The Confront People Trait Changes Meaning Depending on the Seat You Are Filling
Behavior nobody addresses costs far more than the conversation would have. The confront people trait scores the willingness to face and deal with situations involving others without outside motivation, and the very reading that makes a strong supervisor makes a poor customer service hire.
What Does the Confront People Trait Measure?
The confront people trait measures the willingness to face and deal with perceived situations with others without outside motivation. Confront here does not carry the dictionary sense of facing someone in hostility or defiance; it means addressing the people and situations causing perceived problems in a direct, open manner.
Why confront people problems are invisible in interviews
An interview contains no problem behavior to address, so the candidate who avoids conflict and the candidate who handles it look identical. Low scorers may not even be aware of what needs to be confronted, which means they answer your conflict questions in good faith and still get it wrong.
What the Confront People trait helps you evaluate before you hire
Two different scores share this name. This page covers the behavioral Confront People reading in the Controller and Assertive quadrant, which measures willingness to act. A separate Confront People score sits among the People Traits on the Ability assessments and measures how well a candidate understands why offensive behavior needs addressing.
Why the Confront People Trait Matters in Hiring
No other trait on the report swings this far on the job description alone. The same number both recommends and disqualifies a candidate, depending entirely on whether the seat rewards directness.
Benchmark Before You Read It
This is the trait where a benchmark is not optional. Score it against the job description first, because one number both recommends and disqualifies a candidate.
Avoidance Compounds
Low scorers put off facing others on issues that are causing problems, and the problems and the working relationships deteriorate for as long as it lasts.
Diplomacy Is Not Included
The score says nothing about how tactfully someone confronts, so a high reading means they will act, not that they will handle it well in practice.
How low Confront People scores show up on the job
The cost lands as turnover among the people who were doing the work properly, long before it lands in any conversation about the person who was not.
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How the Confront People Trait Is Scored
Five ranges cover this trait, and the balanced band runs from 40 to 60. Read each range for what it offers and what it costs in the specific role, since the same high score is a good range for management and a poor one for customer service.
The same high score is an asset in management and sales and a liability in customer service. Benchmark against the job description before reading the number.
Low and Extreme Low — 0 to 39
Puts off facing others, so problems and relationships deteriorate, and below 5 they procrastinate endlessly. Workable outside supervision, though poor for supervisors and worse over supervisors, with no attitude concern.
Medium — 40 to 60
Shows good balance of confronting others and their behavior, and people in this range confront efficiently and appropriately. The assessment states that no position at all is adversely affected here.
High and Extreme High — 61 to 100
Shows good balance of confronting others and their behavior, and people in this range confront efficiently and appropriately. The assessment states that no position at all is adversely affected here.
Confront People is one of four traits measured together in the Controller and Assertive quadrant
This score feeds the quadrant as well as standing alone, and two documented combinations change what a single reading means. Confront People is one of four readings that build the Controller / Assertive Quadrant, and the Supporter and Empathy quadrant lists it among its direct opposites.
Assertiveness
Assertiveness is the trait named closely related. It leans toward influencing others with less emphasis on confronting, so the two answer different questions about a manager.
Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem is the third quadrant trait and indicates leadership potential in its high range, which is worth weighing beside a candidate willing to confront directly.
Competitiveness
Competitiveness completes the quadrant, though it is reported only on SL and Work Styles, so an IC profile carries only three of the four quadrant traits.
Empathy
High Empathy with a low reading is a documented warning, since as managers these candidates are admitting they will not deal effectively with offensive subordinate behavior.
Appreciation
Appreciation paired with Empathy changes the picture at the top of this scale, since candidates with both are likely to confront others in a positive way.
Controller / Assertive Quadrant
Confront People is one of four readings that build the Controller and Assertive quadrant, whose tendency is wanting to confront anybody who fails to meet expectations.
Best Practice: Assessment results support your hiring decisions, they do not replace them. Always read the confront people trait score alongside the full profile and your role benchmarks before drawing a conclusion.
How to Interpret Confront People Results
An allowance has already been made for high scores in the attitude results and benchmarks, so read this number against the role rather than adjusting it yourself.
What to Do Based on Your Confront People Score
Keep this away from any role supervising supervisors. Ask what they would do if a colleague took their reserved parking space, and press for exact actions.
Acceptable outside supervision. Where the role manages people, ask what they would do if equipment were borrowed from their area without asking, and get exact details.
The safest reading on this trait, and rarely the one that blocks a hire. Move to the rest of the quadrant and compare against your benchmark.
Good for management and sales, poor for administrative or customer service. Check Empathy and Appreciation, since high readings there turn confrontation into something far more constructive.
Treat as an integrity and attitude indicator outside sales and management. Expect diplomatic damage, and check references on how the candidate delivers criticism to their peers.
Assessment results support decisions, they do not make them. Always interpret scores in context: the specific role, interview performance, references, and your organization's culture.
The Confront People Trait Matters for Every Role You Hire
This is the trait where the same score flips from asset to liability with the job description, so benchmark it against the position and nothing else.
Relevant for all role types
| Role | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Manager of Supervisors | A low reading is called out as especially poor for a manager who has supervisors as subordinates, because unaddressed behavior then travels down two full levels. |
| Frontline Supervisor | Supervision is where a low score does the most damage, since the person will put off facing the issues that are causing problems on the floor. |
| Customer Service Representative | High readings are explicitly a poor range here, because getting in a customer's face is exactly what the role was designed to prevent from ever happening. |
| Sales Manager | Management and sales are the two functions where the high band is an asset, because correcting behavior directly is a daily part of the actual job. |
Roles where Confront People is especially critical
Operations Supervisor
Customer Service Representative
Sales Manager
Administrative Assistant
Plant Manager
Account Executive
HR Manager
Front Desk Coordinator
If any of these situations sound familiar, this assessment is for you
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Frequently Asked Questions
The confront people trait measures the willingness to face and deal with perceived situations with others without outside motivation. It is not confrontation in the hostile sense, but the willingness to address the people and situations causing problems in a direct, open manner.
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