Effective Talent Identification and Selection - the

benefits and uses of assessment centres

Benefits of Assessment Centres

Extensive research has shown that well designed and delivered selection Assessment
Centres (ACs) have a greater success in identifying suitable candidates than
interviewing alone. Candidates selected through ACs tend to have higher levels of
retention and more rapidly begin to perform at optimum levels than those appointed
through other methods

ACs provide a number of benefits, including:

• More objective and broader opportunities to observe candidates in situations

that elicit evidence of a candidate’s level of competence for key aspects of the
role requirements
• Fairness from multiple observations and assessments
• Providing an enhanced professional image of the organisation to candidates
• Presents an ideal opportunity for the candidates to preview the role and the
organisation
• Activities designed are some of the most effective ways to predict performance
in the work environment
• A more defensible selection process

In addition to this, internal team members supporting and participating in the AC

process will develop their assessment and observation skills.

Assessment centre uses

Assessment Centres are valuable where any analysis and identification of talent is
required. Uses can include:

• Promotions
• Recruitment
• Talent inventory
• Leadership assessment and development
• Selection for development

This document outlines the approach we take to designing and delivering an AC for
recruitment and selection. The methods suggested are tried and tested, significantly
increasing the validity of selection decisions, and are very likely to save costs
associated with selection errors, as well as reduce the risks associated with
discriminatory selection practices. The Greenread Partnership have recently been
involved with a project supported by the British Psychological Society to formalise
standards for the design and delivery of assessment and development centres.
Our Approach
At the initial stages we focus on the role(s) to be filled and the skills, knowledge and
experience required by successful candidates. Alignment with organisational
competencies, as well as the technical capabilities and experience that are specific to
the role, are identified and clearly articulated.

We often find that most managers are very clear about the technical capabilities that
are required in the vacant role but do not always consider the behaviours that are
essential for success. Where organisational competencies do not exist we take time to
support the manager in developing clear descriptors of these behavioural requirements.

Understanding the key competencies to be assessed will impact upon the design of the
AC and the activities to be undertaken.

Pre-assessment
Ability tests
We advocate the use of ability tests in many circumstances where a clearly identifiable
level of intellectual ability is a critical factor for success in the role. These can be
carefully selected to test key capabilities required in the role.

Ability tests measure a person’s ability to perform or carry out different tasks and have
been found to be one of the strongest predictors of future job performance where
intellectual ability is important. The tests most commonly used are:

• Verbal – these are designed to measure a person’s ability to interpret verbal

information and reach correct conclusions. Verbal reasoning ability is important
for any work involving the communication of ideas or the understanding of
written information. It can also be important for work requiring analytical thinking.
• Numerical – these are designed to measure a person’s ability to analyse and
draw inferences from numerical information and data. Numerical reasoning
ability is important for a variety of roles where working with data is key.
• Logical – these are designed to test a person’s ability to analyse abstract
information and apply this in determining outcomes and patterns. Logical
reasoning ability is important for a variety of roles requiring complex problem
solving.

Ability testing can be used at any stage of the assessment process. For high volume
recruitment where it is clear that certain abilities are a role requirement they can be
used at the first sift. Often they are used at the second sift stage once applicants’ CVs
or application forms has been reviewed, or perhaps a short telephone interview has
been conducted. The use of a robust and valid assessment of ability in the early stages
of a recruitment process, especially where there are high volumes of applicants, can be
an extremely cost effective method for screening out those who represent a high risk in
terms of lacking the basic abilities required for the role.
Psychometrics
As attitude and personal “fit” are so important to the success of the selection process,
the use of a suitable personality assessment can also be extremely useful. The
assessment that Greenread recommends focuses on work-based preferences and can
be mapped against organisational competencies that are predictive of successful work
behavior.

The assessments are administered on-line and can be completed remotely prior to the
AC allowing us to integrate the findings into the assessment on the day. If required, the
interface and the reports produced can be branded with the recruiting organisation’s
colours and logos.

From this assessment, interview questions can be designed that will specifically probe
around any preferences that fall within a pre-identified “danger zone”.

More information on the validity and reliability of the tools that we use, and the nature
and security of the administration process, is available on request.

The administration and interpretation of psychometric tools must be undertaken by

individuals qualified to BPS Test User standards. The Greenread Partnership will only
deploy consultants with at least this qualification, with our Chartered Occupational
Psychologists being consulted during the design phase as required.

Activities on the Day

The following is an indication of the type of activities that could be undertaken, based
on previous experiences of designing and delivering ACs.

Up to 3 activities will be designed and selected to provide candidates with more than
one opportunity to display each of the identified key competencies. These could
include:

Role-play or case study

Designed to assess individual’s problem solving, technical capability and/or business
acumen in real time.

A suitable scenario for this exercise would be designed in collaboration with members
of the recruiting team to ensure the scenario fairly reflected the demands and culture of
the role, function and organisation

Group exercise
Designed to measure a range of competence, including communication, team working,
management of pressure, professional behavior and leadership skills. Group
exercises are particularly effective at eliciting evidence of an individual’s natural
behavior in a group under pressure. Candidates will be provided with a scenario and
be required to come to a conclusion and present back.
Presentation
Requiring candidates to prepare and deliver a presentation on a pertinent topic will
enable them to display their communication and presentational competencies as well
as their strategic, analytical and/or technical capabilities – dependent upon the
presentation theme.

Candidates are either asked to prepare the presentation in advance of the AC or given
the topic on arrival and provided with adequate time and facilities to develop their
response.

Competency based interview

The Competency Based Interview (CBI) is designed to accurately probe for evidence of
the key competencies. Each candidate’s interview for the same role consists of exactly
the same competency questions but with the addition of some individual questions
generated from the analysis of the result of the personality questionnaire. These
individual questions tend to be designed to understand “cultural fit” and helps the
assessor ascertain whether personality factors may represent a particular risk for
success in the role.

Wash-up, Evaluation and Feedback

We facilitate a “wash-up” session at the end of the AC which generates agreed final
scores for each candidate.

Assessors take time individually to conclude their scoring on the scoring grid. The
facilitated evaluation session gathers assessor scores and compiles the overall score
and ranking, with the major strengths and weaknesses described for each candidate.
This is used to support final decision making by the management about which
candidate will be appointed. In order to ensure that this wash-up practice is robust and
fair, weightings and cut off scores can be defined prior to the assessment centre as part
of the design. Evidence suggests that wash-ups with a robust mathematical approach
have higher predictive validity.

In addition, it is important from an ethical standpoint that each candidate is offered the
opportunity to receive one-to-one feedback on the psychometric assessment whether
they are successful or not. This can be done face to face, by phone or by email
depending upon the numbers of applicants, whether they are internal or external
candidates, and the job level.

We are also able to provide candidates with a short written report summarising their
performance at the AC. This would be beneficial both to the successful candidate, who
could use it to focus their personal development plan, and to unsuccessful candidates
who may gain substantial learning from the process for their future careers.
Setting up the Assessment Centre
Assessor, Role Player and Administrator Briefing
Whilst we are able to provide assessors, we always prefer to work with an internal
assessment team to ensure robustness and validity of the assessments and
commitment and ownership to the final selection. We work closely with our clients to
support them in the identification and development of internal assessors.

It is key that assessors are capable of taking an objective view and assess capabilities
against the key competencies. We therefore design and deliver training and briefing
sessions to ensure all assessors understand the AC purpose, process and schedule
and are clear about their role. We highlight the importance of impartial assessment and
decision making.

Where role playing is required, internal ‘actors’ can be used or we can supply role
players. We brief role players regarding their role and how they interact with
candidates.

Administration of the AC will play a key part in the efficiency of the day. We work
closely with the internal team to ensure they understand the timetable and process and
are supported throughout the assessment day(s).

Conclusion
Research has found that assessment centres are one of the most reliable methods of
assessing candidates against the requirements to be successful as
employees. Interviews, or any other method, taken alone, may be as low as 15%
accurate. However, when scores from a number of different selection exercises are
combined, their accuracy can rise to over 60%.

In addition to this, when correctly designed and run with a professional approach,
assessment centres are generally accepted as a fair method of selection, providing
equal opportunities for all candidates and selection based on merit. In addition to this a
typical assessment centre provides much more information about fit, skills,
competencies and future potential than virtually any other method of recruitment.

This all combines to reduce the risk of claims on discrimination, raise the profile of the
recruiting organisation and ultimately means that new recruits are far more likely to stay
with the organisation and begin to deliver high performance much earlier than those
recruited through interview alone.

We are happy to meet with you to explain our approach in more detail and talk through
how we would develop a tailored approach to delivering effective assessment centres
for your organisation.

Please contact Sue Green at:

E: sue@greenread.co.uk
T: 01243 814130
M: 07770 880723