Some of us may remember the experience of the first time we were asked to take some type of personal assessment, for instance . . . . . the Myers-Briggs Type indicator, a 360º assessment, or a motives, values and performances inventory. Felt something like an IQ or SAT test, didn’t it? Can’t study for it, and your career path could hang in the balance.
 
An individual assessment is an effective tool for the development of your people when used pragmatically and appropriately. Assessing your leadership team is a key component of leadership development, where a profile of strengths and opportunities for improvement are identified. Used in concert with coaching and mentoring, individuals can develop themselves and more effectively coach and develop their employees.
 
Assessment of individuals, (i.e., future leaders and high-potential individuals) can be used to provide feedback about their leadership and management attributes, to diagnose problem areas, to provide feedback for future development, often with a coach. Individual assessments can be used by leadership to make various decisions about an individual, such as selection for inclusion in a development program or for succession planning.

To select and use assessment results meaningfully you need to be clear about the attributes needing to be assessed, and assure that the selected assessment techniques agree with the reason for assessment. As well, the assessment instrument needs to be valid and reliable.
 
Personality assessment is becoming a "best practice" for companies interested in identifying and developing high-caliber employees, with the Hogan Assessment Systems and Clark-Wilson Suite providing the most comprehensive and reliable assessments today.
 
At the WorkPlace Cornerstone Group we can provide and guide you through the various assessments and the benefits of each, as we believe that individual and group assessments are essential tools for understanding and developing top performers. Regardless of the method used to assess your people, understanding them and how they interact with each other is vital to the individual growth and success of your organization.
 
We use a combination of individual assessments, observation, and interviews to develop a coaching approach that will achieve measurable and observable development in the identified areas needing improvement.