## Skills vs. traits: the retention equation
A study by Leadership IQ found that 46% of new hires fail within 18 months—and 89% of those failures are due to attitudinal issues, not technical skill gaps. Coachability, collaboration, emotional regulation, and ownership are the traits that predict long-term success.
## What Evalon's Behavioral Assessment measures
Our behavioral bank is grounded in industrial-organizational psychology and measures five core dimensions:
### 1. Collaboration and teamwork
How does the candidate navigate disagreements? Do they default to hierarchy or seek consensus? We present workplace scenarios—cross-functional conflicts, competing priorities, unclear ownership—and evaluate how candidates balance assertiveness with empathy.
### 2. Growth mindset and coachability
We present candidates with critical feedback on a hypothetical project. Their response reveals whether they internalize and adapt or deflect and defend. Companies with high-coachability teams iterate faster and ship more reliably.
### 3. Ownership and accountability
In a scenario where a project misses its deadline, candidates must explain what happened and what they'd do differently. We're not looking for blame—we're looking for *causal reasoning* and proactive recovery.
### 4. Communication clarity
Candidates summarize a complex technical topic for a non-technical audience. This tests whether they adjust their communication style to the listener—a critical skill in cross-functional organizations.
### 5. Adaptability under ambiguity
When priorities shift mid-sprint, how does the candidate respond? We simulate ambiguous situations—changing requirements, incomplete information, competing stakeholders—and evaluate comfort with uncertainty.
## Using behavioral data in your hiring loop
- **Combine behavioral and skills assessments.** A candidate with strong technical skills and weak collaboration is a very different hire than the reverse.
- **Share the behavioral profile with interviewers.** They can probe deeper on areas of concern rather than asking generic questions.
- **Use it for team composition.** If your current team is high on execution but low on strategic thinking, weight those dimensions accordingly.
- **Revisit at the 90-day check-in.** Compare the assessment predictions to on-the-job observations. This calibrates your process over time.
## The science behind it
Evalon's behavioral items are adapted from validated I-O psychology frameworks. Each scenario is piloted with a norming sample, and items that don't discriminate between high and low performers are retired. The goal isn't to test personality—it's to predict *behavior in context*.