Job Demands-Resources Self-Assessment Tool for Leaders
A Practical Guide to Diagnosing Team Energy and Motivation
Dr. Nicole Tschierske
Part 1: Introduction & Positioning
The Problem You're Facing
You sense something is off. Your team seems tired, disengaged, or stuck — but you can't quite name what's happening or where to start. People are showing up, doing the work, but the energy isn't there. Or maybe productivity is fine, but turnover is creeping up. Or conflicts are surfacing more often. Something feels wrong, but what exactly?
What This Tool Does
This assessment helps you move from "something feels off" to "here's a hypothesis I can test." It trains your eye to see patterns through the lens of job demands (what drains energy) and job resources (what fuels motivation).
Job demands are aspects of work that require sustained effort and therefore cost energy — things like workload, role ambiguity, bureaucracy, or interpersonal conflict.
Job resources are aspects of work that have motivating potential — things like autonomy, feedback, meaningful work, or opportunities to use your strengths.
The research is clear: when demands are high and resources are low, people burn out. When demands are manageable and resources are strong, people engage. This tool helps you see which demands might be draining your team and which resources might be missing — so you know where to focus your attention.
What This Tool Is Not
This is not a scientifically validated diagnostic instrument or psychometric scale. Think of it less like a clinical assessment and more like a Cosmo quiz — something that provokes reflection, sparks recognition, and points you in a direction, rather than measuring anything precisely.
The value is in the noticing, not the score.
Three Ways to Use This Tool
- Solo reflection — Complete the assessment yourself to clarify your observations and decide where to focus your energy as a leader.
- Conversation starter — Use your completed assessment as a hypothesis to test with your team in a structured dialogue.
- Team exploration — Work through the assessment together with your team to surface shared perceptions and co-create next steps.
How to Use This Tool
- Read this introduction to understand the framework.
- Complete Part 2: The Assessment.
- Use Part 3: Interpreting Your Results to make sense of what you noticed.
- Reflect using the questions and conversation starters in Part 4.
- Take action using Part 5: What to Do Next.
Let's begin.