Motivation Tests: How they work and how to use them
Adam Stamm
Managing Partner: Online DISC Profile
Our behaviors are often dictated due to our motivational and psychological needs.
Motivational tests offer a way to understand our decision making process and why we may land on making the same types of decisions. In this article, we will dig into the research behind motivation tests and how they can be used within the workplace and for professional development.
What is a motivation test?
A motivation test is a psychological assessment that measures what motivates a person to behave in a certain way. Motivation tests can be used in various settings, including job interviews, educational assessments, and counseling.
There are many different types of motivation tests, but they all typically measure the same basic things. These include:
- Personal preferences: What kind of work do you enjoy doing? What are your interests and values?
- Drives and needs: What motivates you to achieve your goals? What do you need to be satisfied with your work?
- Attitudes: How do you view work? Do you see it as a challenge or a chore?
Motivation tests can be valuable for employers, educators, and counselors. They can help identify people who are likely to be successful in certain positions or would benefit from certain interventions.
However, it is important to note that motivation tests are not perfect. They can be subjective and influenced by a person’s mood or state of mind. Additionally, they may not be able to predict future behavior with 100% accuracy.
Who are motivation tests for?
Motivation tests are often used with job candidates and for individuals looking to develop professionally.
Job Selection
Within the job selection process, candidate motivation can help employers understand the focus of a potential employee. By understanding their interests, they can determine how well a person aligns with a particular role.
Professional Development
Many professionals lack opportunities to reflect on the reasons behind their decisions. This process is highly beneficial for individuals who want to transition into a new career or field. By taking a motivation test, individuals can identify jobs and careers that align with their natural motivators.
How do Motivation Tests Work?
There is a lot of research behind the theory of motivation and motivation tests, but it is a complex topic still being studied. However, some general findings have emerged from this research.
One of the most important findings is that there are two main types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is driven by internal factors, such as a person’s interest in the task or the desire to achieve mastery. External factors, such as rewards or punishments, drive extrinsic motivation.
Research has shown that intrinsic motivation is generally more effective than extrinsic motivation in the long term. This is because intrinsic motivation leads to deeper engagement with the task and greater satisfaction.
Motivation Tests measure intrinsic motivations. When taking an assessment, you will answer questions such as:
Rank these items in order of interest:
- Reading about variations in the stock market
- Reading the book How to Influence People
- Reading research reports
These are not real assessment questions, but you can see how the process works. Each item is aligned with one of the motivation items. At the end of the assessment, the algorithm calculates your scores based on the items you select and rank.
Who are motivation tests for?
The Motivators assessment has a broad application and can satisfy many different organizational or personal needs.
Hiring and Selection
We were recently working with a client who was hiring a general manager responsible for a region of banks. They had two exceptional candidates with outstanding recommendations.
The bank’s board wanted to see more growth in this region. Their goal was to be the largest bank in this specific region. With this understanding, it was clear that the best candidate would be one who ranked high on the Economic and Power scales of motivation. When we tested the candidates on these scales, one candidate stood out.
The conversation changed in the follow-up interviews: one candidate was energized by growth, while the other was fueled by service. Both are valuable qualities, but only one aligns with the bank’s board’s goals.
The Motivator’s assessment is validated for hiring and can help within the hiring and selection process.
Professional Development
The Motivators assessment is helpful in a few different areas for professional development:
- Developing self-awareness – learn why you preferred specific roles over others. Intrinsic motivations can support your growth or hold you back.
- Improving Goal Achievements – Why didn’t you achieve a New Year’s goal? It’s possible it wasn’t aligned with a mindset that matches your intrinsic motivations. This report can help guide you towards making smarter goals you will actually achieve.
- Fostering Effective Teamwork / Adaptability – When teams understand their motivations, it becomes possible to assign individuals to tasks that match their intrinsic needs.
When motivation tests are combined with DISC Basic assessments, you can double your return on investment because you get a larger picture of your personality and outlooks.
How can you use motivation tests?
Motivation tests are used in various settings, including job interviews, education, counseling, and personal/professional development. These tests are often used in conjunction with other personality assessments like DISC.
Job Interviews
Motivation tests can help employers assess whether a candidate’s motivational style aligns with the work of the position they are applying for.
Tools like the Motivators Assessment and PXT Select are designed for this specific purpose:
The Motivators Assessment measures potential candidates based on 7 different motivational styles.
This can help employers understand how well a candidate might fit for the role and potentially what job offer package they may want to make to the candidate. Employers can also use the results as part of the interview process.
PXT Select assesses motivation as one of its three key areas of measurement. It also measures the behavioral and cognitive abilities of a candidate.
PXT Measurement of ‘interests’ looks at six different areas that relate directly to different industries and positions:
- Technical
- Creative
- Financial
- Enterprise
- People Service
- Mechanical
In both of these examples, employers can determine job alignment with a candidate’s interests. After all, if someone is more interested in their work, they will likely be more engaged in it.
A good example is a sales role.
There are numerous sales roles available today, and successful salespeople are likely motivated by economic or entrepreneurial interests. However, let’s assume the role is selling electronics at a big box store. This would require a very different set of complementary interests in addition to economic and entrepreneurial.
If you plan on using motivation tests as part of your pre-employment testing, ensure that the assessments are validated for hiring and have gone through a disparate impact study to ensure that the test isn’t inviting any bias.
Personal Development
Many people experience a midlife crisis because they wake up one day and realize their intrinsic motivations are not aligned with how they are spending their time.
Oliver Burkeman highlights this point in his book, 4,000 Weeks. While it might seem like we have all the time in the world, our existence is surprisingly short (on average, 4,000 weeks).
From this standpoint, understanding our motivations can help bring balance and introspection about how we want to use this limited and very valauable resource.
Team Compatibility
Organizations can use these assessments to understand team behaviors and culture.
Teams might be built with individuals with conflicting motivations that can cause dysfunction. When organizations invest in motivation tests for their employees, they can not only support personal and professional development but also work on cultural and team development.
Motivation assessments can help teams look ‘under the hood’ of each other to see why goals or perspectives aren’t aligned.
A famous example is the relationship between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs had distinctly different motivations for running Apple. Jobs wanted to run a business, while Wozniak wanted to create new technologies.
These core differences made them successful rather than tearing them apart. Wozniak has made it clear that they weren’t friends, but that didn’t prevent them from creating one of the most recognizable companies in the world.
Pros and Cons of Motivation Tests
When deciding to use a new product or tool, it’s essential to consider the pros and cons. Below is a list to help you understand them for motivation tests:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
Motivation tests inform individual job/role satisfaction: When you use a motivation test, you help someone understand the ‘why‘ behind their passion and drivers. |
Motivation tests don’t offer easily observable behaviors: Compared to tools like DISC Basic Assessments, these tools might be harder integrate into team meetings or outside of personal reflection. |
|
Excellent for understanding culture fit: One of the primary reasons why motivation tests are used in the hiring process is that you can see what the individual is motivated by and their needs. This is crucial for understanding fit and reducing on the job stress. |
Motivation adaptation is more challenging: It’s impossible to change our internal drivers, but we can adapt them with significant cognitive effort. With practice, it will become easier, but it takes work an dedication. |
|
Supports strategic talent management: Motivation tests add valuable insights into intrinsic drives for job assignments and career progression. |
Application with other tools is beneficial: There is no requirement that Motivation Tests be used with personality tools, but they can offer significantly more benefit when they are. |
Key Takeaways
We’ve covered a lot in this article. Here are the key takeaways to summarize what we covered:
- Purpose: Motivation tests are psychological assessments used to measure what drives a person’s behavior. They are applicable in job interviews, education settings, and coaching.
- Key Measurements: Motivation tests typically assess personal preferences, drives, and needs, as well as attitudes towards various types of work.
- Benefits: These tests help employers identify successful candidates and enable coaches to understand how to work with clients towards their goals.
Start using motivation tests
Motivation tests offer benefits to hiring, coaching, and professional development. They can even be used to help teams identify and address dysfunctions caused by motivational differences.
We recommend two different motivation tests to get started using these tools:
These tools offer both a comprehensive report along with sections that will aske learners to create action plans for improvement and consideration.
Have additional questions about these tools? Ask us! Use the form below to drop us a line and let us know your question:
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