Why I use the Hogan assessment tool when I coach female HR leaders

There are a lot of different assessment tools out there. I use the Hogan Strengths assessment during my 1:1 coaching engagements with HR clients. Hogan is a research-backed tool that predicts job performance and facilitates individual development. It helps my clients to identify their strengths and derailers, improve their decision-making, and understand their core values that impact how they behave at work. During each Hogan debrief, I love seeing that “ah-ha” moment when a client sees a part of their personality reflected back in the data. Or when they realize something that had been deeply hidden.

It's such a powerful tool that I though it might be useful to aggregate some of the results and see if I could discern any patterns amongst my core group of clients – senior female leaders in Human Resources. Despite years of expertise and proven results, many of my clients come to me because they are feeling stuck in their career. The analysis of their Hogan results revealed some interesting patterns that may explain why so many talented HR leaders hit an invisible ceiling.

Outgrowing your HR strengths

Interestingly, the data revealed that the women who've reached senior HR roles often possess personality profiles that differ dramatically from what I would consider to be “traditional” leadership archetypes. Rather than the ambitious, highly social leaders as we might expect, these accomplished professionals share a different set of characteristics.

• Low ambition and sociability - Most senior HR leaders scored low to below average on both the Ambition and Sociability scales. This suggests they've climbed the ladder not through self-promotion or networking prowess, but through other means - likely their deep expertise, reliability, and problem-solving abilities. However, this same pattern may now be limiting their ability to advance to the C-suite, where more “traditional leadership” presence becomes important. This pattern aligns with broader Hogan research showing HR leaders typically demonstrate strengths in operational leadership rather than strategic leadership.

Derailers stagnating your HR career

More concerning are the consistent high-risk behavioral patterns that emerge when HR leaders are not operating at their best, such as when they are stressed or tired.

• Caution - Nearly every leader showed high-risk scores for becoming overly cautious under stress. When the stakes are highest, these leaders become risk-averse and hesitant to make bold decisions. This is precisely when executive presence demands confidence and decisive action.

• Excitable - Most demonstrated high-risk Excitable patterns, meaning they become emotionally volatile and easily disappointed when plans don't unfold as expected. The ability to remain calm during challenging situations with employees (like redundancies, investigations or tricky exits) is so important. This leaves many HR leaders regretting past behaviors – such as a job opportunity they turned down or a conversation with a stakeholder that went poorly. This emotional reactivity can also undermine credibility in high-stakes boardroom conversations.

• Leisurely - As a function, is it well known that HR’s contributions are often ignored and HR professionals feel underappreciated. In line with this norm, the majority of respondents scored high-risk for Leisurely behavior, indicating they may become passive-aggressive when feeling unappreciated or when their expertise is questioned. This pattern is particularly troubling in senior leadership contexts where direct communication and influence are essential.

Know your values 

The MVPI is an oft-overlooked but critical part of the Hogan assessment. It describes peoples' core values, goals, and interests, which helps you to understand the kinds of job and work environments that you’ll thrive in. Is HR even the right function for you?

People use their values to make decisions, but they rarely analyze their values and often make decisions for reasons they don’t fully understand. I see this with my clients all the time, particularly after they’ve made a bad career move or they’ve had a career-defining fumble. Knowing your values improves your decision-making. One common problem that I see with clients is a values misalignment with their organization.

If you join an organization whose culture is inconsistent with your values, you will struggle and be unhappy. The values assessment revealed two interesting insights:

• High Hedonism - Most HR leaders tend to enjoy both work AND life (shocker!). They showed a strong preference for joining workplaces that are fun and not overly stuffy and serious. They also want to have variety and excitement in their work (which is always present in HR!). This is why HR leaders who are in organizations where the hours are extremely long, there is no work/life flexibility and the work is rote and manual, will do anything to leave and find something better aligned to who they are.

• High Security - Many showed strong preferences for stability and predictability. In my view, this is an understandable value, given the chaos of Covid and the difficult job market of the last few years with massive layoffs in various sectors and ridiculous recruiting processes to find a new role. However, this security orientation, while valuable for those in HR operations roles, may prevent the risk-taking and innovation expected from senior executives.

Why it matters

These patterns create a perfect storm: low ambition and sociability limit your visibility and influence, while high-risk derailers sabotage your effectiveness precisely when you need to demonstrate executive potential. Your deep HR expertise got you to senior levels, but these behavioral patterns under stress may be creating an invisible barrier to the next level.

And as AI increasingly replaces repetitive tasks, increases efficiencies and eliminates much of the administrative work inherent in HR, how can HR leaders ensure that they set themselves apart?

The first step is recognition. These are predictable patterns shared by many accomplished HR professionals. The very traits that made you successful in operational HR roles may now require conscious management and development.

Understanding these patterns is the beginning of breaking free from career stagnation. Your technical competence isn't the issue. You have that in abundance. You have an opportunity to develop greater self-awareness around how you show up under pressure and to learn strategies to manage your strengths.

Do these patterns resonate with your experience? What's holding you back from taking that next career leap?

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I work with female senior leaders in Human Resources who feel stuck to help them love their work or find work they love. I write about:

👂 Executive & career coaching

📄 Career development and career transition

🎯 Job search strategy

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