Do you know what conation is? Find out from workplace coach Erin Werde

Erin Werde's job centers around a term that has the dubious distinction of being among the top 1,000 most obscure words in the English language. The word? Conation.

Conation is the part of the subconscious that deals with a person's natural tendencies to do something. It is separate from intelligence and emotion. Werde works with companies to help employees find roles that best suit their natural instincts and help managers do a better job of hiring, building teams and, ultimately, making the organization more productive and profitable.

As president of St. Louis Park-based Affiance Coaching, Werde's main tool is the Kolbe Index, a 36-question multiple-choice questionnaire developed 30 years ago that measures various aspects of a person's conation.

With four generations in the workplace bringing different values and approaches — along with some generational conflicts — Werde believes success lies in harnessing the power of instinct.

Q: Why do companies hire you?

A: A variety of reasons — anywhere from having trouble with retention, to their team isn't quite gelling to interoffice conflict. We start by giving everyone a Kolbe Index because my objective is to make sure employees have a chance to work within their instinctive drive.

Q: Tell me about the Kolbe Concept and this term "conation."

Q: How does Kolbe differ from other personality tests or career assessment tools?

A: Kolbe doesn't measure preferences, it doesn't measure motivations or values. It's not an IQ test, either. It won't tell me about somebody's intelligence, it won't tell me anything about their experiences, their education or any particular skills they have. It's just about this instinctual component.

Q: Let's say you hear from a manager whose team isn't working effectively. Then what?

A: I like to start out giving individual Kolbe assessments. Then, depending on the size of company or team, I'll sit down one on one and go over results, which often validates what people already know about themselves. Then when we get to the group session, I can say, 'You know a lot about yourself, let's learn about others in the room.' That's when you hear — 'Oh, that's why I get so frustrated when so-and-so does this.' It really lends itself to a generosity of spirit. Instead of constantly getting frustrated with XY because he's always doing something at the last minute, now I know that's how he works.

Q: Are there some common traits you see when things aren't working?

Q: What kind of companies do you work with?

A: It really is industry-agnostic. Everything from financial service companies to interior design to construction to pet food companies and really everything in between. I've worked with tiny two-person companies and $50 million companies with 350 employees. About 70 percent of my business is in Minnesota; about 30 percent is coast-to coast — Washington, D.C., to Hawaii.

Q: How important is emotional health in the workplace?

A: What I see most often that just bewilders me is that there's a lot of management in terms of "I behave this way so you must, too." Not only are we causing a great deal of tension by forcing people outside of their instinct and outside of their sweet spot, but we're really squashing talents they're bringing to that position. I think it's a big reason why we see so much turnover. I think it's a huge reason why companies are struggling with retention. As much as we like to think it, humans are not a one-size fits all approach.

Q: Do you work differently with leaders than you do with the workers?