Demystifying Assessments and Analysis at ghSMART

At ghSMART, we are passionate about the transformative power of helping leaders amplify their positive impact on their organizations, communities, and the world. At the core of our work – whether selecting a new CEO, coaching and developing an executive team, identifying next-generation leaders, or even hiring for our own firm – is our belief in the importance of data-driven assessment.

In a hiring context, ghSMART executive assessments (Smart Assessments®) are much more than simple evaluations; they empower hiring leaders to make decisions with confidence and clarity, and they allow candidates to unlock insights about themselves and land in a context in which they can shine. As consultants conducting assessments, we find it inspiring to engage with accomplished leaders, to understand their journeys and how they became the people they are today, and to set them up for future success.  

In this article, we will explore our SMART Assessment – the process and the data we gather, the insights derived from our analysis, the decisions we help clients make, the impact of our approach, and the characteristics of individuals who thrive in this type of work.

1) What is a SMART Assessment?

The SMART Assessment is our proven methodology for exploring the leadership capabilities and professional potential of individuals – typically candidates for critical roles, including CEOs and C-suite leaders, board members, and other high-stakes positions in public and private companies, investment firms, and non-profit organizations.  

At the heart of the SMART Assessment is an in-depth chronological interview that covers key moments and milestones in a candidate’s life and career, focusing on how they set priorities, overcame obstacles, and achieved results. By engaging with genuine curiosity and through thoughtful questioning, we establish rapport and create an open environment that encourages candidates to share their stories and allows us to gather a wealth of qualitative data.

Our team of experts then draws on our backgrounds in business and psychology to perform a comprehensive analysis of the data and develop tailored recommendations for our clients.  

2) What Do We Learn from the SMART Assessment?

Our analysis uncovers patterns that translate into indicators of an individual’s likely future performance and fit for specific roles, mandates, and missions. We ground our analysis not only in what we learn about the individual – the data gathered through the chronological interview – but also draw on our decades of assessment experience, which has allowed us to build one of the largest databases in the industry (more than 29K assessments and counting) and equips us to benchmark candidates against previous candidates across a broad and diverse range of roles and contexts.

Specific insights that the SMART Assessment yields include:

Behavioral and leadership patterns: We identify the behaviors across roles and contexts that have fueled candidates’ achievements and development. This includes not only the skills and capabilities they have built and leveraged, but their “playbook” for delivering results – for example, how they set priorities and make decisions, drive execution, and engage with their colleagues. We look at examples of successes along with examples of challenges and things that didn’t go as well as a candidate hoped or their manager expected. These patterns then offer clues as to how they might show up in future situations.

Motivational insights: Understanding what drives each candidate also helps us predict their future performance. For example, exploring their motivations for key accomplishments and career transitions can shed light on their alignment with an organization’s values and whether they will “fit” in a particular culture.  

Competency evaluation: We also focus on specific competencies required for success – these are the table stakes skills, experiences, and capabilities that a candidate will need to be effective in a role. They might include strategic thinking, analytics, execution ability, team building, entrepreneurialism, and other essential qualities that add up to delivering results in the client’s context.  

3) What Are the Outputs of the SMART Assessment?

For hiring assessments, the output is typically a written report that includes a summary of the candidate’s strengths, development areas, and potential risks along with our perspectives on their probability of success in the role. We also provide recommendations on how to best support the candidate in the role and help them succeed.

However, we believe that much of the value of our work is in the advisory conversations that surround the assessment itself. We spend meaningful time with our clients, discussing tradeoffs, risks, mitigations, and uncertainties. We counsel them on the implications of the hiring decision – how will the candidate’s strengths show up in their context, how relevant are their gaps, and what commitments would a manager need to make to help a candidate succeed. With many clients, these advisory conversations leverage years and sometimes decades of work together and collective pattern recognition about what types of leaders succeed – or not – in their organizations.  

4) What Types of Decisions Do We Help Clients Make?  

While our assessment methodology was originally developed for hiring decisions, it has evolved into the building block of nearly all the work we do. The range of applications include, but is not limited to:  

Executive selection decisions: Boards and CEOs rely on our analysis to select candidates who are not only qualified but also culturally aligned with the organization. By ensuring a good fit from the start, we help reduce hiring mistakes that can be costly both financially and operationally.  

CEO and C-suite succession: Our insights assist organizations in identifying potential successors for key roles and ensuring continuity in leadership during transitions. This proactive approach mitigates risks associated with sudden departures by creating future-ready teams and stability during times of change.  

Top team development and effectiveness: By understanding individual strengths and weaknesses, we help clients make informed decisions about team composition. This fosters collaboration among executives with complementary skills – building stronger teams capable of driving organizational success.  

Next-generation leadership assessment and development: We help executives and boards bring a data-driven approach to identify the highest-potential future leaders, and to create tailor-made development plans to accelerate these leaders’ growth.  

5) Why Does Our Approach Work?

We have conducted more than 29,000 assessments over nearly 30 years, and the effectiveness of our methodology is evidenced by:

Hiring success rates: Our data-driven, structured approach yields >90% success rates in executive hires, significantly improving the likelihood of making the right decision and getting the right leader into a role. In contrast, research shows that firms that don’t use structured interviews mis-hire at least 50% of the time.

Client satisfaction: We survey our clients twice a year, and their feedback speaks volumes. With a 98% satisfaction rate reported consistently over the past decade, our clients view us as an integral part of their hiring processes. This confidence reflects both the quality of our assessment methodology and the deep advisory relationships we have built. By understanding our clients’ unique needs, we’ve become a trusted partner in shaping their leadership strategies.

Long-term value creation – and long-term relationships: While it’s difficult to quantify, we fundamentally believe that making the right hiring decisions is a critical driver of long-term value creation.

Perhaps the best testament to the impact of our work, however, is that the overwhelming majority of new business at ghSMART comes from referrals from satisfied clients.  

6) Who Thrives at ghSMART?

Our work is intellectually demanding and deeply rewarding. The people who excel at ghSMART share a common passion for understanding people and organizations.

Our team members tend to share the following qualities:

Curiosity: A genuine interest in uncovering what drives individuals and organizations.

Growth mindset: A desire to grow personally while helping clients and the firm succeed.

Empathy: The ability to see potential in others and support them in achieving their aspirations.

At ghSMART, we use data and analysis as tools, but our ultimate focus is on people – helping them realize their full potential and enabling organizations to thrive.

Conclusion

We hope this article helped demystify a core part of our history and our client service – the SMART Assessment. Through our commitment to data-driven decision-making and personalized insights, and by connecting these to the strategic priorities that matter most to our clients, we empower leaders to ultimately drive meaningful change. As consultants at ghSMART, we are honored to help clients make these critical talent decisions, and to help leaders reach their next stage of growth in their life and careers

‍