Evaluating Volunteers and Employees
By Michael Brooke
Many non-profits, like their for profit counterparts, think about the power of evaluation. This is especially true when it comes to highlighting strengths and how exactly people operate when it comes to performing tasks.
There are several valuable reasons for using tests, including that they can be more objective than resume screenings and pre-interview calls. A well-designed test can give you measurable results. Tests are also standardized, and all candidates are given the same questions. They allow everyone the same opportunities to present themselves.
The structure of tests means they give nonprofits quantifiable insight. These “hard numbers” mean people rely on something other than their gut feelings regarding hiring.
Unfortunately, some issues can also arise. For example, a test might be able to assess specific job knowledge, but it can’t predict how willing someone is to learn and improve or fit into the culture of your funeral home.
Another problem is that candidates can fake their answers or practice taking the test to score a good mark. Potential employees want to present themselves in the best possible light, so getting a truly accurate portrait can be challenging. Tests can also be ambiguous, and this leads to unreliable results. The other issue with tests is that people come in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, tests can’t capture variation because they assume we all respond similarly to external ideas and situations.
There are, of course, dozens of tools available to assess current and future employees or volunteers. By an odd bit of serendipity, I learned about a Kolbe test. This is one assessment tool you should know about, and there is a good chance that it will significantly benefit your nonprofit or charity.
The Kolbe A™ Index (as it is more formally known) revolves around conative ability. Conative abilities are people’s instincts and behaviours when faced with problem-solving or needing action. This test is a reasonably good predictor of how someone will behave in any given situation.
One cannot study for a Kolbe test. You answer a series of roughly 40 questions, and it accurately determines how you behave in any given situation.
The Kolbe test measures four different categories on a scale from 1 to 10.
- Fact Finder: This measures how individuals gather and process information. Some prefer to collect detailed information before acting (high Fact Finder). Others are more likely to make quick, intuitive decisions based on their gut or general knowledge. This would indicate a low Fact Finder.
- Follow Thru: This element can lead to valuable insights regarding how people relate to organizations, systems and implementations. People with a high Follow Thru score prefer a more organized and structured workplace. Those with a low score may choose a more flexible and improvised approach.
- Quick Start: This category focuses on an individual’s willingness to take risks and embrace change. As you can infer, those with a high Quick Start are more comfortable with change and uncertainty. They are looking for new ideas and approaches. Those with a low Quick Start indicator feel much more comfortable in a consistent and predictable environment.
- Implementor: The final element indicates how an individual deals with the physical world and manual tasks. High Implementors most likely enjoy things that involve working with their hands. They love to construct and build. They love doing physical activities. Those who score low may prefer intellectual or non-manual tasks.
The most intriguing thing about the Kolbe Index is that you can’t score 1 or 10 on everything. There is no “ideal” score because the test recognizes everyone has unique strengths and abilities in each category.
I had an opportunity to meet up with Amy Hagerman, VP of Client Relations of Kolbe, along with Toby Phillips, VP of Marketing. “The way our chairman David Kolbe explains it is that ‘Kolbe will help you achieve what you care about most,'” says Phillips. “If you take a test and don’t care, that’s ok. But if there is something that you are having difficulty with, then we can help you figure out how you fit in with the people in your life both at your place of work and home.”
Sometimes, it can be challenging to reconcile what you believe is the truth about yourself and what precisely the Kolbe test indicates. “It all boils down to knowing oneself, knowing the people around you and what the role requires – the Kolbe test can provide all of this,” says Hagerman.”
“You’re going to get clarity on your strengths. You become very clear about what you bring to the table,” says Phillips.
The report illuminates three core pieces:
- It provides clarity on someone’s strengths.
- It identifies what they can commit to.
- It explains how you collaborate with others.
Founder Kathy Kolbe says that success is the freedom to be yourself.
I wondered if there was someone using the Kolbe tool in the nonprofit world. A quick search led me to find Sarah Olivieri of Pivot Ground. Olivieri is based in upstate New York and works with both US and Canadian non-profits. “I was introduced to Kolbe a number of years ago through a business mentor training group I once belonged to,” she says.
“I saw the benefits first-hand when I had an employee who I was struggling to get to perform the way I wanted him to,” explains Olivieri. “My mentor said, ‘You need to use Kolbe.’ The extraordinary results were explained by this brilliant, capable person who kept getting stuck.”
This employee was a quick start and a high fact-finder. This meant he would get stuck in research mode but would start anything she asked him to do, no matter how challenging. “After Kolbe, I realized the best way forward was to give him one task at a time.”
Pivot Ground centres around leadership for nonprofits. “In working with leadership, we always have to address how we build effective teams in our nonprofits,” says Olivieri. “Kolbe continues to be one of the best tools I have found to structure who to hire and how to ensure that you are working with your team members.” This idea of using Kolbe has now expanded to ensuring all her clients take the Kolbe test.
Among the benefits of the test, Olivieri feels it can be used to coach people in a much better way. “You know what type of advice or recommendations to provide.” As a coach, she believes it helps her frame things in different ways.
While most nonprofits discuss funding as one of their biggest challenges, Olivieri has a different take. “The number one challenge I see for nonprofits from a leadership perspective is that they’re understaffed. They have funding challenges because they’re understaffed and don’t know how to prioritize where to put the staff correctly. Kolbe is in the picture immediately, and all of my clients who have used the Kolbe assessment love it.”
Olivieri says whenever she works with clients, she is looking for a reasonably balanced spread across the Kolbe scores depending on the nonprofit’s role.
Michael Brooke is an editor with Lloydmedia and a freelance writer and consultant.
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