Highlands Ability Battery
The HAB is a human assessment tool that objectively measures your natural abilities by asking you to perform specific timed tasks.
Everyone is born with inherent abilities that make certain tasks preferable to others.
The HAB was founded on the work of research scientist Johnson O’Connor, who devoted his life to the study of human engineering. Almost a century of research that began with Johnson O’Connor and continues through the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation has established that every individual is born with a unique pattern of abilities.
For that reason, people are most fulfilled in their careers when they find an environment that allows them to work primarily from their gifts and natural talents. The Highlands Ability Battery is an objective way to assess what those abilities are in a virtual, online format.
Some talents are specialized, such as a gift for music or design or a gift for theoretical thought. For others, talents may be more generalized, such as a talent for leading teams or the abilities that make teaching, selling, or writing very easy.
But does it matter if you know what your natural abilities are?
Can’t everyone learn skills and improve their job performance, regardless?
There is no question that we can all improve in different areas and acquire skills. But it takes tremendous effort to do something well for which you are not naturally suited. You will achieve fewer results and far less satisfaction doing work that does not align with your natural talents, gifts, and abilities. For individuals, this means longer, more frustrating hours with fewer rewards; for organizations, this means falling short of attaining maximum productivity.
What to expect when taking the HAB
The HAB consists of 19 virtual work samples taken online over an estimated three hours. You do not have to take the whole Battery at once, but you can do each work sample individually or break them up into smaller groups.
The HAB measures basic human abilities such as visual speed and accuracy, the ability to work with numbers and designs, inductive and analytical reasoning, idea flow, verbal and structural aptitude, musical aptitude, and several memory applications.
The HAB also measures one’s vocabulary level. Although we cannot call a person’s vocabulary level a natural ability, we have come to recognize it is a good predictor of occupational success.
How are results revealed?
After you complete all 19 work samples, you will receive a customized report that provides insights into how you think, what makes you tick, and where you will thrive.
The report includes your personal style and shows the scores achieved in each ability and its significance as it relates to your personality, your motivation, and how you learn, communicate, solve problems, and make decisions.
The HAB also includes an interactive career supplement that combines your personal style with what motivates you to reveal personal patterns of abilities.
These patterns are then aligned with careers to explore. Each career recommendation is linked to the United States Department of Labor’s O*NET Online to provide you with the most current data for each occupation.
Specialized Report for Leaders
Designed for industry leaders and C-level executives, the HAB Leaders report reveals how natural abilities influence roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for skill development. This specialized report builds self-awareness of your leadership talents and strengths and relates them to specific behaviors and blind spots to offer practical solutions.
Career Exploration for High School & College Students
High School and college students face tremendous amounts of pressure. They are expected to earn excellent grades in high school to get into the best colleges. Once in college, they are expected to choose the right field of study. And after graduation, they must either get a good job or move on to graduate school.
In the end, many will take the path others have defined. But here’s the catch - we want to care about our work. And, while a high salary may be important, we may not enjoy a single minute of the work types that must be performed.
So what is the secret to finding your dream job?
The answer is simple: find your passion. Give yourself permission to explore where your talents are best served.
The Student and Adult Standardized HAB report for high school students and adults will help identify your hidden talents and abilities, your superpowers.
Career Change Exploration
No matter your age or career level, you deserve to live according to your authentic self and enjoy what you do for a living. There will always be more urgent matters, but taking the time to assess your natural abilities and develop a Personal Vision will pay dividends far beyond what you can measure.
Whether you are in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, contemplating a midlife change, or looking to retire, the good life starts now!
Adults of all ages and at different points in their careers have used the HAB to reassess and reinvigorate their careers.
