Psychological assessment helps guide the development of a more effective working style for a new situation.
As people progress in their careers, they gain experience. They adopt certain approaches and practices as their own, because these fit with their personality and temperament and because these practices seem to work. They begin to develop a distinctive style.
Although aspects of an individual's working style may contribute to his or her success, they may also represent risks. Not all of the behaviors that comprise a person's style are adopted consciously, and not all are employed thoughtfully.
When an individual relies on a consistent, characteristic way of approaching specific situations, it becomes a habit—a response that may be automatic, but not always helpful or effective.
For people who've been successful, their style has been an asset. It's been a match for the situations they've found themselves in. But situations change and further success may depend on the person's ability to adapt, to respond in new ways. A strength in one situation may be a significant weakness in another. If an individual is unaware of personal working habits, he or she may not recognize the need or the opportunity to approach situations differently.
Our assessment process is thorough and objective.
We use a variety of assessment tools to thoroughly understand an individual's distinctive approach to work and how he/she is likely to be perceived by others.
- Comprehensive, in-depth biographical interview: We review the candidate's education and work history with a particular focus on career decisions and transitions, accomplishments, challenges, satisfactions and frustrations.
- Standardized inventories: These inventories measure aspects of each candidate's personality, motivation, temperament and cognitive abilities.
- Work simulation: For management roles, we ask the candidate to assume the role of a senior manager in a fictitious organization and respond to a series of realistic issues that represent a day in the live of the manager.
Our assessments are conducted jointly by two psychologists. One psychologist conducts the interview. The other independently reviews all other results. This approach keeps the assessment results from being unduly influenced by the candidate's performance in the interview and helps ensure our accuracy and objectivity.
Our developmental assessment generates a clear picture of each individual's distinctive style.
With the feedback we provide as a part of the developmental assessment, individuals gain insight on the impact of their distinctive style in different situations and with different people. This feedback helps them identify strengths, capitalize on those strengths, and recognize the potential impact of their habits and blind spots.
As a result, individuals can anticipate situations where their initial, automatic reactions may lead them astray. Our feedback also helps them build and maintain productive relationships—especially with people who differ in their approach and motivation.