Values assessment as a law department tool (Cox Communications)

An Assistant General Counsel with Cox Communications, speaking at ACC’s 2004 Annual Meeting (Course 309), explained a personnel tool they use in her law department. It asks people to rate themselves from 1 to 7 on 36 questions of a “Values Assessment Tool.” All the questions begin with, “As a manager, how often do you … [“come up with creative ideas” is one example.]

Based on the ratings they give themselves, the psychometric tool places each person into one of six categories, such as “Director,” “Coordinator,” or “Producer.”

The speaker said that the assessment tool and categories helps them identify values and preferred approaches to problem solving. It also, I would add, gives everyone a shared vocabulary for describing each other.