Title: ASSESSMENT CENTERS
1ASSESSMENT CENTERS
- The Most Effective Tool to Measure SOFT SKILLS
- Karen Coffee
- California State Personnel Board
2Presentation Outline
- Introduction Succession Planning and Building
our Future Workforce - What is an Assessment Center
- When to use an Assessment Center
- Advantages and Disadvantages of an Assessment
Center - What Kinds of Competencies can be Measured?
3Presentation Outline
- How are Competencies Measured?
- Cost and other Administrative Considerations
- State Programs and Resources
- Questions?
4Factors Affecting Succession Planning
- Age need to replace an abundance of workers in
the coming years - Diversity need to recruit increasingly diverse
replacement workers - Competencies replacement workers need the
skills required for future jobs
5What is a Competency?
- A cluster of knowledge, skills, abilities and
other work behaviors that share a common theme - May apply to many types and levels of jobs
however, how the competency is used on the job
and how it is assessed is tailored for every job
or job family
6Competencies Gap Analysis
- Identify competencies needed in the future
- Develop strategies to recruit future employees
with these competencies - Measure the competencies possessed by the current
work force - Identify the competencies gap
- Develop strategies to bridge this gap
7Can Competencies be Measured?
- Yes!
- It is possible to determine whether an individual
currently possesses competencies and at what level
8Can Competencies Be Developed?
- Possible to determine the amount and quality of
competencies at a certain point in time - Can an individual effect significant competency
improvement?
9(No Transcript)
10Administrative/Interpersonal Competencies
- Lend themselves to development
- Example communication skills, willingness to
delegate, risk taking, initiative
11Personal Qualities
- Probably do not lend themselves as well to
development - Examples flexibility, willingness to tolerate
uncertainty, cognitive competencies (problem
analysis, judgment, planning and organization)
12What is an Assessment Center?
- An Assessment Center is one of THE MOST EFFECTIVE
TOOLS to measure the competencies of potential
employees - An Assessment Center is one of THE MOST EFFECTIVE
TOOLS to measure the competencies of the current
workforce, to identify the competencies gap, and
to provide a foundation for individualized plans
to bridge this gap
13What is an Assessment Center?
- A variety of testing techniques designed to
enable participants to DEMONSTRATE, under
standardized conditions, the competencies that
are most essential in a given job.
14What is an Assessment Center?
- Not a place!
- Participants are put through a series of
individual and group exercises, interviews, and
tests designed to simulate the most essential
conditions of the job, and to provide an
opportunity for observation of key competencies.
15What is an Assessment Center?
- Participants behavior is OBSERVED by trained
raters, evaluated, categorized and scored (if an
exam) - Raters pool individual observations to arrive at
an overall estimate of potential, or score - Participants are provided with oral and/or
written feedback regarding their performance and
potential - Training and developmental plans can be formulated
16History of Assessment Centers
- First used by the Germans in WWII
- Used by large companies in the 1950s to identify
management potential - 1975 Federal IPA grant to adapt AC methods for
use in the public sector - Today, widely used in the private, federal, and
local government sectors
17When to Use an Assessment Center
- Selection, career development, or succession
planning - Most common for managerial or supervisory jobs
- Jobs where competencies include focus on soft
skills - Promotional process where developmental
opportunities are maximized - Where other methods have failed
18AC for Selection
- Objective provide an opportunity for
participants to demonstrate competencies relevant
to successful performance on the job.
19AC for Career Development/Succession Planning
- Objective provide an opportunity for
participants to identify competencies requiring
further development that are then addressed
through a carefully prepared career development
plan
20Advantages of an Assessment Center
- Comprehensive evaluation
- Valid better predictor
- Less adverse impact
- Training effect for raters
- Training effect for candidates
- Multiple uses
- More information for decision-making
- Participants like it!
21Inadequacies of Other Assessment Methods
- Written Tests expedient, appear objective,
inexpensive, easy to administer, but research
shows they are not adequate for evaluating soft
skills - Interviews questions regarding the predictive
power of interviews, information about
competencies cant be observed - Supervisory Appraisal opportunities for bias
22Disadvantages of an Assessment Center
- Requires expertise to develop
- Developmental time can be lengthy
- Requires high ratio of raters to participants
- Requires multiple rooms for administration
23Disadvantages of an Assessment Center
- Time consuming
- Costs more (time and dollars)
- Involves more people
- Still somewhat removed from the job
- Difficult to administer for large groups
- Hard to reschedule (appeals)
24Standards and Ethical Considerations for
Assessment Center Operations
- www.assessmentcenters.org/pdf/00guidelines.pdf
- Standardized evaluation of behavior
- Multiple inputs
- Multiple trained observers (raters)
- Must include some simulations
- Judgments are pooled
25NOT an Assessment Center
- Panel interviews or a series of sequential
interviews - A single assessment technique
- Paper and pencil measures only
- Single rater assessments
- Process without pooling of data
26Competencies That Can Be Measured
- Vitally important
- Simple, not complex traits
- Definable
- Observable
- Stable over time
27Examples of Competencies
- Decisiveness
- Leadership
- Productivity
- Flexibility
- Organizational skill
- Judgment
- Problem analysis
- Planning
- Initiative
- Oral communication
- Written communication
- Managing change
- Valuing diversity
28How many Competencies
- Private Sector as many as 50
- Public Sector usually 5-10
29How are Competencies Measured?
- Written Exercises
- Oral Exercises
30Written Exercises
- Letter Writing
- Report Writing
- Proposal Analysis
- In-Basket
31Oral Exercises
- Oral Presentation
- Leaderless Group Discussion with assigned roles
(competitive) - Leaderless Group Discussion without assigned
roles (cooperative) - Interview
- Role Play
- Command Problem
32Adapting Assessment Centers to Public Sector
Constraints
- Industrial model 3-6 raters observe 6-12
candidates over three days - Public Sector Model 6 raters observe 12
candidates over one day - Retains validity but reduces administrative costs
33Cost
- Cost more than other measurement methods
- Take more time to develop and administer
- A superior process
- An Assessment Center costs far less than one bad
hire
34Compatibility with Other Measurement Tools
- Often used with an application review or a
written test - The last part of the process for finalists
- Use only selected exercises
- Administer the in-basket first to determine who
completes remaining exercises - Administer over time using different raters
35State Service Program
- Pairs of Departments
- Each department identifies participants and a
team of raters - Raters evaluate individuals in other department
- Generic AC to evaluate 1st line supervisory
competencies - 3 day model
- Extensive feedback reports solely for
participants benefit
36Selecting First Line Supervisors in California
State Civil Service
- 1998 Report
- Competencies for 1st Line Supervisors from HR
Manager - Job Analysis questionnaire
- Definition and sample measurement instruments
- Validity, cost to develop and administer, ease
and objectivity of scoring - Size of developmental group
- Ordering information
37QUESTIONS?