How We Score the Discover Assessment

What peer-norm scoring means

Your Discover results tell you where you stand compared to a reference population of leaders, not whether your answers are right or wrong.

Every skill, cluster, and overall readiness score on your report is a percentile. If you scored in the 82nd percentile on Decisiveness, that means you scored higher than 82 out of 100 leaders in the reference population for that skill.

This matters. Absolute scores (the raw percentage of times you agreed with statements about a skill) sound precise, but they tell you almost nothing on their own. Knowing you agreed with 68% of Decisiveness items is meaningless unless you know what 68% looks like across thousands of other leaders. Peer-norm scoring translates your answers into a comparison that is interpretable.

This is the approach used by Hogan, SHL, Korn Ferry, and every other serious behavioural and leadership assessment. It is the industry standard, and it is what makes results actionable.

Why it matters for coaching outcomes

A coach can only help you work on a skill if they know whether it is actually a strength or a development priority. Absolute scores hide that information. Peer-norm percentiles expose it clearly.

If your report shows Decisiveness at the 88th percentile and Deliberative Thinking at the 22nd percentile, your coach immediately knows: lean on the decisiveness, build the deliberative thinking. Without peer norms, both might read as "above average" on an absolute scale and the asymmetry disappears.

How to read your percentile

Your Discover report uses the interpretation bands shown in the structured scale below.

The shorthand:

• The 50th percentile is the median of the reference population. Half scored higher, half scored lower.
• 85th and above is a distinctive strength. You are in the top sixth of leaders on this dimension.
• 15th and below is a development priority. Not a weakness, not a character flaw. A signal about where coaching investment returns the most.
• The middle bands are typical. Many leaders live there across most skills.

A percentile is not a pass mark. It is a position.

What happens when we update our methodology

As our reference population grows, we periodically publish updated norm versions. When that happens, your report updates to reflect the expanded peer group, so the interpretation you see keeps pace with our current best science. This is deliberate. You benefit from every improvement in our methodology, not just the delegates who come after it.

What we preserve on your record:

• Your raw answers (immutable, never overwritten)
• Your original interpretation, computed against the norm version active at your assessment time
• A full audit trail of every norm version your record has been scored against

The norm version currently in use for your report is always shown on the report itself and at the top of this page.

If you want to see your original interpretation (the one you received when you first completed the assessment), contact privacy@tomorrows-compass.com with your account details and the assessment date. Your original values are retrievable at any time.

Norm status and interpretation confidence

Norm versions are labelled by their sample size. As our reference population grows, the confidence you can place in individual percentile calls increases.

• Provisional (fewer than 100 leaders in the reference population): Percentiles are directional. Large differences are meaningful; small differences are not. Interpret with care.
• Interim (100 to 199 leaders): Percentiles are stable at the top and bottom bands. Middle bands are still approximate.
• Established (200 or more leaders): Percentiles are stable across the full range and suitable for high-stakes coaching conversations.

The current norm version and its status are shown at the top of this page.

We are transparent about this because it matters. A serious assessment product should tell you when its scoring is provisional rather than pretend otherwise.

Demographics and sub-norms

Before completing an assessment, you may provide optional demographic information: industry, region, seniority, age group, and similar. This information is never stored against your identity in the norm dataset. It is used only in anonymised aggregate, to allow us (over time) to compute sub-norms that let you compare to a more specific reference group. For example, a financial services executive compared to other financial services executives.

If you prefer not to provide demographics, you compare against the general norm. You still get a full report. Nothing is held back.

How to request your original interpretation

Your current report reflects our latest norm version. If you want to see your original interpretation, the one delivered at your assessment time before any subsequent norm updates, email privacy@tomorrows-compass.com with:

• Your account email
• The assessment date or report reference

We provide your original interpretation alongside your current report. Nothing about your current report changes.

Related

• Terms of Service covers the contractual framework for norm versioning and norm updates.
• Privacy Policy covers how assessment data contributes to norm computation in anonymised aggregate form, and how to request your original interpretation.