Assessments
Assessments based on CDF are not ‘tests,’ but rather two 1-hour conversations with a person who wants to learn about his or her level of social-emotional and cognitive development. Assessments require a signed interview agreement. They also entail filling out a deep-searching psychological questionnaire focused on behavior in the workplace, called ‘Need/Press.’
Developmental assessments have a variety of purposes:
- learn where you are developmentally
- make life or career decisions based on your known developmental potential
- improve your performance and opportunities at work
- find out for yourself what it ‘feels like’ to assess a client of yours
- get a deeper understanding of the CDF methodology for further study.
When used on more than a single person, say a team or group of managers, assessment results can be aggregated. By looking at data for an entire group, one acquires deep insight into how the group’s performance could be improved, its mandate re-defined, and its members either shrunk or replenished. This is of great value for all strategic HR purposes, such as succession planning, team development, recruitment, talent management, developmental coaching, and strategic HR planning.
On account of the fact that the assessor is an interviewer, not just a paper-and-pencil evaluator, giving feedback on CDF assessments is a highly personal affair based on very rich data beyond mere “scores.” In giving feedback, the assessor does not start from scratch – as, e.g., in a Sentence Completion Test (SCT) or Action Inquiry. Rather, on account of two interviews, s(he) has first-hand personal knowledge about the person s(he) is giving feedback to, and can therefore accompany the person as a coach.
CDF assessments inform the person assessed of three interrelated dimensions of adult personality:
- Level of social-emotional development and present developmental potential for reaching a higher level of development.
- Phase of development of reasoning beyond formal logic, that is, “dialectical” systemic thinking as required on higher company echelons.
- Work capacity, or habitual ways the person uses in her self conduct, approach to tasks, and affiliation with others (emotional intelligence), detailed in terms of strengths, challenges, conflicts, energy losses, frustration level, etc.
The feedback report provided is a 4-6 page report in English, German, or Spanish. It addresses the assessee’s primary personal or professional needs and objectives from a developmental-behavioral perspective.
CAMS
In order to permit use of CDF by large groups of people over the internet, IDM has become part of a Consortium providing a prototype of CAMS, the Capability Management System. CAMS focuses on people placement and development in organizations. It requires assessees to endorse and select stories and descriptions that reflect their development in the three dimensions noted above.
CAMS is prototyped for three groups of users:
- Individual assessees
- HR managers
- CAMS consulting group
Only individual assesses have full access to all CAMS results. HR Management obtains only assessment summaries that protect individual confidentiality. The CAMS consulting group is engaged in maintenance and continuous improvement of the CAMS instrument.
For a more detailed information on how assessments work, go to Assessment Details.
For more detailed information about CAMS write to the Director of IDM, Dr. Otto Laske, at .
Sign up for a comprehensive developmental assessment ($1,250 USD).