Start your People Optimisation journey with a structured approach that helps you make better hiring decisions, equip managers to lead effectively, and build teams that deliver.
Managers sit at the centre of business performance. They make hiring decisions, lead teams, and shape culture every day. Yet many step into these responsibilities without the support or insight they need to succeed.
When that happens, leaders pay the price. A single mis-hire drains time, damages morale, and stalls progress. Research shows the cost can reach 30% of annual salary, while the damage to reputation and client trust goes much further.
Managers who cannot understand their people struggle to keep them engaged. Friction grows, performance drops, and the best talent leaves. Instinct-driven decisions keep the cycle going, creating wasted investment, disengagement, and strategy that never makes it off the page.
Every person brings three things to work: their head, their heart, and their briefcase.
The head reflects innate drives, needs, and abilities. The heart captures values and interests that shape how people show up for business and for others. The briefcase carries knowledge, skills, and experience. These are the parts most organisations focus on when they make hiring decisions.
When leaders only look at the briefcase, they miss the bigger picture. A CV can tell you what someone has done, but not how they will work, what they need to thrive, or how they will fit within a team. That is why instinct-driven hiring and unsupported management often fail.
People Optimisation gives leaders a complete view. By seeing the head, heart, and briefcase together, managers gain the insight to make better hires, keep people engaged, and reduce the risk of costly turnover.
To make better people decisions, leaders need data they can trust. People Optimisation uses The Predictive Index® to give a complete view of both the role and the person so decisions are based on evidence, not instinct. These assessments go beyond CVs and interviews. They uncover how people think and work, giving leaders and managers practical insight for better hiring, onboarding, and retention.
The Job Assessment™ by The Predictive Index®
Defines what success looks like before you hire. It creates a clear benchmark for the behavioural and cognitive traits a role requires, so hiring decisions are aligned with what the work demands.
The Behavioural Assessment™ by The Predictive Index®
Reveals how someone naturally works, communicates, and makes decisions. It shows whether their working style fits the role, the team, and the culture you want to build.
The Cognitive Assessment™ by The Predictive Index®
Predicts how quickly someone learns new information, adapts to change, and solves problems. It helps you identify candidates and employees who can grow with the demands of your business.
Foundations combines Hire, Inspire, and Perform because one without the other does not work. Hiring well is only the first step. If managers cannot support and engage people after they join, turnover rises and the cycle of mis-hiring continues. Likewise, even the best managers cannot succeed if they inherit poor-fit hires. Together, Hire and Inspire create a system that brings in the right people and keeps them performing. Perform ensures those insights turn into daily practice.
Hire
Hiring decisions carry higher stakes than ever. A single mis-hire can cost up to 30 percent of salary, drain productivity, and damage team morale. Many businesses still rely on instinct or gut feel, which leaves bias and subjectivity unchecked. Retention adds to the pressure. If new hires do not match the role or culture, they leave, and the cycle starts again.
Hire gives leaders the data to make more accurate decisions. With clear job targets and behavioural insights, every candidate is assessed against what the role actually demands. This reduces risk, speeds up decision-making, and prevents the costly mistakes that come from hiring based on CVs alone.
Inspire
Even the best hires will not thrive if managers cannot support them. Today’s managers face new challenges such as keeping teams engaged in remote and hybrid environments, retaining top performers in a competitive market, and maintaining morale during economic pressure. Many managers step into these responsibilities without the tools or insight to understand their people.
Inspire gives managers practical insight into the needs and drives of their team members. With this knowledge, they can adapt how they lead, motivate individuals in ways that matter, and build the kind of trust that keeps top talent engaged.
Perform
Workshops and reports provide insight, but without daily application managers often revert to old habits. Perform ensures insights are used every day. It provides managers with tools to run more effective one-to-ones and team meetings, build trust through feedback, and keep people focused on what matters.
Perform puts behavioural data into action. It gives managers a practical way to understand themselves and their people, making management easier and more effective. With Perform, managers do not just learn how to lead, they practise it every day.
Every people decision carries a cost. With the right system in place, that cost turns into measurable return.
A mis-hire costs on average 30 percent of annual salary. Beyond the financial impact, it slows projects, weakens client relationships, and damages culture. By using data to match people to roles, organisations reduce this risk and protect outcomes from day one.
Research shows that 75 percent of firing decisions are behaviour-related, not skill-related. This means most hiring mistakes happen not because someone lacked experience, but because their natural way of working did not fit the role. The Predictive Index helps you uncover this before the contract is signed.
Companies that apply PI Hire and Inspire report measurable gains:
see lower turnover in the first year.
say managers communicate and influence more effectively.
gain greater visibility into team performance and risks.
The Predictive Index® has been used for more than 60 years to help leaders make better people decisions. Today it is applied in over 10,000 organisations across 90 countries, available in 70+ languages, with more than 38 million assessments completed.
Foundations gives you a system that reduces risk and strengthens performance at the same time.
Leaders make choices they can stand behind. Every hiring and promotion decision is guided by evidence, reducing risk and strengthening accountability at every level.
Managers understand what drives performance and how to bring out the best in their teams. They communicate clearly, give useful feedback, and create the conditions where people stay and grow.
Teams work with focus and shared purpose. They understand goals, collaborate with less friction, and stay aligned to the results that matter most.
Strong businesses start with strong people decisions. Foundations gives you the system to hire smarter, support managers, and reduce the risk of costly turnover.
This is the first step in People Optimisation. Take it today and make sure your next hire, your next manager, and your next team decision all drive results.
