Brief Assessment Center History

1. Brief Assessment Center History • Used by Germans in 1st World War to select officers • Used by U.S. to select spies (OSS) • In Private Industry, 1st used by AT&T to predict performance of • managers (Management Progress Study)

2. AT&T Manager Progress Study • 1st application of AC method in US industry (Douglas Bray) • Longitudinal study of 400+ recently hired managers • Inbasket, LGD, manufacturing game, interview, personal history, p&p tests (g & personality) • Predicted progress over a 15 year period • Implemented throughout the whole Bell system

3. From then to now… • 1960s: AT&T shared… • IBM, Sears, Standard Oil, GE, J.C. Penny • 1966: Bray & Grant: Psych Monographs Paper • 1969: Conferences being held on AC Method • 1970: Byham article in Harvard Business Review • 1973: 1st International Conference on Assessment Center Methods (ICACM ) Meeting; DDI Established • 1975: AC Guidelines Published • Today: Hundreds of studies, Thousands of ACs conducted, Millions Assessed!

4. Uses of the Assessment Center Method • Selection and Promotion • Diagnosis • Identification of training & developmental needs • Development • Skill enhancement through simulations • Not the same as diagnosis (Carrick & Williams, 1999)

5. Assessment Center Defined • An assessment center consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs. Multiple trained observersand techniquesare used. Judgments about behaviors are made, in major part, from specifically developed assessment simulations. These judgments are pooledin a meeting among the assessors or by a statistical integration process. - International Taskforce, 2009

6. The AC Big “10”… Job analysis (behaviors) Behavioral classification (dimensions) Links: behaviors  dimensions  exercises Multiple assessments Simulations Multiple assessors Assessor training Recording behavior Reports Data integration Observation Rating Judgment

7. Assessor Training • Orientation to the method • Frame of reference training on the dimensions (Schleicher, 2002) • Training on common rating errors (Thornton & Rupp, 2005) • Role player training (International Taskforce, 2009) • Familiarity with stimuli materials and rating process (Leivens, 2001) • Practice! (International Taskforce, 2009)

8. Sample of a “Full-Blown” Assessment Center

9. Assessment Center Exercises • Sample Individual Exercises • Interview Simulation • Scheduling Exercise • In-Basket • Sample Group Exercises • Leaderless Group Discussion • Business Game

10. Dimensions By Exercise Grid  To be measured in four Participant Reaction Forms X Quality typically measurable in this particular exercise ( ) Parentheses indicate an exercise that is a particularly strong measure of that quality

11. Participant:______________ (Name) Assessor: ______________ (Name) Date: ____________ Assessor Report Form Interview Simulation 1 – Very little or none of the quality was shown. 2 – A less than satisfactory degree was shown. 3 – A satisfactory amount was shown. 4 – A greater than satisfactory amount was shown. 5 – A great deal of the quality was shown. (1) Decisiveness: ______ (Readiness to make decisions, render judgments, take action or commit oneself.) (2) Judgment: ______ (Ability to develop alternative solutions to problems, to evaluate courses of action and reach logical decisions.)

12. Assessor Discussion Form Assessors: _____________________________ Participant:_______________________ _____________________________ Date: ______________ _____________________________ Decisiveness: Readiness to make decisions, render judgments, take action or commit oneself. Assessor Your Business Game _____ _____ Interview Simulation _____ _____ Leaderless Group Discussion _____ _____ _____ _____ Overall _________ Initiative: Actively influencing events rather than passively accepting; self-starting. Takes action beyond what is necessarily called for. Originates actions rather than just responding. Assessor Your Business Game _____ _____ Leaderless Group Discussion _____ _____ Overall _________

13. Assessment Center --- Sample Final Rating Form

14. Data Integration Options • Group Discussion • Administrator role is critical • Leads to higher-quality assessor evidence—peer pressure • Beware of process losses! • Statistical/Mechanical • May be more or less acceptable to organizational decision makers, depending on particular circumstances • Can be more effective than “clinical” model • Requires research base to develop formula • Combination of both • Example: consensus on dimension profile, statistical rule to determine overall assessment rating

16. Assessment Center Pros and Cons Male-Female Differences Source: Dean, Bobko, & Roth (2008). JAP, 93, 685-91.

17. ~ Assessment Center ~ International Application Issues • Relevance and generalization of situationalexercises • Scoring of candidate behaviors • Linkage between behaviors and a given construct (dimensions) • Example: Disagreeing with supervisor and defending one’s position in a meeting with others present (assertiveness vs. impolite) • Criterion-related validity across cultures