The Science Of Assessments

Managers who don’t have recourse to assessments are at a disadvantage when it comes to making important decisions.  Here we examine the increasing role played by assessments in planning for performance success.

Why Use Assessments?

performance is a complex subject with lots of factors involved.  That puts measuring performance into the realm of science rather than guesswork and assumptions.

Here are 6 reasons to use an assessment as opposed to relying on gut feeling:

• It brings greater objectivity to the analysis and it minimizes bias
• It helps you to back up your views with data and it increases your confidence in taking action
• Its is fast and reduces the time required in meetings and consultations
• It ensures a consistent approach – where lots of people are giving their views or different teams/markets, etc. are involved
• It brings an outside perspective to challenge assumptions and blind-spots
• It takes some of the personalities and politics out of planning.

Confidently measuring performance or potential requires the use of a assessment.  Using The Growth Pitstop™ each team member completes an online assessment.  It takes just 24 minutes, so it is a pretty efficient (as well as scientific) way of capturing a lot of performance related data.

Using A Scientific Approach

The Growth Pitstop™ assessment is a scientific tool.  It has been carefully designed to ensure the highest levels of validity and reliability.  That is simply another way of saying that we have gone to great lengths to ensure that the assessment measures the right things in the right way.

• Validity – In terms of measuring ‘the right things’ SellerNAV® addresses the issue of performance and potential in a comprehensive manner, focusing attention on the key success factors in respect of B2B – there is more about this below.
• Reliability – In terms of measuring ‘in the right way’ the SellerNAV® assessment is a scientific research instrument.  The questions asked and how they are asked (including the order, the wording, the rating scales, etc.) have been devised by means of rigorous testing.

The use of a standard assessment instrument is key.  Using a standardized assessment ensures that all members of your team are looking at the issue of performance in the same way.  That enables peer and best practice comparisons in order to challenge old thinking and/or inspire new thinking.  It also enables tracking over time.

No Room For Assumptions

The scope of The Growth Pitstop™ assessment is comprehensive.  It addresses 109 carefully chosen key success related variables.

It took more than 5 years of research with the top 15% of people across 40 markets to identify the key success factors in selling. It also spawned 3 books and over 1 million pages of best practice research.

The assessment takes a 360 degree view of performance in all is complexity.  It is an ‘in the round’ view of performance taken from all angles – that includes the person’s, as well as the manager’s perspective.

Importantly it’s not about measuring people, BUT the performance & potential of the organization.  The approach de-personalizes and de-politicizes performance.  That is key to minimizing response bias, more fundamentally it enables a 360 degree view of performance.

A Comprehensive View

The Growth Pitstop™  is one  of the most comprehensive assessments available to teams.  Its scope includes all those aspects that impact performance.

The PitStop also incorporates a view of success from ‘the other side of the table’ that is from the buyer.  This is based on our industry-leading research into the trends in modern buying – something for which we are recognized as among the global leaders (ES Research 2013, USA).

A New Perspective

Putting the scope aside for a moment, The Growth Pitstop™ assessment holds a mirror up to how you and your organization sells.  As a result you may be surprised at what you see!

The approach is aimed at generating awareness of what is done well and what needs to be improved.  It generates a new perspective on the performance and potential of any team.  Click here if you would like to learn more about how the assessment data reveals hidden potential.

An Insightful Approach

The assessment obviously captures a lot of data, but it is how that data is used is what matters most.  The Growth Pitstop™  puts insight ahead of information.  It avoids analysis paralysis by providing not reports, but maps and other infographics.  It also presents 4 perspectives on performance:

Click here to understand the importance of the 4 perspectives in understanding team performance.

Your metrics data is used to calculate the impact of changes in the  approach on your target.  Most importantly users are provided with tools and techniques that they can apply to address their key priorities.

More About The Assessment

The Growth Pitstop™  is a family of assessments with tailored versions for different industry verticals and role definitions (e.g. account managers, business development, etc.).  Importantly, it is methodology agnostic and can be used in any organization regardless of the maturity or origin of its process/methodology.

Information submitted to the assessment is completely CONFIDENTIAL.  The data is governed by our strict data policy and maintained in a secure hosting environment.  Here are some of the other features of the assessment (you can see an explanation of each by clicking here).

Click to download the Growth Pitstop™ Asessment Infographic