Firms wise up to Scientology

HR professionals have been warned to watch out for a mailshot from a psychometric testing organisation that fails to make clear its links to Scientology.

People Management

followed up a complaint from a reader who had received a letter from Silhouet UK inviting the recipient to complete an enclosed test questionnaire as a ''free introductory service''. The reader became suspicious after noticing the copyright on the test was for L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the controversial religious group.

The letter also claimed that the company had ''over 10 years' experience throughout Scandinavia, with companies such as Volvo, Thomas Cook, Goodyear and Castrol''.

None of the central recruitment offices of these companies was able to confirm that they had used Silhouet to assess people. Goodyear stated that it had never heard of the group.

When contacted, Peter Buch of Silhouet UK claimed the company was a ''small family-run business with no links to Scientology. We are simply using the L Ron Hubbard test because of its value as a management tool,'' he said. But Patrick Peperstraete, a consultant at the Dutch branch of Silhouet confirmed that, like its sister companies in Denmark and Sweden, Silhouet UK is a member of the World Institution of Scientology Enterprises (Wise).

According to Wise's web site, it is a not-for-profit organisation whose members believe the ''same administrative policies used to expand Scientology organisations may also be used to expand any organisation''.
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Robin Chater, secretary-general of the Federation of European Employers, expressed concern over Silhouet UK's failure to make clear its links.

''Participants should certainly be informed that the personal information they are providing will be analysed by a company involved in promoting Scientologist principles,'' he said.

Angela Baron, CIPD adviser, employee resourcing, said the institute ''recommended that companies use only tests for which adequate data is available to prove its validity and reliability. Managers should ask questions to check the test is measuring the things it purports to measure.''
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