We are using our Accountability Chart to hire for key open seats, but we keep getting fooled by candidates who interview incredibly well but fail to execute. How do we integrate conative screening like the Kolbe Index into our hiring process to stop making these expensive mistakes?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An impressive resume and a polished interview only tell you about a candidate's cognitive ability and past experience. They tell you nothing about how that person naturally operates when the pressure is on. To stop making hiring mistakes, you must measure their conation.

Integrate the Kolbe Index into your hiring process. The Kolbe A Index measures an individual's instinctive way of taking action across four modes: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, and Implementor. This is the doing part of the mind, and it is completely separate from intelligence or personality.

Before you interview candidates, define the ideal Kolbe profile for the seat on your Accountability Chart. If you are hiring an Integrator, you likely need someone who is strong in Follow Thru to establish order. If you are hiring a sales hunter, you probably need high Quick Start to drive new initiatives.

Once you have your top candidates, have them take the assessment. Compare their natural operating style with your target profile. If their natural instincts do not match the cognitive and conative demands of the seat, they do not have the capacity to do the job, no matter how much you like them.