Leadership assessment

Competency-based interviews

These are structured interviews with tailored questions to measure leadership competencies. They focus on gathering evidence of particular situations where an individual has demonstrated relevant behaviours.

Situational judgement tests

Situational judgement tests present a series of job-relevant scenarios, each with a list of different possible response options. Individuals are asked to review the scenario and then rate the effectiveness of each response option, given the scenario.

Personality questionnaires

Personality questionnaires are a self-report measure of preferences, motivations and competencies. They present a series of statements about talents, characteristics and behaviours and individuals are asked to indicate the extent to which the statements are descriptive of them. These types of assessments are particularly helpful in increasing self-awareness and providing development insights and guidance needed to boost performance.

Ability tests

Ability tests measure broad-based abilities that have been shown to be predictive of performance in leadership roles such as verbal, numerical and/or abstract reasoning. Ability assessments add rigor and objectivity to the assessment process and provide insight into the ease with which the individual can learn new skills and reason through complex and ambiguous information.

Business simulations – role plays

These are structured interpersonal interactions, typically a meeting with another person (the role player) to achieve a specified objective or agenda. For example, the participant may be asked to assume the role of a supervisor talking to, and coaching, an underperforming employee. Scoring is based on observed behaviours and the effectiveness with which the situation is handled.

Business simulations – presentation exercises

These involve asking the participant to review background information and then summarise findings, insights and/or takeaways in the form of a presentation.

Business simulations – inboxes/in-trays

These require reviewing and working through the contents of an email inbox for a fictional role just assumed. Here the participant is presented with several emails (with and without attachments) of updates, questions, problems and data, varying in terms of importance and complexity that must be prioritised and actioned.

Business simulations – group exercises

These involve interpreting and discussing background information in a group setting (often leaderless) to arrive at a decision.

Business simulations – analysis exercises

These involve analysing and interpreting data then reporting back in writing. Specifically, the participant is asked to analyse both verbal and numerical information relevant to a work situation/challenge and then produce a report with their conclusions and recommendations.

Leadership 360 surveys

These are online feedback questionnaires, also known as multi-rater assessments, where ratings from others – typically peers, direct reports and managers – are gathered to evaluate the leader’s effectiveness against critical competencies and is then compared to their own self-rating. Often, the raters are also asked to provide written feedback as well to support and explain their ratings. 360 leadership surveys rely upon others in the organisation having worked with and observed the individual to be assessed, therefore this method is best used to support development and not suitable for recruitment where external candidates may be applying for the role.

Ensure the leadership behaviours are defined before designing the assessment process so that they can accurately be measured.

Prepare in advance and ensure that both the participating leaders and those conducting the leadership assessment are clear on the process.

Provide training for all those involved in the process, so they understand their roles and how to evaluate performance and/or resulting scores.

Make sure the purpose of why you are running the assessment is clear to all involved.

Ensure there is clear communication for all stakeholders in the leadership assessment process.

Use a multi-method approach (e.g. interview and a simulation exercise) to ensure that the complex leadership behaviours being measured are assessed reliably and to best predict performance.