Hogan assessments for leaders who want an honest read on how they lead

Hogan assessments are workplace personality questionnaires created by Drs. Robert and Joyce Hogan, who founded Hogan Assessment Systems in 1987. The three core ones are the HPI, which covers your everyday style, the HDS, which covers risks under pressure, and the MVPI, which covers your values and motives. Read about Hogan.

Your identity is how you see yourself. Your reputation is how others see you. Hogan builds its inventories to forecast reputation, because what people say about your past behavior is a better guide to your future behavior than your self-image. You answer the questions yourself, and Hogan checks those answers against how observers describe people. Hogan explains the idea here.

The HPI describes your everyday style across seven scales. The HDS describes eleven habits that can show up under stress, boredom or complacency. The MVPI describes ten values that shape what you want from work. Each answers a different question, so a coach reads them together: the HPI first, then the HDS to see where strengths might be overused, then the MVPI to understand the motives behind your choices.

Hogan says each questionnaire takes about 15 to 20 minutes on average. You complete them online and can stop and pick up later. Scoring is near-instant. Hogan's FAQ.

A derailer is a habit that can get in the way of performance, especially under stress, pressure or boredom. A high score means higher risk, and it says nothing final about how good a leader someone is. Hogan's own analysis found that the number of elevated derailers has only a small link to overall job performance, and most people have a few elevations. See Hogan's analysis.

Your answers are compared with a global norm of working adults and reported as percentiles, grouped into ranges from low to high. HDS results are read as risk, from no risk to high risk. In June 2023 Hogan moved the HPI and HDS to a four-point response scale and a new global norm, and gave the MVPI new norms. How results are interpreted did not change. Hogan says the 2023 norm covers 190 countries and territories and 48 languages and dialects, with 46% women and 54% men. Hogan's norm FAQ.

Hogan says there is no ideal score or profile. Results are read against your role and goals, ideally with a certified coach. Since there is no right profile to aim for, gaming the questions gets you nowhere, and the HPI includes a check for careless or erratic responding. The best preparation is to answer honestly.

MBTI sorts people into one of 16 types, mainly for self-understanding. DISC describes four behavioral styles. Hogan reports scores on scales and focuses on how others are likely to experience you at work, with separate inventories for everyday style, risks under pressure and values. The HPI is built on the Five-Factor Model, often called the Big Five. Hogan says the HDS covers tendencies that model leaves out, and the MVPI measures values rather than personality traits.

Hogan reports stable results over time, and a 2003 meta-analysis by Hogan and Holland linked personality measures matched to the job to performance. There are limits. Results are probabilities. Derailer scores are less precise than HPI scores. The tools were validated on employed adults. And much of the published research comes from Hogan or people connected to it. Read the 2003 study.

Hogan requires certification to administer its assessments, and it recommends a debrief or coaching whenever results are used for development. It also says the tools are not meant for anyone under 18. When you choose a provider, ask about their certification. Hogan's certification overview.

Your coach explains what each assessment does and does not measure and links the findings to your own experience. Where it helps, they point out blind spots, keeping the tone encouraging, and they check that the feedback sounds right to you. You leave with strengths to build on, areas to work on and a plan for follow-up.

Hogan lists high-potential and succession work among the uses of its inventories. The results show strengths, risks and motives that can inform who is ready for a bigger role and what development they need. Hogan advises combining them with other information, such as performance history and 360 feedback.

The Hogan 360 is a feedback assessment. It collects ratings from the people around a leader (managers, peers and direct reports) to show how their behavior is actually experienced. The three inventories forecast reputation from your own answers, and the 360 observes it. Together they show where your view and other people's views match and where they differ. Explore the Hogan 360.

Hogan offers selection products and says its tools are widely used in leadership development and executive assessment. For any use, combine the results with other information and have a certified professional interpret them. Here, we use the assessments for development and coaching.