AssessmentCenterMethods_mg_ddi

THEASSESSMENTCENTERMETHODANDMETHODOLOGYAMONOGRAPHBYWILLIAMC.BYHAM,PH.D.NEWAPPLICATIONSANDTECHNOLOGIES1TABLEOFCONTENTSINTRODUCTION............................................................2I.ASSESSMENTCENTERMETHOD...........................................41.HowanAssessmentCenterWorks............................................42.ValidityandFairness.......................................................53.AdoptionoftheAssessmentCenterMethodOutsidetheUnitedStates..............74.NewApplications.........................................................85.NewSimulations,Tests,andMethods.........................................166.NewTechnology.........................................................18II.ASSESSMENTCENTERMETHODOLOGY....................................217.WhatisAssessmentCenterMethodology?.....................................218.TargetedSelection®:ObtainingBehaviorinInterviews...........................229.TargetedObservation:ObtainingBehavioralInformationfromDirectObservationofPerformance..........................................2410.Third-partyEvaluations....................................................2511.DevelopingIntegratedSystems..............................................2612.TheFutureofAssessmentCenters...........................................2713.Conclusion..............................................................27REFERENCES.............................................................29©DevelopmentDimensionsInternational,Inc.,MCMXCIV-MMIV.AllrightsreservedunderU.S.,International,andUniversalCopyrightConventions.ReproductioninwholeorpartwithoutwrittenpermissionfromDDIisprohibited.2INTRODUCTIONThe“assessmentcentermethod”isthenamegiventotheformalassessmentapproachpioneeredbyAT&TintheUnitedStatesandnowusedbythousandsoforganizationsworldwide.Inthemostcommonapplicationofthismethod,threeormorelinemanagersobserveagroupofsixassesseesparticipatinginaseriesofexercisesthatsimulatetasksrelatedtothejoborjoblevelforwhichtheyarebeingassessed.Afterparticipantshavecompletedtheexercises,assessorsmeettoconsidereachparticipantagainstapredeter-minedlistofjob-relateddimensionstoreachanoverallevaluation.(SeeHowanAssessmentCenterWorksforacompletedescription.)Twenty-oneyearsagotheHarvardBusinessReviewpublishedanarticleIauthoredentitled“AssessmentCentersforSpottingFutureManagers”(Byham,1970).Thiswasthefirstarticlethatdescribedtheassessmentcentermethodforageneralaudience.Sincethattimeithasbeenwidelyreprintedandquoted.Thismonographisanupdateandexpansionofthatoriginalarticle.Twothrustshavecharacterizedassessmentcentersinthelast21years:1.ApplicationsoftheclassicassessmentcenterdescribedintheHarvardBusinessReviewarticlehaveexpandedwidelyandnewtechnologyhasincreasedvalidity,reliability,andefficiencyofapplication.2.Thekeycomponentsthatproducedthevalidityoftheassessmentcentermethodhavebeenappliedinmanyotherpersonnelfunctions,includingselectioninterviewing,referencechecking,resumescreening,andobservingandevaluatingon-the-jobperformance.Inrecognitionofthesetwothrusts,thismonographisdividedintotwosections:I.AssessmentCenterMethod,Applications,andTechnologiesII.AssessmentCenterMethodologySince1970Ihavewritten,co-written,edited,orco-editedmorethan60booksandarticlesaboutassessmentcenters.Thismonographwillmakenoattempttorepeatorevensummarizetheinformationinthosepublishedmaterials.Instead,itwilloverviewnewdevelopmentsandprovideaglimpseofthefuture.Thereaderisadvisedtofollowuponspecificintereststhroughthesupplementalreadingsuggestionsprovidedaftermanysectionsofthemonograph.Additionally,thefollowingbooksandmonographsaresuggestedasbackgroundreading:Ashe,L.,Todd,K.,&Byham,W.C.(1991).Employeeevaluationforthe1990s:Paper-and-penciltests,assessmentcenters,performanceappraisals,andinterviews.Areviewofcourtcasesanddiscussionoffutureprospects.Pittsburgh,PA:DevelopmentDimensionsInternational.Byham,W.C.(1987).Applyingasystemsapproachtopersonnelactivities(MonographIX).Pittsburgh,PA:DevelopmentDimensionsInternational.Byham,W.C.(1989).Targetedselection:Abehavioralapproachtoimprovedhiringdecisions(Basicconceptsandmethodology)(MonographXIV,rev.ed.).Pittsburgh,PA:DevelopmentDimensionsInternational.Hauenstein,P.,&Byham,W.C.(1989).Understandingjobanalysis(MonographXI).Pittsburgh,PA:DevelopmentDimensionsInternational.Thornton,G.C.III,&Byham,W.C.(1982).Assessmentcentersandmanagerialperformance.NewYork:AcademicPress.Wellins,R.,Byham,W.,andWilson,J.(1991).EmpoweredTeams:Creatingself-directedworkgroupsthatimprovequality,productivity,andparticipation.SanFrancisco:Jossey-Bass.ThesebooksandmonographsareavailablefromDevelopmentDimensionsInternational(DDI).3I.ASSESSMENTCENTERMETHODHOWANASSESSMENTCENTERWORKSTheassessmentcentermethodinvolvesmultipleevaluationtechniques,includingvarioustypesofjob-relatedsimulations,andsometimesinterviewsandpsychologicaltests.Commonjobsimulationsusedinassessmentcentersare:In-basketexercisesgroupdiscussionssimulationsofinterviewswith“subordinates”or“clients”fact-findingexercisesanalysis/decision-makingproblem