Like most coaches, we are certified in many (many!) assessments, which means that we have a unique perspective on which ones help, and which ones …don’t.

When I am working with an individuals and we are using a psychometric there is often a degree of hesitation depending on their previous experiences or their personality style. They may be worried about being judged or somehow put in a box, they are worried that it won’t ‘get them’. The right assessment and right coach to debrief will put them at ease and bring out the a-ha moments with a solid and valid base in the assessment data.

The companies that bring me in have different concerns when it comes to assessments. They generally want to ensure that the assessment aligns with what they already use, that it doesn’t introduce conflicting language, and most importantly, they want to know that it is fit for purpose. Assessments really need to be helpful and meaningful tools for their people. They also want to know that their investments in assessments (via coaching or internal programmes) are not wasted.

So when you are considering an assessment/tool to use in your coaching or development programmes, here are 10 questions to ask:

1. Is it fit for purpose?

What does the assessment do? Is the assessment scientifically valid with a solid research base? Many assessment tools are not (I’m looking at you MBTI), but they are still useful in certain contexts. How will the tool be used, with whom, and towards what end? For example, if the goal is to support a team bonding activity, that may be a different tool than a team facilitation aimed to get the team to address conflict or communication in more helpful ways.

2. Is it flexible?

A good assessment can often multi-task. For example, a psychometric might be used 1:1 in coaching, and can also provide data for a team development programme (with appropriate confidentiality of course).

4. Do coaches like it?

How does the assessment perform against the usual push-back factors? Do they feel judged or put into a box or do they feel that it captures the complexity of their experience? Do people generally feel it is a fair assessment? Do they have ‘a-ha’ moments? Coaches should be willing to share their experience if you ask how an assessment is received by their clients.

5. Does it align with what the organisation does across the board?

You should consider what assessments are used internally and make a decision about whether it makes sense to stick with those assessments, or if there is an additional need that would be better met with a different tool. Most coaches will happily review and utilise existing assessments if they are recent and meet the need. It is always worth discussing using existing data/assessments first before embarking upon another.

7. How much of the benefit comes from the coach vs assessment?

A good coach can make almost any assessment debrief a valuable and productive process. A better assessment can therefore make an even better process. You should ask the coach how much experience they have debriefing the assessment in question, and using assessment tools generally. (More to come in coming months on how to select a coach!).

8. Can I use it to make recruitment decisions?

No. Psychometric assessments can be extremely valuable to understand candidates in a recruitment process so that you can ask relevant questions and support their development once they come on board. You should not make decisions based on assessments alone as they are generally not validated for this purpose. Regardless of intention people will be wanting to ‘show up’ in a positive way which may influence their results. In addition, while assessments may show preferences or tendencies, they do not measure skill or any development they may have undertaken to manage the tendency. These are great questions to ask in interview though, informed by the assessment results. Take the data on board, but take it with a grain of salt.

10. What is the load on the participant or other feedback givers?

I have seen a number of occasions where an assessment protocol has been derailed because of the time that the assessment takes to complete. While it is generally manageable for an individual, keep this particularly in mind when deploying 360 assessments. If a team is completing the assessment you could end up asking people to complete assessment for a lot of people. Is it realistic for your CEO (or anyone!) to complete 8 feedback requests if each one will take 45 minutes? In these cases we will often deploy stakeholder feedback interviews where a coach with gather feedback in a 1:1 conversation with key stakeholders.

Our favourite assessments

Based purely on the preferences of our team of coaches and what we find most impactful in coaching, here are our favourite assessments:

Hogan Insights Series

We use the Hogan assessments in many of our Executive Coaching engagements and all of our Transition Days. This series of 3 assessments allows us to explore strengths, style and preferences as well as derailers and bigger picture values. In our experience this assessment provides incredibly rich data and insights for our clients internally and how they are likely to ‘show up’ in their life and work. Hogan also have brilliant team profiles, and 360 capability also.

The Leadership Circle 360 Profile

A comprehensive snapshot in time enabling leaders to answer the question: “How are my behaviours and mindset enabling or constraining my intended leadership impact and our business performance?”

The Leadership Maturity Profile

A powerful tool in the assessment and development of leadership capacity, as described in the nine stages of the Leadership Maturity Framework. It is currently the most rigorously validated and reliable assessment tool in developmental psychology.

VIA Character Strengths Survey

The only free, scientific study of character strengths in the world.

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