What the Scores Mean
These scores are calculated as a percentage of the possible points your employee could have scored for each attribute. This can help you understand how strong their leanings are towards a specific trait. As you might guess, a higher score means they identify with an attribute more. This isn't a right-or-wrong type of score- just an extra indicator of their preferences!
What is the Domain Breakdown?
This is a snapshot of what form of compensation matters most to your employee and the balance between them. The report is intentionally broad and should be used only as a guide as assess their fit with an opportunity. The three domains (Approach, Environment, and Outcomes) are presented as a diagram proportionally divided to correlate with their responses. We find it helps to see the forest before we focus on the trees.
Hola Hoya's Results
Your employee's results have been compiled below! You will see their High-low Report, which includes breakdowns of their top 3 and bottom 3 key indicators, as well as their Mid Report, which shows which attributes fall in the center of their workplace preferences.
Check out our guide on How to Read Your Results.
Domain Breakdown
What's this?The strength of the Domain scores indicates what class of compensation an individual values most. While not as specific as the individual results that follow, these results help us better understand the priorities and enable more productive conversations. Consider focusing negotiations and team-building discussions around the Domains that are strongest, even if you need to give a little on the side of the chart that is least represented. (For more tips on developing Domain-based strategies, contact our team of consultants.)
Attribute Results
High
The results of the assessment have resulted in a tie between one or more key indicator. When this happens in the High-Low Report, we provide you with the results for all results that tied. For this reason, you see more than three results in the High Report.
Low
The results of the assessment have resulted in a tie between one or more key indicator. When this happens in the High-Low Report, we provide you with the results for all results that tied. For this reason, you see more than three results in the Low Report.
High Report
The following results represent the Attributes that contribute most to your employee or candidate's fit with employment opportunities. With the insights shared below, you should be able to develop a strategy that will effectively support evaluating a candidate, contract negotiation, performance evaluation, and aid with their self-discovery.
The results of the assessment have resulted in a tie between one or more key indicator. When this happens in the High-Low Report, we provide you with the results for all results that tied. For this reason, you see more than three results in the High Report.
Collaboration Highest Attribute
70%
What's this?Strategic Insights
A person with collaboration high in their results is often an excellent match for roles where they get to be part of a team. In the sports world, they are more basketball than cross-country. They would rather be part of a band than a solo singer-songwriter. It is useful to find those who value high levels of collaboration because some of the jobs that people assume are the most mundane receive some of the highest levels of job satisfaction. Why? It’s often because the people in those jobs get to work closely with others as part of a team, and that’s what they end up enjoying the most.
Having collaboration in their top three means that this person wants to be part of a larger process and contributing to a team is a large part of what motivates them. They can get beyond some of the more mundane tasks if they feel connected to the larger team and process. Managers should make sure these employees are actually working on team projects rather than working alongside a bunch of people doing their own thing with very little interaction. We’re social creatures, and we love to achieve things together. This is especially true for those scoring high on collaboration.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- Will the person in this position primarily work alone or will they work closely with others on a team?
- Find other people who have this position and ask them what they like most about their job. See if anything related to “the people they work with” shows up. If so, that’s an excellent clue that this is might be a good position for someone scoring high on collaboration.
- What do you know about the team they would be working on? How often do they see each other and work together? How socially functional is it?
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
Describe your ideal workflow?
Collaboration can signal a high degree of value in the “process.” Often those who value collaboration describe their job as a series of tasks and responsibilities and how they interact with the overall operation of the business. They tend to be less focused on the outcome (that is not to say the outcome isn’t important to them). To ensure a candidate is a good fit with your team you need to learn how they like to work. This question can help with that.
When working on a team, who is ultimately responsible for the outcome? Who should receive credit or blame for the results of a project?
Ownership of an idea and its outcome is important. Those who value collaboration are often good contributors to group conversations. Their willingness to accept responsibility or share praise for coauthored work varies. Understanding these motivators will help you manage them more effectively.
If you were given a solo project that you did not know how to do, how would you get it done?
Sometimes those who value collaboration struggle to work solo. If you are looking for someone to perform tasks on their own, you need to understand how they’ll go about accomplishing the task at hand. Collaboration signals a propensity to work with others, but it is also a common attribute of great networkers. Asking this question will help you strategize with the employee and understand how their skill set can be used to bring others together to solve a problem.
Leadership
70%
What's this?Strategic Insights
Someone who values leadership does not necessarily want to be the boss (though it may indicate that they are well suited to taking a leadership role eventually). Valuing leadership suggests that who is in charge matters to them, and there’s good reason for that. Believing in the organization’s leadership and their vision will play a large factor in if these employees succeed and increase their satisfaction at work.
It is also useful to be aware that a direct manager and top leadership are two distinct things. Surprisingly, evidence suggests that organizational leadership is generally more responsible for people quitting than their direct managers are. In situations with great managers, but poor top leadership, only 38% of employees intend to stay with the company. However, in situations with poor managers, but great top leaders, 60% intend to stay! In situations with great management AND leaders, a full 89% intend to stay. So, leadership matters a lot and people can, and often do, overlook flaws in middle management when the organization’s leadership is great.
Studies also show that in “good” companies managers make a big difference in whether or not people leave their jobs, but in “bad” companies, having good or bad managers makes little difference in a person’s decision to leave (they just leave). This is magnified with those who desire positive leadership.
Also, people scoring high in leadership are often ripe for eventual training into leadership positions. This is not necessarily because they are inherently skilled at leadership. Rather, because they see the value and importance of good leadership, they are often intrinsically motivated to become good leaders and are open to taking developmental opportunities when they arise. On the flip side, a crisis in leadership will often create especially low levels of job satisfaction among those who are particularly attuned to it.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- Ask them what a good leader is to them at various levels of the organization. See if that matches well with what you feel your organization offers.
- What organizational leaders have they most looked up to, either from personal experience or from a distance, and why?
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
Describe your ideal working relationship with an employer?
Our perceptions determine our reality. Knowing what your team thinks is good leadership will help you tailor your approach so that they see you as a good leader.
Who is a public figure you admire? Why?
Analogies are powerful. Even more so when they are accompanied by analysis. Learning what and whom your team admires will help you emulate similar behaviors and more effectively manage your staff. This is likely to be beneficial for many people.
What makes a person a good leader?
This is a bit on the nose but just asking what they need, particularly more experienced employees, is a sign of respect and denotes confidence.
Clarity
63%
What's this?Strategic Insights
Someone with clarity high in their results is looking for positions that have clearly defined processes, outcomes, and expectations. Many of the most satisfied employees are so happy because they can see that they have become very good, even expert, at something. The feeling of mastery, and making progress toward mastery, is one of the greatest gifts work can offer.
This doesn’t mean that this person needs their hands held to succeed, far from it. It simply means that success must be clearly defined. Through hard work and ingenuity, with clear benchmarks and expectations, they can become more successful in their role every day. They will do best in jobs where there is little mystery to how success is measured or achieved. They want to spend their time becoming great instead of guessing what they’re supposed to do.
One great way to add some clarity to their role is to provide clear benchmarks of success and failure, and especially, benchmarks for promotion. This helps them and others keep track of what they are capable of doing. Clarity in what these employees need to know lends itself to clarity in what they need to do, which is something they appreciate, and for good reason.
Also remember that, as with predictability, many times you can increase the clarity of a position by encouraging management to set clear, realistic expectations for success up front. Nearly all will benefit from moves in that direction, whatever the case.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- What would their typical day at work look like, and how will they know if they’ve done well that day?
- What would your dream employee for this position eventually become excellent at? Is this a match with what the applicant wants? Be open about this in the interview process.
- How clear are the expectations for how success is measured in this role?
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
What questions do you have about the job description or this role?
The job description frames the job to be done but also sets the employee's expectations for performance review. Benchmarking is important for a person who values clarity highly. Unfortunately, most job descriptions are poorly written or only capture the minimum standard. A conversation about the job will help you and your candidates get on the same page.
Tell me about a time when you were asked to do a job but weren’t given directions on how to do it?
Perfect clarity is impossible. But those who value clarity are often good at self-direction, particularly when they know the parameters of the task to be done and their latitude for discussion making. This question will help you assess their judgment.
What are the responsibilities of the manager and the employee in clarifying how a job should be done or a problem solved?
Employment is a relationship. Learning a candidate's views on the roles you and they will play in that relationship is important – particularly if the candidate values clearly defined roles.
Specialization
63%
What's this?Strategic Insights
Specialization means that one values becoming very good at something. Every crime procedural (Bones), heist movie (Oceans 11), or superhero story (Avengers), features a team of highly-specialized individuals. These teams work because the group is made up of people who are incredibly good at their individual specialties. That is their calling card. To them, it’s exciting, satisfying, and meaningful to be the resident ‘expert’ on something. The fact that specialization is in their top means that this is something that will be particularly enjoyable to them.
Scholars often delineate between ‘generalists’ and ‘specialists.’ These workers want to be (or become) a specialist. They thrive in situations where they can focus on hard skills that are easy to quantify. That doesn’t mean they have to be a coder, but they excel in positions where they can measure, and show, their progress in some skill or area.
Perhaps surprising to some, specialization often dovetails nicely with ‘low-variety’ jobs. This does NOT mean boring jobs. It means jobs where the employee is given the time and opportunity to become excellent. Sometimes high-specialization/low-variety jobs can be extremely competitive (think: professional video gamer). Most areas of specialization, however, are not so crowded, and so it doesn’t take the same high levels of expertise for them to become the best in the room or the best in the company. Feeling like they are the resident expert in _____ will be very meaningful to them.
Becoming a specialist also helps these employees recognize how important their work is, because they are often the only one who can perform a particular task. This also comes with some social status. Expertise can be achieved in any job or at any education level. Master’s degrees and trade certifications are, by definition, paths to mastery in some specific area, and a great way to show expertise. Even if they don’t have the specification yet, people who are scoring high on this list are more likely to thrive in positions where they need to teach themselves skills and are heavily relied on for things that only they can do, or do well. In these positions, people scoring high on specialization are excellent at learning on the job.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- What hard skills are vital for this job, and how do they feel about spending a lot of time getting good at those things?
- Are there any company-sponsored trainings/certifications that are part of this job?
- Does your organization offer any educational programs to help employees gain more skills? Share if you do as this will be particularly valuable to them.
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
What do you do best
When someone values specialization they are either already experts or would derive great self-worth from becoming an expert in a task or skill. A good indication of how this desire can serve your organization is to ask about their self-assessed areas of greatest strength, and the areas where they would like to build that strength (see below).
Describe a time when you were asked to do something that you feel you do poorly? How did you approach the task knowing you weren’t ideally suited to it?
No one is good at everything. Specialists often prefer to delegate or outsource that which they do not do well. That might be an excellent option in your organization, or it might not. Regardless, asking this question will help you start a discussion on options for meeting expectations that fall outside of a member of your team's core competencies.
What would you like to become known as an expert in?
Often, we don’t know our employees’ aspirations. For someone who correlates highly with Specialization, their skills-based ambitions drive them. Understanding their goals and working with them to develop the desired skills will help you retain them and make them more valuable members of the team.
Low Report
These Attributes are the least correlated with “fit" for your employee or candidate. In any relationship or negotiation, it is helpful to know what each side might be able to give in exchange for what you need. Where a low need from an employee or candidate aligns with a high need on your part, a mutually beneficial arrangement can likely be made.
The results of the assessment have resulted in a tie between one or more key indicator. When this happens in the High-Low Report, we provide you with the results for all results that tied. For this reason, you see more than three results in the Low Report.
Flexibility
37%
What's this?Strategic Insights
Scoring low on flexibility often is coupled with having a relatively high score on predictability. An excellent example here is many government jobs. Virtually all federal/state/local government positions have firm start and end times, combined with good vacation/sick policies, healthcare, and retirement, which allows employees to plan. The very same positions in the private sector may come with more flexibility, but also have a way of taking over people’s lives, keeping them late at work, and providing them less time for other things. Many lawyers, for instance, opt for jobs with the government because they can have a good income and still be home at a reasonable and predictable time every day. These types of positions can be something of a template for successful positions for those few people scoring low on flexibility.
Many people prefer jobs with rigid time-in/time-out requirements because it gives them a reliable schedule. The right non-flexible job can provide a wonderful work-life balance for certain people. Structure allows them to compartmentalize and give more to each aspect of their life.
Excitement
37%
What's this?Strategic Insights
When someone scores low on excitement, it doesn't mean that they like boring work or, even worse, that they are boring. There are plenty of very boring wilderness firefighters. What it means is that they don't need their work to provide that excitement for them. This is a great asset because it gives you more flexibility with them, whereas others, who really want to find excitement AT WORK, have fewer options.
Because excitement is often the result of some amount of chaos, jobs that focus on making things run smoothly, creating steady growth, and organizing or arranging things/operations tend to be about creating order, and are very fulfilling, even if they are less exciting.
Excitement is a whole-body experience, and day-in-day-out, excitement can be rough on a person. People who desire excitement at work often pay for it in other areas. This person may be aware of that and have plenty of excitement elsewhere. Scoring low on excitement may make them a poor fit for a few jobs, but it makes them a much better fit for far more jobs. In fact, reducing excitement can motivate people in this category. This is exactly what you want from your IT professionals, receptionists, most operations roles, accountants, quality control, and risk management, to name a few. Jobs that focus on making things run smoothly are often especially satisfying for those who score low on excitement, to the benefit everyone.
Location
37%
What's this?Strategic Insights
A person with location low in their results can confidently pursue the best opportunities regardless of their location. They are highly adaptable and can adjust to life in the big city, small town, near family, or far from it. This does not mean that they don't have preferences, just that those preferences do not strongly determine their level of satisfaction at work.
Location agility can be a very powerful advantage when job hunting. (Note: Location preference is a domain that often changes over the course of a career. It may be in their top three at one stage of their career and in the bottom at another. Don't assume because it’s at the bottom now, which suggests that they can be happy working anywhere, that they will always be so locationally versatile).
Autonomy
33%
What's this?Strategic Insights
When someone scores low on their desire for autonomy, it does not mean that they aren’t self-motivated or independent. The opposite of autonomy is coordination. This indicates that this person likes being part of a team. They enjoy the interactions and the feeling of being an important part of a multi-faceted team or process. Many high-profile careers are relatively low autonomy (acting, professional sports, politics, etc) because their outcome and processes are deeply intertwined with the work of others. Low autonomy is not a negative, and it doesn’t mean that these employees need their hands held more than others. Not at all.
That said, nobody likes to be micromanaged. Even in the most interdependent positions, how the managers oversee and correct their employees matters a lot. Micromanaging drives everyone crazy and makes it harder to do great work. Low autonomy demands mean this person is happy working with others, not that they want to be micromanaged and nitpicked. Also, people who score low on autonomy can make incredible managers because they enjoy the processes of coordination and negotiation and take more care on this front than others. They may need a little training early on, and some occasional reminders that giving people as much discretion as they can within the needs of the project has vastly better outcomes than micromanaging. For all their strengths, they may do well with some occasional reminders that others still want their autonomy. What feels to the manager like high involvement and giving frequent helpful input (which they love) can to their subordinates feel more like a lack of trust and micromanaging. Reducing the autonomy of others unnecessarily can obliterate intrinsic motivation.
Purpose Lowest Attribute
33%
What's this?Strategic Insights
If someone has purpose at the bottom of their list, it does not mean that they don’t care about meaning, nor does it mean that they aren't passionate. It means that they do not rely on their employment to satisfy their need for life purpose. In fact, for those who find purpose in supporting their family, just having a job can be very purposeful. This group of people are also more likely to score low on needing purpose from what they do at work. This often means that they use the resources provided by their job to facilitate the things that give them a sense of purpose. Despite all the “follow their passion” rhetoric they were taught about their future career growing up, they are more clear-eyed about using their work to allow them to find purpose elsewhere and facilitate their other passions. This is very healthy, and more likely to lead to a happy/fulfilled life than trying to find all or most of their purpose from their job.
This doesn’t mean that a job devoid of purpose will be delightful to them, and it often does mean that they will find extra value in things like flexibility, which allow them to better contribute to the things that are giving them purpose.
Some people are willing to compromise on other outcomes in favor of working somewhere purposeful. These employees can find a position that maximizes their other career goals, even if it means they aren't working for an organization with a mission about which they have deeply held feelings. They can still enjoy the satisfaction of contributing to the efforts of their fellow employees. Flexibility, free time, and even money are great tradeoffs for them.
Mid Report
These key-indicators, while not as relevant to negotiation strategies or culture building, but should be studied and understood because, over the course of an employee’s career, it is likely that one or more of these results will increase in importance. There also might be an insight or question that will be of value, particularly as you compare this employee to others.
Remuneration
57%
What's this?Strategic Insights
How much money we make impacts practically every aspect of our lives. It determines what we can buy, where we live, and when we can retire. Someone with remuneration high on their list is likely aware of the power of money, and to some degree, their self-worth is tied to how much they make. Accordingly, their employment relationship needs to be aligned with their life and financial goals. Their pay also might be the measuring stick by which they gauge how valuable their work for the organization is. If what they are paid and how they value themself is out of balance, they will likely be dissatisfied at work. If they see their compensation as an accurate reflection of their worth, they are willing to work hard.
Pay transparency can be critical to those who value remuneration highly. Don’t be sneaky here. A common source of conflict between individuals who have remuneration high in their results and their employers is the differences in pay between employees, particularly if the employee's contribution is viewed as inconsistent with their financial compensation. These issues are exacerbated when that information is discovered rather than disclosed. Be aware of these tensions as you make decisions.
Valuing remuneration does not mean that they don’t care about having a terrible job. A large study of current employees found that across all income levels, pay is not the top predictor of workplace satisfaction. Instead, it is the culture and values of the organization, followed closely by the quality of senior leadership and career opportunities within the organization. These are the hallmarks of good employers. Making a lot of money can help someone achieve certain goals in their life, but it does not make a miserable job less miserable, nor does research find that it makes up for relationship casualties that can come from an unbalanced life. There is absolutely nothing wrong with placing a high value on remuneration. Money creates opportunities and can enable a very balanced, fulfilling life.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- Have very honest conversations about them up front about the possible salary and how they feel about it. You might need to spend some time convincing them that this is not a negotiation tactic and that you truly care.
- Explain very clearly how raises work, and to the extent possible give them benchmarks to achieve them. This will be very motivating to them (and they will feel betrayed if they achieve those and then no raise materializes).
- Are there opportunities to earn additional commissions or bonus pay? Be clear about those, but don’t promise what isn’t there.
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
What are your retirement goals?
Bringing up their ultimate career goals, even early in the relationship, shows that you care about their career and are a partner in helping them strategize to achieve their dreams. Listen carefully and think about how you can help them achieve it (even if they are brave enough to admit they don’t necessarily expect to retire working at your organization). This helps you take a more developmental approach with your employees, increases loyalty, and decreases turnover.
What are your five-year professional goals?
Goals are important. They help us know if we are on track for the life we’ve planned to lead. Helping your team meet their goals will improve loyalty and performance. Bonus points if you follow up one these goals with them in the future. They’ll likely feel very cared for and a bit stunned.
How does an employer demonstrate how much they value their employees?
Benchmarks, particularly financial benchmarks, are sometimes a score card for employees. If someone values remuneration highly they may equate their paycheck with their worth. It will be important to what meaning they put behind their pay.
Status
57%
What's this?Strategic Insights
Status is different from power or financial reward. With status high on their list this person likely values respect/admiration, voluntary deference by others, prestige, or having their advice sought by others. Status-seeking is universal and, done right, can lead to considerable long-term benefits for employee and employer alike.
It is important to understand that status-seeking is not necessarily inherently selfish. Rather than calling it status, call it “earned respect.” It’s social feedback that helps measure the success of one’s endeavors. Earned respect distinguishes employees who have exceeded expectations. This means that they are particularly attuned to the value of the evaluations of other humans. Caring about others, and what they think, is a great thing! It can obviously be overdone, and these employees need to be willing to do the right thing even if it won’t help them socially/politically. However, many times, those social signals are helping to point them in the right direction.
They might benefit from a position where they will be able to stand out quickly. One way this often happens is in “big fish, small pond” situations where from the get-go their employer is grateful, and even a little surprised, to have someone like them joining their team. Their title and responsibilities might be a little more prestigious than they would be at a larger organization. This is meaningful to these employees and often drives them to do even better work and take their job even more seriously than others who care less about status.
Being the expert of something on a team is also a great way to enjoy earned respect. Getting to utilize valuable skills that they may hold (or develop) on a team where their contributions are vital can be very rewarding to them, even without a title. And if they enjoy a little more competition, find them a job that focuses largely on individual contributions and recognizes them.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- Is there a clear path to promotion? What does that look like? Be very clear on this upfront and stand by your word.
- Tell them a little bit about some of their top performers and what makes them stand out.
- If you are hoping to woo them over, tell them a little about what stands out to you in their application. (NOTE: this isn’t just for ego-boosting, this is to give them a sense of how much you value/are impressed by them from the get-go.)
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
In one sentence describe how you want people to see you professionally?
Status or influence can be a powerful motivator. From the answers to this question, you can gain insight into whether you can help the interviewee reach their goals
If you are looking back over your career in 5 years from now, how will you know if you have been successful?
Success looks different to each of us. Having a personalized definition from a team member will help you with your review process.
Five years from now what does your ideal job look like? What title do you have?
The ability to forecast a career path is critical to motivating a person who is seeking influence. Answers to this question will help you determine the likelihood of satisfaction (and longevity) for an individual within your organization.
Sociability
50%
What's this?Strategic Insights
Sociability relates to the importance of one’s relationship with coworkers, clients, vendors, or customers. The people that we work with are often those with whom we spend the most time. Someone with sociability high in their results is particularly attuned to these relationships, whether positive or negative. Therefore, they do their best in environments that fulfill their social needs, on the clock and maybe even off.
Every workplace has an organizational culture. Even within the same industry, one firm might be very professional and another more laid back. An employee’s ability to fit in and be a valuable part of the team may depend on their innate connection to the organization’s culture and the team. Sociable employees avoid negative social situations, and for good reason! Studies have estimated that between turnover, loss of productivity, loss of commitment to the company, and decreased creativity, having one major jerk on staff can cost a company over $100,000 annually.
There are situations, such as highly competitive jobs/cultures, where being intimidating or putting others down can appear to help people gain power. The effectiveness of the organization and team, however, will suffer as those same individuals have built no goodwill or trust, yet they will continue thinking that their cutthroat ways are the key to their success. Numerous studies show that this is false, but they still believe it, and so will others which is likely a big turnoff to those scoring high in sociability. Everyone experiences some amount of competitiveness in their workplace, and that’s ok! For those who score high on sociability, it’s a red flag if the entire organizational culture is competition-based.
They’re also looking for something beyond just, ‘people don’t fight.’ These employees want good connections at work that allow people to socially bond as well as professionally. Being high in sociability does NOT mean that they are emotionally dependent; it means that they appreciate the relationships they have with people at work. It also doesn’t mean that they can’t handle having a jerk around, especially if there are others that they bond with, and the jerk is not in a position of power over them or constantly making their life miserable.
These employees aren’t necessarily doomed because of less than ideal social situations at work, they’re just more aware of them, and hoping for something better. They can also gain great satisfaction from being a force for goodwill, forgiveness, and service in a previously less-functional group. No one is ever going to find a job with perfect people who are always perfect to each other.
Things to Consider for Fit with a Position
- Let them meet so people that they will be working closest with, or even let them spend a day shadowing the team. Ask both them and the team how it worked out. You need honest feedback, but if it looks promising, and the worker is excited by it, that’s great. Those connections, if good, can also become a large part of why they will choose this job over others.
- As them about their favorite people they ever worked with, and why. Use this as some insight into what sort of work and connections really resonated with them and analyze how likely it is that they might be able to find in this position.
Evaluation Questions
This section provides a series of questions, tailored to the tested attributes, that will help you as you recruit top talent, work to retain valued team members, and develop a more effective work culture.
Can you tell me about your favorite coworker?
This can be about their current company or their past. Probe into why they enjoyed working with them so much. Companies have a culture or “vibe” and knowing who people like to work and why with will help you know if they’ll fit in with yours.
How important to you is making friends at work?
Some people want friends at work, others just want coworkers. Both are great! You know what you have to offer. Assessing fit is important. If you can’t meet an employee’s social expectations then odds are they won’t be happy at work.
What is the right balance between “getting work done” and socializing with your coworkers?
This will seem like a trick question, (and you might want to say, “this is not a trick question.”) but leading research suggests that productivity requires a balance of socializing and production. The proper balance varies from person to person.
Predictability
50%
What's this?Strategic Insights
When someone has predictability toward the bottom of their test results, it means that structure and clarity are less necessary for them to succeed. While most jobs offer a job description, some of the most exciting opportunities with the greatest upside are more fluid. People with low predictability demands thrive in startups or relatively new and fast-growing companies. They can handle a little more chaos than most. In these situations, everyone comes into work every day prepared to help pitch in on just about anything. Done right, this can be very exciting.
Even if someone has predictability low in their values, it does not mean that they can fully thrive in a situation with terrible communication and vague expectations. For instance, being a writer often comes with very low levels of predictability—it’s built into the job. Imagine, however, that their editor simply gives feedback to “make this better.” This is unhelpful and can even be counterproductive, even for the most chaos-loving employees. So whatever situation these employees are in, work with their managers to make sure they have a good sense of what to expect.
Variety
47%
What's this?Strategic Insights
First off, everybody likes a change of pace from time to time. Having variety low in their report doesn’t mean that this person likes boredom or monotony. What it does say is that they want to know what they’re going to do at work, be able to prepare well for it, and become good at it. High variety positions often preclude people from becoming particularly good at any one thing. Positions where they have a good idea of what they will be doing from day to day are more predictable and allow them to become better at specific things and feel confident that they are doing a good job.
Predictable jobs are less likely to cause people to feel anxious, as well. Expected outcomes are generally clearer and so they can look forward to what they’re going to do at work with some surety, and they’re more likely to get quite good at it. There are many benefits to having stability at work.
Low variety positions are where experts are forged. Virtually every single Olympian has a very low variety job. Yet it’s thrilling, they are extremely good at what they do, and they are openly admired by others for it. Low variety overlaps well with specialization. Try to get some sense of what this person wants to be an expert at. Over time the employee will gravitate toward the things they really enjoy and will stick around long enough to become an expert.
Training
40%
What's this?Strategic Insights
With training at the bottom of their results, this person is likely comfortable figuring it out as they go, or they are at a point in their careers where they already have a lot to offer. Since they don’t feel a great need for new training, there’s a good chance that they want to make significant contributions now. Look at what IS meaningful for them, and you’ll get much better insight into what they want out of a job right now, and it’s likely to include making a meaningful impact.
For these employees, opportunities for training become fewer and fewer as their responsibilities increase and they work independently. That said, we all need training, and the best are constantly learning. Just because this person scored low on a desire for training right now doesn’t mean that they are untrainable, it just means that learning new things isn’t a large value-add to them. This is often the case with seasoned managers or those who have already earned the title of “expert” in something. Figure out what they feel they are expert in.