Assessment and Development Centres
Beacons design and run both Assessment Centres and Development Centres for organisations throughout the UK.
We also provide a range of Assessment Centre materials for hire or purchase.
What are Assessment Centres?
Assessment Centres are a means of helping an organisation to identify the suitability, strengths and potential development areas of people - either internal or external - in relation to a particular job or role.
They are structured events, usually one or two days long, containing a series of exercises and activities, often including psychometrics, with the objective of assessing competencies in a group of people through their observed behaviour and their performance in certain tests.
What are Development Centres?
Development Centres are Assessment Centres with key differences. This may be semantics - but it is important to be clear about the differences.They both involve Assessment, but it is in the end use of the information obtained where the difference lies.
An Assessment Centre is used for selection purposes, whereas a Development Centre is for personal development - leading to team and organisational development.
In a nutshell, Development Centres take the assessment process inside the organisation and not only help to identify key talent for the future, but also give participants and their managers action plans to make the most of their skills
This table summarises the differences :
| Assessment Centres |
Development Centres |
| have a pass/fail criteria |
do not have a pass/fail criteria |
| are geared towards filling job vacancies or selection |
are geared towards developing the individual |
| address an immediate organisational need |
address a longer term organisational need
|
| tend to be used with external and/or internal candidates |
tend to be used with internal candidates |
| may have fewer assessors and more participants |
can have a 1:1 ratio of assessor to participant
|
| involve line managers as assessors |
may not involve line managers as assessors (possibly all external)
|
| place less emphasis on self-assessment |
place more emphasis on self-assessment |
| focus on what the individual can do now |
focus on the individual's potential |
| are geared to meet the needs of the organisation |
are geared to meet needs of the individual as well as the organisation
|
| assign the role of judge to assessors |
assign the role of facilitator to assessors |
| may give no feedback to the individual |
always give detailed feedback to the individual
|
| retain "ownership" of the outcome/feedback within the organisation |
pass to, or share "ownership" of the outcome/feedback with the individual |
| hold very little pre-event briefing |
hold a detailed pre-event orientation briefing |
Why do organisations value Assessment and Development Centres?
- They provide an objective and robust method of improving both the individual's, and the organisation's, awareness of skills, strengths and gaps.
- They provide a unique opportunity to objectively observe and measure how people actually perform tasks, make decisions, relate to each other, and demonstrate self awareness.
- A well-designed customised Assessment or Development Centre is an effective tool for measuring the key behaviours important to employees' present success and future potential.
Beacons Assessment or Development Centre Activities
The design of the programme depends on which competencies need to be assessed. With the benefit of many years experience in assessment and development, Beacons Assessment or Development Centres generally include:
- an in-tray exercise
- a structured interview around values
- an appraisal or counselling or coaching role play
- a business case study, customised so to be relevant to the client company
- one or more communication exercises, including a formal presentation
- several different practical group activities
- up to four psychometric tests (see below)
The number of participants will vary in size, typically between 5 and 12.
The number of facilitators may be as many as a 1:1 ratio with the participants, depending on client requirements.
Please call us to discuss how we would design a typical Assessment or Development Centre.
What about the outputs? How are they used?
The outputs take the form of :
- notes written by facilitators against the competencies agreed
- scoring of each competency, assessing the evidence of competence demonstrated
- the results of the psychometric tests
- organisational and team norms and comparative ratings (optional but useful if a number of employees are going through the Centre)
The outputs are discussed soon after the event, usually in a one-to-one meeting with the participant and a Beacons coach.
The participant commits to agreeing a personal development plan with their manager, based on their assessed development needs.
The organisational norms, trends and the core training needs identified are reported to the client organisation.
Why psychometric tests? Which particular tests might be used?
The British Psychological Society defines a test as "an instrument designed to produce a quantitative assessment of some psychological attribute or attributes"
The tests used cover two main areas:
- measures of aptitude and ability
- measures of personality and values
What are the benefits?
- Administered in a standardised manner
- Scored in a standardised way
- Interpreted according to a standardised format
- Constructed according to psychometric principles
- Valid assessment of competence by enhanced consistency
Examples of tests and what they measure
| Measures of Aptitude and Ability |
Measures of Personality and Values |
Graduate Reasoning Test
To assess high level reasoning ability for graduate & management calibre individuals |
Occupational Personality Profile
To obtain an accurate measure of occupationally relevant personality traits |
Critical Reasoning Test Battery
To assess high-level critical reasoning ability for graduate & management calibre individuals |
Fifteen Factor Questionnaire
To obtain a detailed and comprehensive assessment of personality within a well established framework |
General Reasoning Test
To assess general reasoning ability for individuals within a wide range of ability |
Jung Type Indicator
(Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI)
To obtain a personality type classification within an established framework |
Clerical Test Battery
To assess clerical aptitudes and skills for all grades of clerical administrative staff |
Values and Motives Questionnaire
To obtain a profile of individual values |
Technical Test Battery
To assess aptitudes relevant in technical roles for applicants and trainees at craft or technician level |
Occupational Interest Profile
To assess vocational interests and work needs |
Read an article on the growth of Assessment and Development Centres.
The Next Step
For more information about using the Beacons approach to Assessment or Development Centres to meet the needs of your organisation, or to discuss our Management Development and Corporate Team Building programmes, please contact us.
© Beacons Consultants
The Midlands, Bristol, West Country and Wales
London, Hampshire and Surrey
Tel : 01275 848 791
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