Simulation assessment center in the service of the company as a factor in the accuracy and validity of the information about the employee

UDC 33.338
Publication date: 20.01.2017
International Journal of Professional Science №1-2017

Simulation assessment center in the service of the company as a factor in the accuracy and validity of the information about the employee

Borodai Vladimir Alexandrovich
Doctor of Social Sciences, Professor
Don State Technical University
Abstract: The article reveals the relevance of evaluation method for personnel assessment center technologies. The efficiency of the method in terms of accuracy and validity of the assessment of employees. Identified positive factors and problematic use of assessment center technology service company
Keywords: assessment center, validity, competence, motivation policy, creativity, evaluation procedures


  1. Introduction.

Current rating personnel at this stage due to the fact that the main resource of any service company that enables people to successfully compete in the market are. Unfortunately, in certain periods of activity of company service personnel loyalty falls, and business needs funds competent management of people, including the correct and valid assessment and planning of training and development of employees as a result of the evaluation. In recent years, it is becoming increasingly important for the assessment of staff assessment center technologies. But before you take up the implementation of this system, it is necessary to understand carefully the location of all the pitfalls. After carrying out assessment center, with all its advantages — it is extremely difficult and time-consuming procedure. Evaluation of employees — one of the essential tasks in the personnel management system of the service company. Assess the need for many purposes:

— for admission of candidates for vacancies;

— for effective adaptation accepted candidates, training and career planning;

— to make informed management decisions on the promotion of employees working in the company, they are setting in staff and management allowance, appointment to a higher position;

— to motivate employees to self-education and self-development;

— to improve staff loyalty and motivation to develop effective policy service company.

  1. Materials and methods.

Validity staff assessment depends on several factors. Firstly, a service company clear evaluation criteria must be developed. As such criteria are the lists of corporate, managerial and professional competencies, which must conform to certain categories of employees. As a general rule, competence prescribed by the content and behavioral indicators, as well as specific scales for each position and the built appropriate competency model  [1]. The assessment revealed which of the necessary competencies for specific employee development at a high level, and which require further development. In this case, we selected two directions in the development of employees.

The first direction — is a further development of «strong» competencies of successful professionals in the service of the company.

The second direction — or the development of those competencies that are at an insufficient level of development and does not meet the requirements of the service company. Of course, the integrated approach when the further development of «strong» competences of key employees, and «pulled» their weaknesses can be selected. For example, creatives «strong» competence, as a rule, appears the ability to formulate new, innovative solutions in a complex, troubled business situation. However, they are often not sufficiently disciplined, late, delay the timing of the assignment. For further development of creativity can be scheduled trainings vision (strategic development of the company in a competitive market), and for «pulling» office discipline planned training on time management and self-management.

It should be clearly understood: the evaluation criteria (lists of staff competencies) if the service companies are not designed to introduce a system of valuation methods, the more simulation exercises and games business valuation should not be. If done in the service of modeling work and output scale of competencies, we can assume that solved a major challenge, but it is still half the work on personnel evaluation.

The second part of the work — a selection of valid methods for assessing employees. According to most experts, assessment methods, assessment center components should not be limited to individual and group simulation games and exercises that reproduce the work tasks specific job or position. Effective assessment center consists of a system evaluation methods, and, for each selected competence several evaluation methods, usually from two to four [2]. In addition to the simulation games and exercises necessary to use such methods of assessment, as the analysis of personnel documents, which give information on quality valid values, managerial and professional competencies of the candidate or employee. This, above all, a summary, which briefly provides information on the educational status of the employee, his main achievements and dynamic career.

It is also necessary to conduct an interview with an expert in order to clarify their interests, goals, financial and career expectations, which it plans to implement in their professional activities. You may also want to get an expert evaluation, if the candidate will interview successful company employee with the appropriate specialization. If the assessment takes service employee for the setting of management reserve, obligatory acts vertical expertise, ie, expert assessment of his immediate supervisor.

And finally, the evaluation will be useful in using business-oriented psychological tests, especially in the assessment of those competencies that can not occur in the external behavior of a candidate or an employee in terms of simulation games and exercises [3]. For example, a game of valuation techniques using only difficult, and sometimes impossible, to assess the motivational profile of the candidate, his intellectual capacity, reserve growth and development of the border.

It is clear that a purely gaming techniques and exercises should not act as the sole and sufficient in the evaluation of the candidate or employee of the company, it is necessary to use a pool of different assessment methods now known in the recruitment market. Moreover, it is desirable to use as much as possible evaluation methods, because if the identified level of competence development is confirmed by various methods, you can be sure that it really is one of the common assessment. «There are no trifles, there are details in the human evaluation,» [4]. Indeed, only in the evaluation of the system by methods possible to achieve such a complex assessment of the accuracy of «structure», what is a person, personality, individuality.

We consider two cases: when the estimate of the candidate coming into the service company on the available free area, and when the estimate of the employee for raising the reserve for the position, which is available in the near future.

If the assessment is subject to a candidate, it is usually first seen his resume and documents that he or recruitment agency sent to the company. Then the candidate is invited for an initial interview, which is conducted rapid diagnosis and interviews, as well as peer review, professional and psychological testing. Data evaluation methods all can be limited, as a service company already has sufficient evaluative information to make a decision on choosing the most suitable candidates for vacancies. Game evaluation procedures for candidates performed in three cases.

First, if the company «can afford it», ie, it is very well known on the market, candidates dream to get it in this company, and office staff conducts a full assessment center on their

Second, if a key area claimed by three or more candidates, and service company needs a very accurate assessment of their competencies as an error in the assessment could cost the company dearly, and very expensive.

Third, if a large number of candidates apply for several vacancies. Example for the third case: in the service of the company for five free positions «sales manager» claimed twenty or more candidates with sales experience. In this case, conduct interviews with each candidate, which usually lasts up to six hours in the case of twenty candidates, due to the high cost of working time employee personnel services. If we take the time to interview up to 5 hours a day, because there are still ongoing HR-tasks, it is six working days would hardly leave the meeting room (about 30 hours). In this case, game exercises conducted with the entire group of candidates, for example, the assessment of such competence as «the skill of working with objections», which will take a couple of hours, will quickly make a first filtering and leave 3-5 people in the group of candidates twenty for subsequent interviews [5].

After the play session candidates go home, and the head of the center of the assessment and development of a group of observers to conduct an integrated session — discussion of evaluation results for each candidate. The next step — is communication with the candidates of the evaluation. Those candidates who have successfully passed the assessment, invited the company to undergo a probationary period.

In the second case, when the estimate of employees working in the company, for setting the reserve position in the top management, which is available through a year or two, the assessment is as follows. Service personnel seek the opinion of the heads of the relevant departments and documents from the personnel department, and also analyzes its own personnel documents when the company holds regular appraisal, questionnaires, interviews, psychological testing and professional staff.

As a result, reservists prepared group, each of which being interviewed for the purposes of determining assessment center, as well as the motivation of employees to undergo such an assessment. If people are not yet accustomed to the passage of the evaluation procedure, you must submit it to the need on the part of the benefits in the first place for them, and only after that — for business. Thus, the list of benefits for employees introduction assessment center can be:

— if they offer undergo an evaluation procedure for the post top manager, therefore, the company recognizes their high contribution to the business;

— from the evaluation they get new career opportunities;

— the evaluation they can compare their own success with the level of success of other strong managers in the service company;

— in the result of the evaluation will be planned training on the further development of «strong» qualities and «pulling» of competencies that make up the zone of proximal development [6].

In parallel with these tasks, you must choose a provider in the market that specializes in assessment center, to hold talks with him, to determine the timing and cost of the work. If an assessment is necessary to carry out quickly and accurately, and the office staff never done it, it is better to turn to the consulting company, and not to carry out their own assessment. In this case, in the contract can include a clause stating that the staff officers will participate in assessmente as observers, and to the passage of the entire evaluation procedure the provider is obliged to transfer the company’s test methods, games and exercises that are tailored to the specifics of the business of the customer. In the subsequent time, after the training of service personnel assessment center technology consulting company can take over the function of accompanying counseling that can cost for the client company less than once every year or two, invite provider.

If the service company have the time, and the service staff has decided to carry out assessment center on its own, apart from modeling competencies need to be resolved the problem of the structure and organization of the center of the assessment and development, the development and approval of the Regulations on the Center for the development and evaluation, development and adaptation of test methods and game exercises, select the moderator, the development of protocols for observers, observer training. Certain tasks are budgeting and planning assessment center. It should be emphasized that the gaming segment assessment center is significantly costly for a service company.

  1. Results and Discussion

 

What are the resulting advantages and disadvantages (difficulties) of the method? May be mentioned as the benefits of a complete assessment center are:

— search for the best professionals in the foreign market and within the company;

— the image of a service company in the external market and internal communications as a modern, «advanced» company that cares about the objectivity and transparency of staff assessment;

— high validity of the system of assessment methods, including the assessment of the game;

— reduction of time for external evaluation candidates (in a simultaneous evaluation group, as compared with an individual interview);

— an optimal alignment of the candidates in the service company when evaluating candidates for the reserve, their training and the decision on the replacement of key positions;

— the union of three HR-tasks for internal and external candidates — assessment, training and career development;

Difficulties in the application of the full assessment center technologies are as follows:

— calls for the development of competence models in the service company;

— it requires high professionalism of management and staff personnel services directly;

— high costs of time and financial resources;

— a mandatory internal PR service in the company, if this evaluation procedure is introduced on a regular basis;

— mandatory feedback from internal and external candidates;

— stress and demotivation of the candidate in the case of a wrong choice of exercises and disagreement with the assessment of employees;

How relevant is this method in Russian business? Before the crisis, interest in the assessment center was high enough, he fell into a crisis, and now, after the crisis, business interest in the appraisal procedure increases again. This is, of course, so many companies there was tension between management and employees. The crisis unpopular decisions to optimize personnel costs have been taken, many experts have been dismissed. For those who remain in the company, «collapsed» additional tasks, as a result they now feel underpaid and bleached, overwork.

The loyalty of the staff falls, and business needs funds competent management of people, including the right, one of the common assessment and planning of training and development of employees as a result of the evaluation [7].

However, how active it is necessary to use the full «package» of valuation techniques, including the assessment of the costly game? After all, the company has other methods of assessment, less time-consuming and financial resources: assessment of an employee as a result of his work, in a balanced and key performance indicators, the assessment in the appraisal, assessment officer of his head (vertical expert evaluation), evaluation of the employee by his mentor (horizontal expert evaluation), evaluation of employee 360-degrees (with the assessment on the part of clients and colleagues). In this case, a service company employee has an accurate and valid information, almost equal to the accuracy and validity of the total, including the gaming component, assessment center.

It should also be noted that in Russia began to use other formats assessment center, less time consuming and financial resources:

— Personal assessment center (when carried out an individual assessment of the candidate for the position of top-manager);

— Included assessment center (when employees are assessed in the course of corporate training, team building or corporate event by the personnel officers).

It should be recognized that not all foreign companies use high-grade, expensive gaming assessment center. Thus, the frequency of the use of assessment centers in the US and the UK about this: in large companies with a staff of over 500 people. — Up to 70% in small companies, employing less than 50 people. — Up to 25%.

Thus, on the one hand, it becomes dangerous fanatically faithful varying Western technology, because instead of a positive outcome, can demotivate key personnel and ultimately, reduce their loss of effectiveness of up to loyalty and care of the service company. On the other hand, if the service company — a large, having the means to implement the new evaluation procedures, and serious training at their own expense, assessment center can be recommended to her.

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