Cambridge Business Association
A Practical Guide to Assessment Centres and Selection Methods
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A Practical Guide to Assessment Centres and Selection Methods

Measuring Competency for Recruitment and Development

Ian Taylor
Kogan Page, 2007
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Poor hiring decisions take a toll on a company. Increasingly, businesses are implementing a wider variety of assessment tools to achieve better results in their hiring and promotion processes. Occupational psychologist Ian Taylor shows how assessment centers (or suites) can help your firm differentiate the “good” performers from the “average” ones, which is crucial knowledge for building a more productive workforce. Taylor presents several methods for designing a solid “competence framework” to structure your assessments, including one useful seven-step system. He helpfully provides sample frameworks and activities that you can use or adapt in your own assessment centers. Although some of his information and guidelines are specific to organizations in the U.K., getAbstract recommends this manual to any human resources professional who wants to create a well-planned assessment center.

Summary

What Are Assessment Centers?

Human resources (HR) professionals must navigate intricate legal guidelines and company policies when hiring or promoting people. The old approach of using résumés to winnow a list of job candidates and then hiring based on an interview is not enough. Implementing a wide range of assessment tools helps you make better hiring and promotion selections. An assessment center (or suite or battery) consists of several selection activities combined into a single process. It might include “work samples, simulations and interviews” as well as “psychometrics,” such as personality tests.

Carefully examine your company’s assessment tools to ensure that they are valid and credible, and that the method of delivery does not compromise their validity. For example, do they discriminate against a particular race, sex or ethnic group? The selection activities and methods need to be fair, and adhere to legal regulations.

“Developing Your Own Competence Framework”

Before you can begin selecting your assessment tools, you must define what you want to measure and “to what standard or level” – that is, you must determine your competence framework...

About the Author

Ian Taylor is an occupational psychologist with more than 20 years of practical experience in management development.

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