What are these?
- Research consistently shows that the most effective and objective means of measuring and predicting people’s performance and behaviours in a job situation is to utilise a well designed Assessment Centre
- Typically, an assessment centre consists of a suite of diverse exercises designed to assess a set of behaviours or competencies relevant to the job in question. All the candidates have the same opportunity to show their ability on the same basis – this approach ensures that issues of diversity and equal opportunities are addressed in an overt manner. This is particularly important for an organisation where a clear ‘audit trail’ is advisable
- For an assessment centre to have reliability and validity the exercises selected to form the basis of the selection process should reflect the tasks, responsibilities and environment of the job and the sector. Additionally, by exposing the candidates to a variety of simulation exercises, the client will gain a more rounded view of each individual candidate
- The type of exercises commonly found in assessment centres include: group exercises, candidate presentations, in-tray exercises, role plays, fact finding exercises, analysis exercises, personality questionnaires, ability tests and scheduling exercises
- When it comes to sourcing the exercises which make up an assessment centre, companies can take a number of routes.
- Bespoke exercises can be written specifically for the organisation. These ensure face validity (e.g. candidates recognise the relevance to your sector/organisation/the role). Exercises can be written around real-life scenarios and issues that candidates may encounter
- Pre-published exercises can be one option – this approach can provide a pragmatic, quick and lower priced solution
Vital to the process are:
- Assessors who will view a variety of candidates over the course of the event and provide objective reports on each of them. As a rule of thumb you would normally have 1 assessor per 2 candidates for mid/senior level recruitment
- A Centre Manager/Lead Assessor; they take responsibility for both the smooth running and logistics of the centre and for quality control of the reports produced. They also facilitate the ‘wash up’ at the end of the event
Also in this section:
- WorkLife offer three levels of assessment centre design
- Wider assessment centre services from WorkLife
Further Information
To find out more about Assessment centres please contact us »