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A Guide to Assessments in the Workplace

Assessments are popular tools for gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves, building stronger teams, communicating better, and more. So what’s the best way to incorporate them into your people strategy, and which one should you use? In this article, we’ll dive into those questions and explain some of the assessments we use with clients here at Purple Ink.

In this article:

Using assessments in hiring

Sometimes making a hiring decision can feel a bit like playing darts, trying to hit a bullseye while wearing a blindfold. How do you know if someone is going to be a fit for a position before they even start? Using some form of assessment can help you find the right person for the role.

You might use assessments during the hiring process to:

  • Confirm someone’s skills. Skills-based assessments can evaluate whether someone has the right accounting knowledge, the ability to use certain software, and more.
  • Assess behavioral tendencies. Sometimes candidates’ answers to behavior-based questions are rehearsed or exaggerated. Behavioral assessments can add clarity as to how a candidate will likely behave and identify whether the candidate will be satisfied with and capable of the behaviors needed for the position.
  • Determine cultural fit. Assessments can measure virtually any characteristic, including cultural fit or unusual job requirements.

For more on pre-hire assessments, check out this episode of The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast:

Using assessments in team building

Organizations can use assessments to identify and develop their people’s strengths, improving overall morale and productivity in the workplace. Assessments like CliftonStrengths® and Working Genius are designed to help individuals recognize their own talents, allowing them to maximize their potential and achieve more.

These tools can help teams better understand each other and work better together, giving employees a common language to discuss their working styles and frustrations.

Using assessments in your career journey

Feeling uncertain about the next step in your career? It can often be difficult to identify what career path to take and what type of work will be fulfilling for you.

That’s where assessments like Strong Interest Inventory® or CliftonStrengths® might come in. These tools can help you gain a deeper understanding of what you’re good at, what energizes you, and what paths people like you are following. Then, you can take what you’ve learned and use it to evaluate whether a career opportunity might be a good fit for you.  

The risks of using assessments

Organizations should be aware that assessments can come with some risks. The information and data revealed through assessments may not always be accurate or reliable and could lead to misinterpretations and misunderstandings.

The results of an assessment could also be used to label people or create false expectations. This can lead to diminished working morale and unfavorable working conditions.

When used correctly, assessments can be a powerful tool to identify and develop the strengths of individuals and teams. It’s important for organizations to understand the right time to use these assessments to reap the benefits without incurring any negative consequences.

Do some homework, research, and training to understand the benefits and the best use before jumping into an assessment. If you’re not conducting the training yourself, ask facilitators or trainers if they’re certified in the tool and what kind of training they’ve been through.

Many organizations want to implement multiple different assessments. We caution against this as assessment results and styles should be well-trained and used as a common language. It takes a lot of work to stay informed with one tool and language, and very difficult to use more than one.

Deciding on the right assessment

There is no right or wrong assessment for an organization or individual. Start by identifying the goal you want to accomplish with the assessment. Do your research to understand the purpose of each assessment you consider. Being consistent is the best way to maximize the effectiveness of an assessment, so avoid constantly trying out new assessments.

Personality-based assessments like CliftonStrengths® and DiSC® are not designed for use in recruiting; people with different strengths and geniuses can be successful in the same role. If your goal is to hire the right person, focus on assessments that identify a person’s skills and abilities. If you really want to use the personality- or style-focused assessments in recruiting, the results should simply be a jumping-off point for conversation, and no one style or strength should be a requirement for hire.

Those personality- and style-based assessments are ideal for individual and team development, though! This is where their ability to foster a deeper understanding of yourself and others really shines.

CliftonStrengths®

The CliftonStrengths® assessment (formerly known as StrengthsFinder) identifies a person’s top five signature strengths from a list of 34 possible themes, including Focus, Positivity, Self-Assurance, and more. By intentionally applying these strengths on a daily basis, individuals become more engaged and more productive.

Dive deeper into CliftonStrengths® here

Everything DiSC®

Everything DiSC® measures an individual’s preferences and tendencies. The DiSC® model describes four basic styles:

  • Dominance (D)
  • Influence (i)
  • Steadiness (S)
  • Conscientiousness (C)

The results provide insights that deepen an individual’s understanding of themselves and others. This leads to a more engaged, collaborative, and effective workforce.

EQ-i 2.0®

At their finest, emotional intelligence programs provide strategies, techniques, and tips participants can use to their advantage. However, some programs can feel threatening, causing participant concerns that they might be deemed emotionally unintelligent with embarrassing, even punitive results.

Unlike other EQ programs, the EQ-i 2.0® assessment doesn’t assess whether individuals are good or bad at managing their emotions or judge how well they handle them. Instead, the EQ-i 2.0® shows people how frequently they choose to use 15 key emotion-based skills. Then, with training and coaching, assessment takers can strategize ways to raise, lower, and balance those skills.

This assessment combines the 15 emotions into five composites:

  • Self-Perception provides the foundation for all your emotions. The more you know about yourself, the more you’ll be able to use these emotions as a springboard for the rest of them.
  • Self-Expression includes skills that consider how you come across to others.
  • Interpersonal skills require planning how best to interact with others.
  • Decision Making focuses on solving problems where emotions are involved.
  • Stress Management is becoming an ever-increasing requirement to cope with day-to-day life at work and at home.

Explore emotional intelligence and the EQ-i 2.0® assessment further in this episode of The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast:

Strong Interest Inventory®

The Strong Interest Inventory® assessment is designed to explore an individual’s interests in six broad areas:

  • Realistic
  • Artistic
  • Investigative
  • Social
  • Enterprising
  • Conventional

The results map occupations to an individual’s interests to help them identify careers and education pathways that align with their interests. This leads to more informed decisions and more fulfilling careers.

The Five Behaviors®

The Five Behaviors® is based on Patrick Lencioni’s model for developing cohesive teams through five key behaviors: Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. This team assessment creates powerful, customized, and authentic team development solutions that empower individuals to make lasting change. Teams learn the foundational principles for building a cohesive team and the discipline required to overcome barriers caused by natural tendencies that often make effective teamwork elusive.

Learn more about The Five Behaviors® in this episode of The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast:

Working Genius

Working Genius is a model created by Patrick Lencioni to help people discover their gifts and thrive in work and life. The model identifies the six fundamental activities that are required for any type of work:

  • Wonder
  • Invention
  • Discernment
  • Galvanizing
  • Enablement
  • Tenacity

The assessment helps individuals understand their working geniuses (the work that brings them energy and fulfillment) and their working frustrations (the work that leads to frustration and failure). This makes individuals and teams more self-aware, more productive, and more successful.

Need help identifying the right assessment for your needs? Learn more about our training services here! Or send us a message here, and we’ll guide you to the right path.