Assessment Centers
History...!!! It is primarily British Invention and dates back to 1942 when it was used by the Armed Forces during world war II in the form of ³War Office Selection Board´. The objective behind its introduction was to identify the most suitable officers for the war and to and send back to the unsuitable ones to the unit.
Definition A part of the personnel department of an organization that uses a range of tests in selecting new employees and considering current employees for promotion. The tests include questionnaires, interviews, and practical exercises that attempt to identify the skills and qualities required for a particular job as well as the character traits of the individual. The overall purpose of the assessment centre is to provide an organization with a process of assessment that is consistent, free of prejudice, and fair.
Who
are the Assessors?
Middle level managers HR managers Consultants
Tools
used in Assessment Centers
Psychometric Tests Interviews Leaderless Group Discussions In basket Techniques Management Games/Simulation Exercises Role Plays Presentations
Psychometric
Test
Aptitude Test Ability Test
Personality
Test
Ability Test ± Attempt to measure awareness, knowledge and other such aspects. Aptitude Test ± Attempt to evaluate verbal and numerical reasoning ability. Personality tests - are those tests which are aimed at studying various dimensions of personality rather than the ability.
Interviews Generally structured interviews are used. Types of Interviews Background Interviews Critical Incident/situational Interview Behaviour Interview
Background Interviews If the participant¶s
performance on his current and previous jobs would be an indicator of his success.
Situational
Interviews Three types of
questions are asked:± Situational (Hypothetical) ± Job Knowledge ± Willingness to comply with job requirements.
contd«
Behavior Event Interviews (BEI) ± It is
an unstructured interview, which focuses on asking specific incidents that reflect behaviour, thoughts, actions that the interviewee has shown in actual situations.
Leaderless
Group Discussions (LGD)
A LGD consists of a group of four to six participants who are given a problem to solve are instructed to arrive period at a groupand decision within a specified of time.
In
basket Techniques
It represents day-to-day decision making situation which a manager is likely to face in the written form from various sources. The in basket contains a variety of material in the form of memos, correspondence, telephone messages, notes, requests, etc.
Management
games/Simulation Exercise The interactive nature of the business game provides opportunities to assess dimensions such as strategic planning, team work, team skills, leadership, analytical ability, etc.
Role Plays It helps gain insights into various processes of human relations and also the person¶s attitudes and behaviour in a particular role. Dimensions judged through Role Plays:
Conflict management Leadership skills Group Problem Solving Team Skills Verbal and non-verbal communication Interpersonal skill Flexibility etc.
Presentations
Presentations could be on vision, various organizational issues, case studies etc.
360
degree feedback as an instrument
Feedback can be sought on various managerial and behavioural dimensions. Such multirater feedback can then be compiled to prepare a profile of the assessee. It highlights:± Performance ± Strengths and areas needing impr ovement.
Benefits of 360o feedback It is more objective and not so much affected due to individual biases. Very involving and participative. Provides opportunity to improve quality of inputs. Helps discover unknown and blind spots. Provide scope to get new ideas.
What
an assessment center is not«!!!
A panel interview or a series of sequential
interviews Reliance upon any one technique, even if it's a simulation. If there's only one assessor, it's not an
assessment center. If there are many assessors, but they don't pool their data - it still doesn't qualify. And finally, putting a sign over a room that says "Assessment Center" isn't enough to bring it about either.
Advantages Highly accepted by applicants and employees Can measure many attributes that are otherwise
very difficult to measure C
an be tailored to meet the specific needs of the organization Allows the measurement of multiple attributes
(performance,potential,training success, career advancements etc) Hard to fake.
Disadvantages Time consuming Expensive Requires a large staff Only a limited number of people can be
processed at a time
Quality of assessment ratings depend upon
the quality of assessors May not be cost effective for initial screening
of low- level jobs
Indian
Co.¶s using Assessment Centers
B
harti Airtel Ltd
HCL technologies Cisco Systems
Few Leading Indian
Co. in Assessment Centers
VSS Consultants, (Pune) SMARTESTING (Bangalore) Middle Earth Consultants (Hyderabad)
THANK YOU«!!!
