THE HR CYCLE

From judging to aligning

What works for one person creates resistance in another. The map shows leaders where their own behavioural preference sits and what it does to the people around them.

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THE QUESTION

The conversation is often about everything except behaviour

In the HR cycle, MapsTell gives leaders and employees a shared language for talking about behaviour. With behaviour placed on the map, the conversation is about what the map shows, not about the person. It shifts from judging someone to discussing how they work and what they need.

Most review cycles get stuck at the same point. Results can be measured and therefore discussed, but behaviour is sensitive. It is often described vaguely or left unspoken until frustration builds or something goes wrong.

WHERE IN THE CYCLE

Four moments when the map adds value

The HR cycle already has set moments for talking about how someone works. The map gives those conversations a shared language. Four examples.

Onboarding
As a new employee, you find your place on the map and get to know your colleagues at the level of behaviour straight away. Who works in which way, and what can you expect from each other? That saves months of feeling each other out.
The development review
Where do your strengths lie, where are your challenges and what does your role ask of you? The map gives you the words to keep the conversation positive.
The progress review
A shared language shows how someone positions themselves within the team: what gives them energy, what wears them down and how that affects collaboration. The conversation is no longer only about what work was completed.
Moving on and new roles
Which behaviour does the new role ask for, and what does that mean for the person moving into it?
WHAT IT CHANGES

Three ways the review cycle changes

Most review conversations are about results. The ones that make a lasting difference also explore how someone works. The map makes that easier to discuss.

1

The conversation goes both ways

The leader has a place on the map too. That makes the question of what you need from each other a natural one, rather than a one-way street.

2

Behaviour becomes concrete

Instead of telling someone to work on their communication, it is about specific behaviour in specific situations, in words you both recognise.

3

It stays development-focused

A place on the map is a starting point, not the outcome. The map provides the nuance needed to look beyond stereotypes, allowing a genuine conversation to emerge.

IMPORTANT

What we are clear about

MapsTell is a powerful tool for some conversations in the HR cycle, but not for others. We are always clear about two boundaries.

The conversation, yes; the selection, no
You can have a valuable conversation with a candidate about behaviour: what does the role require, and how does that fit with the way they work? The World of Difference was not designed or validated as a selection instrument. It provides no insight into competencies.
Not an appraisal instrument
A PersonalMap does not belong in a personnel file. As soon as the profile is used to assess someone, people start giving socially desirable answers, and the openness the method depends on disappears.
HOW TO INTRODUCE IT

Building it in, step by step

You do not roll this out to everyone at once. It starts with the people who lead the conversations and grows into the forms they use.

Start with the leaders
Leaders hold the conversations. When they use the shared language every day, the rest follows. This often starts within a leadership programme.
Extend it to the teams
Once the whole team knows the map, individual conversations become a continuation of what is already happening within the team.
Anchor it in your forms
One question in the review form keeps it alive. For example: where did our differences get in the way this year, and what helped?
FAQ

Frequently asked questions about MapsTell in the HR cycle

Below you will find the questions we hear most often, with clear answers.

Can you use MapsTell in appraisal interviews?

The PersonalMap is not an instrument for assessing someone. In a conversation it gives language to behaviour and collaboration.

Can you use it in recruitment and selection?

As a conversation tool, yes: you have an open conversation with a candidate about behaviour and about how that fits the role and the culture. As a selection criterion, no, because behaviour cannot by definition be linked to competencies.

So who needs to have a PersonalMap?

Both conversation partners, at the very least. The conversation only works if the manager puts their own place on the table too, because then it is about the interaction and not only about the employee.

How often should someone complete the questionnaire?

Behavioural preference is reasonably stable, so not often. With a new role, a changing context or after a number of years it can be worthwhile, not least because the conversation about the difference is often interesting.

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REWORKING YOUR REVIEW CYCLE?

We’re happy to think it through with you and see where this fits

In a Discovery Call, we look at your current HR cycle and where a shared language for behaviour could add the most value.

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Thirty minutes, online, with no obligation. You bring the outline of your current cycle, and we bring our experience of where the map fits best.
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