The Scaling Up Toolkit — Guide to the Assessments

1What the Toolkit is

The Scaling Up Toolkit is an online system that lets a Scaling Up Coach send out, manage, retrieve and report on assessments and surveys for clients and prospects. From one secure portal you select an assessment, invite participants, manage the process, and generate reports from the collected data. The management environment also works as a repository: you can always retrieve earlier assessments and compare outcomes over time.

Assessments can be sent to an individual (typically the CEO) or to the whole leadership team. Coaches can run a standard environment, or — with an individual license — a fully personalised, “skinned” environment carrying the client’s logo and styling.

Where it came from

The Toolkit began as the “Scaling Up Assessment” for the national growth program in the Netherlands. It was developed by Kees de Jong (one of Verne Harnish’s European partners and co-founder of ScaleUp Company) together with assessment platform Esperto, with input from experts including Pieter van Osch and Prof. Dr. Justin Jansen of Erasmus University. The English version was refined with Verne Harnish, and in 2018 the decision was taken to build a complete toolkit under the Scaling Up brand.

Esperto’s role

Esperto is the assessment-platform and development partner for the Toolkit. Esperto builds assessments together with subject-matter experts, developed the technology behind the Toolkit, hosts it, and is the first point of contact for coaches (support@espertoassessments.com).

2The assessments at a glance

The Scaling Up Assessment is the flagship; the others support specific moments such as lead generation, intake, and quarterly planning.

3The assessments in detail

3.1 Quiz — “Will You Scale or Fail?”

Purpose: the most top-of-funnel tool — an engaging, gamified quiz designed for marketing funnels to spark interest in the Scaling Up methodology. Best used for: attracting prospects and triggering curiosity that leads into a coaching conversation.

3.2 Quick Assessment

Purpose: a concise, high-level scan (a refreshed version of the earlier 4D assessment) to attract and qualify prospects. Report: short and simple. Best used for: lead generation on your website; it can be customised as your own lead tool.

3.3 Scaling Up Assessment (CEO & Leadership Team)

The core assessment. ~70 questions, ~18–20 min, built on the Scaling Up methodology, the Rockefeller Habits and various growth models. It is organised around the Four Decisions — People, Strategy, Execution and Cash — plus a section on the leader (“You”) and internal communication.

• CEO version: an in-depth ~30-page report that addresses the CEO with individual feedback and compares results to the company’s peer group. Beneath it sits a database of ~1,600 verbatim feedback fields, so each report is assembled from feedback matched to the CEO’s scores and the company’s size/phase — effectively a personalised “book.” Peer group = the anonymous pool of all other CEOs (2,200+ entries, growing).
• Leadership Team version: sent to the whole team; the report specifies and compares every member’s answers, or an anonymous version when the situation calls for it.

3.4 Leadership Vision Alignment Assessment

A simple but powerful questionnaire — 36 questions, long and short versions — answered independently. Each leader imagines the company three years out (revenue, margin, customers, employees, branches; products, partners, competitors, the reason for success) and then assesses the present: sorting 16 success factors into strong / average / weak, naming the top three growth obstacles, and answering on BHAG, mission, core values, market focus (“sandbox”), core customer, strategy in one sentence, and priorities. Report: mainly a listing and comparison of every team member’s answers, making differing views visible. Best used for: intake and preparing strategy sessions.

3.5 Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment

A preparation tool for the quarterly strategy session. The team looks back at the past 90 days — rating the quarter, the rocks, leadership-team functioning, how the core values were lived and the overall atmosphere — and forward with Start / Stop / Continue lists and the biggest challenge and opportunity. Version 2.0 adds a personal energy check-in (how aligned and energised each leader feels), a growth-challenge deep-dive, and a Critical Number plus top priority for next quarter. Report: a group report comparing all members.

3.6 Rockefeller Habits Checklist

The classic 40-item checklist across 10 habits that describe a healthy, well-executing scaling company: a healthy aligned executive team; alignment on the #1 quarterly priority (Critical Number + 3–5 priorities); a communication rhythm (huddles, weekly/monthly meetings, offsites); accountability for every facet (FACe and PACe); employee and customer feedback loops; living Core Values and Purpose; employees who can articulate the strategy (BHAG, Core Customer, Brand Promises, Elevator Pitch); KPIs; and visible scoreboards. Report: each item scored per participant with a team average — a fast read of how consistently the habits are in place.

4Peer groups and growth phases

A CEO’s answers are compared to a peer group: companies of similar size and phase. The peer group is set by company size (FTE of permanent and temporary staff, freelancers at 30%), age (older than ~6 years is no longer “pioneer”), and type (online/tech companies use relatively fewer resources). Phases follow Greiner’s growth model, with adapted naming; each has its own typical “growing pains.”

5The ScaleUp Score

The ScaleUp Score is an overall score from 0 to 100, calculated from all of a respondent’s answers — including ambition and past growth — and corrected for the phase the company is in. The correction matters: a CEO without a well-functioning leadership team at 20 FTE earns a different sub-score than the same situation at 200 FTE, because expectations differ by phase.

Because of this phase correction, the ScaleUp Score allows cross-company-size comparison and gives a clear reference point. In the CEO report it sits next to the peer-group average and the CEO’s own estimate, so the gap between self-perception and benchmark becomes a conversation starter.

6When to use which assessment

The assessments map naturally onto the stages of a coaching relationship. A suggested approach:

7Practical information

• Platform: log in at scalinguptoolkit.com to select assessments, invite members, run campaigns and generate reports. The environment also stores past assessments for comparison.
• Languages: English and Dutch are live and the French version is finished; the plan is English, Spanish, German, French and Dutch (and possibly more).
• Branding: a fully customised, “skinned” version of the Toolkit — surveys and reports in your own look and feel — is available with an individual license.
• Support & accounts: email support@espertoassessments.com. Instructional videos cover activating an account, setting up members, creating campaigns and reporting.

Reference overview for Scaling Up Coaches · Powered by Esperto · support@espertoassessments.com