Assessment Centres

Assessment centres are widely believed to be the most effective method of selection, and an accurate indicator of future job performance. This methodology offers guidance on planning and running an assessment centre.

In order to select the best person for the role, careful consideration must be given to the selection and design of the activities that make up the assessment centre. This article outlines the seven stages of designing assessment centre activities.

This article outlining the positive and negative indicators of different competencies. It also provides guidance on personality styles to help you develop assessors’ guidance for observed exercises.

Information and advice on analysis exercises, where candidates are asked to analyse and interpret a range of information and reach a specified result.

An introduction to group discussions, where candidates talk about or debate a given topic.

Information and guidance on group tasks, where candidates are assessed working in either a competitive or cooperative group environment.

An introduction to in-tray exercises, where candidates deal with real-time tasks that they should expect to find in the role.

An introduction to presentations, where candidates prepare a talk on a topic and present it to two or more assessors.

An introduction to role-plays, where candidates play a part in a scenario, often to replicate the actual challenges or events they would face in the job.

When designing assessment centres, it is important to choose activities that assess relevant competences and are appropriate to the role. This brief article outlines the criteria you should consider when making such choices.

Focus groups can help you to gain insight from the pilot group, facilitators or candidates that have attended the assessment centre, on their opinions and suggestions for improvement. This article outlines how to run a focus group.

Guidance on how to evaluate candidates as they perform observed exercises, e.g. role-plays, group discussions, group tasks and presentations.

Guidance on how to evaluate any written work produced by candidates during the assessment centre.

This article will help you to perform analysis of the qualitative data gathered during assessment centre reviews, so you can feed suggestions back into the assessment centre design.