kind of testing similar to this kind because my tather took their testing before he became a Store Manager for Alpha Beta Markets. Does anyone else remember any testing of this type for any other Grocery Store Chains?
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