It may be tempting or appealing to turn to personality assessments to help you answer this question. And that’s not a bad idea—knowing the existing personalities and the personality you’re potentially bringing in can be a helpful piece of insight. But personality assessments can only take you so far. They can’t tell you if the person you’re looking at has the same values or principles of your company.

The Judgment Index, on the other hand, helps you identify the person or persons who might fit best in your company and culture based on that person’s value system. In other words, do their general moral standards and align with the company’s?

The Judgment Index isn’t just about determining values. It’s also how that person applies those values—do they have the decision-making capabilities that your team needs for the position? Does the candidate have the right judgment capabilities needed for the role you’re looking to fill? The Judgment Index helps you see beyond the black-and-white qualifications presented on the résumé to understand the decision-making capabilities. 

Until the Judgment Index came along as a result of Robert S. Hartman in the mid-20th century, these traits and qualities in someone were unable to be measured. The Hartman Value Profile was Hartman’s way of contributing good to humanity in the face of devastating evil the world had seen in World War II. (If only we’d had the Judgment Index for world leaders back then!)