ASSESSMENTS · VITAL SIGNS

Vital Signs: Team and Organizational Climate Assessments

Emotions drive people. People drive performance.
When a team stalls or engagement slips, the usual measures tell you something is wrong but not what. Vital Signs measures the emotional drivers underneath performance, so you can see which one is breaking and where to start.

It comes in three versions, from a single leader’s 360 up to the whole organization. Every report compares results with teams around the world, and a second measure shows what changed.

Download a sample report

What you'll find on this page

The challenges Vital Signs is built for Leadership, Team and Organizational Vital Signs Inside a Vital Signs report Download a sample report Results organizations have measured Two ways to get access The model behind the assessment Frequently asked questions
Organizations that measure emotional intelligence with Six Seconds
WHEN TO USE IT

The challenges Vital Signs is built for

Organizations usually reach for Vital Signs when a decision about people needs evidence, not a hunch. Each challenge below points to the version that answers it.

Engagement that keeps slipping

See which of the five drivers is pulling engagement down, and in which teams.

TeamOrganizational

A team that has stalled

Find what is supporting the team and what is getting in its way, compared with teams worldwide.

Team

A leader who isn’t landing

A 360 shows where a leader’s view of themselves differs from how others experience them.

Leadership 360

Restructuring or a merger

Take a climate baseline before the change, then track it through the transition.

Organizational

Training with no proof it worked

Measure before and after a program, and show what it changed.

All versions

Losing good people

Retention and satisfaction are measured outcomes, linked to the drivers that predict them.

TeamOrganizational
“
Vital Signs is my ‘go to’ toolset to measure and improve the people-side of performance. It’s quick, highly effective, and an essential tool for me to support my business clients to engage emotional intelligence for performance.
Carel Potgieter Consultant, Ngena Technologies
THREE VERSIONS

One model, measured at the level you need

Each version measures the same five drivers and links them to the outcomes that matter at that level. Many organizations start with one and add another as the work grows.

Leadership Vital Signs 360

360-degree feedback for one leader, showing where their own view lines up with how others see them and where it splits.

Who answers
The leader and the people they work with
Outcomes
Influence, Efficacy, Design, Direction
Leadership development & coaching
Explore Leadership Vital Signs

Team Vital Signs

A survey of about ten minutes that every member of an intact team completes. It shows what is supporting the team’s performance and what is quietly getting in its way.

Who answers
Every member of the team
Outcomes
Sustainability, Agility, Results, Satisfaction
Team development & turnarounds
Explore Team Vital Signs

Organizational Vital Signs

The same read across a whole organization, with optional breakdowns by unit, so you can see where climate is strong and where it is struggling.

Who answers
Employees across the organization
Outcomes
Retention, Productivity, Customer Focus, Future Success
Culture & change programs
Explore Organizational Vital Signs

Also available: Educational Vital Signs, which measures climate in classrooms and schools.

INSIDE THE REPORT

What a Vital Signs report shows

These three views are rebuilt from real Team Vital Signs and Leadership Vital Signs reports, with sample data. Scores are normed, so 100 is the global average and every result is read against teams around the world.

Sample report
Team Vital Signs

Where your team stands

Everyone on the team lands in one of three groups. An average team is 25% engaged, 50% neutral and 25% disengaged.

Sample report
Team Vital Signs

Compared with teams worldwide

Each driver and outcome against the global norm, with the lowest and highest quarter of teams shaded.

Sample report
Leadership Vital Signs 360

Where views split

A leader’s self-rating beside everyone else’s on each driver, on a scale of 1 to 5, followed by the widest gap on a single item.

Every report also includes the specific items that most need attention and a framework for an action plan. The 360 adds written comments under start, stop and continue.

SEE A FULL REPORT

Download a sample Vital Signs report

The quickest way to judge whether Vital Signs fits your work is to read a real report. Both samples use the full layout your clients receive, with sample data.

  • Team Vital Signs: the complete 30-page team report
  • Leadership Vital Signs 360: the complete 29-page leader report

Get the sample reports

Sent to your inbox straight away.

We’ll never share your details. See our privacy policy.

CASE STUDIES

Results organizations have measured

Siemens

139% more highly engaged managers

In one of our case studies, Siemens recorded a 139% increase in the number of highly engaged managers.

Read the Siemens story
ServRx

Employee engagement more than doubled

In another case study, ServRx more than doubled employee engagement.

Read the ServRx story

Read a full Vital Signs report before you decide anything.

Get the samples
GETTING ACCESS

Two ways to put Vital Signs to work

Vital Signs is delivered by someone certified in it, so the results are read properly and land as a plan rather than a score. That person can be you, or it can be us.

Get certified yourself

Use Vital Signs in your own practice

The EQ Performance Metrics Certification qualifies you to run the full Vital Signs toolkit with your own clients or inside your organization. It is ICF Approved for 28.5 CCE units, and renews every couple of years so practitioners stay current with the research.

  • Leadership 360Feedback for individual leaders
  • TeamClimate inside an intact team
  • OrganizationalClimate across the whole organization

ICF CCE units: 13.5 Core Competencies and 15 Resource Development.

See the certification
Have us deliver it

We run it with you

Six Seconds or one of our Preferred Partners runs Vital Signs with your people, then builds the program around what the data says.

  • MeasureA baseline for a leader, a team, or the organization
  • DebriefGuided sessions so people act on their own data
  • Re-measureA follow-up pulse that shows what moved

Most organizational engagements start here, and some certify an internal team later once the approach has proven itself.

See programs for organizations
“
Vital Signs provides meaningful insights and actionable feedback… It removes the complexity from self-development and sets a course that is clear and easy to navigate.
Debbie Lis Leadership Development Specialist, direction:GROWTH
THE MODEL BEHIND THE ASSESSMENT

The Vital Signs Model

Every version measures five drivers of climate: motivation, teamwork, change and execution, with trust at the center. Research with organizations around the world found that together they account for 50–60% of the variation in performance outcomes.

The model also sorts the drivers along two axes, from people to organization and from strategy to operations, which is how a report can tell a team what kind of team it is.

Explore the Vital Signs Model Request the technical manual
The Vital Signs Model Four drivers in a square: Motivation top left, Change top right, Teamwork bottom left, Execution bottom right, with Trust in a diamond at the center. Strategy is at the top, Operations at the bottom, People on the left and Organization on the right. Motivation Change Teamwork Execution Trust STRATEGY OPERATIONS PEOPLE ORGANIZATION
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is Vital Signs different from an engagement survey?
An engagement survey measures how people feel about their work. Vital Signs measures the drivers behind that feeling, and research links those drivers to 50–60% of the variation in performance outcomes. So instead of a single engagement score, you see which driver is holding performance back and where to start.
How does Vital Signs relate to the SEI?
The SEI looks inside a person, measuring the eight competencies of the Six Seconds Model. Vital Signs looks at the climate between people. They work well together: Vital Signs shows what needs to change in a team or organization, and the SEI shows which skills each leader can build to change it. For quick insight in a workshop, see Brain Profiles.
Which version should we start with?
Start with the question you need answered. For one leader’s impact, use Leadership Vital Signs 360. For how a single team is working, use Team Vital Signs. For a picture across units, use Organizational Vital Signs. If you are not sure, talk to our team and we will help you choose.
What does a score of 100 mean?
Vital Signs scores are normed against a global database of teams, so 100 is the worldwide average. Scores run from 65 to 135, and about half of all responses fall between 92.5 and 107.5. That makes a result meaningful on its own: you can see how a team compares with teams everywhere, not just with last year.
Can we measure again to see what changed?
Yes, and we recommend it. Because every version uses the same model, a follow-up measure a few months later shows which drivers moved and by how much. That turns a development program into something you can report on.
Who can run Vital Signs?
Anyone certified through the EQ Performance Metrics Certification, or Six Seconds and our Preferred Partners working with your organization. See the two ways to get access ›

Still deciding? Read a complete sample report first.

Get the sample reports
Get the sample reports