5 July 2019

Assessment centre: what is it and what are its uses?

assessment centre

Assessment centres, or selection centres, are one of the tools that companies are incorporating more and more into their personnel selection processes. This type of selection process is characterised by the fact that it goes beyond the traditional job interview. Instead, assessment centres, in addition to the classic interview, carry out group tests that allow the aptitudes and skills of the candidates to be seen, which allows for a much more successful assessment of who is the most suitable candidate. for the vacant post, or where to place each of them within the various vacancies available when they are available.

Table of contents

What is an assessment centre

The assessment centre, or selection centre, is a personnel selection process that carries out different tests during the selection process with the aim of getting to know each candidate better. This is done with several evaluators working together during the process, especially in those tests that are carried out in groups. 

In fact, it is estimated that the ideal situation is to have one assessor for every 3 or 4 potential candidates, which implies that the assessment centre is a more complex and costly selection process. However, because it provides much more detailed and useful information about candidates, it is a process that is gradually gaining more followers, as Your results are much more reliable and successful than traditional recruitment processes. 

What are the benefits in personnel selection?

The use of assessment centres makes it possible to evaluate potential candidates in real tests that mimic the situations the future worker will encounter in their role. In other words, it allows us to understand the candidate's skills and aptitudes in practical situations. In this way, the candidate assessment is not based solely on elements such as a CV, but rather, this initial information is complemented by the tests carried out during the selection process.

The main benefits of applying an assessment centre system in the selection process are that it provides practical and much more reliable information, as it is not based solely on the information the candidate provides to the assessor, but rather the assessors themselves gather the information they need from specific tests adapted to each type of vacancy and in particular. Likewise, as it is a process carried out by several evaluators, a much more complete view of the candidate in question is obtained. 

In fact, the main advantages of this process become apparent once the decision has been made to hire the candidate for the job. Because the selection process has been much more thorough, the success rate when carrying out the Candidate incorporation into the vacant position It is a greater advantage, and when several vacancies are available, it is possible to select the most suitable candidate for each of the available positions. 

Furthermore, this type of selection process allows the company to gain a much better understanding of the employee's aspirations and objectives. For example, it allows for compensation and benefits to be presented to the employee in a much more personalised way. This is because certain solutions, such as nursery vouchers, transport vouchers or petrol vouchers, are better suited to some candidates than others, which could be of interest to the company with a view to future hiring. 

Elements and process in the assessment centre

One of the aspects that must be taken into account when talking about assessment centres is that no two are alike. This is because each assessment centre is developed explicitly for each selection process, as it takes into account both the Characteristics specific to each vacant position, such as the particular characteristics of candidates and potential workers. 

However, in most of them, the following elements can usually be identified as the most common to the majority of selection processes: 

  • Situational testingDuring the assessment centre, situational tests are carried out. This means tests that imitate real situations that the candidate will encounter in the future in their job role. 
  • Behavioural observationBecause the selection process is carried out under the supervision of several assessors, they can observe the candidate's behaviour from different viewpoints, thus obtaining a more complete and holistic view. 
  • Command line interventionAlthough the assessors may vary, it is recommended that some or all of them be the candidates' future direct managers, as they will be the ones who will have to work with the selected candidates in the future. 
  • Specific skillsAs each vacancy is different, the tests and the specific skills What will be measured are those specific to each vacant position that is to be filled. 
  • Judgemental behaviourCriterion behaviours are the parameters that will be assessable as positive or negative during the assessment centre process, and which must have been determined and specified before the process begins. 

Assessment of current and potential capabilitiesFinally, the other element common to most assessment centre processes is that they focus the evaluation not only on candidates' current abilities, but also on their potential abilities, assuming that they will be able to develop some abilities more than others in the future and be more suited to one role or another.

Edenred Spain