The term 'Assessment Centre' can be defined as:
‘A method for assessing aptitude and performance; applied to a group of participants by trained assessors using various aptitude diagnostic processes in order to obtain information about applicants' abilities or development potential.’
As you can see, this does not refer to a location, but to a process that is being increasingly used by organisations to assess staff, either as part of the recruitment process or for internal development and promotion. The ‘Aptitude Diagnostic processes’ referred to in this definition are the exercises and tests that you will undertake during your assessment centre.
The assessment centre focuses on a set of varied exercises, which are designed to simulate different aspects of the work environment. These assessment centre exercises assess how closely your behaviours, that are required for the role, match.
Your assessment centre will usually last from half-a-day to two full days depending on the level of position you are applying for. It is most likely that it will be conducted at the employer's training facility or in facilities provided by the HR consultancy that have been contracted to design and conduct the testing.
Understanding the history of how and why assessment centres were developed will help you to appreciate what the original users were trying to achieve and how they have increased in sophistication. This knowledge will help you to prepare yourself so that you are able to best illustrate the required competencies as well as your knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA’s) during the exercises, thus allowing you to maximise your score.
Selecting people based on their ability to do the task required has long been established in the selection of military and intelligence personnel. There are several examples of this throughout history, but it was between the world wars that the German Army developed the forerunner of the modern assessment process.
In the book Spies and Saboteurs, by Dr. W.J.Morgan (1955, London – Victor Gollancz Ltd.), the author describes how a German psychologist, Dr. Simoneit observed officers performing a variety of tasks and exercises. The officers were rated on how well they performed and chosen for promotion accordingly.
The successful officer needed to show the following qualities:
Leadership,
Adaptability to different situations,
Ability to find a solution to a problem, and
Ability to work as team member.
Dr. Simoneit's work formed the foundation of what became known as an Assessment in the German army. The virtues of this assessment system were recognised by the British Government and a Selection Assessment Board was created using its own testing methods.
American Intelligence also recognised the benefits of such selection methods and added further psychological tests and more exercises to their assessment days.
Dr. WJ Morgan in his book clearly illustrates:
That it is how you performed your tasks, whether as an individual or within a group, that matters not how quickly an exercise was done.
This was reflected in the scores of participants, those who scored highest had shown the qualities, competencies and behaviours required for an ‘Intelligence’ role.
Although these original assessment days had a military bias and their specific exercises are unlikely to be used in a commercial or public sector environment, it is still important to be aware that each exercise has been designed to assess your behaviours in performing a task. No matter how trivial or petty an exercise may appear to you remember that the original psychologist designed it to assess how well you display the required behaviours for the role.
The assessment centre method has evolved its own terminology. You should take the time to familiarise yourself with it as this will make the process easier to understand and therefore less intimidating. Definitions may vary but we have found the best ones to be those used in the table below.
Term Definition
Assessment Centre Is a process employing multiple techniques and multiple assessors to produce judgements regarding the extent to which a participant displays selected competencies.
Behaviour
Everything you say or do that can be linked to a competency area.
Everything you say or do that can be linked to a competency area.
Competency (or Dimension)
A group of behaviours that are specific, observable and verifiable, that can be readily and logically classified together and that are related to job success.
K.S.A.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Attitudes that are required for competency.
Exercise
A simulation or technique designed to elicit behaviours related to performance requirements of the job.
Assessor
An individual trained to observe, record, classify and make reliable judgement about the behaviours of those being assessed.
(Usually at least one level above the level applied for.)
Job Analysis
This determines the competencies, attributes and other requirements for job success in the position being evaluated.
Simulations
A fictional situation in which the candidate is expected to respond from the perspective of someone in the level being sought.
(E.g. group exercise, in-tray, role-play, presentation or fact-finding task.)
Source: Lewis Rowe, Tina; A Preparation Guide for the Assessment centre Method; (2006) Charles C. Thomas Publishers Ltd, Illinois, USA.
The definitions are those of Tina Lewis Rowe a well-known authority on the assessment centre method and are taken from her book: A Preparation Guide for the Assessment Centre Method. For reasons of clarity and simplicity the definition of KSA’s used has been slightly modified from that used by Tina Lewis Rowe.
This definition uses more straightforward language and makes it easier to see what you are required to do. It refers to displaying ‘selected competencies’ and the definition of ‘competency’ is ‘a group of behaviours related to job success’. This is the essence of the Assessment centre process.
An assessment centre is a comprehensive, standardized procedure in which multiple assessment techniques, such as situational exercises and job simulation (business games, discussions, reports and presentations), are used to evaluate individual employees for a variety of human resource decisions. The approach has been mostly applied to individuals being considered for selection, promotion, placement, or special training and development in management.
The difference between a development centre and an assessment centre is that candidates are not in a pass or fail situation. This is reflected in the definition of a Development Centre:
‘A Development Centre is a day or number of days where the participants are actively involved in the assessment of their own and others behaviours as part of their professional development.’
You will most likely take part in a development centre as you progress from front-line to managerial roles, or from a general role to a more technical or strategic role, often as part of an organisation’s graduate management programme. As a participant of a development centre your preparation will follow the same approach as that for an assessment centre and specific preparation relevant to any internal promotional activity is discussed in greater detail in later chapters.
The fundamental differences for the participants are:
They will actively be involved in assessing themselves.
They will be required to assess and give feedback on the competencies of other participants.
They are given detailed feedback on their results and what they mean for their future development.
They will be expected to ‘own’ the development requirements as part of their Continuous Professional Development.
The role of the assessors is focused more on facilitation and identification of the competencies that participants need to acquire or develop. The way in which the assessors score an individual during an exercise will emphasize their developmental needs rather than their competency to perform a specific role. This may alter the nature of the exercises so that the developmental aspects are emphasised.
The results of these tests will then be discussed and decisions made as to where the main focus of personal development should be. For example,
Management,
Research, or
Technical.
If you take part in a development centre, you can expect there to be more emphasis on your abilities to explore or brainstorm an issue or the potential of a situation; rather than simply to display particular competencies. It is important to focus on why you are taking part in such a centre and you may wish to assess your own level of competencies before your development centre.
Many centres also use a technique called ‘Domain Mapping’. This is where you identify where you want to be in a particular skill or level of knowledge, e.g. become a Senior Consultant. You then work out a staged plan of personal and professional development of how to get there through discussion with your assessor or your peer group.
Throughout the development centre you will have ‘Evaluation Sessions’ where you will be given feedback on how you performed compared to the competencies of your potential future role.
Many internal candidates perform below par because they neglect to familiarise themselves with the latest internal policies, procedures and interpretation of the organisation’s mission statement. They also forget to review their personnel file, which will provide important clues as to how their strengths and weaknesses are perceived by others.
If you want to manage your career within an organisation, then you must prepare for all internal assessment as diligently as you would for any external opportunity. Many people forget the importance of their preparation when attending internal assessments as they feel there will be no surprises during the process. Experience often shows that these interviews are equally tough and in some ways more challenging than external ones.
Organisations are obliged to ensure that all recruitment is operated fairly and frequently incorporate ‘Assessment Day(s)’ as part of their internal promotional.
You may also be interested in:
What is an Assessment Centre?
Who uses the Assessment Centre?
What are the Different Types of Assessment Centre?
What Format Does an Assessment Centre Take?
Who are the Assessors?
What are Assessment Centre Exercises?
What is an In-Tray Exercise?
What is a Presentation Exercise?
What are Group Exercises?
What are Role Play Exercises?
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), on average one third of companies use assessment centres as a method to select applicants.
The business benefits of assessment centres
They are far more accurate than a standard recruitment process as they allow a broader range of selection methods to be used during the process
They enable interviewers to assess existing performance as well as predict future job performance
They give the opportunity to assess and differentiate between candidates who seem very similar - in terms of quality - on paper
They give the candidates a better insight into the role as they are tested on exercises, which are typical for the role they have applied for
They help employers build an employer brand. Candidates who attend assessment centres which genuinely reflect the job and the organisation are often impressed by that company, even if they are rejected
The cost of an assessment centre is usually cheaper compared with the potential cost of many recruitment phases and the cost of recruitment errors
They are a fair process – they complement an organisation’s diversity agenda and ensure that people are selected on the basis of merit alone.
Common pitfalls to avoid in running assessment centres
New recruits with high expectations can feel disappointed if the assessment centre has encouraged them to believe the job or organisation fits their values if, in fact, it does not
If you haven’t defined the key competencies prior to the event - and a way to measure these competencies - you will only be able to compare candidates on anecdotal details
The design of an assessment centre should reflect:
The ethos and brand recruitment philosophy of your organisation
The actual skills required to carry out the job. An assessment centre should portray the reality of the job and the organisation. The tasks set should link with the job description and person specification.
It must be a fair selection process giving candidates ample opportunity to shine. Particular points to plan carefully are length of exercises and number of exercises used
It must reflect your HR strategy
It must involve people trained in recruitment and assessment
How can you make an assessment centre successful?
Limit the number of competencies to be measured and adapt the tests and exercises to match these competencies. To predict job performance, it is important to determine present and likely future job skills
Use a variety of activities to let candidates shine:
Psychometric tests to predict performance
Exercises and interviews because they have face validity (they feel 'right' to candidates and selectors) but they cannot be used to predict performance
Do not cut corners on training assessors. Ensure that they are trained to recognise the competencies and experience you are looking for and to seek evidence objectively
Give feedback to everyone – not only the successful candidates.
Competencies emerged in the 1980s as a response to organisational changes and to wider changes in society. In 1982 the US academic, Richard Boyatzis wrote ‘The competent manager: a model for effective performance’. This book proved to have considerable influence on the profession and, over the following two decades, competency frameworks became an increasingly accepted part of modern HR practice.
Behavioural competency frameworks are used for a range of HR processes and can be used to align HR practices. They are most commonly used for assessment at the recruitment stage, at performance evaluation time and for development.
What is the busines benefit of using behavioural competency frameworks?
Quite simply, competency frameworks improve business performance. Specifically, they can generate greater employee and organisational effectiveness, increase hire accuracy rates (and therefore reduce costs and turnover rates) and lead to more effective training needs analysis and career management. No performance orientated business should be without a competency framework.
Competency frameworks are an increasingly accepted part of modern HR practice. They provide the individual with a map or indication of the behaviours that will be valued, recognised and in some organisations, rewarded.
At Getfeedback we believe competency assessment is a key business performance metric used to measure the capability of your organisation. Getfeedback is a leader in behavioural competency frameworks and our success in this field is largely down to our expertise in helping organisations implement a high performance leadership framework.
The framework we recommend, if our clients do not have an existing one, is the Schroder High Performance Managerial Competencies (HPMC) framework. It is one of the most validated frameworks available and is scientifically proven to produce higher business performance. We have also worked with organisations’ existing frameworks and have created more bespoke competencies.
Getfeedback recommends the Schroder model of High Performance Management when assessing and developing individuals. This highly robust and recognised behavioural framework has been researched and developed for over 20 years making it one of the most validated frameworks available.
The framework consists of 11 behaviours which have been linked with high performance in leaders and managers at all levels and in many different industry sectors. The 11 behaviours span cognitive, interpersonal, directional and achieving dimensions and each behaviour is further defined by five levels. These range from negative use of the behaviour at level one, to an inspirational use of the behaviour at level five at which an individual is embedding a culture which supports and encourages others to use this behaviour within the organisation.
The Schroder Competencies Framework recognises that every individual has their own unique pattern of strengths and so a high performing leader is defined by the four or five behaviours within the framework at which they excel. In addition, the high performing leader will have no limitations. That is, they will not demonstrate negative use of the behaviours. Their impact on the organisation is positive at all times.
Why use the framework?
Scientifically proven and reliable
Fits all levels of seniority
Applicable to all sectors
Complements technical frameworks
The assessment centre process is used for graduate recruitment, management selection and staff development. In all of these cases the process itself is very similar and a candidate for any of these would prepare themselves in more or less the same way.
Having said that, there are really four types of assessment centre and whilst they share many characteristics, there are some distinct differences.
It is worth looking at these in detail because these differences will adjust your mindset depending on which type you are attending.
The four types are:
The Elite Graduate Assessment Centre
The Graduate Assessment Centre
The Management Assessment Centre
The Development Centre
The Elite Graduate Assessment Centre
This type of assessment centre is used exclusively by top-flight management consultancies, Fortune 100 companies and the most prestigious Government agencies. The one thing that these organisations have in common is that being accepted onto their graduate/management fast track programme will change your life dramatically. Starting salaries are very attractive and the training programmes and work opportunities offered are invariably world-class. In short, once you have been accepted onto their graduate scheme, money and career worries will become a thing of the past provided that you can keep pace with what is demanded from you.
There is no universally-accepted agreement of who these elite organisations are, but they have several things in common which mark them out. Their own marketing will focus on how their people are the best and they will make a virtue out of how difficult it is to get onto their graduate scheme. In addition:
They recruit exclusively from top universities*
They specify very high academic achievements as a minimum requirement
They make no secret of the high-level of remuneration
They expect total commitment from successful candidates
*The current fashion for ‘embracing diversity’ means that these organisations may now cast the net slightly wider and allow the occasional candidate from a second-tier university. This may be because they genuinely believe that diversity is a good thing or it may be because they feel that they need to be seen to be doing something to attract a more diverse range of candidates.
Not surprisingly, the competition for these graduate placements is intense. There are typically several dozen applicants for each place on offer. This is true even when the world economy is booming and these organisations are recruiting at their maximum level. During hard times, these elite organisations tend to cut-back dramatically on their recruitment as most of them are heavily reliant on other organisations being economically successful enough to fund expansion, mergers, acquisitions, etc.
The one thing that epitomizes the Elite Graduate assessment centre is the fact that there are a large number of very similar candidates for each available place on the programme. This bears repeating because it is the one factor, which really sets these assessment centres apart from the other three types.
By the time a list of very similar candidates has been through the initial selection process involving CVs and interviews and has been shortlisted for the assessment centre, they are as homogenous a group of people as you could expect to find anywhere.
They are all aged between 21-25 (most will be 21-22)
They all have similar degrees and educational achievements
They have all attended one of a handful of universities
They all have a list of similarly impressive ‘personal achievements’*
*In the absence of any full-time work experience the selectors will have been looking at part time work experience, sporting accomplishments, charity work, etc which together make up the list of ‘personal achievements’. These are important because the selectors don’t have any other way of establishing which soft-skills the candidates have, and the best that they can do is to infer these from this list.
The assessment centre process is used for graduate recruitment, management selection and staff development. In all of these cases the process itself is very similar and a candidate for any of these would prepare themselves in more or less the same way.
Having said that, there are really four types of assessment centre and whilst they share many characteristics, there are some distinct differences.
It is worth looking at these in detail because these differences will adjust your mindset depending on which type you are attending.
The four types are:
The Elite Graduate Assessment Centre
The Graduate Assessment Centre
The Management Assessment Centre
The Development Centre
The Elite Graduate Assessment Centre
This type of assessment centre is used exclusively by top-flight management consultancies, Fortune 100 companies and the most prestigious Government agencies. The one thing that these organisations have in common is that being accepted onto their graduate/management fast track programme will change your life dramatically. Starting salaries are very attractive and the training programmes and work opportunities offered are invariably world-class. In short, once you have been accepted onto their graduate scheme, money and career worries will become a thing of the past provided that you can keep pace with what is demanded from you.
There is no universally-accepted agreement of who these elite organisations are, but they have several things in common which mark them out. Their own marketing will focus on how their people are the best and they will make a virtue out of how difficult it is to get onto their graduate scheme. In addition:
They recruit exclusively from top universities*
They specify very high academic achievements as a minimum requirement
They make no secret of the high-level of remuneration
They expect total commitment from successful candidates
*The current fashion for ‘embracing diversity’ means that these organisations may now cast the net slightly wider and allow the occasional candidate from a second-tier university. This may be because they genuinely believe that diversity is a good thing or it may be because they feel that they need to be seen to be doing something to attract a more diverse range of candidates.
Not surprisingly, the competition for these graduate placements is intense. There are typically several dozen applicants for each place on offer. This is true even when the world economy is booming and these organisations are recruiting at their maximum level. During hard times, these elite organisations tend to cut-back dramatically on their recruitment as most of them are heavily reliant on other organisations being economically successful enough to fund expansion, mergers, acquisitions, etc.
The one thing that epitomizes the Elite Graduate assessment centre is the fact that there are a large number of very similar candidates for each available place on the programme. This bears repeating because it is the one factor, which really sets these assessment centres apart from the other three types.
By the time a list of very similar candidates has been through the initial selection process involving CVs and interviews and has been shortlisted for the assessment centre, they are as homogenous a group of people as you could expect to find anywhere.
They are all aged between 21-25 (most will be 21-22)
They all have similar degrees and educational achievements
They have all attended one of a handful of universities
They all have a list of similarly impressive ‘personal achievements’*
*In the absence of any full-time work experience the selectors will have been looking at part time work experience, sporting accomplishments, charity work, etc which together make up the list of ‘personal achievements’. These are important because the selectors don’t have any other way of establishing which soft-skills the candidates have, and the best that they can do is to infer these from this list.
It is not unusual for you to be interviewed either face-to-face or over the phone at the outset of your application. From these interviews the human resources personnel will select a group of six to twelve candidates to invite to the assessment centre where they will take part in a variety of exercises, which are being monitored and assessed by the assessors.
One recent trend is in the development of mass testing. This is done by videotaping candidates as they perform various exercises and by using objectively scored exercises. This permits the assessment of a much larger number of candidates per day as the scoring is done later and requires far less observation and administration.
Assessment centres are usually used after the initial stages of the selection process, because of the large amount of time and expense in conducting them, and they usually follow the initial job interview. Other measurements such as psychological tests may complement the selection process.
They are commonly held either on employers’ premises or in a hotel and are considered by many organisations to be the fairest and most accurate method of selecting staff. This is because a number of different selectors or assessors get to see you over a longer period of time. They have the chance to see…
What you can do
How you react to situations
How you relate to others
…rather than what you say you can do, in a variety of situations which emulate your future role.
At the end of the assessment centre the assessors will select one or two candidates who will be invited for a final interview based on their scores.
Types of Exercises
There are certain assessment centre exercises that have been designed to make the assessment of certain behaviours and competencies much easier and the diagram below shows the most common types of exercises. With each exercise you will be given a brief from which to work and given a desired outcome. Each exercise has a specific time limit and you must work within the parameters assigned otherwise you will lose marks. It is essential that you remember they are assessing your competencies within the specified situation.
An in-tray or in-basket exercise asks to assume a particular role as an employee of a fictitious company and work through the correspondence in your in-tray. This exercise is designed to measure your ability to organize and prioritize work. In a presentation exercise, you will be given a topic or possibly a choice of topics and asked to make a presentation of around ten minutes, with five minutes at the end for questions. This is designed to measure your presentation skills including your ability to organise and structure the information and to communicate your points clearly and concisely.
Group discussion exercises involve you working with other candidates as part of a team to resolve a presented issue or deal with a critical incident. These exercises are designed to measure interpersonal skills such as group leadership, teamwork, negotiation, and group problem solving skills. Panel interviews or competency based interviews are regarded as a more objective means of assessing your suitability as you will be interviewed by three to five people and therefore the decision is not reliant on just one person's opinion. In addition, they are usually more structured than a one-to-one interview as the panel need to assess all of the candidates against the same criteria.
Use of Psychometric Aptitude Tests
Many Organisations also include psychometric tests within their assessment centres and these will be marked in the usual way and not by the assessors as they do not reflect your competencies. These tests typically include:
Verbal reasoning,
Numerical reasoning, and
Abstract reasoning questions.
Uses of ACS
In a recent survey by Employment Review magazine more than nine out of ten employers using assessment centres believe they are a ‘very effective’ or ‘fairly effective’ means of selecting staff.
The survey, which used a sample of HR practitioners in over 90 organisations, found that more than half believe the often-considerable costs of assessment centres are justified. As human resources are frequently one of the highest overheads of an organisation and the training of their personnel is a significant expense modern employers want to ensure they get the ‘best fit’ employee for their considerable investment.
Private sector service companies and public sector organisations in the survey were the most enthusiastic about assessment centres, with almost 60 percent believing them to be very effective. This was in contrast to manufacturing companies where only 29 percent thought that assessment centres were effective and valuable for money.
Two-thirds of employers using assessment centres include them as part of their graduate recruitment programmes or when selecting middle or senior managers. You are most likely to face an assessment centre at the critical points of your career, for example:
As a graduate applying for your first ‘real’ job.
When moving from a supervisory role to a management role.
When seeking a position on the board.
It is important to realise that your ability to truly influence your score and stand out from the other candidates increases as your career develops. As a graduate your most influential factor to success will be your preparation for the assessment centre and ensure that your behaviour and language matches that of the organisation.
As your career develops you will acquire competencies that you did not possess as a graduate so you will be able to differentiate yourself from the other candidates because of these experiences. As part of your preparation you will be able to bring out how these additional competencies increase your compatibility with those of the role and organisation.
The expense of conducting an assessment centre is usually somewhere between $300 and $5,000 per candidate. This tends to restrict their use to situations where the costs can be justified in terms of preventing high expenses associated with unsuitable personnel. Assessment centres are seen as one of the most effective ways of identifying top candidates who'll get on well with others and fit in with the organisation’s culture.
The assessment centre method is utilized in a variety of settings including industry and business, government, armed forces, educational institutions, and safety forces to select individuals for supervisory, technical, sales, or management positions. You can also expect to face an assessment centre if you apply to work for one of the major financial institutions or management consultancies.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's survey on ‘Recruitment, Retention and Turnover’, 34 per cent of employers now use assessment centres when recruiting managers, professionals, and graduates. This figure will inevitably grow as organisations seek to make more accurate selection and promotion decisions to secure the considerable investment they make in their personnel.
