Research has identified eight key factors that need to be in sync for individuals to achieve the “right fit”. If one or more of these is not present individuals often experience varying degrees of stress and frustration.

Through the use of assessment tools and guided reflection we help people discover what’s working and what isn’t in addition to teaching them how to create a plan for making their careers more satisfying. Sometimes the solution means a new supervisor or role. Sometimes it’s as simple as a shift in how an individual approaches and structures the job.

These are the eight factors we consider:

• Natural Abilities — are identified and measured by the Highlands Ability Battery. People are happiest and perform best when their natural abilities are employed to the fullest.
• Skills — are those tasks an individual has learned to do well. They develop over time through study, education, application and practice. To the extent an individual takes advantage of his/her innate abilities in developing a skill, the skill will be developed more quickly and easily.
• Personal Style — Every individual has developed speech patterns, body language, social devices, and personality traits unique to him/her. Because other individuals respond either more or less favorably to a person’s personal style, it’s important to identify its ingredients in each individual to enable that individual to relate better to other people.
• Interests — Over the years, a person develops interests unique to him/her. When these are identified, the individual can be helped to combine these with his/her abilities to achieve a fuller and more integrated use of both.
• Family of Origin — An individual’s background and family shape his/her life and work ethic. We encourage people to examine and to understand how family history and intra-family relationships have influenced them.
• Values — People’s values (i.e., their scales for judging good and evil, wise and foolish, moral and immoral) define their reaction to people and events around them. When a sense of values is combined with knowledge of the other factors making up the whole person, people are helped to bring their plans and options into sharper focus.
• Goals — People have goals which control and drive their activities. They may wish to modify these goals after they learn whether the goals are compatible with their innate abilities. They may find, for example, that they will be happier pursuing short-term goals instead of long-term goals.
• Career Development Stage — All individuals confront critical stages or transitions in their lives. Some of these are work- or career-related. These issues are sometimes self-created and sometimes caused by external forces (e.g., company downsizing). By defining and discussing the issues confronting the individual, we are able to help him/her through periods of change and stress.