Align Employee Retention Signal Assessment ยท The Retention Studio
The Retention Studio Align Business Advisory Services ยท Retention Signal Assessment ยท Confidential

Rate what you actually see.
Not what you hope is true. Not what you'd say in a meeting.

This assessment is built for Align specifically. Rate what you observe across your team โ€” not any single person, but the patterns you see in how people connect, engage, and build here. Complete independently โ€” then compare.

How this works: Each partner completes the assessment independently, rating what they observe across the team as a whole. When both are done, a gap map surfaces where you saw things differently. The gaps between what Dena and Lori observe are the most important data points in this assessment.

Align Business Advisory Services ยท Team-wide retention patterns
Partner 1 โ€” Dena
Partner 2 โ€” Lori
0 of 15 questions answered
CONNECT
First 90 Days
Days 1โ€“90
Q01 ยท CONNECT
When people join Align, does their energy and engagement in the first 90 days generally match what they showed in the interview โ€” or does something quietly pull back once they start?
0No noticeable pullback; energy matched or exceeded the interview.
1Slight dip in energy, but generally engaged through the early period.
2Clear pullback in presence or engagement after the first few weeks.
3Noticeably disengaged compared to interview from very early on.
Q02 ยท CONNECT
Do new team members bring personal presence to their work and early interactions โ€” or do they tend to stay in a kind of permanent interview mode well past their first month?
0Brought personal presence quickly; felt like part of the firm.
1Took some time, but eventually warmed up and showed genuine presence.
2Mostly stayed in "polite, professional only" mode well past the first month.
3Still feels like they're in interview mode; no real personal presence has emerged.
Q03 ยท CONNECT
When colleagues attempt to connect with new team members early on, do people generally engage and reciprocate โ€” or does the firm tend to stay polite but surface-level?
0Actively engaged and reciprocated; relationships formed naturally inside and outside the firm.
1Mixed: some genuine connection, some polite-but-distant interactions.
2Mostly polite but cool; few real connections formed internally or with clients.
3Consistently stayed on the surface; no meaningful connection at all.
ALIGN
Expectation vs. Reality
Months 6โ€“18
Q04 ยท ALIGN
Have you heard team members reference what they were told during hiring in contrast to what they're now experiencing โ€” even casually, even once?
0Never referenced any disconnect between what was promised and what they're experiencing.
1Mentioned it once in passing, without much weight.
2Brought it up a few times or with visible frustration.
3References this mismatch regularly or as a clear grievance.
Q05 ยท ALIGN
Across your team, have you noticed a general shift from people bringing ideas and initiative to simply reporting what they're working on?
0Still brings ideas, questions, and forward-looking input to conversations.
1Slight shift; fewer ideas, but still some forward-looking conversation.
2Mostly status updates now; initiative and ideas are rare.
3Only reports tasks and deliverables; no forward-looking engagement at all.
Q06 ยท ALIGN
Do you hear ownership language from your team โ€” "our clients," "we do X" โ€” or has distancing language crept in: "the firm does X," "Align's clients," "they decided"?
0Consistently uses "we/our" โ€” strong ownership language throughout.
1Occasional distancing language, but not a clear or consistent pattern.
2Regular mix, with "the firm/they" showing up more often than before.
3Mostly speaks in distancing terms; "we/our" is rare or gone.
PLACE
Role Clarity and Path
Ongoing
Q07 ยท PLACE
Do team members at Align have a visible path forward โ€” or do people have to ask, guess, or go elsewhere to understand what growth looks like here?
0Has not raised advancement, growth, or future path at all.
1Asked once casually or indirectly, without visible urgency.
2Has raised it multiple times or with noticeable concern.
3Frequently questions their path; seems focused on it or frustrated by the absence of clarity.
Q08 ยท PLACE
Do you observe team members who are visibly more engaged in stretch work than in their core role โ€” and noticeably flat when working within it?
0Engaged in core role and in stretch work; no clear mismatch.
1Slightly more energized by stretch work, but still engaged in core responsibilities.
2Clearly more alive outside their defined role; noticeably flat in core work.
3Only really engaged outside their role; consistently disengaged in core responsibilities.
Q09 ยท PLACE
Do you hear people describe their work in minimizing terms โ€” "I just handle X," "it's pretty routine" โ€” when the work is neither?
0Describes their work with appropriate weight and ownership.
1Occasional minimizing comments; not a strong or consistent pattern.
2Regularly minimizes their work or contribution in conversations.
3Almost always talks about their work in minimizing or dismissive terms.
INVEST
Development and Recognition
Year 1โ€“3
Q10 ยท INVEST
When team members receive recognition โ€” praise, a win, acknowledgment from leadership โ€” does it visibly land across the team, or does it generally seem to pass through without registering?
0Recognition clearly lands; they respond with visible appreciation or renewed energy.
1Mixed; sometimes it lands, sometimes it seems to glide past.
2Usually flat response; recognition rarely seems to register.
3Consistently flat or closed off when recognized; no visible impact.
Q11 ยท INVEST
Are people at Align raising their hand for new challenges and visible opportunities โ€” or has the team generally stopped volunteering for work beyond their defined role?
0Still actively volunteers for new and visible work.
1Volunteering has decreased slightly, but not disappeared.
2Rarely raises their hand now; noticeable drop from earlier behavior.
3No longer volunteers at all; actively avoids new or visible work.
Q12 ยท INVEST
Has compensation come up informally โ€” outside of formal reviews โ€” in more than one conversation across your team in the past six months?
0Compensation has not come up informally.
1Mentioned once informally, without much emphasis.
2Brought up a few times informally, with some concern implied.
3Regularly raises compensation informally; clear and ongoing concern.
AMPLIFY
Institutional Contribution
Year 2+
Q13 ยท AMPLIFY
When new people join, does the existing team take informal ownership of welcoming them and bringing them into how Align operates โ€” or does onboarding mostly fall to leadership?
0Actively welcomes and orients new team members; clear informal ownership.
1Occasionally engages with new hires, but not consistently.
2Rarely interacts with new team members beyond what is strictly required.
3Stays fully on the sidelines; no informal ownership at all.
Q14 ยท AMPLIFY
Is your team actively engaged in conversations about Align's future and direction โ€” or have those conversations become something leadership has with itself?
0Actively participates in firm-future and client strategy conversations.
1Slight decrease in participation, but still engaged.
2Mostly quiet now; participation has noticeably dropped.
3Consistently silent and checked out in these conversations.
Q15 ยท AMPLIFY
Across your team, do you notice a sense of groundedness and investment in what's being built โ€” or a quiet detachment that doesn't read as contentment?
0No sense of detachment; presence feels stable and grounded.
1Occasional hints of detachment, but not a consistent pattern.
2Regular sense of lightness or distance that feels "one foot out."
3Strong, persistent sense they've already made a decision to leave.
Please answer all 15 questions before submitting.

Assessment Complete.
Here is what the comparison shows.

Review each partner's scores independently โ€” then focus on the gap map below. Where Dena and Lori see the same team differently is where the real conversation starts.

Partner 1 โ€” Dena
โ€” / 45
Partner 2 โ€” Lori
โ€” / 45
Score by touchpoint
Gap map
The questions below show where each partner's observations differed. A gap of 2 or more on a single question is the most important signal in this assessment. It means two people observing the same team member reached fundamentally different conclusions โ€” and that gap is worth a direct conversation before either score matters.
No gap โ€” both partners saw the same thing
Gap of 1 โ€” minor difference in perception
Gap of 2+ โ€” significant difference. Start here.
"When people feel seen, they stay. When they stay, they build. And what they build becomes your business."

This assessment is one data point โ€” not a verdict. A high score on a single question warrants attention. A pattern across a touchpoint warrants action. A gap between what the two of you saw is the conversation this assessment was built to start.

The next step is a structured debrief โ€” walking through each flagged signal together, identifying the one or two highest-leverage interventions, and deciding what gets addressed first.