The AVA® Assessment
The AVA® Behavioral Assessment is a free-response tool used for over 70 years to assess an individual’s behavioral style in the workplace that has been based exclusively on empirical research attesting to its validity.
Measuring Job-Related Behavior
AVA® is a work-related system of behavioral assessment tools widely recognized for its accuracy, validity, simplicity, and utility. AVA® provides the “why” behind behavior in the workplace, enabling you to hire, coach and develop employees to their best possible performance. When you understand why people do what they do, you can place them in the right jobs and motivate them optimally to achieve results. AVA® profiles an individual’s natural behavioral tendencies, the behavioral demands of specific jobs, and defines the fit between the two.
The Individual Analysis – Often referred to as the “AVA®”
The Individual Analysis is the best-known and most frequently used tool in the AVA® system. A certified analyst can use profiles generated from the AVA® Individual Analysis to make recommendations about:
Selection
Organizational Alignment
Organization Development
Performance Coaching
Career Coaching
Team Building
Retention
Conflict Resolution
Motivation
The Individual Analysis graphically and numerically depicts the results of a completed AVA® analysis. A certified AVA® Analyst uses this information as the basis for the interpretation. It yields three profiles:
IMAGE: What we are likely to see in the Individual upon first meeting and working with the Individual.
ROLE: Identifies the behaviors the Individual Is projecting In their current role In order to succeed In their position.
SELF: Measures Individual’s self-concept giving us insight Into the Individuals behavioral tendencies.
With Activity Vector Analysis®, you can assess:
an individual’s expected behavior in varying working conditions
potential for executing assignments over time
dynamic decision-making
stress factors
level of individual’s morale
an individual’s behavioral flexibility
AVA® Interpretation
Unlike many personality assessment tools, the AVA® is not interpreted on the basis of single scales. Interpretations are made on the basis of the relationships between the scales. These relationships are represented in a characteristic graph or numerical pattern shape. This pattern shape or profile represents the individual’s score on each of five vectors.
The five Vectors (or behavioral tendencies) measured through the AVA® methodology:
V1 - Assertiveness;
V2 - Sociability;
V3 - Calmness;
V4 - Conformity;
V5 - Conscious Restraint.
How it Works
The AVA® Assessment is delivered as a free-response format; the person is not forced to make choices between possibly undesirable alternatives.
The AVA® has two questions with a 102 adjective checklist and a self-description section. The first question asks the individual to select words that OTHERS describe you. The second questions asks the individual to select words that are descriptive of YOU.
The AVA® Assessment takes less than 15 minutes to complete and is untimed.
A few of the detailed reports produced by AVA®
Individual Behavior Report
Report is a summary of the AVA® assessment
results and associated behavioral tendencies.
AVA® Development Tips
Report assists managers in preparing to interact with the individual.
AVA® Counselor Report
Report assists manager’s understanding in individual's behavioral tendencies and motivation approaches.
Most Common Uses of AVA®
Job Selection
AVA® provides invaluable, actionable information to recruiters, hiring managers and supervisors by providing them with a profile that measures how suitable a candidate’s behavioral attributes are for the job.
AVA® is often used in conjunction with the Job Demands Analysis (JDA), which provides a behavioral profile of the job to determine the likelihood that this individual is matched correctly according to the most essential performance criteria—behavior.
Team Building
Team development and team effectiveness are primary uses for AVA®. By collectively identifying the behavioral characteristics of the team members, the AVA® identifies the expected team strengths and potential shortcomings. The AVA® focuses on how to maximize each person’s performance on the team, placing individuals in roles consistent with their natural behavioral tendencies. And when conflicts arise on the team, AVA® provides insight into the underlying interpersonal dynamics in the team that are creating challenges, allowing you to address and eliminate the conflict.
Employee Development
AVA® provides managers with a roadmap to guide an employee to success within their organization. AVA® helps managers identify career paths that are compatible with individual behavioral styles and design training programs to support growth. It enables employees to understand why people see them the way they do and, with coaching, adjust their behaviors if necessary. These are critical steps toward retaining valuable employees that organizations have invested in and who are essential to maintaining a quality organization.
Knowledge Transfer
One of the distinguishing features of AVA® is its emphasis on knowledge transfer. Unlike many assessment tools that rely on a third-party interpreter, AVA® provides our clients, through training, with the skills to provide a thorough interpretation of the AVA® assessment. This allows our client to immediately begin applying the results of the assessment upon completion by an individual. Learning the methodology, interpretation, and applications of the AVA® is led by a professional member of AVA® Assessment Associates, Inc.
The professional team at AVA Assessment Associates, Inc has decades of experience in training analysts, interpreting assessment results, and implementing applications of the AVA®
Benefits of the AVA®
AVA® delivers positive ROI. When you hire the right person for the job, you immediately increase productivity and avoid costly turnover.
AVA® is more actionable than other types of assessments because it is behavior-based, enabling managers to implement “course corrections” on the job.
AVA® originates from the research of prominent psychologists and has been continually updated, providing exceptional validity and reliability.
AVA® is compliant with EEOC guidelines which require assessment tools to be “job-related” and therefore you can have peace of mind using it for hiring and placement.