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.
The assessment centre, or selection centre, is a personnel selection process that carries out different tests during the selection process with the objective 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 evaluator for every 3 or 4 potential candidates, This means that the assessment centre is a more complex and costly selection process. However, because it provides much more detailed and useful information about the candidates, it is a process that is gradually gaining more and more followers, since it its results are much more reliable and successful than more traditional recruitment processes.
The use of assessment centres makes it possible to evaluate potential candidates in real tests that mimic the situations that the future employee will encounter in the workplace. In other words, it provides an insight into the candidate's skills and aptitudes in practical situations. In this way, the evaluation of the candidate is not only based on elements such as the CV, This initial information is complemented by the tests that are carried out during the selection process.
The main benefits of using 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 the assessors themselves gather the information they need from specific tests adapted to each type of vacancy in particular. Also, as it is a process carried out by several assessors, a much more complete picture of the candidate in question is obtained.
In fact, the main advantages of this process are seen once the decision has been made to place the candidate in the job. Because the selection process has been much more thorough, the success rate of the recruitment process is much higher. candidate for the vacant post is higher. In addition, when there are several vacancies available, it is possible to select the most suitable candidate for each of the available positions.
In addition, this type of recruitment process allows the company to know much better the aspirations and objectives of the employee. For example, it allows the compensation and benefits that the employee will receive to be presented in a much more personalised way, as certain solutions such as the Childcare Ticket, the Transport Ticket or the Petrol Ticket are better suited to some candidates than others, which may be of interest to the company in view of future recruitment.
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 of each vacant post, The main objective of the programme is to identify the particular characteristics of the candidates and potential employees.
However, in most of them, the following elements can be identified as the most common to most selection processes:
Assessment of current and potential capacitiesFinally, the other element common to most assessment centre processes is that it approaches the assessment not only from the perspective of the candidates' current capabilities, but also from the perspective of their potential capabilities, assuming that in the future they may develop some capabilities more than others and may be more suitable for one job or another.
