© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
James FosterMarketing Manager
© The A&DC Group 2009
The Changing Face of The Changing Face of Assessment CentresAssessment Centres
Mike Murray
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
A&DC Ltd - Some of our Clients
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Agenda
The Changing Face of Assessment Centres
21st Century Initiatives and Tools
Demonstration
Group Activity and Feedback
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Research on Trends in Assessment
Total sample: N = 443; Timeframe: Oct. 2007 – Feb. 2008 Responses from 43 Countries on 5 Continents Business Sector:
Private Sector = 78% Public Sector = 19% Not for Profit = 3%
Size of Organisation: Over 2,500 staff = 30% 500-2,500 staff = 20% Less than 50 staff = 32%
Type of Centres they run: ACs = 68% DCs = 32%
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Broadly similar across the world
Why do people use ACs and DCs?
Top Uses for AC Methodology Global % (Rank)
External Recruitment 57 (1)
Diagnose Development Needs 56 (2)
Identify High Potential 50 (3)
Graduate Recruitment 49 (4)
Inform Internal Promotion 45 (5)
Succession Planning 38 (6)
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Assessors
Global trend of generally one or two levels above Participant Most organisations have less than 5 trained Assessors Choice of Assessors:
HR Staff are 1st choice in all Continents (68% for ACs; 48% for DCs) Line Managers are 2nd choice in all Continents except Africa
Observation technique: Behavioural Ticklists = 50% Unstructured Observation = 46% ORCE = 43% (Top user is Europe = 57%; Africa =31%)
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Assessor Training - Duration
Training DurationAfrica
%Asia
%Europe
%Oceania
%Americas
%
Less than 0.5 day 5 11 10 9 27
0.5 - 1 day 14 26 31 41 20
1 - 1.5 days 9 17 16 5 0
1.5 - 2 days 23 17 21 18 0
More than 2 days 40 24 18 18 40
Other 0 2 1 5 7
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Who designs the AC/DC?
Designers of AC/DC
Continent
Africa%
Asia%
Europe%
Oceania%
Americas%
Internal HR Resource 28 44 34 38 28
Other Internal Resource 13 10 17 17 24
External Consultants 44 29 25 21 34
Use ‘off-the-shelf’ exercises 15 10 22 24 7
Don’t know 0 8 2 0 7
Europe and Oceania make greatest use of ‘Off-the-Shelf’ exercises and least use of External Consultants so are most self-sufficient
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Most popular Exercise Types
Exercise Types
Africa Asia Europe Oceania Americas
% Rank % Rank % Rank % Rank % Rank
In-Basket/In-tray or Inbox Exercises
44 1 10 5 9 4 19 2 17 3
Interview Simulationsor Roleplays
22 2 28 2 34 1 44 1 46 1
Group Discussion - Non Assigned Role
15 3 29 1 25 2 19 2 25 2
Analysis Exercises 9 4 8 6 19 3 4 5 8 4
Oral Presentation Exercises
7 5 11 4 9 4 10 4 0 6
Group Discussion - Assigned Role
3 6 14 3 4 6 4 5 4 5
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Other popular Assessment Tools
79
79
69
27
14
13
12
8
4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Personality Questionnaires
Interviews
Ability Tests
360 Degree Feedback
Business Games
Interest Inventories
Situational Judgement Tests
Outdoor Activities
Other
Ad
dit
ion
al A
sses
smen
t T
oo
l
% of Respondents
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Current use of technology
30%
19%
16%
9%
8%
7%
4%
3%
22%
10%
21%
9%
12%
9%
8%
3%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Computers for Exercise Participant
Computers for Resources Centre Managers
Computer for Results Assessor
Computers to Monitor Validation
Video Cameras to Record Exercises
Video Cameras to record Feedback
Audio Tapes to record Exercises
Audi Tapes to Record Feedback
DC
AC
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Agenda
The Changing Face of Assessment Centres
21st Century Initiatives and Tools
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Situational Judgement Tests – An Example
You have just attended an internal training course delivered by your manager. While talking to the other delegates privately after the course, several of them were critical of how your manager delivered the course. Your manager is unaware of this feedback and you felt the course delivery was adequate.
a) Tell your manager that you personally think the course went well and don’t mention the feedback from other delegates.
b) Tell the other delegates that they should communicate their feedback to your manager if they feel strongly about it.
c) Tell your manager about the feedback from other delegates, without mentioning them by name.
d) Don’t mention any feedback about the course to your manager.
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Graduate Dilemmas Test
Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) for sifting candidates
Series of typical scenarios an entry-level graduate might face
Candidates rate effectiveness of different responses to scenario
Measures five common graduate competencies
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Electronic Inbox
DEMONSTRATION
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Electronic Inbox – A New Trend in Assessment Centres
Electronic exercise versions have additional
features not available in traditional pen & paper
exercises: Increased face validity Fly-in emails can increase realism More info on Participants’ behaviour Better info on Participants’ behaviour
The computer allows much better presentation of Participants input & output (tables, graphs & results)
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Electronic Inbox – Features
Uses Microsoft Office™ documents as attachments within emails
Includes an electronic diary You can schedule new emails to arrive during the
Exercise Uses the Participant’s name throughout the Exercise in
emails, the organisation chart etc. Can be installed on as many PCs or laptops as you
wish allowing you to deal with more than one Participant at a time
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Inbox - Overview
Realistic simulation of prioritisation and decision-making
Participant can:create, reply & forward messages to relevant individuals
create Word and Excel documents if necessary
manage and schedule appointments in an electronic diary
access (personalised) organisational charts
access information about the scenario/company
Similar in form and function to Outlook / Lotus Notes
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Inbox – Participant View
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
The Inbox Collection – Assessor Marking
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
The Inbox Collection – Assessor Marking
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
The Report Format
Single Word document which includes: Biographical data
Participant Report Form
User notes
Summary of changes to the diary
E-mail summary highlighting e-mails actioned
All participant responses
Document summary
Any attached documents
This report can be edited for marking purposes if required
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
The Inbox Collection - Benefits
High face validity Truer reflection of today’s modern, technology based working environment Creates the impression of working in ‘real time’
Professional Image Innovative way of presenting information within an Assessment Centre Forms a positive impression of organisation
Improved Assessment Data Increased awareness of the Participant’s approach to the task Professionally formatted report
Faster Assessment Degree of automation in marking and report generation Participant information can be stored and retrieved quickly
Increased Flexibility Standalone exercise or host for the Assessment Centre Customised and bespoke available as well as off-the-shelf selection
Accurate Elicits evidence of job-relevant behaviours Marking framework encourages objectivity
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Inbox Hub™
‘Day in the Life’ approach Inbox used as a delivery
mechanism for other exercises Inbox calendar shows times for
other exercises Information for other exercises
provided in emails Participant has flexibility in how
they organise their time
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Virtual Job Tryouts
Applying Marketing Principles
People remember more information from advertisements for good brands and are willing to pay more for them.
Employer Brand = Product
Attracting Employees = Attracting Customers
Retaining Employees = Keeping Customers
© 2008 The A&DC Group Ltd
Virtual Job Tryout