Leadership Assessment
A board most wants to know how a leader will decide in the situations that come next, and whether their stated principles will hold. We built two assessments of our own to show exactly that.
Two assessments for two hiring contexts.
ASCEND, the Talent Engagement Profile
For staff, specialists and senior managers. Six modules and a concise written report. Function specific situational judgement: the reference call you could not have made.
APEX, the Leadership Profile
For C Suite and board candidates. Six modules and a fuller report, including a principle and behaviour consistency review.
Six modules. Each surfaces something different.
Personality
An established, independently validated personality instrument provides the baseline. Our own modules build on it and are reported separately.
Values and motivators
A forced ranking of work values: what the candidate will prioritise when forced to choose.
Situational judgement
Six function specific scenarios with open written responses, scored on five dimensions.
Work fit
Methodical or iterative, written or verbal. Produces a working style cluster.
Structured reflection
Three short prompts that bring the candidate's own voice into the report.
Integrity layer
Verified sitting with periodic snapshots and event logging, so the work is demonstrably the candidate's own.
Do stated principles match described behaviour?
Every APEX report includes a principle and behaviour consistency review. Candidates are scored on what they actually write, on five dimensions, against a locked rubric.
The case study
The candidate writes a structured response to a leadership situation and names the principle that would guide the decision.
Situation reactions
Two short, sharp prompts in the same competency. Real time decisions: what would you say, and what would you do.
The audit
An assessor reads the stated principle against the reaction and codes the result as coherent, tested or contradictory.
Five steps, mostly invisible to your team.
Brief
A thirty minute call to confirm ASCEND or APEX, the role, the candidates and the turnaround.
Invite
Each candidate receives a personal assessment link. No download and no account.
Assess
Each assessment is completed in a single sitting, at the candidate's own desk, with the sitting verified throughout.
Score and write
Scored against a locked rubric. Every report is finalised and signed by a qualified assessor.
Deliver
A written report to an agreed timetable, with an optional debrief for the hiring committee.
How assessment is governed.
A methodology note, covering the instruments used and the qualifications of our assessors, is available to clients on request.
Instruments and interpretation kept apart
Every report states which findings come from an established, published instrument and which come from our own framework and the assessor's judgement.
Informed consent
Before they begin, candidates are told what is assessed, how the results will be used and who will see them.
Human judgement
Every report is reviewed and signed by a qualified assessor. An assessment informs a decision; it never makes one.
The same standard for every candidate
Within a mandate, every candidate receives the same exercises and the same rubric, with reasonable adjustments for language or accessibility on request.
Restricted access
Results are shared only with the people named in the engagement.
Data held with care
Assessment data is held under our privacy notice, for no longer than the engagement requires.
Assessing a finalist or a team?
Tell us the role and the decision, and we will recommend ASCEND, APEX or both.