What are development and assessment centres, and how can we use them in recruitment and employee development?

Assessment and a Development Centers share similar features, but have a different purpose.

Development and assessment centres are widely used in human resources to identify behaviours in recruitment and employee development. They are multi-component processes that, despite differences in goals and design, share many similar features. These include the ability to involve numerous candidates or participants in exercises, in person or through technology; analysis of the role and its required competencies, including behaviours, skills, attitudes and problem-solving ability; a combination of methods using different simulations; teams of trained assessors or observers from varied backgrounds to maximise objectivity; and shared data.

Assessment centres are primarily used for recruitment, fast-tracking and promotion, while development centres focus on identifying employees’ potential and training needs. Development centres therefore tend to last longer and require more resources, as they often lead to follow-up development activities. Assessment centres, by contrast, effectively produce a “yes” or “no” outcome. Data gathered at an assessment centre is used mainly by the organisation, whereas at a development centre the focus shifts towards participants and their further development.

Various assessment and development events share some features of these centres but do not include simulations, relying only on interviews or a single assessor. The central purpose of an assessment or development centre is to maximise objectivity and accuracy. Processes that depart from this are often less effective and more prone to error.

Any event described as an assessment or development centre should meet certain standards:

• There should be a job analysis clearly linking competencies to effective performance in the role;
• The material presented to candidates or participants usually includes at least two simulations;
• To ensure reliable measurement, each competency is normally assessed repeatedly through different exercises;
• The component parts of individual exercises should be clearly separated;
• Assessors or observers should be trained to observe, record, classify and evaluate the process and the specific simulations used;
• Assessors or observers should complete their assessments independently, including all reports, before the integration session;
• A full integration session should bring assessors or observers together to summarise and evaluate the behavioural data gathered;
• Candidates or participants should be offered feedback to support their development;
• A clearly formulated, published statement to explain the centre’s purpose, how and by whom data will be stored, and the access rights of everyone involved;
• A statement to explain the use of the centre’s results as a whole and of each specific exercise.

Exercises include presentations, group discussions, role plays, written analyses, interviews and psychometric assessments, among others.

Stages in implementing a development or assessment centre

There are four main stages. The first involves preliminary planning:

• Establishing the need for the process at organisational, departmental or functional level;
• Establishing stakeholder commitment, including the board, management team, potential participants and assessors;
• Defining clear goals for the process: assessment, selection, development or promotion;
• Establishing an appropriate organisational policy.

This is the initial stage. Three further stages follow, beginning with job analysis, identifying suitable simulations, design and training, followed by implementation and, finally, monitoring. With our extensive experience in this field, we can be the partner who takes care of every step in developing and implementing a development or assessment centre for your company.