Why use assessment centres?

Fri 02 Dec 2011

Adam Laidler, Director at Williams gives his opinion.

"In my opinion, they are absolutely a cost effective way to recruit and many of the businesses we deal with see the investment as an 'insurance' against making the wrong decision. 

There are some golden rules with regards to assessment centres though, and they are: 

1) Set the expectations. What exactly is it that you want to assess? Is it team skills, sales ability, customer service, organisation, etc. The answers here will allow the exercises to be tailored to ensure the candidates demonstrate their abilities in the set areas. 

2) Make the context alien. This sounds counter intuitive, but if you have a very 'dry' exercise that is work related, candidates will potentially feel within their 'work comfort zone' and for that reason you won't get to see the true person. For team working, we run an exercise that involves the group having to plan a journey on a different planet (literally alien!). The more out of the ordinary the activity, the more likely you'll see the 'real' them. 

3) Make sure you can score. Don't forget that an assessment centre is part of the recruitment process and you'll therefore need to be able to demonstrate why you are selecting one candidate over another. An objective scoring matrix should sit behind all the exercises you set. 

In summary, assessment centres are a great way to get under the skin of potential employees, but only if they are developed and delivered correctly. I would also suggest that they should be part of a broader recruitment process that involves structured interviews, etc."