Assessment Center - How to assess, select and develop the right TALENT. Assessment Center is considered as one the selection and development tools with the highest validity, esp. in predicting the leadership quality and career success.

1. Assessment
Center
How to assess, select and develop the right TALENT
by Prof. Dr. Hora Tjitra & Daisy Zheng
April 13, 2011

2. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Assessment
Center
2
What is Assessment Center?
• Assessment Center is a process that involves several managerial selection techniques.It is widely used as means of staff
selection,promotion,and development.
Why organizations like to use Assessment Center?
• Assessment Center has been found successful at predicting long-term career success.
• Candidate perceptions of Assessment Center exercises are highly job related,which enhances legal defensibility and
organizational attractiveness.
Different types of Assessment Center

3. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Assessment
Center
2
What is Assessment Center?
• Assessment Center is a process that involves several managerial selection techniques.It is widely used as means of staff
selection,promotion,and development.
Why organizations like to use Assessment Center?
• Assessment Center has been found successful at predicting long-term career success.
• Candidate perceptions of Assessment Center exercises are highly job related,which enhances legal defensibility and
organizational attractiveness.
Different types of Assessment Center
• Objective:
- Selection purpose
- Development purpose
• Participant:
- Individual - single candidate for one
specific position or development
purpose
- Group - a group of candidate together
in one assessment event,often with
the purpose of high potential talent
pool

4. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Assessment
Center
2
What is Assessment Center?
• Assessment Center is a process that involves several managerial selection techniques.It is widely used as means of staff
selection,promotion,and development.
Why organizations like to use Assessment Center?
• Assessment Center has been found successful at predicting long-term career success.
• Candidate perceptions of Assessment Center exercises are highly job related,which enhances legal defensibility and
organizational attractiveness.
Different types of Assessment Center
Selection Development
Objective Discover talent Transform talent
Feedback
& Follow-Up
Limited and often
not include
Individual feedback &
Development activity
Ownership
of Result
Organization Participant
Expected Result
Selection decision
(pass/fail)
Feedback & Personal
development planning
Phase / Stage
End of a recruitment or
selection process
Start of a learning process
• Objective:
- Selection purpose
- Development purpose
• Participant:
- Individual - single candidate for one
specific position or development
purpose
- Group - a group of candidate together
in one assessment event,often with
the purpose of high potential talent
pool

5. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011 3
14 years in Germany
7 years in China
Born and grew up
in Indonesia
Prof.
Dr.
Hora
Tjitra
-­
Cross-­cultural
and
Business
Psychology
Dipl.-Psych.,Technical University of Braunschweig
Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management
Dr.Phil.,University of Regensburg
Intercultural Psychology and Strategic Management
Executive Education,INSEAD
HR Management in Asia

6. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Agenda
1 Different approaches in talent assessment 5
2 Characteristics,processes,and elements of Assessment Center 9
3 Project best practices in Assessment Center 13
4 Contact us 18
4

7. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Different approaches in
Talent Assessment
5
• Assessment Center is considered as one the selection and development tools
with the highest validity, esp. in predicting the leadership quality and
career success

8. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Human
Resource
Hiring
Process
6
Hiring Process Management
Scheduling HR-Marketing Retrieval Assessment On-Boarding
• Defining the staff
needs of the
company
• Scheduling
recruitment
resource incl.
budget,time,etc.
• Classifying the fields
of activity
• Building up an
image of the
company via several
channels
• Organizing events
for company
marketing
• Doing candidate
relationship
management
• Advertising the job
position in target
talent pool / market
• Administrating the
applicant data
systematically
• Checking online
application
questionnaire
• Pre-assessment:
phone interview
• Main assessment:
Interview,
Assessment Center
• Contract
negotiations
• Status report
• Contract
signing and on-
boarding

9. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
High
Potential
Talent
Development
Process
7
Management Development Program
Pre-Screening
& Invitation
• Identifying key
indicators for pre-
screening
• Reviewing candidates’
working performance
and bio profile
• Selecting qualified
candidates and
sending assessment
invitation letter
Assessment
Development
Program Evaluation
• Development of
assessment tools
• Conducting
Assessment Center
• Identify key strengths
and challenges;
provide feedback
• Identifying
development roadmap
including channels,
resources,and
methods
• Implementing action
plan and continuously
reviewing
• Evaluating the process
and validity of each
stage
• Collecting feedback
and behavior changes
of the participants

10. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Application
of
Assessment
Methods
8
Predictive
Validity
Working
Performance
Training
Performance
Cognitive ability test
+ Structured interview 0.63
Cognitive ability test
+ Work sample 0.60
Work sample 0.54
Cognitive ability test 0.51
Structured interview 0.51
Personality assessment 0.40
Personal profile 0.35
Responsibility 0.31
Recommendation 0.26
Working experience 0.18
Education experience 0.10
Handwriting 0.02
Cognitive ability test 0.56
Interview 0.35
Responsibility 0.31
Education experience 0.20
(Average validity of selection tools,Schmidt & Hunter,1998)
• Predictive validity of different selection tools:

11. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Application
of
Assessment
Methods
8
Predictive
Validity
Working
Performance
Training
Performance
Cognitive ability test
+ Structured interview 0.63
Cognitive ability test
+ Work sample 0.60
Work sample 0.54
Cognitive ability test 0.51
Structured interview 0.51
Personality assessment 0.40
Personal profile 0.35
Responsibility 0.31
Recommendation 0.26
Working experience 0.18
Education experience 0.10
Handwriting 0.02
Cognitive ability test 0.56
Interview 0.35
Responsibility 0.31
Education experience 0.20
(Average validity of selection tools,Schmidt & Hunter,1998)
• Predictive validity of different selection tools: • Application of different methods:
Method China UK
(N=1255) (N=843)
Resume 86% 92%
Work sample 50% 80%
Unstructured
interview
49% -
Telephone
interview
38% 61%
Structured
interview
37% 86%
Cognitive ability
tests
36% 72%
Personality
assessment
24% 56%
(Recruitment,retention and turnover.Annual survey report,CIPD, 2007)

12. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Application
of
Assessment
Methods
8
Predictive
Validity
Working
Performance
Training
Performance
Cognitive ability test
+ Structured interview 0.63
Cognitive ability test
+ Work sample 0.60
Work sample 0.54
Cognitive ability test 0.51
Structured interview 0.51
Personality assessment 0.40
Personal profile 0.35
Responsibility 0.31
Recommendation 0.26
Working experience 0.18
Education experience 0.10
Handwriting 0.02
Cognitive ability test 0.56
Interview 0.35
Responsibility 0.31
Education experience 0.20
(Average validity of selection tools,Schmidt & Hunter,1998)
• Predictive validity of different selection tools: • Application of different methods:
Method China UK
(N=1255) (N=843)
Resume 86% 92%
Work sample 50% 80%
Unstructured
interview
49% -
Telephone
interview
38% 61%
Structured
interview
37% 86%
Cognitive ability
tests
36% 72%
Personality
assessment
24% 56%
(Recruitment,retention and turnover.Annual survey report,CIPD, 2007)
• No single method of selection is perfect.
• More than one ability or competence is needed to achieve success.
Assessment Center

13. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011 9
Assessment Center:
Characteristics,Process,and Tools

14. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Assessment
Center
process
starts
by
having
the
right
understanding
of
the
critical
success
and
8it
factors
10
1
• Understanding corporate culture
• Analyzing job’s roles and responsibilities
• Identifying the right competence model
• Exploring job success profile
2
• Specifying assessment tools (develop eligible tools and materials if necessary)
• Identifying assessors (1 chairman + 1 psychologist + 1 administrator + * assessors)
• Training for the assessors,role players,(and observers)
3 • Conducting assessment center
• Assessor (+ observer) conference
4
• The assessment center for selection
- Deliver selection report
• The assessment center for development:
- Deliver development report and feedback
- Facilitate development action planning

15. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
The
application
of
multiple
methods
and
different
tools
gives
a
better
picture
of
the
candidate
11
Candidate(s)Interview
Role Play Group Exercises
Psychometric
Test
Business SimulationComputer Based Simulation
• Observe candidate’s behaviors
relevant to work performance
• Have an in-depth
understanding of candidate’s
motivation profile
• Candidates work together (in
different forms) to make decisions
about work-related situations and
scenarios
• Use“live”case with the focus on candidate’s
executive thought and action,which is
independent of the cognitive ability/
complexity
• Attempt to analyze a
person/group in terms of
fundamental
psychological
characteristics,such as
ability or personality
• Candidate play the assigned role
usually in the one-to-one situation,
which reflects more interpersonal
skills
• Teamwork,problem solving and
decision making in the complex and
dynamic situation

16. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Matrix
of
QualiCication
Requirements
12
Integrity
Stress Tolerance
Leadership
People Development
Problem Analysis
Strategic Perspective
Interpersonal Sensitivity
Teamwork
Work Motivation
Commitment
Individual traits
Managerial skills
Decision making skills
Interpersonal skills
Motivational behaviors
Behavior
Interview
Psychological
In-depth
Interview
Group
DiscussionRole
Play
Business
Sim
ulationPsychom
etric
Test
This type of activity is particularly well-suited to generating this behavior
This type of activity normally elicits behavioral evidence of this criterion

17. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011 13
Project Best Practices:
Applying Assessment Center Method
• Half-day individual AC for selection of client relationship manager
and two-days group AC for development of international talent pool

18. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Identifying
key
success
pro8ile,
and
bring
them
into
practice
A
Half-­day
individual
AC
for
the
selection
of
client
relationship
manager
14
CASE I - 1
• Identify success profile through pre-research
Success Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRM
Competence
1 2 3 4 5
Customer
Orientation
Relationship
Building
Problem
Resolution
Information &
Communication
Result
Orientation
Readiness for
Action
……
* CRM: Client Relationship Management

19. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Identifying
key
success
pro8ile,
and
bring
them
into
practice
A
Half-­day
individual
AC
for
the
selection
of
client
relationship
manager
14
CASE I - 1
• Identify success profile through pre-research
Success Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRMSuccess Profile for CRM
Competence
1 2 3 4 5
Customer
Orientation
Relationship
Building
Problem
Resolution
Information &
Communication
Result
Orientation
Readiness for
Action
……
* CRM: Client Relationship Management
Time Content Assessor
13:00 － 13:15 Orientation JYP
13:15 － 14:45 In-depth Interview HT
14:45 － 15:00 BreakBreak
15:00 － 15:30
Strategic Presentation
Preparation
JYP
15:30 －16:00 Strategic Presentation HT,HQ
16:00 －16:30
“Customer Meeting”
Preparation
JYP
16:30 － 17:00 “Customer Meeting” WLL
17:00 － 17:15 BreakBreak
17:15 － 18:00 GRT ZD
18:00 － 18:30 15FQ+ ZJW
18:30 － 18:45 Wrap Up All
Interview
Business
Simulation
Cognitive
Ability Test
Personality
Test
Role Play
• Choose assessment tools to reflect key factors in
success profile

20. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011 15
• Identify corporate value
and competence
• Identify critical success
factors and job
competence
• Invite candidate(s)
• Train assessors
• In-depth interview
• Strategic presentation
• Evaluation system
• GRT:
Cognitive ability test
• 15FQ+ Personality
test
Objective & Analysis Design & Implementation Feedback
CASE I - 2
Overview
of
Assessment
Center
Process

21. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Two-­days
group
development
AC
for
international
high-­potential
talent
pool
16
CASE II - 1
• Basis of the assessment process are
defined competencies
• Professional competence is already taken
account in the pre-screening
• The compilation of personal competence
should be done through a personnel
diagnostic procedure
• The different competencies should be
verified in an intercultural context
InterculturalContext
Decision Making
Analytical Thinking
Teamwork
Conflict Management
Stress Management
Step 1:
Identify basis of Assessment Center

22. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011
Two-­days
group
development
AC
for
international
high-­potential
talent
pool
16
CASE II - 1
• Basis of the assessment process are
defined competencies
• Professional competence is already taken
account in the pre-screening
• The compilation of personal competence
should be done through a personnel
diagnostic procedure
• The different competencies should be
verified in an intercultural context
InterculturalContext
Decision Making
Analytical Thinking
Teamwork
Conflict Management
Stress Management
Step 1:
Identify basis of Assessment Center
Step 2:
Demand analysis and construction of the IAC* tools
Collection of
critical
incidents
Assessment of the
behavior in these
critical incidents
Description of the person
characteristics which have
been successful in the situations
Construction:
•Case studies
•Role plays
•Critical incidents
•Video sequences
Deduction of successful approaches and
characteristics of a person
Step 3: Decision of IAC tools
Computer Based
Business Simulation
Intercultural
Case Study
“Critical Incident”
Questionnaire
Intercultural
Assessment Center
Activities
Presentation in
front foreign
Audience
Intercultural
Role Play
Group Discussion

23. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011 17
CASE II - 2The
agenda
which
we
applied
in
the
two-­days
Intercultural
Assessment
Center
19:00Day 1 15:00 21:00 12:00 14:0017:00 18:008:00 10:00 16:00 20:00Day 2
informal get
together
Arrival
Welcome
1:Team task
Interview
Introduction
Case Study
Single task incl.
presentation
Questionnaire
2:Team task
Observer
conference
Presentation
Feedback

24. Excellence through Culture, Talent and Change
Assessment Center_April 2011 18
• Tjitra & associates is a management consultancy founded
by Dr.Tjitra with offices in Hangzhou and Hong Kong.
Our work focuses on the CULTURE,TALENT and CHANGE.
• In the last twelve years,Dr.Tjitra and his team have collected
International project experiences at the global,regional and national
level in the US,Europe and Asia with senior leaders
from over forty countries.
• A team of multilingual psychologist are dedicated to strive for
excellence and provide tailor-made service solutions.
We devote ourselves in ensuring sustainable business results
by understanding the exact needs and situation of our clients.
Companies and Organizations
we have been working with ...*
* only selected list and not complete

25. Thank You
Contact us via …
Mail: hora_t@mac.com
Follow: twitter@htjitra
Website: http://tjitra.com