Assessment and Development Centres

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There is often some confusion over the difference between development centre and assessment centre, leading to concern about the use of the former. This is understandable since some of the assessment techniques are common, to both activities. One of the popular concepts in the management development field is the assessment centre method of identifying and developing the management potential.

This method is available to all sizes of organizations and can be used at all levels of management, from the first level of supervision to top corporate management. In a typical centre, six first level manager participants are nominated by their immediate supervisors as having potential for middle level management positions based on their current job performances. For two days, the participants take part in exercises developed to explore behaviours deemed important in the particular organization. A participant may play a business role and complete an in-basket exercise or may participate in two group discussions and in an individual exercise, and be interviewed. Three line managers - two organizational levels above the participants-act as assessors, observe the participants' behaviour and take notes on special observation forms.

On completion of the exercise, participants go back to their jobs, and assessors spend two more days compiling their observations and making a final evaluation of each participant. A summary report is prepared on each participant, outlining his or her potential and defining the development action appropriate for both the organization and individual. The levels of candidates to be assessed usually dictate the duration of the centre. Centres for identifying potential in non-management areas can last as long as two half days, including evenings.

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While the specific objectives for which the assessment centre is set up may vary in making a promotion decision, diagnosing training needs, developing managerial skills, placement, etc., there are some essential steps that are common in all assessment centres. The essential features of an assessment centre are:

Job analysis. The aim of conducting job analysis is to reveal the details of the target job ¬its illustrative tasks, problems, and situations that a jobholder is likely to face in a given situation. Through job analysis, the dimensions like the skills, qualities, attributes, knowledge, motivation, tasks required for effective performance of a target job are systematically identified. These dimensions provide the framework for developing the instruments to evaluate or assess the participants and for giving the feedback. .

Multiple assessment techniques. The assessment centre aims at providing multiple opportunities to observe the complex behaviour of the participants and assess it against the dimensions identified in the job analysis. A variety of assessment techniques can be used, ensuring that these are the appropriate ways of observing one or more of the dimensions. These can include - interviews, psychological tests, questionnaires, situational exercises, etc.


Situational exercises. These exercises are simulations that portray the most important aspects of target jobs. Typically, a situational exercise tries to present the participant with a complex set of stimuli that he is likely to deal with on the job. For example, an in-basket exercise that captures the typical sample of tasks one is likely to encounter in a job.

Behavioural responses. Situational exercises provide a lot of opportunity to oversee the behaviour of participants, which are indicators of complex competences.

Behavioural observations. The assessors are trained to focus on the behaviour of the participants. These observations give a specific statement of observable actions and even actual words.

Multiple assessors. The basis for using multiple assessors is that this helps in ironing out individual biases. Different backgrounds and experiences of a group help to provide a rich perspective to the centre. It is recommended that a line manager, an HR manager, an outside consultant and others, familiar with the target job, may be included in the assessor panel. There should be at least three assessors to make observations on each participant's performance.

Trained assessors. It is important that the assessors have thorough training in assessment skills and also have a common frame of reference regarding the objectives, design and implementation programme of the centre. Specifically, training should be imparted on observing and recording behaviours, classifying behaviour into directions, making judgements about the performance levels, communicating individual judgements and understanding to others, integrating behavioural observations from different sources, etc. If required, make evaluation an overall success and give suggestions for future development.

Integration of observations. Regarding integration of observations, there are two schools of thought on its methodology. Traditionally, the judgemental method has been used in which the assessors use their pre-knowledge, wisdom and discretion in noting, classifying and integrating observations to derive an overall rating. The alternative method is found to be especially appropriate for some assessment situations, for instance, while screening a large number of candidates, for low level jobs. This is the statistical method. Here predetermined weights are assigned to dimensions and scores on exercises. These are then combined using a formula.

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Assessment centres are more accurate than supervisionary judgement in predicting the potentiality because the exercise used provides a niche for observing the behaviour needed at higher levels before a person is put on the job. The selection of a sales manager is a good example to prove the superiority of the assessment centre's method. A supervisor, asked to nominate a sales person for supervision, can judge his people only by their sales performance. Usually, the best sales person is nominated, however, because many other skills are needed in management, and if the person so nominated fails, the company loses both a manager and an excellent salesperson. If an assessment centre was used, the unique abilities needed for management would-have been determined, and their presence or absence observed through simulation before an individual is promoted.

Assessment centres are more accurate than personal tastes in predicting potential because they sample actual behaviours, not what the applicant says he would do or he has done. For years, managers have observed that the applicants could often tell a story better than they could perform. The assessment centre checks the actual performance.


The greater accuracy of assessment centres compared with management appraisals and tastes has been proved in a number of well-controlled studies in organizations such as the International Business Machines Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph, General Electric, Sears, or Reebok and the US Internal Revenue Service. However, assessment centres are not intended to replace methods, rather to supplement them by enabling an organization to have a more unbiased look at its employees. The accuracy of assessment centres results from a number of factors:

1. Candidates are observed by line managers who have been specially trained to perform more tasks of observing behaviours. They give their full attention to the candidates' functions rather than trying to observe behaviour while subjected to other on-the-job pressures which often prevent them from observing accurately.
2. The managers usually come from above the level of the candidates' immediate supervisors and have a broader perspective of the skills and abilities needed than what an immediate supervisor does while nominating people for his own level.
3. Line management assessors bring to the task a thorough knowledge of the whole company, its mores and its idiosyncrasies. They know the skills needed in future currently and those that will be needed based on projected changes.
4. Group decisions about individuals are constantly being shown to be more accurate than individual decisions. Perceptions can be compared, biases can be challenged. The use of exercises exactly consistent for all candidates means that a comparative judgement can be made on large numbers of candidates working for different bases in vastly different circumstances. .

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A centre can be an end in itself - for assessment of need, potential and appointability -- or it can be a means to an end.
These means can be diagnostic tools by which appropriate action can be taken to help an individual and or group of individuals to upgrade their managerial performance against an agreed set of criteria. If the criteria have been drawn from the job through job analysis and the current level of performance assessed against them in job-relevant but unfamiliar situations, good quality information can be gathered from which one can draw up developmental plans. Developmental applications of assessment centres represent an emerging exciting area for practitioners interested in maximizing the benefits of assessment centres. . If the centre has been well designed and closely related to the needs of the jobs and the organizations, it should generate a follow-up action, which is acceptable to the individuals and organizations and readily applicable.
While these may seem to be obvious conclusions, they are not necessarily followed. Follow-up actions do not have to be restricted to traditional training solutions. The environment of line managers enables them to act as coaches and mentors. The whole process can be used to contribute to the development of the organization in addition to the intended individual and management development. ¬


Most researches seem to be focused on the validity or the predictability of the technique as a selection device, rather than on the usefulness of the information gathered for development.

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Development centres often depart from the traditional assessment centre design and practice in several ways; as they often take a more collaborative approach to assessment and decision making, feedback may be given after each exercise, rather than at the end of the centre. They also involve much more self - and peer - assessment than is usually used in selection-oriented assessment centres.
Development centres are workshops, which measure the abilities of participants against the agreed success criteria for a job or a role. The key characteristics of a development centre are as follows:

1. Observations in the centre are based on key dimensions or competences, which differentiate
between successful and less successful performances.
2. Development centres measure the abilities of participants by simulating a job or role situation, which requires them to demonstrate abilities in the relevant competence in them.
3. Rating of performances is undertaken by trained assessors, who have undergone a course of familiarization and skill training.
4. They involve one-to-one feedback interviews with participants, during which the strengths and development that have been highlighted by performances are discussed. Subordinates and line managers may also pool data that have been collected by the trained assessors with those produced prior to the press.
5. Assessors' assessments are collected and distilled into a written report before the one-to-one feedback interview. This often involves a plenary discussion in which assessors who have assessed the same individual in different exercises discuss the overall performance of that individual.
There is often some confusion over the difference between development centres and assessment centres, leading to concern about the use of the former. This is understandable since some of the assessment techniques are common to both activities.
The main similarities are seen in the principles of assessment. Both activities, designed to measure the abilities of those who, take part, use trained people for the assessment.

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Assessment and development centre is a panel of senior people from within a company which identifies and develops skills in the organization at the nine thousand nine hundred crores TATA MOTORS, which has 34,500 employees. An ADC comprises 6 people - the chief of corporate human resources, the chief of regional HR, and the chiefs of the various plants involved. The ADC, christened within the auto-giant as an employee selection centre has already catapulted junior managers below 30 to higher responsibilities. Every year 180 - 200 managers apply to the ADCs. After a series of elimination tests, 25 - 30 are taken into the ADC. Of these, only 7-8 is sent for higher-level training to occupy responsible positions.
Promising employees at TATA MOTORS kicked their heels for years before rising to their level of competence. ADCs have helped to identify outstanding employees and expand their responsibilities beyond what they would have otherwise done following a normal performance appraisal. At TATA MOTORS, each successful assessee, has to move through four functions different from what he or she performed earlier for three months each.


The assessors are also trained through an external organization's help. ¬
The three thousand crores RPG group chose the ADC route as it realized that it was only recruiting from outside because the senior management did not know what managerial talent was available within. After successful implementation of ADC, RPG was able to select most of their senior managers, from within the group.
The twelve hundred crores BlLT has introduced ADC, which was started basically from the business strategy. Earlier they had a captive market, but as the focus was shifted to more market driven and customer focussed, they identified and built competencies to change with the time. Through ADC, they identified the people within the organization, who had competencies to take the business strategy further. In BILT, ADC is an intensive three-day affair, where panelists or assessors remain holed up with the assessees. The test included fact-finding, presentations, role-plays, analysis, group tests and in-basket tests.
The seven thousand crores A V Birla group has two ADCs. One was that, which tracked down the successes for the 300 odd senior managers, who retired. The other one was for the newly inducted general management trainees. .
HLL has developed ADC as part of project millennium, which has divided the company into smaller profit centres, and given promising employees more responsibilities.
The Indian companies like TATA MOTORS, BILT to name a few, have implemented ADCs for various reasons to identify first rank performers. RPG identified potential general managers within the group; A V Birla identified high potential general trainees and successors for senior management.