Our values about the world and our place within it touch every aspect of our lives: from the relationships we form, the careers we pursue, and the ideologies we endorse. It is, therefore, no surprise that understanding an individual’s values and motivations is of significant interest to psychologists and organizational leaders. This is of real practical importance, given the widespread prevalence of disengagement at work (Gallup, 2019). This is ultimately leading to feelings of burnout and dissatisfaction with life and work, alongside reduced performance and effectiveness (Achor, Reece, Kellerman, & Robichaux, 2018; Leary et al., 2013; Pew Research Center, 2016).

The evidence is clear - organizations are failing to inspire and motivate their employees, ultimately harming their ability to attract and retain the talent needed for them to win. If the DNA of human motivation can be decoded, people will be better understood, lead more purposeful lives, and be better engaged at work. For this reason, we created the Core Values Diagnostic.

The Deeper Signals’ Core Values Diagnostic measures an individual’s motivations, values, and goal-directed behaviors. The diagnostic is built upon the Self-Determination Theory (SDT, Gagné & Deci, 2005), which describes human motivation as a product of three motivations: the need for independence, the need for competence, and the need for connection. The Core Values diagnostic is quick, accurate, and provides deep psychological insights. The diagnostic was developed using a sample of 12,000 working adults and robust psychometric techniques, is free of bias and adverse impact, and has been validated against a large battery of psychological constructs and work-related behaviors.

All organizations experience people problems, and most of these problems result from being misunderstood. If people can better understand themselves and their colleagues, and if organizations can understand their talent, the workplace can become a more productive and engaging place.

Accordingly, the Core Values Diagnostic was designed to aid in this endeavor and serve three purposes:

The Core Values Diagnostic can be used by I/O psychologists, practitioners, and leaders to inform talent management strategies, improve coaching and development, and support organizational change and strategic initiatives.

The Core Values Diagnostic is administered on a modern, secure, and regulation-compliant technology platform (“The Deeper Signals Platform” ). Upon completion, respondents are presented with an interactive and intuitive report that describes their results. Specifically, they receive feedback on their Core Values, helping them gain awareness around the activities, careers, and work environments they're most likely to be engaged by. Administrators of the diagnostic will also have access to data visualizations to further understand their employees, inform team development and leadership, and map the organizational culture.

The Core Values Diagnostic was designed to be used in talent management contexts. Specifically, it can be used to inform talent decisions and development for those working in individual contributor, management, and leadership roles. The diagnostic is industry agnostic, and scores are not impacted by previous vocational or educational experiences. The assessment was not designed to be used by anyone under the age of 18. The diagnostic was developed for English speakers; however, translations are available upon request. When translating the diagnostic, replication studies would be conducted to ensure there is measurement invariance between English and non-English versions.