Tools

Psychometric assessments

Psychometric assessments offer a means of assessing individuals in a structured way to provide benchmarks about potential strengths and limitations against useful comparison groups.

Unfortunately, “psych testing” (as it is more commonly referred to in many parts of the world) suffers a historical legacy of often leaving individuals bruised or bewildered, and organisations wondering about the point of the results.

At EEK, we are clear about the tremendous value-add that psychometric tests can bring – when they are chosen and used with great understanding.

Using only the highest quality of accurate and credible tests, EEK draws upon the best of new technology and scientific breakthroughs to make testing an unintrusive and stimulating experience, upholding best practice all the way.

EEK provides an executive assessment service as well as offering advice about all aspects of how organisations can enhance their testing processes.

Coaching

Life at the top is always stressful, often uncertain and sometimes very lonely. We have seen what a difference coaching can make in this context.

Good coaches provide a vital safe haven and confidence boost when everything else seems crazy. Just to get that fresh perspective and have someone you respect encouraging you to be all that you possibly can in life is often all that it takes.

At EEK, we think that coaching translates to being a trusted intermediary and a catalyst for sustaining success, helping people face up to issues others won’t address and offering the sounding board that is needed to transform potential problems into successes.

Our expertise has proven invaluable to clients seeking help in managing various interpersonal dynamics, work relationships and communication issues.

360° feedback

Almost everybody these days seems to have had a 360° experience of some sort.

Frustrated multi-raters everywhere are being asked to answer “semi-pertinent but not quite right” questions about their coworkers, staff and bosses. And good grief – you wouldn’t exactly feel comfortable saying a lot of this stuff to their faces so doing it “behind their backs” makes you feel, well… a bit less than nice. Maybe better to play it safe and just say all good things? You never know – when it comes to your turn, your colleagues might be good enough to return the favour?

Then there are the hoards of innocent “victims” who have been on the receiving end of their “feedback” – a series of “scientifically derived” and convincingly “objective” ratings and comments. But, they don’t quite seem to make sense do they? Leave a bit of an unpleasant taste? A curiosity (or for some poor souls – a desperate witch hunt), wondering who said what and why, exactly? Either that or your head is in the clouds because of the wonderfully (not to mention indiscriminately) glowing report that’s come through. Gee, makes you wonder how everybody else got on doesn’t it?

Well, those are probably the worst case scenarios – and they almost always come about because the 360° tool isn’t up to much or because the process for gathering and communicating the results has had a few (important) flaws.

But the thing with 360° feedback that we want to stress is that despite all the horror stories that you hear about, when a 360° process is done properly for the right reasons using great questions and a well thought through design and roll-out process, the outcomes can be nothing short of miraculous and will quite possibly be the most cost-effective and impactful development that any employee will ever experience.

360° is not a fad, it deserves your attention.

At EEK, we help to get your 360° process working like a dream. Most probably we’ll help get the tool sorted first, making sure it’s really gathering information about the stuff that matters most to you, using questions and a data collection process that will leave people wanting more. We can turn the seemingly endless trail of logistical and communication potholes into a super smooth process. And of course, then there are the finishing touches to attend to – making the feedback exchange a powerful and rewarding experience, not just as an “event” in its own right but as part of something bigger, as part of a strategy for personal and business satisfaction.

Psychometric profiling

See “Psychometric Assessments” above for a basic description of key issues relating to psychometric testing.

At EEK, what we mean by the term Psychometric Profiling is a process involving a range of carefully chosen, high quality and credible motivation, personality, aptitude, attitude, values and interest inventories to build a picture of a person’s (or team’s) potential strengths and limitations, identifying untapped or underutilized talents as well as areas of risk for further monitoring or evaluation.

This sort of exercise can be particularly useful in any of the following circumstances:

pre-hire pre-promotion

as part of a wider succession-planning strategy

as a talent audit during mergers & acquisitions

where performance issues are lurking

for team coaching

to support and develop your key people

The process includes taking a comprehensive brief, meeting all of the individuals concerned to agree key priorities and gain an appreciation of their operating environments, assessment interviews, feedback sessions and development planning meetings.

Competency based targeted behavioural interviewing



External facilitation



Competency models



Capability frameworks



Leadership



Assessment & development centres