It was once considered absolutely normal that the probationary period was the period when it was determined whether the employee was suitable or not. It was considered normal practice when the salary was much lower during this period, some employers even “played” on it: they took a person for a probationary period, paid a little, promised a lot and, regardless of the quality of work, they fired until the moment when it was necessary to pay the promised high salary.

Now the times have changed significantly: much more attention is paid to start-up education and training of a new employee, they are more serious about team building. And therefore, an increasing number of companies are seriously asking the question: "How to determine as accurately as possible whether this candidate is suitable for this work in terms of the necessary skills of personal characteristics?" How to find out? After all, only the lazy did not read a large number of articles and books about what should and should not be said in an interview or interview. No one will say about themselves: “I am in conflict”, “I have low manageability”, “I tend to suppress clients”, “You should always use any chance to earn money, regardless of the method” and the like. How exactly can you find out what exactly a person will do well and what will not do very well, how he builds his relations in a team, how he resolves conflicts and much more? One of the solutions to this issue is the Assessment Center.

What it is

Assessment Center is a complex of exercises, role-playing and business games, cases and other assessment methods that allows you to evaluate individual personality characteristics, motivators and value factors, specific skills, features of group interaction and leadership, as well as additional significant factors. How is the Assessment Center organized? - There are two options: group and individual. For the employer, the first is most convenient. How to relate to the fact that you, in addition to the interview, were offered to pass a certain AC? If you are interested in working “seriously and for a long time”, then only positively. The employees of the company where you are going to come have more interesting activities than to comprehensively examine a candidate for a vacancy. Since time is still devoted to this, this means that the company plans to build a career for a new employee, invest in its training and development, and is attentive to its team and corporate culture. Do you like this? “Then it's worth taking AC seriously.”

Forewarned is forearmed". It is worth having an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat can be part of the AC structure and how best to act.

Let's start from the very beginning. Before building the AC structure, the profile of the necessary competencies is determined (In this case, competencies are understood as individual, personal, psychological and professional characteristics or skills that are necessary to achieve success in any field). You apply for a specific job in a particular company. Try to take the place of the employer and think about what competencies and behaviors are expected from you.

An example from life.  One large Western company with an absolutely “white” business was looking for an employee in the logistics department. The applicants were asked a “case” on how to speed up the process of customs clearance under certain given circumstances. Most candidates, people from less law-abiding companies, offered a bribe option and ... were rejected.

Another variant.  An employee of the financial department of one large company with Western capital decided to go to work with a large increase in salaries in a Russian company and, of course, during AC, of \u200b\u200bcourse, did not cope with a number of tasks to optimize taxation. Why? - Yes, because in his previous place of work this was not required.

From recent experience.  I really like the case of the following content: “You accidentally found out that your colleague (not the boss and not the subordinate) is systematically working“ to the left ”or is seriously abusing his official position. Describe your actions. " Many candidates respond like this: "I will talk with a colleague and try to make him stop." But at the same time, for my question about what kind of answer I was waiting for, for some reason many people assume that the correct answer is “Go to the manual and“ pound ”. But I just do not like this answer at all. It all depends on the corporate culture of the company where you get a job, and personal views.

So, rule one  - try to understand what exactly the employer expects from you. To do this, it is worth analyzing the following:

• type of company and corporate culture
• key tasks that you will face most often
• position of the position you are applying for in the structure of the organization
• features of the behavior of the employee who conducts AC

A few practical tips. People, as a rule, are more sympathetic to those who are similar to them in the style of speech, degree of activity, pace of activity. Observing a specialist conducting AC, you can draw these conclusions and make a competent adjustment. Remember that people are most often quite annoyed by the pace of speech and activity, much slower than their own, significant detail, avoiding a direct answer. For most situations, AC an absolute prerequisite for success will be the ability to assume, to make certain tolerances.

Of course, the expected patterns of behavior will very much depend on what position you are applying for. What is more important: diligence or initiative? If you have chosen one of the options, then you have already fallen into my trap. Because there is no right answer to this question, the correctness depends solely on who and where you are going to work.

Once I came across situations when a girl applying for a job in the customer service department proved for a very long time that one of her very great advantages is innovation and the desire for independence. As a result, it was this that caused the greatest doubt among those who evaluated this employee.

Very often they asked me a question: “And to what extent is it worth giving“ correct ”answers and meeting the expectations of a specialist conducting an AC or an interview. This is where the fun begins. Of course, you can try to cheat or cheat partially. However, it is worth considering where this will lead in the future. After all, if you showed alien values \u200b\u200bor behaviors, then you have to pretend for a very long time. Just like in fairy tales, when for some reason a wedding is considered a happy ending and no one thinks about what will happen next, so many people subconsciously want to “break through” to work at any cost and do not think about whether they can work normally and communicate as part of a new job and company. Therefore, I personally would advise avoiding answers and decisions that are either foreign to you or do not correspond to qualifications. In addition, an experienced specialist in most cases will understand where the candidate is disingenuous and will make his unfavorable conclusions.

Now about what is often included in the AC structure, and how to deal with it.

Cases are “puzzles” within which you or your team (with group AC) are offered some initial data sufficient to solve it, and it is proposed to find a solution or describe the way to find it. Conventionally, cases can be divided into several groups:

• skill test
• checking values \u200b\u200band attitudes
• elucidation of basic behaviors

Skills test

Let's start by testing your skills. The simplest and most commonplace, but nevertheless often used case is as follows: "Sell me this pen (table, bottle, etc.)." Another option: “Your client says it is too expensive. Describe your actions. " In all such cases, you must actively engage in a role-playing game, and not tell how you could do this. The goal is to test precisely skills, not knowledge of theoretical schemes.

In some cases, cases may involve the development of a scheme or strategy. For example: "Calculate the optimal inventory for the warehouse under such (described in detail) conditions." This is an example case for a logistics manager or supply chain manager.

You can bring a lot of cases that are at the junction of sales and marketing and test the ability of a potential employee to successfully operate in these areas. “Your company faces significant difficulties in promoting a new brand that is quite adaptable to the company's lineup. At the same time, significant studies were conducted that showed that this product is actually in demand by the end consumer and the price is fully consistent with his expectations. You can ask me any questions regarding sales channels. As a result, you need to offer a set of measures that will solve this problem. Your goal is not to evaluate these measures from an economic point of view. ”

Naturally, a certain time is given to solve such cases. Experience shows that the greatest success in solving such problems is determined by the following qualities and abilities: the ability to make assumptions on given grounds, the speed and courage of making decisions, the ability to simultaneously consider several versions and options, without focusing on one.

Verification of personal characteristics

The next version of cases is cases that test individual-personality characteristics, interactions with other people, management and influence style. Here it is immediately worth noting that there can be no right and wrong answers: it all depends on the approach. I will give some examples:

You think that achieving the goal is better to act according to plan X, and the leader proposes plan Y. Your actions. ”

We evaluate the combination of autonomy in decision making and manageability.
“Your subordinate systematically asks how to complete the task better. Your actions". “How would you inform a subordinate that you are transferring him to more routine work?”

Management approach, degree of rigidity and attitude in evaluating people.
Let the customer know that you are raising prices next year. ”

Ability to work with a conflict of interest. Repression tendency
Self-presentation

Another method often used in conducting AC is self-presentation. Each participant is invited to tell about himself for a certain time (usually 1-3 minutes). Sometimes certain rules are set (for example, apply an edge effect or be sure to maintain feedback with listeners or something else), in this case, be sure to follow the rules: they evaluate your learning ability and ability to follow certain technologies. This task allows you to evaluate not only presentation skills, which is obvious, but also prioritization. Why are you counting, what will you pay the most attention to, will you show the client - orientation and understanding of the listeners' motives, will you be able to interest and what exactly? What self-esteem will you show during your self-presentation? Think about it. It is important to remember that now everyone, first of all, is interested in your professional and social sphere and how you know how to achieve goals and overcome difficulties. Although a certain dose of some informal information will allow you to see in a person a pleasant personality, with whom it is good not only to work, but also to communicate. And it will increase your chances. At the same time, remember the time: it is advisable to observe the given duration of the presentation.

Group work verification

When conducting AC, work is analyzed in groups: who takes responsibility and volunteers to become a leader, who is chosen as a leader, how the leader organizes the work of the group: does he let others say his word or just drag the blanket over himself. In addition, collaboration preferences are evaluated. Caution: one cannot avoid responsibility and initiative, but it’s also bad to “push” and take everything upon oneself. Neither the first nor the second are usually invited to work.

Speech analysis

There are many more assessment methods that can be used during AC. Still, I do not want to reveal all the secrets. But another point, the importance of which is difficult to overestimate, is the analysis of speech, or psycholongvistic analysis. What words do you use? Pay attention to the hidden meaning of the statements “I had to” and “I had the opportunity”, “in principle I can do this”, “I can convince quite well”, as well as all sorts of “like” and other words that reduce the confidence of the interlocutor in your correctness and conviction.

A few more examples of speech analysis that allow you to draw far-reaching conclusions:

Describe your most interesting (successful) project (achievement) »

It analyzes whether you are talking about yourself personally, about yourself as part of a team, or about yourself as a team leader / leader. Several similar questions make it possible to understand what kind of work towards other people (independent, as a team, as a leader) you are now more inclined.
Describe your first working day at a new job ”

They will introduce me to my colleagues, introduce them to job descriptions, and talk about the main clients, ”you introduced yourself as a passive person, with a complete lack of initiative and preferring clear instructions. Does this fit the position you are applying for?
“I will meet my colleagues, ask DI and read them, find out the necessary information about the main customers.”

You are quite active, independent, it can be assumed that working without any independent actions and decisions is not quite right for you. There are other answers to this question and their analysis.
Are you good at negotiating? How did you come to this conclusion? ”

Well, the answer to the first question is actually not that important, although it tests stress tolerance and the ability to maneuver between relative modesty and nevertheless recognition of one’s professional merits (by default it is assumed that this question is asked to those for whom the ability to negotiate - necessary skill, other specialists can be asked any other questions). But the answer to the second question shows us whose opinion the person is guided by when assessing his interactions with other people (in fact, I specifically simplify, more global conclusions can be drawn from this answer): completely on your own, completely on the opinions of others, who in this case, his reference group, or a combination of his opinions and the opinions of other people. It is important for us to know this in order to evaluate customer - orientation, conformity, as well as many other characteristics of the employee. It is clear that the contractor in the "smallest" position should be guided by the opinion of others. But for everyone else, the best combination with deviations in one direction or another.
The most important thing is to relax, try to be yourself and get the most out of it: it’s both an extreme kind, an opportunity to “look at people and show themselves”, and a chance to just learn useful techniques and working methods used by your competitor colleagues. And in the worst case, you still do not lose anything, but gain valuable experience.

Group interview

This method is also called an expert group interview - this refers to the situation when several interviewers communicate with the applicant. Such an interview creates the most stressful situation for the interviewee, and this allows you to assess whether he is able to withstand the pressure. The need for a group interview may arise when a vacant position implies the presence of highly specialized knowledge that the HR service employee cannot evaluate. To make sure that the applicant has the necessary knowledge, they invite representatives of the department in which the vacancy is open. In addition, a group interview allows you to evaluate not only the professional, but also the personal qualities of the applicant and reduce the likelihood that he will not join the new team.

When planning this type of interview, it is necessary to clearly distribute the roles between the interviewers. However, a situation is possible when one of them is the leader, and the rest enter into conversation as necessary to ask additional questions.

Assessment Center

One of the types of group interviews can be called the now popular method of assessment center. It was formed in the West during the Second World War. Used it to recruit junior officers in the UK and intelligence officers in the United States. Subsequently, it was adopted by business organizations, and now in the West, almost every large company uses this method to evaluate personnel. In Russia, the assessment center began to be used in the early 1990s, and now this method of researching human resources is the most popular. It is perfect for working in situations of mass selection, when it is necessary to choose the best from a large number of candidates in the shortest period of time.

This method is based on the observation of specially trained assessors (evaluators) of the behavior of employees in real work situations or when they perform various tasks. The content of the tasks reflects the main aspects and problems of activity within the framework of a particular position. Each assessment center includes a number of procedures and is developed taking into account the requirements for employees. An important component of this method is measurement.

The assessment center is close to tests because it involves standardization, i.e., the existence of certain standards for conducting procedures and a rating system (criteria and rating scales). Sometimes, in addition to special tasks, the assessment center includes structured interviews and testing.

When conducting all types of interviews, one should not forget about such effective tools as projective techniques, self-presentation of candidates and cases, which are an indispensable source of data for evaluating a potential employee of a company.

Testing candidates is a fairly common method of selecting candidates and includes several types of evaluations. Not all organizations use this method in practice, as test reliability is less than 50%. Testing can be carried out both in writing and through personal communication and telephone communication.

Using testing methods, you must adhere to certain rules.

Now many HR services are sure to offer psychological testing to candidates for a variety of positions. However, when using psychological tests in recruitment, some limitations should be kept in mind.

• - It’s worthwhile to apply testing only when there really is a need, for example, a position assumes that an employee has certain personal qualities that can be identified using the test.
• - Tests for evaluating candidates must be professional and appropriate for their purpose. They must have a high degree of objectivity, reliability and validity (i.e., they must really measure what they are intended for).
• - A professional psychologist should conduct psychological testing of candidates.

In addition, there are ethical standards that must be followed when choosing this assessment method: the candidate must be tested voluntarily, since a person cannot be subjected to a psychological examination against his will (except in special cases regulated by law, for which the process of hiring in ordinary companies not applicable).

Professional questionnaires make it possible to identify incompetent candidates already at the first stage of the interview, and thus significantly save the time of the HR manager. They are effective in the selection of employees of various professions - accountants, lawyers, programmers, specialists in the field of IT or telephony. Questions are developed by the personnel service together with the head of the unit in which the applicant will work. The completeness and depth of knowledge of the candidate in the professional field is evaluated by his potential leader. The objectivity of this method can reach 80%.

Testing skills (specialized test). This method can be attributed to professional testing. It consists in the fact that the recruiter or expert checks the skills necessary for the candidate to do the job well, for example, typing speed and / or shorthand knowledge for the secretary, the level of foreign language skills for the translator, etc. The main condition is that the skill must be mandatory and can be easily measured. Of course, such a method can not be used in every case, but if it is suitable for a given vacancy, it should not be neglected. It is almost 100% objective and therefore should take its rightful place in the arsenal of any recruitment manager.

For some vacancies, there are special health requirements, it is necessary to check the physical form of the applicant, undergo a medical examination.

Test results are taken into account when making the final decision when hiring.

The final stage of the hiring procedure is hiring. At this stage, the conclusion of the employment contract and the appointment to the post.

Assessment Center

Assessment Center  (assessment) - one of the methods of comprehensive personnel assessment, based on the use of complementary techniques, focused on assessing the real qualities of employees, their psychological and professional characteristics, meeting the requirements of official positions, as well as identifying potential capabilities of specialists. Today, the assessment center is the most reliable method for assessing the competencies of employees (more reliable is only long-term monitoring of a person in real work).

Participants are evaluated by observing their actual behavior in business games. Externally, the method is similar to training: participants are offered business games and tasks, but their goal is not the development of skills, but equal opportunities for all to show their strengths and weaknesses. In each task, an expert is assigned to each participant. He details the behavior of his ward, which relates to the observed competence.

The composition of the assessment center procedures:

• interview with an expert, during which data on the knowledge and experience of the employee is collected;
• psychological, professional and general tests;
• brief presentation of the participant to experts and other participants;
• business game (under the supervision of an observer, a group of employees or candidates plays the business situation according to a pre-prepared scenario);
• biographical survey;
• description of professional achievements;
• individual analysis of specific situations (business examples) - the participant is invited to choose a specific strategy and tactics of actions in the proposed situation;
• expert observation, the results of which are recommendations for each employee.

The method originated in the West during the Second World War. In the UK, he was used to recruit junior officers, and in the United States - to select intelligence officers. Subsequently, it was adopted by business organizations, and nowadays in the West almost every large company uses this method to evaluate personnel. In Russia, the method began to be applied from the beginning of the 1990s.

References

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See what the "Assessment Center" is in other dictionaries:

The personnel assessment system is a set of several instrumental systems that are firmly connected with the main functions of personnel management: Personnel selection and placement Motivation, compensation and benefits Training and development Work with the personnel reserve ... Wikipedia

AC  - Analog Digital Dictionary: S. Fadeev. Dictionary of abbreviations of the modern Russian language. S. Pb.: Polytechnic, 1997. 527 p. AC analytical center under the President of the Russian Federation AC auction center ... Dictionary of abbreviations and abbreviations

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Or recruitment is a business process, which is one of the main responsibilities of HR managers or recruiters. Personnel selection is also the main service offered by recruitment agencies. Contents 1 Choosing a Candidate 2 ... Wikipedia

Recruiting is one of the main responsibilities of HR managers or recruiters. Personnel selection is also the main service offered by recruitment agencies. Choosing the right candidate can help increase productivity, profit and ... ... Wikipedia

There are other meanings to this term, see Competence. Competence (from lat. Competere correspond, approach) is the personal ability of a specialist (employee) to solve a certain class of professional tasks. Also ... Wikipedia

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Books

• Organizational Psychology. Man and Organization, D. Gebert, L. von Rosenstiel. The book by German scholars Dieter Hebert and Lutz von Rosenstiel is a complete modern textbook on organizational psychology. The authors consider in detail the motivation and assessment of staff, ...
• Personel assessment. Textbook and workshop, Anna Romanovna Sardaryan. The textbook reveals the theoretical foundations of personnel assessment: the concept and essence of personnel assessment, its role in personnel management, technology for conducting assessment procedures. Special attention…

Evaluation of personnel is now the same familiar procedure as training or “team building”. Many domestic companies adopt Western practice - evaluate candidates, future participants in the personnel reserve, etc .; sometimes an assessment is done just for the sake of assessment - fashionable. In addition to the usual tests and interviews, HRs are increasingly using the assessment center method (assessment center, or just an AC). In Western AC companies, the thing is generally familiar - transitions to a higher grade, enrollment in the personnel reserve occurs only after a detailed analysis of the candidate's strengths and weaknesses. If you have to pass the assessment for the first time, this article will help to remove the veil of secrecy and reveal some secrets of success.

What is it

On the one hand, there is nothing fundamentally new in the AC. Conducting tests to determine the “readiness” of a candidate is the oldest practice that exists in one form or another in every society we know. For example, a young Masai became a full member of the tribe only after the killing of a lion (or human). Going around the coals, taming the horse, composing poetry - there are no options. The bottom line is that the subject is invited to show certain abilities, the presence of which is critically important, according to the members of this society. Also in the AC - manager it is necessary to prove himself in order to prove that he is worthy, for example, of a serious increase.

Why is this lyrical digression? In my opinion, the success in passing the AC largely depends on the correct attitude to this event. No one likes to be appreciated. That is why the softer name "development center" is sometimes used (do not expect it, they will appreciate it to the full!). A negative attitude to the assessment gives rise to the wrong motivation and attitude - fear and excitement, anger, resentment (“how dare!”), Contempt (“well, evaluate!”). Experience shows that this attitude prevents even a really strong participant from showing their best qualities. It is much more productive to treat the AC as a test, the ability to test yourself, learn something new, even if not the most pleasant. The competitive effect is achieved by the fact that you are compared with other participants. In general, get started, feel the excitement, drive. Eat nothing! :) It is better to relax on the eve and sleep well - the event takes one or two full days and is accompanied by increased psychological stress.

What are you up to? AC is a series of tasks in which your competencies should appear - professional skills that are important for the successful performance of duties. Examples of competencies are “effective communication”, “people management”, “strategic thinking”, etc. Each competency has several indicators, for example:

Competency: People Management

Indicators:
  He sees the individual characteristics and motivation of employees.
  It selects an individual approach to each employee, taking into account these characteristics.
  Motivates employees to work effectively. Shows the connection of business goals with the individual interests of the employee.
  Combines tangible and intangible motivation methods
  Forms a favorable atmosphere in the team he manages, achieves harmonious communication within the team.
AC is rightly considered the most objective method of personnel assessment. All participants perform the same tasks. The tasks are different, and in each, several competencies are evaluated. In a good AC, each competency is “measured” several times, because the principle applies: “once - randomness, two times - coincidence, three - regularity”. Professional appraisers take part in the assessment, and the assessment of each participant is made based on the results of the “consultation”, which reduces the risk of subjectivity.
The tasks of the AC simulate working situations, create such external conditions in which competencies should manifest themselves. Some exercises are transparent - such as negotiating or public speaking "in front of employees", there are less obvious ones - like building a tower of paper. No matter how strange the task may seem, remember that certain incentives are “sewn up” inside it, and your behavior will be evaluated regardless of your attitude to what is happening. Offer to draw, play, jump rope - do it! No, about the rope I joked - well, I wouldn’t, probably :)

Relations with valuers

Establishing the right relationship with appraisers is another key to success. No one likes assessment, much less appraisers, or, as they are called in professional jargon, assessors. You will have to get used to the fact that the next day or two will have to live under the scrutiny of uninvited strangers. It can be severe bearded uncles or young girls with the appearance of a schoolgirl, but they have one task - according to the results of the assessment, write a report about you. Let's take a closer look at these creatures.
Typically, the AC is conducted by a team of external experts. This is good because these people do not know you, and they will evaluate with impartiality. This is bad because these people do not know you, and will finish building your image with the help of their own psychological theories. Some assessors are trained, some are not. In any case, they are determined to evaluate you objectively (there are, of course, cases when you hire assistants specifically to "eliminate" undesirable personalities, but these are exceptions). In general, they are friendly, but each has its own cockroaches, as you know. Do not be afraid of them, they are ordinary people. Looking at them from top to bottom (“who are you?”) Is not wise, because your career may depend on the decisions of these people. Try to treat them respectfully, kindly, evenly, and then there is every chance to get the same attitude in response. And without familiarity and toadness - no one respects the sneak.
The team of assessors has a leader and observers. The facilitator will manage the event, announce the beginning and end of the exercises, read the rules, etc. As a rule, he is the developer of the AC. Typically, consulting companies save on observers, may well take yesterday’s students on the project, but the leading specialist is always put in place as an experienced specialist. The host is the main person in this team, so it is extremely important for him to please and be remembered. It is the presenter who makes the final decision on the summary of assessments - the procedure during which assessors share their observations and make decisions on the final score. It happens that observers disagree - then the decision is up to the leader. Usually, the results are reduced in hot pursuit, after the AC, often ends in the middle of the night or in the morning. People are tired and can make mistakes, and your clear positive image in the mind of the presenter can become an important trump card.

There are several observers in the team. Typical practice is one observer for two participants. Participants are distributed and assigned, so that each observer monitors “his” people during the AC. The observer's task is to record your actions, so he carefully records everything that you do (as part of the assignment). During the execution of tasks, “your” observer will be nearby and follow; at the end, he can conduct a mini-interview in which he will ask several clarifying questions. It also happens that the entire team of observers “looks through” each participant.
Tasks

As was said, in each task several competencies are evaluated. All assignments have “correct answers” \u200b\u200b—the behavior that you are expected to see. The evaluator captures your actions and then compares it with the reference one specified in the competency model. Therefore, it would be desirable to know these competencies. If there is no such information, then use common sense. On the other hand, even if you know the evaluation criteria, it is not so easy to deceive the evaluators. It is not always possible to assume which particular competencies are evaluated in a specific task. But at the same time, there are several types of tasks:
1. Analytical cases
2. Paired role-playing games
3. Group assignments
4. Public speaking
+ Competency interview

Analytical cases. Everything that is connected with the “head” competencies is measured here: strategic thinking, systemic, analytical thinking, understanding of business, etc. Usually an analytical case is given at the very beginning - while the head is still fresh. A smaller case can be stocked for dessert. The big analytical case is the pearl of the AC, one or several consultants piled over it, and all with one goal - to make you creak your brains properly. It is unrealistic to “deceive” in this task - even if you somehow guess the correct answer, at the end of the task the observer will ask you to explain the course of your thoughts. It often happens that consultants overdo it, as a result of which a monster on ten pages awaits you - a detailed description of an alien business, decorated with pictures and diagrams. What is important to understand here. If you work in pharmaceuticals and you, for example, are offered a case about the FMSG market, do not get angry or panic. The business in which you work serves as a tracing-paper for the case, and familiar business processes are hidden behind unfamiliar details. Therefore, do not be surprised at anything; enter the role. Typically, a case is specially overloaded with information, and it is impossible to examine it in detail in the allotted time (45-60 minutes) + it is impossible to issue decisions. Focus on the main thing, carefully read the assignment. If the task is at the end, start with it, determine what information will be needed to make a decision. Highlight key information, underline, make notes - observers can use this as an additional “evidence”. In detail, justify the decision in writing, while trying to write clearly - firstly, otherwise no one will understand your scribbles, and secondly, there is always a chance to run into an erudite girl who can determine character by handwriting - at least she is so about herself thinks. Do not spend more than 25% of the time allotted for the study of the case, otherwise you will not have enough time to describe the solution.

Paired role-playing games.Everything is simple here - you play the role of boss or negotiator, your opponent, respectively, the role of subordinate or counterparty. Communication skills, ability to manage people, persuade, influence are evaluated. What they want to see from you is hard to say, but there are certain stereotypes. For example, in an exercise where you have to communicate with a subordinate, the role of a slack employee who does something wrong is often “sewn up”. Now they are waiting for any “leadership” from the manager, therefore it is not worth yelling at him, but gentleness is also not welcome. Ask more questions, listen carefully. If you need to assign a task or delegate according to the task, do everything “as it should” - a detailed briefing, a motivating conversation, a kind paternal look. In the case of “failure”, you should not arrange distribution - you need to give competent feedback, explain what was done wrong, and propose an alternative. Different companies have different requirements for managers, but the trend toward the West is a popular trend, so try to seem like a pro-Western leader, not a condo boss. The latter are considered by advanced appraisers as managerial anachronism.

Group assignments.All the same communication skills are evaluated, but in a different context. In group tasks, leadership qualities are usually evaluated. In this kind of tasks, it’s not so much the final result that matters, but your behavior during decision making. There are two types of tasks: win-win or win-lose. This may be the division of rooms, the choice of location for a new office, the adoption of a strategic decision, etc. Sometimes a task has a solution satisfying all, hidden with the help of a scattered one according to the tasks given to each participant (information from different participants may not coincide). Try to assemble a mosaic and make a complete picture, ask questions to colleagues who might well have missed something or misunderstood. In other situations, the task may be to push the participants with their foreheads, therefore, a solution acceptable to all may not be. You can’t do two things - press hard and be silent, I don’t know which is worse. In the first case, you will be considered rude, not able to see others, not taking into account other positions. In the second case, they say that "well, this one is not a leader at all!" One must be convincing, decisive and at the same time enjoyable. Since there can be only one leader in a group, often several alpha males enter the fray, which is normal in itself, but, alas, the majority of appraisers are women, and women have slightly different ideas about leadership and male principles for demonstrating status. Identify everyone who claims to be a leader. Do not enter into direct confrontation with them, otherwise there is a risk of "grappling with horns." Agree with them in insignificant details, wait for the opportunity to seize the initiative. Closely follow the discussion, often make comments, “be active.” Call for the role of a facilitator, write down the positions of others (no one bothers you to reformulate). In fact, what fixes has enormous power, and this works not only in the AC. In the end, summarize and try to voice your position as a summary. Be sure to tell the observer that the final decision was the result of your skillful management of the discussion.
Public speaking. You have to make a report to the board of shareholders, reassure dissatisfied employees or make a presentation of a new product. Emphasis on persuasiveness, self-confidence, charisma. Of course, you won’t become Steve Jobs in one moment, but everyone has artistic inclinations. Try to get into the role as much as possible. Sometimes even people without experience manage to effect the observers if they manage to overcome the excitement. I will not stop here - there are enough books on public speaking now. “Tricky questions” are very likely to get you crazy. An immense love for people will help you pass the stress test with honor!

Competency interview.  This is not an exercise, but an important part of the AC. Usually held at the end of the day or the next day. The goal is to refine the grades and obtain information on competencies, which are problematic to measure in the AC. A competency interview differs from a regular interview in that it is aimed at obtaining extremely accurate, detailed information, one might say this is the younger brother of interrogation. It’s very difficult to deceive the interviewer. Suppose I ask you if you had to defuse C4 plastic explosives, to which you can confidently answer - yes, and more than once! Well, I say, then describe in detail how you did it. Here all the cards open - to describe in detail, in detail the unknown process is impossible. Therefore, think carefully before trying to mislead the assessor. Better prepare some real-life examples of your successful actions in advance. The interviewer will ask you to tell in detail, so spend more time describing the details to give the story credibility. Describing your actions, say “I did”, “I said”, etc., do not say “we ...” even if you were helped or you worked as a team. A good appraiser can skillfully make you lose your vigilance and blabber about unsightly moments in your career, so remember that, "everything you say will be used against you." As, however, it is for you, therefore, it makes no sense to play silence - for lack of information, the appraiser can fill the gaps with his own speculations. Do not idealize yourself, talk about mistakes, do not forget to note that after analyzing them you learned a lot and began to act more effectively. Be prepared to name your strengths and weaknesses - a lot of recommendations have been written about how to do this.

In general terms, that’s all. The right attitude, competent relations with appraisers, calmness and composure during exercises.
I hope the information will be useful to you!

Assessment Center - a successful Western methodology for assessing personnel is becoming more widespread at Russian enterprises. Technology involves testing business skills and abilities, as well as personal characteristics of an employee, necessary to solve problems corresponding to a particular position.

Historical excursion

For the first time the technology, now called the assessment center, was used in the British army. In the 40s of the 20th century, young officers were asked to solve combat missions in exercises simulating combat. Later, according to this technique, they began to train intelligence officers of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States.

American Telephone and Telegraph was the first to model business tasks of the first start. AT&T built a special building to train employees. It was this building that gave the name to the most successful technology for working with personnel of the 21st century. “The Assessment Center” - this name was a historical building.

For decades, the technique of assessment has established itself as the most effective. The conclusions obtained as a result of the application of the technique are most close to the real results. According to studies of the British Psychological Society, the reliability of the results of the assessment center is 65-70%. For comparison, the results of a regular interview with a candidate are estimated at 5-19%.

Application area

Translated into Russian, the word assessment means assessment. In the Russian version, the frequently encountered name of the methodology is the assessment center. Initially, the technique was used to select candidates for senior positions. In the future, the scope of the method has expanded significantly. Currently, the assessment center is practiced by:

• to assess the compliance of employee competencies with the ideal competency model in the relevant position;
• to identify the ability of employees to career growth;
• to form the personnel reserve of the company;
• to draw up individual employee development programs.

Competency is understood as a set of qualities (skills, motives) that contribute to the achievement of goals in a particular workplace. A feature of checking employee compliance using the assessment center method is the identification of a person’s potential, rather than an assessment of past merits.

The essence of the method

Assessment center is a set of assessment activities that reveal the success of a person in a professional activity. The criteria are laid down by the competency model. Test exercises are made out in the form of individual lessons, business games, discussions and other tasks.

The full procedure in the classic version takes 1-2 days. Evaluation is carried out by several employees or applicants for the position, put on an equal footing. Specially trained experts monitor the behavior of participants. To control the results, it is possible to record the completion of tasks.

According to the Russian standard of the assessment center, the modeling exercise contains no more than 5 competencies. In the best case scenario - 3 competencies per task. Based on the results of the observation, experts give marks to the participants. The final results are recorded after discussion and agreement of the views of observers.

The components of the assessment center are formed on the basis of the company's requests, as well as time and financial resources.

Business game

The main component of the assessment center’s methodology is the business game. It models business situations specific to the functional position, the competencies of which are evaluated. A business game is characterized by:

• the vitality of the situation;
• repetition of tasks and procedures that are the essence of the game;
• the presence of conflict;
• the existence of hidden reserves.

Business cases reveal a person’s ability to work in a team, the ability to smooth out conflict situations and occupy a role that corresponds to knowledge and skills.

The leadership qualities of the participants are evaluated, as well as the compliance of the set goals with the results of the game. The ability to distribute time among the steps of a task is tested.

The basis of a business game is the assumption of similar behavioral characteristics in different situations. That is, it is assumed that human behavior in the game will be the same as in reality. A business game can be used both for assessing a person’s qualities and for training and developing certain competencies.

Other group exercises in the assessment center

The development of technology has led to the emergence of a large number of new exercises that allow one to evaluate one or another competency of candidates or employees. Let's consider some of them.

"Group discussion." A team of several people is offered a problematic situation. For the established period, it is necessary to discuss the situation, identify possible development options and work out a solution to the problem.

"Brainstorm". It is necessary to find as many solutions to the problem as possible. In addition to the obvious options, it is necessary to identify implicit responses. When brainstorming, criticism of the options of other participants is not allowed.

"Mailbox". The team is offered materials in the form of official papers, letters, notes. It is necessary to analyze the information contained in them and propose a solution to the stated problems.

Like business games, group exercises show the behavioral characteristics of a person in a team, his ability to work with other people and his role. In addition to assessing the competencies of candidates, collective tasks can be used to identify qualities that need to be developed in order to increase the success of work, as well as to train employees.

Individual tasks

Along with group exercises, individual tasks are offered to candidates in the assessment center. Like collective tasks, they must identify the level of competencies required for the profession or position. Individual exercises can precede classes in groups or be used simultaneously with them.

"Testing". The candidate answers a large number of questions. The test results will show how much the participant is ready to solve business situations.

"Report". The participant is preparing a presentation on a given topic. Then the “report” is presented to the audience. At the end of the presentation, the speaker answers questions on the topic.

"Presentation". The candidate prepares a short presentation about himself, trying to show the qualities the company needs. Students can ask additional questions.

"Data analysis". The participant independently analyzes the information provided and offers a solution.

Additionally, inspectors can conduct interviews, consultations, questioning of participants.

Who can conduct an assessment center

The competencies of employees are entitled to be evaluated by trained specialists. It can be employees of the personnel department of the company or invited experts. Large organizations have their own appraisers, whose financial resources make it possible to keep the staff of observers. Managers who do not plan to invest in the training of internal experts invite outside consultants. When preparing the required number of appraisers, it should be borne in mind that during the course of the assessment center, one expert can observe no more than three participants.

Assessment center involves different roles of appraisers:

1. observer;
2. leading;
3. program designer;
4. administrator;
5. task developer;
6. role player.

In practice, one person can play different roles.

Assessment Center Stages

Assessment center is a long-term comprehensive process. The following stages can be distinguished in it:

• preparation of an assessment center;
• conducting assessment activities;
• report generation;
• feedback on the results of the assessment center.

Evaluation activities are discussed in detail earlier in the article. Let us dwell on the preparation for the assessment center and the final stages.

Preparatory stage

The results of the assessment directly depend on the preparation of the event. The preparatory process can take from two weeks to 3 months. At the first stage, it is necessary to determine the goals of the assessment, develop competency models or update existing ones.

The competency profile is prepared on the example of successful employees of the company, as well as the experience gained by experts.

In accordance with the ideal model, exercises are developed to identify and evaluate competencies. Then the scenario of the assessment center is developed. At the preparatory stage, appraisers from among the employees of the employer are trained. Most often, this role is played by the head of the company, personnel managers, direct chiefs of the evaluated employees.

Reporting and Feedback

After the assessment center, experts prepare reports for each participant. The strengths and weaknesses of the candidates are evaluated. Depending on the purpose of the assessment, recommendations are prepared to the customer.

The results are discussed both with the assessor and with all participants. Candidates are provided with evaluation results by which they can determine areas for further development to develop the necessary competencies. The assessment center is a powerful incentive for employee training. An individual approach guarantees the interest of participants in continuing education. The expert shows the employee growth areas and hidden reserves.

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