• Assessment centers are considered the top-shelf solution for selecting and developing employees. They consist of activities designed to bring out behavior relevant to the most important aspects of the position or level for which the employee is being assessed. Trained assessors observe a group of employees using diagnostic processes to obtain information about the employee's abilities or potential. Traditional assessment centers take place on site at a conference facility and all role plays are held face-to-face.
  To be considered an assessment center, the following ten elements must be included:*
  • Job Analysis - the role being assessed is based on a job analysis or competency model in order to identify what should be evaluated.
  • Behavioral Classification - behaviors need to be classified into dimensions, which could be Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, or could be Competencies.
  • Assessment Techniques - there needs to be a competency X exercise X technique linkage, to ensure that the exercises in the assessment are relevant to the competencies being assessed.
  • Multiple Assessments - the use of multiple assessments is critical; these typically include an email inbox, presentations, tests, role play simulations, interviews, questionnaires, etc. Each separately tells a story and together they create a whole picture.
  • Simulations (Role Plays) - at least one, ideally multiple, job-related simulations to elicit behavior.
  • Assessors - Real people observing and evaluating behavior. Without it, a technology-enhanced assessment center could be considered an online test.
  • Assessor Training - assessors trained in behavior observation and evaluation and thoroughlly familiar with the assessment center's content.
  • Recording Behavior - must be captured and recorded in evaluation forms.
  • Reports - each exercise needs related reports and one at the end that integrates everything.
  • Behavior Integration - it is not an assessment center if it does not aggregate and integrate the evaluations across the multiple exercises. Traditionally this is done by assessors, but it can also include computer aggregation.
    
  • A typical assessment center includes the following elements:
    • Pre-assessment Interview
    • In-basket Exercise
    • Role Plays
    • Business Case Analysis
    • Group Exercise
    • Personality/Psychological Testing
    • Assessor integration of Behaviors, Exercises, and Competencies
    • Feedback Sessions/Reports

*International Task Force on Assessment Center Guidelines, 2000

• E-valuation™ technology-enhanced assessment centers utilize a web-based software application combined with best practices in assessment centers to provide a highly realistic simulation that parallels "a day in the life" of a busy professional, gathering information on Candidates/Participants' likelihood of success in a new role. It is scalable, cost-effective, highly realistic, and engaging, and highlights strengths and development needs that can be used to inform selection, individual development plans, and career management. It can provide more accurate information than traditional assessment centers about a participant's strengths and development needs and readiness for a new role, through a scalable, standardized process that can be implemented globally, ensuring consistently high-quality assessments for all Candidates/Participants.

• They are used for a variety of human resource processes, including external selection, high-potential identification, assessment of strengths and development as a prelude to development planning and/or coaching, or as a stand-alone developmental experience.

• The cost of a wrong hire is estimated between two and four times an employee's salary.
• The single leading cause of turnover in American corporations is a lack of employee/job fit.
• The baby-boomer generation is leaving the workforce - increased departures will drive the need for more promotions or hires.
• Companies with stronger leadership benches are four times as likely to outperform their peers in revenue growth over a 36 month period. (CLC, 2005)

• In tracking results of E-valuation™ technology-enhanced assessment centers, we have found
• A significant increase in the percentage of employees regarded by our clients as top-tier performers.
• A significant reduction in turnover -- more than 40% -- in areas using our assessment centers.

• The creation of the simulated organization and its challenges, the role plays, and all associated materials generally takes about 8-12 weeks. If a client already has simulation materials (e.g., that they have been using in a traditional assessment center) and wants to move to a technology-enhanced assessment center process, it can take as little as 2-3 days, providing the materials do not need to be substantially aletred to fit the new paradigm. Using one of our off-the-shelf products can take as little as one day to implement.

• One is a concern that the simulation might not generate data that is as robust as that of a traditional assessment center. In our experience, our clients find the data to in fact be even more robust and accurate, and result in an even better assessment, due to the close parallel between the activities in the assessment center and those required for success on the job.
  
• Another is the potential lack of face to face interaction. We accommodate this by using technology-enhanced assessment centers, rather than fully virtual centers, in which we partner with our clients and they can act as our eyes and ears on the ground and hold a face to face role play onsite. Additionally, there are numerous options such as web-based cameras that can be used to increase "face-to-face" interaction via the web.

• Organization/Prioritization, Learning Agility, Drive/Action Orientation/Motivation/Persistence, Work Standards, and phone-based selling-related competencies, such as Persuasiveness, Impact, Client/Customer Focus, and Relationship Building are all readily assessable using a technology-enhanced assessment center. The addition of face-to-face role plays can of course accomodate any competencies/exercises.
• While it may seem that it could be more difficult to assess leadership skills, we believe that competencies such as influence, coaching, negotiation and collaboration are all rather readily assessed using E-valuation™ technology-enhanced assessment centers. This type of assessment is particularly useful for the roles of member or leader of a virtual team. We can even hold leaderless group discussions via teleconference and use web-based cameras to facilitate the face-to-face component.

• As with any process, there are tradeoffs. For technology-enhanced assessment centers, these include the potential for:
  • Limited non-verbal cues
  • More difficulty building rapport with Candidates/Participants
  • A more difficult time establishing credibility as a coach or feedback provider over the phone
  • Less high-touch in the selection or development process
• We attempt to mitigate these potential limitations by using a technology-enhanced process, rather than a fully virtual one, in which we:
  • Partner with our clients - they provide the "eyes on the ground" and give us their impression of Candidates/Participants during a joint integration session at the end of the assessment
  • Use assessors/coaches skilled and experienced in phone-based coaching
  • Provide rich simulation materials and highly trained role players whose ability to effectively portray the simulated roles engages the Candidates/Participants and draws out the behaviors required to accurately assess them

• We have been tracking potential differences in performance and have found that none exist for any protected groups as defined by U.S. EEOC laws.
• While we were initially concerned that the technology might impact users of the tool less familiar with technology, we have found that Participants/Candidates over age 40 perform as well as those under age 40. We attribute this to the intuitive nature of the technology itself, and to an orientation that outlines the use of the technology and provides clear instructions and standards for success.
• While the tool is not intended to assess technological comfort or savvy, most roles for which a technology-enhanced assessment center are appropriate require some degree of facility with technology on the job. As a basic understanding of the office tools we use every day is required for the role, this technology is appropriate for the assessment of that role.

• For sales roles we track production and performance levels, as well as turnover.
• For managerial roles, the metrics in which our clients are most interested include percentage of internal promotion, turnover of both the manager and his or her team, and the percentage of assessed candidates who are selected for high-potential talent pools.

• All data is instantly archived and maintained on secure servers, making it available for anytime retrieval by those with proper data-access permissions. There is no longer a need to maintain paper files of assessment materials or results data.
• All data can be linked into an organization's HRIS system for easy performance management integration.

• Consider the following points:
• In a few short years, the largest generation in the history of the United States - the "baby boomers" - will begin their much-anticipated exit from the workforce, leaving a massive talent void in their wake. The migration of this cohort will create a skilled labor shortage so significant that it is forcing companies to propel their talent management processes into high gear.
• Staffing and retention represent one of the two most significant costs confronting businesses (real estate being the second).
• The eradication of many middle-management positions over the past two decades has left many companies with a shallow talent pool from which to replace retiring leaders.
• Organizations with the most effective talent management systems are more likely to use simulations to identify and develop candidates.
• The key to success in identifying high potentials and developing greater bench strength in your talent pipeline is in distinguishing those with the greatest aptitude and ability to leverage development opportunities.
  With E-valuation™ technology-enhanced assessment centers:
• You can observe Participant/Candidate operating style instead of only hearing them talk about what they have done in the past or would do in the future
• Participants can test "drive" a job or new skill set
• You can significantly increase your effectiveness at identifying extraordinary talent
• You can significantly increase retention and keep a ready stock of high potential talent
• You can identify individual strengths and development needs to ready your people for the future and create actionable development plans

• In order to better serve our clients, we are consistently adding new products to the E-valuation™ suite. Click here for more information

• Additionally, we provide consulting services surrounding our platform. For more information, please visit Sandra Hartog & Associates

• It is critical to both our clients and to us that we implement our assessment centers in such a way that they do not impede the hiring process. Hiring the right candidates requires a quality, streamlined process that prevents the best candidates from slipping away. To that end, E-valuation™ allows for on-demand setup, requires few resources, and is designed to minimize administrative burden. Some of our assessment centers require candidates to complete pre-work prior to the assessment, which may add 1-3 days of candidate preparation time to the process.

• Technology-enhanced assessment centers are most appropriate for:
• Roles that utilize some degree of technology. This could include technology as common as email, word processing software, and the internet, or as new as instant messaging, computer-based voicemail, or video-mail.
• Organizations that are "technology-forward."
• We initially expected that they would be more readily accepted at the individual contributor or first-line supervisor level. However, especially for development, our clients have begun requesting that we run technology-enhanced assessment centers at senior levels, including in the C-suite.

• The Fenestra platform is 128-bit encrypted, username and password protected, and permission-based
• Client data is only available to Candidates/Participants, Assessors/Coaches, relevant Stakeholders, and Fenestra Supra-user Administrators
• All servers are kept in locked cages, to which only the system administrator and the company President have keys
• For further information, please contact Matthew R Tonken, Director, HR Technology

• Click here to download a full description of compatible platforms and software.

• They are considerably less expensive than traditional assessment centers.
• For vendors, there is a per head run rate of $500, which can decrease depending on volume. This gives unlimited access to the simulation technology, allowing you to design as many simulations for as many roles as you need.
• For clients, the costs vary depending on the length of the simulation, the number of role plays involved, etc, which generally is correlated with the level of the role being assessed.

• We have designed our assessment center technology to be intuitive, and we provide instructions as to how to use the technology. For example, there is an orientation that walks them through the technology prior to the assessment in order to level the playing field. We also offer a help-line that Participants/Candidates and clients can call with technology questions.

• Technology-enhanced assessments have greater fidelity than traditional assessment centers due to their ability to more closely mirror the job. The process therefore lends itself to increased perceptions of fairness among Candidates/Participants over traditional assessment center. As a result, we have greater Candidate/Participant engagement beginning earlier in the hiring process, we see greater behavioral distinction between effective and ineffective Candidates for a role, and the assessment is better able to define Candidate/Participant strengths and development needs.

• They require the same skills required of assessors for traditional assessments, but also require
  • Facility and comfort with technology
  • The ability to build rapport with candidates over the phone to facilitate credibility when delivering feedback
  • The ability to compensate for a lack of non-verbal behavior
  • The ability to integrate data from virtual sources
  • More reliance on one's own assessment skills
• Technology-enhanced assessments
• Allow assessors to observe multiple candidates simultaneously and in multiple different simulations simultaneously
• Have less distracting extraneous information to process
• Allow the assessor to write more streamlined reports