Norms, or normative comparisons, provide a mechanism for people to compare themselves with others from different cultures. TRACOM has developed a variety of international norms to reflect the culture and behavioral standards of individual countries and geographic regions. In doing so, people receive profiles that are most meaningful for them.
For example, it’s helpful to tell someone they are an Amiable Style, but it is much more effective if you tell them they are more “Ask Assertive” than 75% of the population and more “Emote Responsive” than 50% of the population.
TRACOM also offers SOCIAL STYLE Passport, an online technology tool that lets global professionals with multi-rater profiles select from 80+ countries or regional norms and generate a new, on-demand profile for that country or region.
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TRACOM’s research shows that SOCIAL STYLE is a global concept and exists across nationalities. However, every culture is unique, and this can reflect the way Style and Versatility are displayed. For this reason it is important for people to use norms that reflect their specific cultures.
For example, in China, displays of Assertiveness are generally more direct than in Western societies. If we compared China and the U.S. on this dimension, the Chinese average would be higher (more Tell Assertive) than the U.S. average. Therefore, we develop norms for China that adjust to their culture. This provides a more meaningful measure of Style and Versatility for people in China because they are being measured relative to others within their culture.
SOCIAL STYLE has norms for your specific needs: Universal, Managerial and Sales. There are also norms available for Adaptive Mindset for Resilience and BEQ.
TRACOM continues to add new norms as necessary data becomes available. However, for those in countries where we have not developed a norm, we have made regional norms. For example, while we have a norm for Spain, we do not currently have a norm for Portugal. Therefore, a Portuguese individual should use our norm for Southern Europe, which will reflect his or her culture to a closer degree than any other norm.
Learners and raters can choose whatever language they would like to complete the questionnaire in. This helps them understand and interpret the questionnaire in a way that leads to accurate responses. Meanwhile, using our MAX session management system, an administrator can determine which norms to use and what languages the reports should be produced in by selecting appropriate combinations from the drop-down list of available Profile reports.
TRACOM’s language options are independent from the norm options. This allows each individual or organization to flexibly choose the best option. For example, a native Spaniard who works as a manager in Madrid might want to complete the questionnaire, receive her SOCIAL STYLE Profile in Spanish and be compared using our Spain norm. But consider the same manager who works in a U.S. operation. Her Style questionnaire and Profile could use Spanish language but use the North American norm. This provides information about her Style and Versatility compared to her colleagues.
The SOCIAL STYLE Passport takes norms to the max! Learners can use this online tool to see how their Style’s behavior would be seen in any country around the world. Anyone with a multi-rater profile can select any of the 66 countries and 19 regional norms and generate a new, on-demand profile. SOCIAL STYLE Passport is available at no charge to organizations and learners using TRACOM’s online profile system. Learn more by clicking here: SOCIAL STYLE Passport Information Sheet.