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.