Assessment Centers
The assessment center is a collection of business simulations used to select managers from managerial applicants and/or to assess managerial training needs.
Definition of terms
Candidate: a managerial candidate, a person assessed, someone who has applied for a managerial job.
Dimensions: aspects of people that are assessed, such as leadership and decision making. The dimensions are managerial skills that come from a job analysis.
Exercises: activities or tasks given to the candidates. These are used to elicit behaviors used in judging the candidates relative standings on the dimensions.
Assessors: judges trained in the assessment center method. The judges record candidate behavior and evaluate candidate standings on the dimensions.
History of the assessment center
Beginnings in Germany and England
Initial use in the U.S. by the OSS to select spies
Current uses
Typical Dimensions
Leadership
Interpersonal sensitivity
Decision making
Delegation
Typical Exercises
In-basket
Leaderless group discussion
Role play, such as a hiring interview or performance appraisal
Business games
Typical assessors
Managers and psychologists.
Training in assessment
Consensus meeting
Procedure
Run through exercises, gather data, meet for consensus, write report for feedback, make decisions
Pros and cons of the method
Tends to predict managerial success
Appears fair
Very expensive
Traditional explanation of success questioned
Research Findings
Reliability
Validity
Current trends
Streamlining, checklists, video based