Creative Organizational Design

What Creative Organizational Design does

Creative Organizational Design (COD) is a privately-held Canadian company founded in 1979 in Waterloo, Ontario, that operates as a catalog-based distributor and curator of employment assessment tools. The company offers over 5,000 validated pre-screening, personality, skills, and aptitude tests organized into four categories: Basic Skills & On-the-Job Skills (527 titles), Personality & Personal Style (536 titles), Specific Job Areas (178 titles), and Specific Profession & Industry tests (513 titles). Notable distributed or proprietary products include the Pandemic Resilience Test (free COVID-19 coping self-assessment), Workplace Excellence Inventory, and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. Tests are delivered in online and paper formats, and in 2023 COD materially expanded the catalog with over 1,000 IBM Kenexa tests and added therapy/mental-health assessments and the Work Styles Predictor.

COD sells assessment tools primarily to HR departments, hiring managers, and leadership development professionals at organizations ranging from small businesses to large multinationals across manufacturing, insurance, banking, healthcare, government, and education. Distribution occurs through direct sales (phone and email consultation) and an e-commerce website with a searchable catalog. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with revenue streams split between one-time assessment tool licenses and professional services for customized employee attitude surveys. The company claims to be 'Canada's largest independent supplier of pre-screening assessment tools' and has operated continuously for over 45 years under Towler family ownership, with David Towler as President and Dr. John Towler as retired Senior President/founder.

The business model is sales-led B2B with a horizontal segmentation approach — the same assessment catalog is sold across multiple verticals and use cases (pre-screening, promotion readiness, leadership development, employee surveys, and increasingly clinical/therapy contexts). COD emphasizes personalized 1-on-1 consultation and principals' published expertise as differentiators rather than technology leadership; the offering contains no API, no software integrations, and no AI/ML capabilities, positioning COD as a traditional psychometric tools reseller in an industry facing increasing AI-driven disruption.

Name

Creative Organizational Design

Legal name

Creative Organizational Design, Inc. (COD)

Website

https://creativeorgdesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Creative Organizational Design is a privately-held Canadian firm founded in 1979 that distributes over 5,000 validated employment assessment tools to HR departments and hiring managers across North America for pre-screening, promotion readiness, and leadership development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Employment Assessment Services

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Pre-Employment Screening & Aptitude Testing (BPACAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Personality & Behavioral Assessments (BPACAMAC), Leadership Potential, High-Potential & Succession Assessments (BPACAMAH), Skills Assessment & Talent/Employability Testing Platforms (EDAFADAM), Psychometric, Aptitude & Cognitive Ability Test Content (EDAGADAK)

Keywords

• Employment assessment tools
• Pre-screening tests
• Psychometric testing
• Employee screening
• HR assessment solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Assessment Tool Sales: Sale of employment assessment tests and tools to organizations for pre-screening, promotion assessment, and leadership development. Individual tests and bulk purchases available.
2. Survey Services: Customized employee attitude surveys and organizational surveys conducted for clients.
3. Therapy Assessments: Assessment tools for counselling, therapy, and mental health diagnosis services for professionals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Creative Organizational Design supplies validated pre-screening employment assessment tools to organizations for hiring, promotion, and leadership development. The catalogue includes over 5000 titles covering job skills, personality, aptitude, and industry-specific assessments available in online and paper formats, paired with customized employee attitude survey services.

Product overview

Creative Organizational Design operates as a catalog-based assessment platform offering over 5000 employment assessment titles. The core offering consists of pre-screening assessment tools for hiring, combined with personality, skills, and aptitude tests organized across four main categories: Basic Skills & On-the-Job Skills (527 titles), Personality & Personal Style (536 titles), Specific Job Area Tests (178 titles), and Specific Profession & Industry Tests (513 titles). Notable named products include the Pandemic Resilience Test (free COVID-19 coping assessment evaluating nine resilience factors) and the Workplace Excellence Inventory (assessing critical-thinking, teamwork, work ethic, career management, soft skills, and leadership). The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal serves as the gold standard for critical reasoning assessment. The company also provides customized employee attitude survey services. Tests are available in online, paper, or hybrid formats with various scoring options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Basic Skills & On-the-Job Skills Tests A category of 527 employment assessment titles covering clerical and administrative skills, computer skills, general pre-screening, industrial and mechanical skills, manual dexterity, math and numeracy, office skills, reading and writing, and workplace safety. Designed for HR departments and hiring managers evaluating candidates.
• Personality & Personal Style Tests A category of 536 assessment titles covering 360-degree assessments, career and vocational interest, communication, conflict resolution, critical thinking, culture and diversity, dependability, emotional intelligence, honesty and integrity, IQ, leadership and management, learning style, mental alertness, personality, stress, teamwork, and time management. Targeted at HR teams, leadership development, and individual coaching.
• Specific Job Area Tests A category of 178 assessment titles for business analysis, call centre and telemarketing, customer service, human resources, and sales positions. Used by HR teams hiring for specific job functions.
• Specific Profession & Industry Tests A category of 513 assessment titles covering banking, education, engineering, accounting and finance, healthcare, hospitality, industrial manufacturing, IT/technical skills, insurance, law enforcement and public safety, and retail. Designed for industry-specific hiring needs.
• Pandemic Resilience Test A free self-assessment tool evaluating nine factors related to emotional resilience and coping during adversity, including current stress level, dealing with ambiguity, locus of control, perspective, critical thinking, coping skills, hardiness, community values, and common sense. Includes practical tips such as mindfulness and deep breathing. Targeted at individuals in personal contexts.
• Workplace Excellence Inventory Assesses six essential skill areas: critical-thinking, teamwork, work ethic, career management, soft skills, and leadership. Helps individuals identify skills needed to transition to the workplace and demonstrate excellence in job performance. Takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
• Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WG-III) Gold standard assessment for measuring critical thinking ability and decision making in high-potential professionals, new managers, and future leaders. Uses a 3-factor RED model: Recognize Assumptions, Evaluate Arguments, and Draw Conclusions.
• Therapy Assessments A set of 17 assessments designed to help counsellors, therapists, and other professionals investigate and diagnose a variety of mental health disorders and personality traits among their clientele.
• Work Styles Predictor A custom-designed assessment to help organizations pre-screen applicants for entry-level and supervisory roles. The test is customized with direct client input and specialized for specific needs.
• IBM Kenexa Tests (1000+ new titles) A catalogue of over 1000 validated test titles including IBM Kenexa tests measuring job fit, personality, and job skills, plus role-specific Job Fit tests for call center, sales, bank teller, hospitality, industrial-warehouse, and retail positions.
• Employee Attitude Surveys Customized survey services for measuring employee attitudes, satisfaction, and engagement. Includes professional design, administration, and expert analysis of survey data. Offered to organizations seeking insight into workforce sentiment and organizational health.

Quantifiable outcome

• Significantly reduced hiring mistakes and turnover costs
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SHL: Global leader in pre-employment psychometric assessments and talent measurement. Directly comparable as both distribute validated cognitive and personality assessments for hiring, promotion, and development, with SHL operating at significantly larger global scale than COD.
• Hogan Assessments: Specialist in personality assessments for employee selection, leadership development, and succession planning. COD distributes Hogan-style instruments and serves overlapping HR and leadership development use cases.
• Predictive Index: Behavioral and cognitive assessment platform for hiring and team design. Competes for the same HR buyer personas as COD, with a more modern SaaS delivery model versus COD's catalog approach.
• Psychometrics Canada: Canadian distributor of psychological assessments and psychometric instruments for organizational and clinical use. Operates in the same Canadian market with overlapping product categories including personality and cognitive assessments.
• Caliper: Provider of personality-based talent assessments for pre-employment screening and leadership development. Highly comparable offerings to COD's personality and personal style category.
• Wonderlic: Cognitive ability and pre-employment skills testing provider serving employers across industries. Directly overlaps COD's basic skills, on-the-job skills, and pre-screening categories.

Emerging players

• Mercer Mettl: Online psychometric and skills assessment platform with strong presence in enterprise hiring. Offers an integrated cloud delivery model overlapping with COD's pre-screening and skills testing categories.
• TestGorilla: Modern SaaS assessment marketplace combining an online test catalog with self-serve employer access. Represents the digital-native competitive threat to COD's traditional catalog distribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm offering talent assessment as part of broader leadership, executive search, and HR advisory services. Represents the scaled incumbent that competes for enterprise assessment and leadership development budgets.

Regional players

• Criterion Partnership: UK-based distributor of psychometric assessments and occupational tests. Comparable distribution business model to COD but serves primarily UK and European markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Creative-Organizational-Design-329600643726189
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fielding-global

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creative Organizational Design