The EOS People Analyzer is straightforward and useful. For each person, you assess Core Values fit (do they share our values?) and GWC (do they Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity for the role?).
Plus, plus, plus. Minus, minus, minus. Right person, right seat - or not.
It's a helpful diagnostic. It tells you if someone fits. What it doesn't tell you is how to attract better talent, develop the people you have, or create an experience that keeps your best performers.
The People Analyzer answers "Do they fit?" It doesn't answer "Have we designed an experience worth fitting into?"
The People Analyzer's Design Trade-off
The People Analyzer makes a deliberate trade-off: assessment over design. It evaluates whether current people fit current seats.
A typical People Analyzer looks like this:
| Name | Value 1 | Value 2 | Value 3 | GWC | Right Seat? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah | + | + | + | +++ | Yes |
| Mike | + | +/- | + | ++- | Maybe |
| Alex | - | + | +/- | +-- | No |
This is useful. It creates clarity. Everyone knows who fits and who doesn't.
But notice what it doesn't address:
- Why don't people fit? (Hiring problem? Development problem? Role design problem?)
- How do we attract people who will fit?
- How do we develop +/- scores to +?
- What experience keeps people engaged after they're hired?
- What happens when a great person leaves? (Exit learnings?)
The People Analyzer is a snapshot assessment. It's not a talent strategy.
The Fit vs. Experience Gap
"Right person, right seat" is necessary but not sufficient. You also need:
Right experience: The journey from candidate to contributor to leader Right development: The growth path that builds capability Right culture: The environment that enables their best work Right promise: What you commit to them in exchange for their commitment
The best talent doesn't just want to "fit." They want to thrive, grow, and do meaningful work in an environment that values them.
The Cost of Analyzer-Only Thinking
When people management stops at the People Analyzer:
- You assess talent but don't develop it
- You hire for fit but don't design an experience worth staying for
- You identify who should leave but don't learn why they're not working out
- You have core values but no behavioral definitions that make them real
The math: If you lose 2 key people per year who were "right person, right seat" but left anyway, and replacement cost is 50-150% of salary, Analyzer-only thinking costs $200K-$600K annually in a 50-person company.
What Talent Architecture Actually Is
The Resolute Employee Experience (EX) Frameworks (Leadership Question 6) provide the complete talent architecture that surrounds and extends the People Analyzer. While the Analyzer assesses fit, the EX frameworks design the experience.
The fundamental shift:
- People Analyzer: "Does this person fit?"
- Talent Architecture: "How do we attract, develop, and retain the best people?"
Think of it this way: The People Analyzer is like a building inspection - it tells you if the structure is sound. Talent Architecture is like the entire building design - layout, flow, amenities, environment. Both matter, but one is an assessment, the other is a strategy.
The EX Frameworks: Complete Talent Architecture
The EX frameworks don't replace the People Analyzer - they build the complete talent system around it.
Framework 1: Employee Persona Canvas
What it is: Detailed profile of the ideal employee you're trying to attract.
People Analyzer gives you: Core Values to assess against EX Persona adds: Who thrives here, what motivates them, what they're looking for
Example:
- People Analyzer: "Must fit values: Growth, Excellence, Ownership"
- EX Persona: "Our ideal employee is a mid-career professional who's outgrown big-company bureaucracy, wants ownership of outcomes (not just tasks), values learning over comfort, and is motivated by building something meaningful over maximizing short-term comp."
This shapes your hiring messaging, interview questions, and candidate assessment.
Framework 2: EX Journey Canvas
What it is: The complete employee journey from attraction through alumni.
People Analyzer gives you: Point-in-time assessment EX Journey adds: Designed experience at every stage
Journey Stages:
- Attraction: How candidates discover and evaluate you
- Recruitment: The hiring experience
- Onboarding: First 90 days
- Development: Ongoing growth
- Retention: Staying engaged long-term
- Transition: Promotions, role changes
- Exit: Departure and alumni relationship
Each stage can be designed intentionally or left to chance.
Framework 3: EX Promise Canvas
What it is: What you commit to provide employees in exchange for their commitment.
People Analyzer gives you: What you expect from them (GWC, values) EX Promise adds: What they can expect from you
Example Promise Elements:
- "You will always have clarity about what success looks like in your role"
- "You will have direct access to leadership and transparency about company direction"
- "You will be developed - we invest 5% of salary in your growth annually"
- "You will be treated like an adult - results matter more than facetime"
The EX Promise becomes your employer brand and retention strategy.
Framework 4: Values-Principles-Behaviors Canvas
What it is: Translating abstract values into concrete, observable behaviors.
People Analyzer gives you: Core Values as assessment criteria (+/-) Values-Behaviors adds: What each value looks like in practice
Example - Value: "Excellence":
- Principle: "We deliver quality that we're proud of"
- Observable Behaviors:
- Reviews own work before submitting
- Asks "What would make this great?" not "What's good enough?"
- Proactively identifies and fixes quality issues
- Celebrates examples of excellent work in team meetings
Now "Excellence" is assessable and developable.
Framework 5: Culture Shapers Canvas
What it is: The deliberate design of cultural elements that shape behavior.
Culture Shapers include:
- Symbols: What visual elements communicate values?
- Language: What words and phrases define the culture?
- Stories: What narratives do we tell and retell?
- Rituals: What repeated practices reinforce culture?
- Rewards: What behaviors are recognized and celebrated?
Culture isn't accidental. It's shaped by hundreds of small design decisions.
Framework 6: Role Description Canvas
What it is: Complete role definitions beyond the Accountability Chart.
Accountability Chart gives you: Seat, reporting, accountabilities Role Description Canvas adds: Purpose, outcomes, metrics, skills, behaviors, development path
This completes the loop: You can only assess GWC if the role itself is clearly defined with success criteria.
Practical Integration: Keep Your People Analyzer, Add Depth
You don't need to abandon the People Analyzer. You need to embed it in a complete talent strategy.
Step 1: Define Your Employee Persona
Before hiring, answer:
- Who thrives in our culture? (Not just "fits" - thrives)
- What motivates our best performers?
- What are they looking for that we uniquely offer?
- What type of person should NOT apply?
Use this to shape job postings, recruiter briefs, and interview strategy.
Step 2: Design the Employee Journey
Map the experience at each stage:
- What's the attraction experience? (How do they find us?)
- What's the recruitment experience? (How do we hire?)
- What's the onboarding experience? (First 90 days?)
- What's the development experience? (How do they grow?)
- What's the retention experience? (Why do they stay?)
Identify gaps - where are people falling off or disengaging?
Step 3: Translate Values to Behaviors
For each core value:
- What principle does it represent?
- What behaviors demonstrate it?
- What behaviors violate it?
- How do we recognize it when we see it?
Now the People Analyzer assessment becomes objective, not subjective.
Step 4: Use the Analyzer Strategically
The People Analyzer becomes more powerful in context:
| Analyzer Result | Talent Architecture Response |
|---|---|
| Right person, right seat | Retain: What keeps them engaged? |
| Right person, wrong seat | Develop: What role would fit better? |
| Wrong person, right seat | Assess: Hiring problem or culture problem? |
| Wrong person, wrong seat | Exit: What went wrong in the process? |
Every result generates learning for the system.
The Complete Picture: EOS + Resolute Integration
The People Analyzer and EX Frameworks work together:
| Aspect | EOS People Analyzer | Resolute EX Frameworks |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Fit assessment | Experience design |
| Scope | Current employees | Full employee lifecycle |
| Values | Assessment criteria | Behavioral definitions |
| Output | Right/wrong seat | Complete talent strategy |
| Timing | Periodic review | Continuous design |
EOS gives you fit assessment. Resolute gives you experience architecture.
Why This Matters for EOS Companies
If you're using the People Analyzer, you've already committed to honest assessment of talent fit. That's significant - many companies avoid these conversations.
Resolute builds on that foundation. The EX Frameworks don't replace your People Analyzer - they create the system around it:
- EOS gives you GWC → Resolute adds Role Descriptions with metrics that define what "Get it" means
- EOS gives you Core Values assessment → Resolute adds behaviors that define each value
- EOS gives you right person/right seat → Resolute adds experience design for each outcome
The next evolution is from "assessing fit" to "designing an experience worth fitting into." That's where Resolute's EX frameworks and Waymaker's people tools complete the picture.
We're not replacing EOS. We're standing on its shoulders.
Read more about building leadership capacity and discover how the 7 Questions shape employee experience strategy.
Experience Talent Architecture with Waymaker
Ready to design a complete employee experience? Waymaker provides the AI-powered technology to build and manage your talent strategy.
Commander: Your EX Home
Waymaker Commander gives you all EX Canvases in one connected workspace. Your Persona connects to your Journey connects to your Promise. Role Descriptions live alongside goals and performance data.
OneAI: Talent Intelligence
Ask questions like "What do our departing employees have in common?" or "Which stage of the employee journey has the most friction?" - and get instant analysis. OneAI helps you see patterns in your talent data.
Connected People Operations
When you update role descriptions, performance reviews reference them automatically. When someone's People Analyzer shows "wrong seat," you can immediately see what other roles might fit.
Keep your People Analyzer. Design the experience around it. That's how you go from assessing fit to attracting and retaining the best.
The People Analyzer tells you if people fit. EX Frameworks design an experience worth fitting into. You need both. Learn more about comprehensive employee experience and explore Role Architecture.
EOS® and Entrepreneurial Operating System® are registered trademarks of EOS Worldwide, LLC. Waymaker is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by EOS Worldwide.
About the Author
Stuart Leo
Stuart Leo founded Waymaker to solve a problem he kept seeing: businesses losing critical knowledge as they grow. He wrote Resolute to help leaders navigate change, lead with purpose, and build indestructible organizations. When he's not building software, he's enjoying the sand, surf, and open spaces of Australia.