Using the Motivation test

Our Motivation test helps to ensure that your candidate is a good match based on their job preferences.

Mis-hires cost companies both time and resources. A candidate who looks perfect on paper may not work out because what they want from a job does not align with what you were offering them. The motivation test will help you to measure a candidate’s suitability for a position, based on your company’s needs and the candidate’s preferences. This test is available on Starter and Pro plans.

Approx. reading time 5 minutes

In this article

1. Purpose of the motivation test
2. Taking the survey
3. Interpreting the results
   1. Job activities results
   2. Unavailable results
4. Common questions

Purpose of the motivation test

While an employee’s skill level is important, their motivation is affected by their work preferences; possibly playing an even more important role in their overall job success.

Skill can be taught, but motivation comes from innate preferences that don’t tend to change much over time. In their Job Characteristics Model, organizational psychologists Oldham and Hackman proposed that a job itself – rather than an employee’s personality – has the greatest influence on motivation.

Employees are most motivated when they experience their work as meaningful and see themselves as responsible for the results and outcomes of that work. At the same time, the factors that impact that motivation are different for each person — a work setting that motivates one person may not motivate another.

Our Motivation survey builds on this research, identifying candidates who will be most motivated in the job that you’re hiring for. 

How the test measures motivation

To customize the test to the job role for which you are hiring, we ask you a series of questions related to the key elements that impact job motivation to create a robust profile of the role. Candidates receive a parallel version of the survey that asks what they seek in a job, including the work activities they most enjoy.

We then map the results of each candidate against your specifications to help you understand how well your candidates' preferences align with what you are offering.

Taking the Motivation survey

After adding the Motivation test to an assessment, click Finish to go to the assessment overview page. From here, you will be able to set your answers for the test. 

This section contains the following subsections — click ahead for convenience if you wish.

1. Set the answers yourself
2. Invite someone else to set the answers
3. Job-specific questions
4. Additional characteristics
5. Regularly performed activities
6. Reusing answers

Set the answers yourself:

	Click the button labeled Take the survey. A new page will pop up with more information.
	Follow the on-screen instructions. You’ll be redirected to a new tab that gives a description of the survey and what you need to do next.

Invite someone else to set the answers:

	Enter the credentials of the desired colleague.
	Click the Send invitation button. Your teammate will receive an email with a link to take the survey.

Job-specific questions

The first section relates to the specific job role, and covers the following areas:

• Skill variety: the degree to which the employee performs diverse activities and uses a variety of skills
• Task identity: the degree to which the employee sees a task from beginning to end
• Task significance: the degree to which the employee impacts others
• Autonomy: the degree to which the employee is independent and self-directed
• Feedback: the degree to which the employee receives feedback on their performance

	The question is displayed on the left of the test window. Take your time to read and understand the question, you don’t have a time limit.
	Select one answer from the options on the right side of the window. Choose the answer which most closely matches the requirements of the job role. To deselect an answer, click it again.
	Click Next to move to the next question, or Previous to go back to the last one.

Additional characteristics

The second section asks questions about other aspects of the job outside of their day-to-day duties. Things such as benefits or opportunities for development may motivate certain individuals. These questions are a mix of single-answer and multi-answer multiple choice.

	The question is displayed on the left of the test window. Take your time to read and understand the question, you don’t have a time limit.
	Select one answer from the options on the right side of the window. Choose the answer that most closely matches the requirements of the job role. To deselect an answer, click it again.
	Click Next to move to the next question, or Previous to go back to the last one.

Regularly performed activities

For the final section, you will be shown a list of activities that may be performed as part of the role. You will rate each activity based on its importance to your specific job role.

	The list of activities is displayed on the left of the page, along with alternative terms for each.
	Select your rating for each activity on the right of the page. Each one should be rated between 1 and 5, with 5 being the most important.
	Click Finish after providing ratings for all activities, or you can move back to the previous section.

Reusing answers

You can reuse answers from previous motivation tests. When adding a motivation test to a new assessment, you can reuse a previous survey or take the survey again. 

Interpreting the results

Your candidate’s results are displayed as colored circles on the results screen — with all sections having their own ball. Clicking on a section provides a further breakdown, with each area having a circle of its own. This allows you to see which specific areas may motivate your candidate the most.

The balls will be colored depending on how closely the candidate's answers match yours:

	Green means the candidate is a strong match. Their answers are closely aligned with yours. This indicates that they are likely to be happy and motivated by the answers you provided for this specific area.
	Orange means the candidate is a moderate match. While there is some overlap between your answers and theirs, there are also areas of difference.
	Red indicates a poor match between your answer and a candidate. The candidate answered the question very differently than you did, meaning their motivation in that area may not align with yours.

Example
Emily fills out the motivation survey stating the following regarding pay:

• Much variety in the job
• The job requires usage of a number of high-level skills - Mostly accurate
• The job allows the candidate to use a number of complex or high-level skills - Mostly accurate
  
  

When the candidate completes the survey, they answer that they want:

• A small amount of variety
• A low number of high-level skills required
• A low number of high-level skills allowed

In this scenario, the  skill variety bubbled under the Job characteristics heading would be  Red because there is no overlap in answers.

Job activities results

Results for job activities are displayed differently — using a bar rather than a ball. To put it simply, the more filled the bar is, the closer aligned yours and your candidate’s answers are.

Unavailable results

Questions for tests within the Personality & culture category cannot be skipped, but the test can still reach its time limit or be abandoned by the candidate, which can result in empty candidate answers.

Missing or empty data affects our ability to accurately score or classify candidates. If there is at least one empty candidate answer, the result will be shown as "Unavailable," along with an explanation. This will also be shown in any results export, with the score not being computed as part of the overall assessment score. 

Common questions

How can I change the answers I have provided?
You can edit the survey if no candidates have been invited to the assessment. Once external candidates begin taking the assessment, the answers cannot be changed.

Who should answer the survey?
The person with the most insight into the role is the best person to set the answers. This is usually the direct line manager your new hire will report to or a person currently working in this role.

Can multiple people answer the survey?
Only one person can answer the survey. While you can send invitations to multiple people, our system will only accept the first completed submission. 

Why aren't there pre-generated answers?
Every company and job has different needs. Because of this, we cannot provide generic answers. To receive the most accurate information, you need to complete the survey yourself.