Is there such thing as ‘business as usual’ these days? If it does exist, this somewhat universal phrase is not very individualistic – differing from one company to the next. Companies have had to weather numerous unexpected storms over the past few years, and the ones who find a way through the turbulence will be those that adapt to the changing environment.
So, what does this mean for the role of assessment centres (ACs)? There are three main areas of application for assessment centres:
- Recruitment and promotion
This is traditionally the most common use of ACs. It is reasonable to expect recruitment activity to ebb and flow depending on economic circumstances. However, even in a downturn, it isn’t recommended for organisations to put a blanket freeze on recruitment. There will inevitably be a need for outside talent to fill gaps in the internal talent pipeline, particularly if these gaps exist in business-critical roles.It’s understandable that organisations will have to make tough decisions like rationing their people and processes in times of economic crisis, but keep in mind that there will be always be individuals in the employment marketplace looking for jobs. Perhaps they were let go because of similar restructuring at their previous organisation. This presents an opportunity for organisations to secure top talent at a more reasonable cost. Even dating back to the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2007, its top talent was snapped up by other investment banks within hours. Putting a blanket freeze on external hires may mean missing out on a rich and inexpensive talent pool. The need for ACs to facilitate hiring and promotion decisions should continue even if the volume is altered due to economic conditions.
- Redundancy
When faced with the difficult task of reducing overhead, the biggest challenge is to ensure that the right people are released and there is a sound justification for selecting them for redundancy. All too often such decisions are taken for the wrong reasons, such as personal bias or inadequate or subjective views about performance.Clearly this is one of those situations where the greater accuracy and objectivity of an AC can inform such decisions in organisations that need to choose who to lose amongst larger groups of employees. Although popular wisdom advocates that redundancy decisions should be made as quickly as possible, it also stresses the importance of following due process and making decisions that are legally defensible and based on data, and an AC can undoubtedly assist in this regard.
- Development
The loss of staff has an obvious impact on the ‘survivors’ who may well be feeling stressed and anxious about their own job security. They may also be under pressure from the added burden of having to take on additional work to cover the tasks of their recently departed colleagues. In such cases there is a need to ensure that the remaining staff are motivated and engaged to deliver. The reality is that the organisation still needs them to perform, and it needs to continue to look ahead to ensure its future leadership talent is ready for the recovery. Such needs are often best addressed by running development programmes which will frequently include development centres (DCs) as part of the process.
Given these different areas of need, how might this impact the way ACs and DCs are run? There are a number of implications across these three areas of application which are discussed below:
Clarity of purpose
Any time there are reductions in a workforce, concerns about job security are natural. It is therefore more important than ever to ensure that the purpose of the AC or DC is made explicitly clear.
Honesty and openness are essential to building a climate of trust between the organisation and its staff. For ACs and DCs, this means being completely transparent about the purpose of these events. Even in positive times, people can mistrust the purpose of a DC and are often convinced there is a ‘hidden agenda.’ This is why it is considered good practice to publish a policy statement (Ballantyne and Povah, 2004) which covers matters such as:
- The purpose
- Who will assess
- How the results will be used
- Who has access to the data
- ‘Shelf-life’ of the results
- Right of appeal
- Who will provide feedback, when, and how
Anticipating candidate anxieties
Both ACs for redundancy and recruitment will see candidates with higher levels of stress and anxiety than usual. In the case of the former they will perceive they have ‘everything to lose and little to gain.’ With the latter they will be seeking rare employment opportunities in an increasingly competitive employment market, in which employers can and should be selective about who they take on.
How should we address these anxieties to help candidates perform at their best? The Best Practice Guidelines published by both the British Psychological Society and the International Taskforce (see references) only recommend providing the aforementioned policy statement and explaining the format of the AC (duration, structure, etc). However, we believe there is a need to go further and to help people prepare, relax, and perform at their best.
Like a number of our clients, we support the idea that candidates should generally be told in advance which competencies (including their definitions) they will be assessed against, along with a brief description of the types of exercises they will encounter. They should also be advised of any other activities they will be asked to undertake such as an interview and any psychometrics.
Consider taking it even one step further by providing candidates with some insight into the broad nature of the exercise types they will meet, although of course not the specific content. After all, practice papers are fairly standard with psychometric tests, so why not provide some general guidelines about the nature of different AC exercise types and some of the behaviours they assess?
Knowing what one should do is very different from being able to do it; so if someone is able to display those behaviours in the AC, then they are showing they have some of the skills required to take on that role. We believe – especially in the current climate where many people may be facing ACs for the first time – it is helpful to remove the mystique that surrounds them.
The role of engagement in development
Most organisations are still committed to developing their talent pipeline and this is all the more important as businesses need to have their best people in the most critical roles. Critical to the organisation’s success is the need to motivate people and to secure their commitment to deliver peak performances.
If DCs are a key part of the process for developing top talent, they need to ensure there is a focus on energising those individuals. This has led to an increased interest in focusing on individual’s strengths as advocated in Positive Psychology. This will have an impact on the style and format of the DC which will be less focussed on pure assessment and more inclined towards feedback, coaching, and support.
Design considerations
Another noticeable trend is that many organisations are understandably reducing their external spend by trying to tackle their assessment and development activities in-house. This push for greater self-sufficiency can take a number of forms, ranging from buying into more off-the-shelf products through to up-skilling their own staff to design and run the AC or DC.
Some have sought to protect themselves from the risk of compromising on professional standards by retaining consultancies to act as advisors. These individuals provide Quality Assurance in terms of conducting ‘health checks’ and reviewing their activities against best-practice guidelines.
References:
Ballantyne, I. & Povah, N. (2004). Assessment and Development Centres. Aldershot: Gower.
British Psychological Society (2003). Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Assessment and Development Centres: Best Practice Guidelines.
International Task Force (2000), Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations. www.assessmentcenters.org/articles.asp
Povah, N. & Povah, L. (2009). Succeeding at Assessment Centres For Dummies. Chichester: Wiley.
