From competency profile to insight into identity
We measure everything. Dashboards, competency profiles, engagement scores. The data is there. What is often missing is the answer to the question behind it: do we truly understand what drives people?
Why traditional tools miss the mark
Organizations invest significant budgets annually in training and development. Yet, employees report that development programs miss the mark. Talent reviews result in neat profiles that end up gathering dust in a drawer. London, Sessa, and Shelley (2023, Annual Review of Organizational Psychology) demonstrate that self-insight is the core of personal and professional growth — and at the same time, they observe that only 10 to 15 percent of professionals are actually self-aware. Competency tests and engagement scores measure the surface: what someone does and how satisfied they are. What they miss is the undercurrent: the values that provide energy, the experiences that shaped identity, the patterns that explain where someone thrives or gets stuck.
Why the story forms the bridge
Savickas (2012, Journal of Counseling & Development) shows that professional development is a narrative construct: people give direction to their growth by assigning meaning to experiences, a process that is lifelong, holistic, and contextual. The longitudinal Learning Lives study by Goodson et al. (2010, 528 interviews) confirms: narrative learning shapes identity and strengthens control over one's own development. The quality of the life story is directly related to the quality of learning.
What NarraTyx makes visible
NarraTyx translates these insights into a workable method for management, HR, trainers, and coaches.
Through the Personal Story, professionals explore their motivations, capabilities, and pitfalls; insights that resonate and provide direction for development.
Through the Connecting Story, the collective identity of the organization becomes visible; a shared frame of reference that extends beyond the strategic plan.
Through Cultural Fit, individual growth is linked to the organizational course, so that development becomes a shared responsibility rooted in mutual recognition.
Stories are data with a soul: rich, layered, contextual. They contain information about what motivates someone, where energy is generated or drains away, and which values are guiding. What is there to discover if we truly learn to listen?
Discover what NarraTyx reveals
Sources
London, M., Sessa, V.I. & Shelley, L.A. (2023). Developing Self-Awareness: Learning Processes for Self- and Interpersonal Growth. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 261–288. Self-awareness is a lifelong development process; only 10–15% of professionals are actually self-aware. Narrative and reflective practices are the most powerful interventions to change that.
Savickas, M.L. (2012). Life Design: A Paradigm for Career Intervention in the 21st Century. Journal of Counseling & Development, 90(1), 13–19. Professional development is a narrative construct: people give direction to their careers by giving meaning to experiences. That process is lifelong, holistic, and contextual.
Goodson, I.F. et al. (2010). Learning Lives: Learning, Identity and Agency in the Life Course. Longitudinal study (528 interviews): narrative learning shapes identity and control over one's own development. The quality of the life story is directly related to learning processes and outcomes.