Assessment & Development Centers
Why
Assessment and Development Centers (ADCs) help organizations reduce bias and bring objectivity to decision making related to talent (selection and development).
Traditionally, when talent related decisions are made, they are done on the basis of interviews, stakeholder feedbacks, or perceptions about the individual. Interviews are known to have low reliability and validity as a selection tool. According to research, both candidate and interviewer characteristics (such as gender, race, age, personality, disability, appearance, anxiety levels, marital and pregnancy status) influence the outcome of the interview. Similarly, stakeholder feedbacks also suffer from similar problems of prejudice.
Assessment and Development Centers on the other hand are based on the foundation of matching for competency. This includes identifying and defining what competencies are needed to do a job and devising a process to measure the proficiency of the candidate in each competency. This allows for competency-based decision making and stronger alignment to organizational needs.
What
Typically, an ADC is a one-day process that helps identify the match between the competencies required for a job and those displayed by the individual.
An Assessment Center is set up for talent selection. At the end of the assessment center, the organization gains clarity on whether the candidate is a ‘go’, ‘maybe’, or a no-go’.
A Development Center is designed for talent development. At the end of the development center, the organization gains clarity on what each employee’s specific development needs are. Additionally, it provides the employee greater awareness of where they are viz-a-viz where they are expected to be in their current or future job role.
Approach
- Identification of Competencies
- Deep dive into each competency
- Designing of assessment exercises
- Designing of ADC tools and execution plan
- Conducting the ADC
- Drafting of ADC Reports
- Individualized debriefs and Individual Development Plan (IDP) creation
