Which Assessments Matter for Ops Experts and Why

10/14/20 • 22 min

How do you know if you are suited for a career in operations, and how can you figure out if you have the innate strengths and instincts that it requires to be successful in this path?

Today I’m sharing the most important assessment that I use in my business for screening applicants for the Director of Operations (DOO) certification program and matching candidates to my clients. I’m going to be talking about the Kolbe A assessment.

Kolbe A Assessment

This assessment is used in lots of industries, and in corporate settings. In fact, one of my last big projects in corporate was to administer the Kolbe A assessment to all of the managers and senior executives. This required me to become extremely familiar with the test, to learn how it worked, why it worked, what the value was and how to explain the test to the leaders in the company.

I’ve been using Kolbe A Assessment for the last 15 years, and I’m going to use some of that same knowledge to explain it to you today.

3 Different Parts of the Mind

These all compartmentalize different parts of the way that we process information and feelings.

Cognitive: The thinking part of your mind, including intelligence, experience, skills, knowledge, learned behaviors which become habits. This is all formed and held in the cognitive part of your mind. It is the piece of the brain that allows us to understand what we can do.
Affective: The feeling part of your mind that looks at your values, personality type, types of emotions you have, your preferences and motivations. This is what you want to do.
Conative: The doing part of the mind. This is all of our instinctive, innate strengths that we have, our purposeful actions, our mental energy and our problem solving methods. It increases performance and it decreases stress. It is how you will take action or execute.

Different Types of Tests

There are specific tests that measure each of these categories. You need more than one assessment to get a good idea of who is on your team, and what their gifts are.

Cognitive: The Predictive Index or the Wonderlic. Both of these are cognitive assessments that measure IQ.

Affective: The DiSC, Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinders, and the Enneagram are all looking at the affective or feeling part of the brain.

Conative: The Kolbe A is looking at the way you execute. It's how your brain takes a task and goes to work.

The Conative Part of the Brain

Everyone has equal amounts of conative mental energy. That's not the case with the affective and the cognitive parts of the brain.

The conative is your natural way of taking action if you are free to be yourself. It strips away your feelings, values and what you have learned over time, and is the default way you process information.

“It is massively important for operators to understand what someones natural innate strengths are because it allows us to put them in the best roles and develop people on our teams.”

Kolbe A Action Modes

Kolbe A looks at 4 different modes. There is not a perfect profile, although I have done extensive work to identify what profiles work best as an operator.

Fact finder: How you gather and share information
Follow through: How you organize and design
Quick Start: How you deal with risk and uncertainty
Implementer: How you deal with space and tangibles

Kolbe looks at these on a scale of 1-10, and assigns a number to each of the categories. Kolbe is the superior conative test because:

Its unique
It is the only assessment which measures your effort and energy
It is positive and predictive; your results will be focused on your strengths and how you solve problems
It is unbiased, and looks at the way that your brain takes action
It's valid and reliable

“When you have this information you can stop trying to change who you are, and you can adapt who you are.”

How Assessments are Helpful in Hiring

When you are hiring, you want to make sure the candidate has the education and required skills for the position.

If you are looking at the affective (feeling part)... will their personality be a good addition to the leader or culture? Do they share the same values?

Regarding the conative... do they have the instincts or natural innate abilities that are needed to do this job?

“The Kolbe A takes an unbiased look at how we can add the right person to our team.”

If you ever see job descriptions that I create, you will always see that I ask for Myers-Briggs, DiSC, and Kolbe A scores. It is a huge benefit to know th...

How do you know if you are suited for a career in operations, and how can you figure out if you have the innate strengths and instincts that it requires to be successful in this path?

Kolbe A Assessment

I’ve been using Kolbe A Assessment for the last 15 years, and I’m going to use some of that same knowledge to explain it to you today.

3 Different Parts of the Mind

These all compartmentalize different parts of the way that we process information and feelings.

Cognitive: The thinking part of your mind, including intelligence, experience, skills, knowledge, learned behaviors which become habits. This is all formed and held in the cognitive part of your mind. It is the piece of the brain that allows us to understand what we can do.
Affective: The feeling part of your mind that looks at your values, personality type, types of emotions you have, your preferences and motivations. This is what you want to do.
Conative: The doing part of the mind. This is all of our instinctive, innate strengths that we have, our purposeful actions, our mental energy and our problem solving methods. It increases performance and it decreases stress. It is how you will take action or execute.

Different Types of Tests

There are specific tests that measure each of these categories. You need more than one assessment to get a good idea of who is on your team, and what their gifts are.

Cognitive: The Predictive Index or the Wonderlic. Both of these are cognitive assessments that measure IQ.

Affective: The DiSC, Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinders, and the Enneagram are all looking at the affective or feeling part of the brain.

Conative: The Kolbe A is looking at the way you execute. It's how your brain takes a task and goes to work.

The Conative Part of the Brain

Everyone has equal amounts of conative mental energy. That's not the case with the affective and the cognitive parts of the brain.

“It is massively important for operators to understand what someones natural innate strengths are because it allows us to put them in the best roles and develop people on our teams.”

Kolbe A Action Modes

Kolbe A looks at 4 different modes. There is not a perfect profile, although I have done extensive work to identify what profiles work best as an operator.

Fact finder: How you gather and share information
Follow through: How you organize and design
Quick Start: How you deal with risk and uncertainty
Implementer: How you deal with space and tangibles

Kolbe looks at these on a scale of 1-10, and assigns a number to each of the categories. Kolbe is the superior conative test because:

Its unique
It is the only assessment which measures your effort and energy
It is positive and predictive; your results will be focused on your strengths and how you solve problems
It is unbiased, and looks at the way that your brain takes action
It's valid and reliable

“When you have this information you can stop trying to change who you are, and you can adapt who you are.”

How Assessments are Helpful in Hiring

When you are hiring, you want to make sure the candidate has the education and required skills for the position.

If you are looking at the affective (feeling part)... will their personality be a good addition to the leader or culture? Do they share the same values?

Regarding the conative... do they have the instincts or natural innate abilities that are needed to do this job?

“The Kolbe A takes an unbiased look at how we can add the right person to our team.”

If you ever see job descriptions that I create, you will always see that I ask for Myers-Briggs, DiSC, and Kolbe A scores. It is a huge benefit to know th...

Previous Episode

65: From Corporate Ops to Small Business HR Expert with DOO Expert Coach Kimone Napier

Do you have a background in HR and an interest in operations? Are you unsure how the two fit together?

Today on the podcast I am joined by Kimone Napier, one of my expert Director of Operations (DOO) coaches in the area of HR and hiring. Kimone has a corporate background and she built her business around her HR expertise.

Kimone is a hiring expert and the CEO of The Lean Process Strategist. She partners with service minded entrepreneurs to optimize their businesses using strong people leadership and strategic input. She has several years of experience working with senior leaders and entrepreneurs by providing strategy and HR support. Kimone helps entrepreneurs grow their teams with intention, reduce their overwhelm, and attract high quality candidates. Kimone’s goal is to customize a solution to help you scale your business and to become the visionary leader that you crave to be.

Meet Kimone Napier Background

Started her career working in operations & HR, in both govt space and corporate in New York City
Started to want some more freedom and flexibility in her lifestyle around 2017
Jumped into the online space and found Natalie’s Director of Operations Certification Program which has provided a wealth of abundance for her and her family
Currently serves CEOs in HR and operations capacity

When you left corporate for entrepreneurship, what did you think you would be doing?

Initially she had a hard time envisioning how to do this type of work
She wanted to leverage her skills in the online space, but lacked the structure
Started by providing operations and administrative support but knew she could offer more
Knew she had a refined skill set, just needed structure and a way to market herself, which is where the DOO certification piece fit

How do you make money today?

Has niched down into 3 different offers:
- Hiring: helping CEOs and visionaries hire with intention and onboard team members in the right capacity
- DOO services
- Strategic mapping for visionary leaders to get an understanding of their business plans

“When you are able to partner with somebody and bring them a solution that can forever change their personal life and their profits, that is ultimate fulfillment.” -- Natalie Gingrich

As a hiring/HR expert, can you share some key takeaways?

3 key areas when hiring:

Identify your mission: why are you doing what you do in their business?
Know where your company is going: you can hire for the most immediate need, but if there are changes it is likely that the relationship with your hire is going to change.
Know your core values: Your values and the values of your candidate need to align otherwise there will be a disconnect. If they don’t the relationship is not going to work.

“You want to hire with intention to find a more long term fit for your business especially as it’s growing.” -- Kimone Napier

“If you only hire for the gap you have right now, you are not serving your future self.” --Natalie Gingrich

What is your experience with hiring in regards to identifying values?

Leaders don’t have the time to dive into hiring the way they need to
They are pulled in too many directions, and end up focusing on marketing themselves, sales, visibility, interviews, etc.
When they do decide to hire they often go about it by posting on social media, and are then inundated with DM’s which just stresses them out

The Director of Operations Certification Program follows a blueprint similar to an HR Business Partner. Can you speak to that?

The DOO certification program is like a fast track to getting a skill set similar to a masters or an MBA in HR
Helps propel you forward in this area because the content benefits you in the areas of HR, financials, and operations
Has her masters, but values the certification because it is the fast track in terms of knowledge as applied to the HR discipline

Can you share what the DOO certification has done for you?

The certification helped her find what she was looking for in terms of family, home and business
Helped her align offers, strengths and goals to leverage everything she wanted to bring to the table
Created an abundant lifestyle in terms of the type of clients she gets, and the type of freedom she has
Given her time to relax, slow down, and enjoy life

If you are looking for a transformation and you have the skill set of project management, financials or HR, I would highly recommend you to look into the DOO certification program.

...

Next Episode

67: From Bookkeeping Agency to Profit Strategist as a DOO [with DOO Expert Coach Jenni Davis]

Do your financials frighten you? Do you dread the end of the month when you have to look at your books?

Today we are wrapping up our Director of Operations (DOO) expert coach series with our financial DOO expert coach Jenni Davis. Jenni is more than a bookkeeper, financial coach and operator... she is a combination of high level profit strategy and operations expertise that focuses on the whole health of the business. Through profit strategy and cash flow design she comes alongside her clients with a can do attitude and takes ownership of the financial aspect of the business so they don't have to anymore. Her goal is to eradicate financial stress for her clients and plan for profits like they have never seen before. She's breaking the mold in the accounting and CFO space combining financial and operations in a way that skyrockets cash flow and plans for profit. Jenni is a profit advisor, a CFO, and an operations director all combined into one.

Meet Jenni Davis

Jenni joined us in round 5 of the Director of Operations certification program, which was actually rated the #1 training by our students! Once you get a better understanding, you will be less intimidated by financials.

Background

CEO of JMD Business Solutions
As a profit strategist and cash flow coach, she empowers service based businesses to optimize daily financials in their business so they can reclaim their profit and ultimately let them have the freedom to do what they love as a visionary in their business
Works mostly with married-preneurs or partnerships

Tell us about where you came from.

Comes form long line of entrepreneurs
Grandfather installed values of good work, and taught her systems and processes
Worked in corporate retail and education, then decided to stay home with kids in 2008
Wanted to do something in additions to staying home, so she started a small bookkeeping and tax practice
Realized business owners needed someone to come alongside them with services such as marketing, team management and operations
Decided to redesign business so she could offer all of those services

What are your designations? How did you come across “Profit First”?

Always worked as a Quickbooks advisor
Met Mike Michalowicz Author of “Profit First” at a conference
Quickly implemented this model in her own business
Decided to get certified so she could offer this strategy to clients
Was a certified OBM, the found the DOO certification program

Tell us about your team.

Has a team of client managers who come in and support clients individually
Additionally, she meets with clients to do high level strategy
Has a VA who handles the operations for her business

Has your avatar changed over time?

She really loves learning all of the new industries
Foundationally, all businesses need the same thing

“It doesn’t matter the industry or business model... operations don't change. It is looking at human capital, resource management/financials, and the projects they want to do.” --Natalie Gingrich

Tell us about married-preneurs.

Has been blessed to work with many couples who are in business together
This model has another level to it because a relationship is intermingled with the business
Works as a 3rd partner in the business to help navigate the waters

What are examples of those struggles?

Strategic mapping is always where she starts because she can set the goals with each partner so every move is with purpose
This helps with the personal relationship in the business
A key part of the mapping is to incorporate the personal side

“When everyone has a job and knows what they are doing, it really makes the day to day operations easier.” --Jenni Davis

How have you rounded out your skill set with a focus on operations in your business?

Reevaluated her service offerings
Knew in order to serve married-preneurs she would have to incorporate strategic mapping and profit advising
DOO certification taught her how to pivot and provide what the client needed
Offers high level services where she serves as a DOO in businesses, profit coaching, basic bookkeeping compliance, CFO services
Had strategy piece, but had been giving it away for free; she couldn’t show up without offering it

“When you are working with a client and they show you their financials, you are a partner on a whole new level.” --Natalie Gingrich

Share some key takeaways about focusing on financials in a small business.

Do not be afraid of your financials; they are telling you a story about where you have been and where you are going. Do an expense audit.
Ask questions: don't be afraid of your bookkeeper o...