Why the Kolbe Index Is the Game-Changer Your Hiring Process Needs
Many organizations use assessments like the PI Behavioral Assessment to better understand candidates—and for good reason. Tools like PI shed light on behavioral drives and preferences that influence how someone might interact with others or approach their work.
But when it comes to truly optimizing hiring and building high-performing teams, pairing PI with the Kolbe A™ Index can take your results to the next level.
Where PI helps you understand how someone behaves, Kolbe reveals how they take action instinctively. This is a critical—yet often overlooked—dimension of performance. Kolbe measures the part of the mind that governs natural problem-solving methods, stress triggers, and how people execute tasks when left to their own devices.
What the PI Behavioral Assessment Measures
The PI Behavioral Assessment is designed to uncover four core behavioral drives: Dominance, Extraversion, Patience, and Formality. These insights help organizations understand how individuals interact with others, make decisions, and respond to work environments. In combination with PI’s cognitive assessment, it can be a helpful tool in understanding behavioral fit and team interaction.
However, it’s important to note that PI is not EEOC compliant—meaning it should not be used to make hiring decisions. While valuable as a reference point post-hire, it’s not designed or recommended as a standalone selection tool.
What the Kolbe Index Measures
The Kolbe Index offers a completely different—and in many ways, deeper—insight. Kolbe measures conative strengths: the natural, instinctive ways people take action, solve problems, and respond under pressure. It reveals how individuals operate when they're free to be themselves—not how they feel or think, but how they do.
This is what makes Kolbe uniquely powerful in hiring:
It's EEOC compliant, offering a fair, validated, and equitable approach to selection
It taps into traits that are consistent over a lifetime
It identifies how someone will execute a role, independently and under stress
Where personality and behavioral assessments tell you who someone is or how they prefer to engage, Kolbe tells you how they will instinctively get work done.
While both assessments can be valuable, the Kolbe Index is the better long-term investment for your organization. Here's why:
✅ Role Fit, Redefined – Kolbe helps you identify not just if someone can do a job, but how naturally they'll do it. That means less burnout, less micromanagement, and more consistent performance.
✅ Team Synergy – Knowing the instinctive strengths of your entire team makes it easier to spot gaps, reduce friction, and build trust faster.
✅ Scalability Without Sacrificing Culture – As your organization grows, Kolbe provides a framework for hiring that aligns with how your people naturally thrive—preserving team cohesion and reducing costly mis-hires.
✅ Permanent Traits, Timeless Value – Unlike behavior or skills, Kolbe measures instinctive traits that don’t change over time. Once someone takes it, you can leverage that insight for years.
While humans can be trained and coached, under pressure we often default to what’s instinctual. That’s what makes the Kolbe A™ Index such a valuable investment—it helps you understand what’s natural to a person, not what can be learned or temporarily mimicked.
When used during the hiring process, Kolbe doesn’t just help you make smarter decisions—it sets your team up for long-term success, increased productivity, and stronger culture.
If you’re ready to take a more instinct-driven approach to hiring, I’d love to connect. Let’s explore what the Kolbe Index could do for your team.