The Most Effective Tool to Measure SOFT SKILLS ASSESSMENT CENTERS The Most Effective Tool to Measure SOFT SKILLS Karen Coffee California State Personnel Board

Presentation Outline Introduction: Succession Planning and Building our Future Workforce What is an Assessment Center When to use an Assessment Center Advantages and Disadvantages of an Assessment Center What Kinds of Competencies can be Measured?

Presentation Outline How are Competencies Measured? Cost and other Administrative Considerations State Programs and Resources Questions?

Factors Affecting Succession Planning Age: need to replace an abundance of workers in the coming years Diversity: need to recruit increasingly diverse replacement workers Competencies: replacement workers need the skills required for future jobs

What is a Competency? A cluster of knowledge, skills, abilities and other work behaviors that share a common theme May apply to many types and levels of jobs; however, how the competency is used on the job and how it is assessed is tailored for every job or job family

Competencies Gap Analysis Identify competencies needed in the future Develop strategies to recruit future employees with these competencies Measure the competencies possessed by the current work force Identify the “competencies gap” Develop strategies to bridge this gap

Can Competencies be Measured? Yes! It is possible to determine whether an individual currently possesses competencies and at what level

Can Competencies Be Developed? Possible to determine the amount and quality of competencies at a certain point in time Can an individual effect significant competency improvement?

Administrative/Interpersonal Competencies Lend themselves to development Example: communication skills, willingness to delegate, risk taking, initiative

Personal Qualities Probably do not lend themselves as well to development Examples: flexibility, willingness to tolerate uncertainty, cognitive competencies (problem analysis, judgment, planning and organization)

What is an Assessment Center? An Assessment Center is one of THE MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS to measure the competencies of potential employees An Assessment Center is one of THE MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS to measure the competencies of the current workforce, to identify the competencies gap, and to provide a foundation for individualized plans to bridge this gap

What is an Assessment Center? A variety of testing techniques designed to enable participants to DEMONSTRATE, under standardized conditions, the competencies that are most essential in a given job.

What is an Assessment Center? Not a place! Participants are put through a series of individual and group exercises, interviews, and tests designed to simulate the most essential conditions of the job, and to provide an opportunity for observation of key competencies.

What is an Assessment Center? Participants’ behavior is OBSERVED by trained raters, evaluated, categorized and scored (if an exam) Raters pool individual observations to arrive at an overall estimate of potential, or score Participants are provided with oral and/or written feedback regarding their performance and potential Training and developmental plans can be formulated

History of Assessment Centers First used by the Germans in WWII Used by large companies in the 1950’s to identify management potential 1975 Federal IPA grant to adapt AC methods for use in the public sector Today, widely used in the private, federal, and local government sectors

When to Use an Assessment Center Selection, career development, or succession planning Most common for managerial or supervisory jobs Jobs where competencies include focus on soft skills Promotional process where developmental opportunities are maximized Where other methods have failed

AC for Selection Objective: provide an opportunity for participants to demonstrate competencies relevant to successful performance on the job.

AC for Career Development/Succession Planning Objective: provide an opportunity for participants to identify competencies requiring further development that are then addressed through a carefully prepared career development plan

Advantages of an Assessment Center Comprehensive evaluation Valid; better predictor Less adverse impact Training effect for raters Training effect for candidates Multiple uses More information for decision-making Participants like it!

Inadequacies of Other Assessment Methods Written Tests: expedient, appear objective, inexpensive, easy to administer, but research shows they are not adequate for evaluating soft skills Interviews: questions regarding the predictive power of interviews, information about competencies can’t be observed Supervisory Appraisal: opportunities for bias

Disadvantages of an Assessment Center Requires expertise to develop Developmental time can be lengthy Requires high ratio of raters to participants Requires multiple rooms for administration

Disadvantages of an Assessment Center Time consuming Costs more (time and dollars) Involves more people Still somewhat removed from the job Difficult to administer for large groups Hard to “reschedule” (appeals)

Standards and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations www.assessmentcenters.org/pdf/00guidelines.pdf Standardized evaluation of behavior Multiple inputs Multiple trained observers (raters) Must include some simulations Judgments are pooled

NOT an Assessment Center Panel interviews or a series of sequential interviews A single assessment technique Paper and pencil measures only Single rater assessments Process without pooling of data

Competencies That Can Be Measured Vitally important Simple, not complex traits Definable Observable Stable over time

Examples of Competencies Decisiveness Leadership Productivity Flexibility Organizational skill Judgment Problem analysis Planning Initiative Oral communication Written communication Managing change Valuing diversity

How many Competencies Private Sector: as many as 50 Public Sector: usually 5-10

How are Competencies Measured? Written Exercises Oral Exercises

Written Exercises Letter Writing Report Writing Proposal Analysis In-Basket

Oral Exercises Oral Presentation Leaderless Group Discussion with assigned roles (competitive) Leaderless Group Discussion without assigned roles (cooperative) Interview Role Play Command Problem

Adapting Assessment Centers to Public Sector Constraints Industrial model: 3-6 raters observe 6-12 candidates over three days Public Sector Model: 6 raters observe 12 candidates over one day Retains validity but reduces administrative costs

Cost Cost more than other measurement methods Take more time to develop and administer A superior process An Assessment Center costs far less than one bad hire

Compatibility with Other Measurement Tools Often used with an application review or a written test The last part of the process for “finalists” Use only selected exercises Administer the in-basket first to determine who completes remaining exercises Administer over time using different raters

State Service Program Pairs of Departments Each department identifies participants and a team of raters Raters evaluate individuals in other department Generic AC to evaluate 1st line supervisory competencies 3 day model Extensive feedback reports solely for participants benefit

Selecting First Line Supervisors in California State Civil Service 1998 Report Competencies for 1st Line Supervisors from HR Manager Job Analysis questionnaire Definition and sample measurement instruments Validity, cost to develop and administer, ease and objectivity of scoring Size of developmental group Ordering information

QUESTIONS?