Do you, as a civilian worker, need insight into your perspectives at the Navy? What would you like to do and what can you do? Make an appointment for a career interview! One of the tools that is normally used in that process is a Talent Motivation Assessment (TMA) which can give you insight into your drives and motivation. Meanwhile a lot of employees have already completed TMA Talent Assessment.

“TMA is a tool that helps you make reasonable and well-considered choices in your career”, according to career managers. For example, you think you are bound to be a manager but not sure if you are able to manage personnel properly. “TMA can provide insight into it”.

TMA has also been of great value for the navy, in the opinion of the career advisor Annick Williams-Hachim.

According to Williams, you can regard TMA as a sort of inner exploration that gives you a chance to explore your drives and talents. In total, the assessment measures 22 drives and 44 talents. In such a way, TMA makes it clear what motivates and drives you, so that you can find a better direction in your career. The examples of drives would be: how do you deal with stress and pressure? How high is your self-esteem? What is ambition to you? Furthermore, the assessment also shows how you deal with challenges, or whether you possess social empathy and persistence. Or what is your level of responsibility or whether you have order & structure? The scores indicate what is needed to get the best out of your performance at your current position. “Work that does not have a direct connection with your drives and talents is probably always out there and it can always be fixed, for example, a study or course can offer a solution.”

TMA is a tool that is used by different organizations, such as the police and post service. The career counselor can request TMA for you. The assessment consists of 312 statements. Every time you should choose a statement that suits you best. Upon completing the questionnaire, a personal report will be provided to you. This report shows your drives and the building blocks of your personality. Drives and (the resulting) talents are factors that motivate you to demonstrate certain behavior or prevent you from behaving in a certain way. “If work is closely related to your talents and drives, it can be very motivating and inspiring.”

After finishing the TMA assessment you will be invited for an evaluation interview by your career counsellor and during the interview, you will get an explanation on the results of the assessment. “TMA is an instrument for gaining insight, not for making judgements,” Williams continues. The assessment is mainly intended for the employee himself. “However, we do recommend to always discuss the results of TMA assessment with your manager.” TMA report won’t be attached to your personnel file.

Williams says that TMA Talent Assessment is also of great value for the navy, for example in increasing mobility at work. The assessment provides revealing insights and gives food for thoughts and ideas. It rests with an employee to decide how to convert those into action plans. Finally, it is he or she that should make the step towards trying different positions. “There are a number of possibilities for doing it, such as different traineeships or internships.”

Williams makes no secret that sometimes a lot of courage is required to change a job or a field of work. Especially when you have been occupying the same position for years and have got used to it.

“You really have to be open to switching jobs. People have to risk.”