Assessment centres in detail

The steps to a successful assessment centre

1. Being an assessor at an assessment centre
2. Assessor panel discussion
3. Common decision making faults

1. Being an assessor at an assessment centre

• Consult the administrator to find out which participants to observe
• Keep the programme on time
• Be prepared before the schedule time for each exercise e.g. have record forms ready with names at the top, have criteria list available
• Position yourself in group situations to ensure that you have a clear view
• Never indicate to an individual how well he/she is doing, e.g. by smiling or nodding
• Use every opportunity to allay participant's anxiety during lunch, coffee breaks and one-to-one exercises
• Do not give personal feedback on performance, this should be done at the official feedback session
• Try not to show any particular friendliness or attention to participants from your own department or region
• Wear a name tag at all times
• Look as though you know what you are doing
• Be serious even when events are quiet amusing
• Ensure that all notes made by participants and your own materials are collected
• Complete assessor report forms as soon after an exercise as possible
• Report any emergency deviation from the programme schedule to the administrator
• Know the location of pads, pencils, etc.

2. Assessor panel discussion

• Each assessor should indicate his/her own rating of the candidate against each criterion and the assessors should agree on a final rating
• During the discussions assessors should be able to logically justify their ratings, using behavioural evidence as necessary to support their opinions
• No overall selection decisions or development recommendations should be made until decisions have been reached on each criterion
• Differences of opinion between assessors should be seen as natural and helpful

3. Common decision making faults

• Over influence of first impressions
• 'Halo' effect - the tendency to transfer observations of good performance against one criterion to other criteria where, in fact, performance may not have been so good
• Central tendency - averaging rather than giving high or low ratings
• Over emphasising the significance of negative information
• Rushing decision making
• Logical error - inability to discriminate between two criteria which seem to be the same, so the rating is applied to each