We keep hiring people who look perfect on paper for our leadership seats, but they struggle to execute once they start. How do we use conative screening alongside our Accountability Chart to stop making these bad hires?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Hiring failures usually happen because organizations focus entirely on a candidate's resume and cognitive ability, ignoring their conative wiring. A candidate might have the perfect skills and cognitive profile, but if their natural way of taking action does not match the seat on your Accountability Chart, they will struggle to perform. To solve this, integrate conative screening tools like the Kolbe A Profile into your hiring process. The Kolbe index measures an individual's intrinsic knack for how they actually get things done across four action modes: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quickstart, and Implementor. For example, if you need an Integrator who can build repeatable processes, hiring a high Quickstart with low Follow Thru will lead to operational chaos, regardless of their impressive resume. Before you post a job, define the ideal conative profile required for the seat on your Accountability Chart. Have candidates complete the assessment as part of the screening process, and compare their natural problem-solving style to the requirements of the role. By combining behavioral profiles with conative screening, you ensure that new hires not only have the skills to do the job, but also possess the natural drive and instinct to succeed in their seat.