What is a drivers assessment?

A drivers assessment is a questionnaire that makes visible what naturally motivates someone: the underlying drivers that explain why a person displays particular behaviour. Where a behavioural test describes how someone acts, a drivers assessment shows why. The outcome is often presented in colours, each of which stands for a driver.

Many people are familiar with a personality test or a DISC test. A drivers assessment looks one layer deeper. You see behaviour on the outside, but the driver beneath it determines whether someone gains energy from their work or instead drains away. It is precisely that layer that a drivers assessment makes visible, and that is valuable for collaboration, leadership and selection.

At MyDrives, a drivers assessment is based on the model of Clare Graves, with seven drivers in seven colours. More than 50,000 analyses have been carried out to date.

What exactly does a drivers assessment measure?

A drivers assessment maps which drivers someone feels strongly and which instead provoke resistance. A complete profile usually shows:

• Preferred drivers: where someone naturally draws energy from.
• Opposition: which drivers clash or cause irritation.
• Energy balance: what gives energy and what costs energy.
• Behaviour under pressure: which pattern becomes visible when tension rises.

This creates a nuanced picture that goes further than a box or a type.

Drivers or behaviour? The difference from a DISC test

A frequently asked question is what the difference is between a drivers assessment and a DISC test. In short: a DISC test, or a test such as Insights, describes behaviour, so how someone acts. A drivers assessment looks at the driver beneath it, so why someone displays that behaviour.

Both are useful, but for motivation, collaboration and selection the driver often gives the most usable insight. If you would like to see the methods side by side, take a look at the comparison in which we compare the best-known methods fairly.

Why seven colours say more than four

The result of a drivers assessment is often shown in colours. The number of colours determines how much nuance you get. A model with four colours gives a coarse division. A model with seven colours, each with its own preference and opposition in whole percentages, gives more than three hundred times as many possible profiles. More colours therefore means more recognition and less of a sense of being pushed into a box.

You can read about the seven drivers of MyDrives in detail on the MyDrives page.

What do you use a drivers assessment for?

• Team development: understanding why team members clash or reinforce each other.
• Leadership: recognising your own style and connecting better with others.
• Recruitment and selection: choosing candidates on motivation, not only on their CV.
• Coaching and careers: discovering which work genuinely gives energy.

Taking a drivers assessment yourself

You do not have to commit to a full programme straight away to experience what a drivers assessment delivers. With the free MyDrives miniscan you get a first impression of your drivers in a few minutes, at no cost. If you want to go deeper afterwards, the full MyDrives profile gives the complete picture.

Frequently asked questions

What is a drivers assessment?

A drivers assessment is a questionnaire that shows what naturally motivates someone. It makes the drivers beneath the visible behaviour visible and often shows them in colours, so that you understand why someone does what they do.

Can you take a drivers assessment for free?

Yes. Through the free MyDrives miniscan you take a first drivers assessment in a few minutes at no cost. For a full and nuanced profile you then choose the complete MyDrives analysis.

What is the difference between a drivers assessment and a personality test?

A personality test often describes behaviour or traits. A drivers assessment focuses on the underlying motivation, so the reason behind the behaviour. That makes the outcome more usable for motivation, collaboration and selection.

Is a drivers assessment scientifically underpinned?

The MyDrives drivers assessment is based on the model of Clare Graves and has been externally validated by an independent consultant. We make anonymised data available, so that the underpinning can be checked independently.