The 5 Best Tools for Coaching and Engagement Every Coach & HR Pro Needs to Know [2025 Comparison]

That Workshop Buzz Is Gone. Now What?

You've just wrapped up a brilliant team workshop. The energy is electric as the team laughs about their 'Fiery Red' and 'Sunshine Yellow' styles. But a month later, you get the call - the same conflicts are flaring up. The same top performer is quietly disengaging. You described the problem perfectly, but you feel like you've missed the diagnosis. What if the real issue isn't how they behave, but why?

This is a common challenge for coaches and HR practitioners alike: the wide gap between creating awareness in a team and driving sustained, individual motivation.

Choosing the right diagnostic tool can feel overwhelming. There are dozens of options, and it’s hard to know which one will deliver real results for your team instead of just being a 'one-and-done' workshop. We’ve been there.

That's why we've put together this no-nonsense guide. As coaches ourselves, and with experience working in HR too, we believe the most effective approach starts by diagnosing the 'why' behind performance before exploring the 'what' or 'how'. We'll walk you through five of the most popular tools from this perspective, starting with the one that acts as a diagnostic key and then showing how it amplifies the value of the others in your kit.

The Bottom Line for Coaches & HR Pros:

• For diagnosing the 'why' and measuring engagement: Motivational Maps® is the essential diagnostic that gives you a quantifiable score and an actionable roadmap to the root cause of performance issues.

• For team communication workshops: Insights® & MBTI® are excellent for creating a shared language.

• For focusing on individual talent: CliftonStrengths® is a powerful positive psychology tool.

What is a Coaching & Engagement Tool?

Before we dive in, let's establish a clear definition. At their core, these tools are diagnostics. They are designed to give us, as practitioners, objective data to move beyond guesswork and truly understand the individuals and teams we serve. They typically provide features like:

• Individual & Team Reports: Offering personalised insights and a collective overview.

• Data Visualisation: Using models (like colours or charts) to make complex data easy to understand.

• Actionable Recommendations: Providing concrete next steps for development.

Consider a common use case: a manager comes to you about a high-potential employee who has become disengaged. Their performance is dropping, and their attitude is affecting the team. To solve this, you need to answer a very specific question. Is it 'what is their personality type?', 'how do they prefer to behave?', or is it something deeper?

The crucial question isn't 'which tool is best?' but rather, 'which tool answers the right question for the problem I'm trying to solve?' This is the lens through which we'll evaluate each one.

How We Evaluate These Tools

As practitioners, our clients trust us to deliver tangible results. That's why we evaluate any diagnostic tool against four pragmatic criteria:

• Depth of Insight: Does it explain the 'what' (behaviour) or uncover the 'why' (the driver behind the behaviour)? A great tool gets to the root cause.

• Practical Actionability: How clearly does the data translate into a concrete development plan? Insight without a clear next step is just interesting information.

• Measures Change Over Time: Can the tool provide a quantifiable metric to track progress? Proving the impact of our interventions is critical for demonstrating value.

• Client Resonance: Does the tool create a genuine "aha!" moment for the client, making them an active participant in their own growth?

For transparency, Motivational Maps® is our preferred coaching and diagnostic tool. We use additional tools, including some of those mentioned below, to provide a 'fuller' picture for our client.

At-A-Glance Comparison Table

Tool	Depth of Insight	Is It Actionable?	Measures Change	Client Resonance	Best Next Step
Motivational Maps®	Reveals motivators, satisfaction, and gaps	Specific actions by motivator and person	Tracks motivation %, driver scores, engagement	Strong personal ‘aha’ for individuals, teams	Get accredited in Motivational Maps®
Gallup Q12	Symptoms and engagement climate; not causes	Sets org priorities; requires follow‑on actions	Yes; repeat survey to track trends	Executive‑friendly index; clear benchmarking	Use with Maps® to target actions
CliftonStrengths	Identifies talents; potential to build strengths	Develop roles, coaching, tasks around strengths	Not designed for before‑after measurement	Uplifting, widely recognised strengths language	Pair with Maps® to channel strengths
Insights Discovery	Behavioural styles and communication preferences	Workshops, team communication, conflict strategies	Not metrics‑led; supports ongoing dialogue	Memorable colour model; strong recall	Combine with Maps® to resolve mismatches
MBTI	Four‑dichotomy personality preferences	Self‑awareness; shared team vocabulary	Not intended to measure change	Familiar framework; easy entry point	Use as language; Maps® to energise

#1: Motivational Maps® - Measure and Track Motivation and Engagement

• It Answers: "Why do I do what I do, and how motivated am I right now?"

• Best for: Getting to the root of what drives engagement, performance, and satisfaction.

A Motivational Map® report gives you a clear, quantifiable look at the 'why' behind performance. It's not just a description of personality; it's a diagnosis of motivation.

Where other tools describe the vehicle, Motivational Maps® is the only tool in this comparison that measures the engine - both what drives someone now and the extent to which those drivers are being met, producing a trackable motivation score. Coaches use the Personal Motivation Audit (PMA) to monitor change over time and target actions where motivation is at risk.This means that you can measure the impact of projects and initiatives, for example a measurable uplift in motivation from 67% to 81% after a team building workshop, or how team engagement is impacted by a company merger.

The power of the Map® comes from its elegant simplicity. It reveals an individual's unique blend of nine core motivators, including:

• The Expert: The drive for knowledge, mastery, and specialism.

• The Spirit: The drive for freedom, autonomy, and independence.

• The Searcher: The drive to make a meaningful difference and find purpose.

• The Friend: The drive for belonging, connection, and harmonious relationships.

The Nine Motivators defined by Motivational Maps®. What do you think your top 3 Motivators are? Do you think that any of them actually DEMOTIVATE you?

A Practical Example: Let's return to that high-potential employee who's suddenly disengaged. You run a Map®. Their personality profile says they're a 'driver', but the Map® reveals their #1 motivator is The Searcher - the need to make a difference. His motivation score has plummeted to 35%. You dig deeper and discover he's been moved off a project he felt had purpose and onto one that's purely administrative. The diagnosis is clear: it's not a performance issue; it's a purpose issue. The path forward is no longer a generic performance plan, but a specific conversation about reconnecting his role to the company's mission.

The Practitioner's Blind Spot: A Map® is unparalleled at revealing the why of motivation, but occasionally an individual's behaviour doesn't match what you might expect from their motivators. For example, you might coach a leader whose Map® shows a high 'Creator' motivator, yet you observe them consistently shutting down new ideas in team meetings. The Map® correctly identifies their deep need to innovate, but their behaviour seems to contradict it. This is where partnering the Map® with a tool like Insights Discovery® is so powerful. You might find their 'Cool Blue' energy means they prefer to innovate through private, data-driven analysis and are uncomfortable with unstructured public brainstorming. The Map® diagnoses the motivational need; the personality profile helps explain how that need is expressed, resolving the apparent mismatch in their behaviour.

Unlock the Potential of Your Existing Toolkit

Maps® act as an amplifier, making your other tools more insightful and your interventions more powerful:

• Unlock Insights® Discovery: A ‘Sunshine Yellow’ who feels drained had a top ‘Expert’ motivator unmet. After redesigning her role to include weekly deep‑work blocks, motivation rose from 48% to 76%.

• Make CliftonStrengths® Actionable: Show a client how to aim their 'Strategic' talent at projects that satisfy their 'Creator' motivator, turning talent into true strength.

• Solve the Gallup® Q12 Puzzle: When a survey shows a low 'recognition' score, a Team Motivational Map® tells you who needs public praise ('Star') versus who needs more trust ('Director').

See Motivational Maps® in action, with a sample report.

#2: Gallup Q12 Survey - Check your Engagement

• It Answers for Your Client's Organisation: "What is our overall engagement score?"

• Best for: Identifying the overall level of engagement in a team or organisation.

The Gallup Q12 gets to the heart of employee engagement with 12 simple statements.

Value in Your Toolkit: When you need to prove an engagement problem exists, the Q12 is the industry's gold standard. Its greatest strength is its function as a "thermometer," providing a credible, globally-recognised score. This data gives you a clear and authoritative mandate to proceed with a performance improvement intervention.

The Practitioner's Blind Spot (An Example): The Q12 is brilliant at identifying symptoms but offers no insight into the cause. Imagine a client's survey shows a rock-bottom score on the question: "In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work." A typical response is to roll out a generic "employee of the month" programme. But this often fails, because the Q12 can't tell you what kind of recognition will actually motivate the specific individuals on that team. In addition, many employees feel that it is unfair to be marked down because they "don't have a best friend at work".

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#3: CliftonStrengths - Highlight your Talents

• It Answers for Your Client: "What are my natural talents?"

• Best for: Focusing on positive psychology and individual contribution.

CliftonStrengths® helps identify what your people do best.

Value in Your Toolkit: Based on decades of research, CliftonStrengths is a fantastic tool for shifting a development conversation into positive and productive territory. By identifying a client's top 5 "talent themes," it gives you a clear roadmap to focus on developing what they do best, rather than trying to fix their weaknesses.

The Practitioner's Blind Spot (An Example): The tool is excellent at identifying talent, but it doesn't measure the motivation to invest in that talent. Your coaching can hit a wall when a client has a top talent like 'Strategic' yet consistently avoids every long-term planning meeting. Their resistance seems irrational until a Motivational Map® reveals a high 'Defender' motivator. Their deep-seated need for security and predictability is so powerful that it blocks them from using their greatest talent in the face of uncertainty. Without diagnosing that motivational conflict, you can't help them move forward.

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#4: Insights Discovery - Give a Language to your Behaviour

• It Answers for Your Client: "How do I prefer to behave?"

• Best for: Quick team-building and improving communication.

The four colour energies of Insights Discovery®.

Value in Your Toolkit: The four-colour energy model is exceptionally memorable and brilliant for facilitating workshops on communication and team collaboration. It provides a safe, simple, and effective language for teams to discuss their differences in style without judgment.

The Practitioner's Blind Spot (An Example): It describes the 'what' of behaviour but not the 'why' of motivation. I once coached a sales director - a classic 'Sunshine Yellow' - whose sociable and enthusiastic energy was ironically driving his similarly-sociable team crazy. A Motivational Map® revealed his #1 driver was 'Expert.' He wasn't just trying to be friendly; he was desperately trying to prove his knowledge in every meeting, and it was coming across all wrong. Insights told us what he was doing; the Map® told us why, allowing us to find a more effective way for him to demonstrate his expertise without overwhelming his team.

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#5: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - Find your Personality Type

• It Answers for Your Client: "What's my personality type?"

• Best for: In-depth personal development and understanding individual preferences.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can help initiate conversations about self-awareness and how we experience the world differently.

Value in Your Toolkit: As arguably the most famous personality assessment in the world, the MBTI is the classic, well-known framework that has introduced millions of people to the concept of personality differences and self-awareness. It's an excellent, non-judgmental starting point for conversations about how people experience the world differently.

The Practitioner's Blind Spot (An Example): The MBTI provides a static "type" that doesn't account for the dynamic force of motivation. For instance, you can have two "ENFPs" on a team - one who is a top performer and another who is completely disengaged. The MBTI offers no explanation for this critical performance gap because it doesn't measure what energises one and drains the other. It's a foundational tool, but it can't diagnose the issues that arise after the initial self-discovery phase.

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Great leadership is about providing a clear direction. It starts with understanding the 'why' behind your team's motivation.

Conclusion

Ultimately, as a coach or HR leader, the 'best' tool is the one that creates lasting change. While personality and strengths profiles are useful for describing the landscape, true transformation happens when you understand the engine: motivation.

Motivational Maps® gives you the key to that engine. Use it as your primary diagnostic to get straight to the root cause of performance, or use it as the amplifier that makes every other tool in your kit more insightful and your interventions more powerful.

If you're ready to move beyond just understanding personality to actively boosting motivation and performance, exploring Motivational Maps® is your next step. We accredit professionals like you to use Motivational Maps® to unlock performance in your own clients and teams.

Cut the headaches. Start with the why.

Many teams stall because we only see behaviour. Motivational Maps® gives you the why and the roadmap to act.

Get accredited and add a proven diagnostic to your practice.

For Coaches, click here.

For HR Professionals, click here.

Frequently Asked Questions About Motivational Maps®

• How is a Motivational Map® different from personality profiles like Insights Discovery® or DISC?

  • While personality profiles describe how you prefer to behave, Motivational Maps® explains why. It also provides a quantifiable engagement score, allowing you to track motivation and the impact of your interventions over time.

• Can I use Motivational Maps® for recruitment and hiring?

  • Absolutely. It's a powerful tool for assessing a candidate's motivational fit for a specific role and predicting how their drivers will align with the existing team culture, reducing the risk of a bad hire. It is fantastic for informing your use of interview questions too, for example in finding out their preferred management style (Director), what expectations they have of training (Expert), and how they keep themselves motivated whilst working remotely (Friend). For fairness and compliance, do not use it as the sole selection method. Combine with structured interviews and validated assessments.

• Do you offer certification for coaches and HR professionals?

  • Yes, we run a comprehensive accreditation programme that equips you with the skills to interpret and debrief Maps® effectively, giving you a powerful new diagnostic for your practice.

• How long does it take for a client to complete a Map®?

  • The online assessment is quick and straightforward, typically taking about 10-15 minutes to complete.

• Is Motivational Maps® externally validated?

  • Motivational Maps® is independently certified under an ISO/IEC 17065‑compliant scheme by an accreditation‑body‑recognised certifier. Combined with our published validity and reliability evidence, this provides robust, independent assurance that the tool and its reporting processes are impartial, consistent and dependable. You can read more about the validity and reliability of Motivational Maps® here.

CliftonStrengths, Gallup Q12, MBTI, and Insights Discovery are registered trademarks of their respective owners.