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Why is an assessment center the most objective assessment method?
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Hiring the wrong person can be very expensive — not only in terms of budget, but also in terms of time and energy.
On the other hand, successful recruitment from the start makes it possible to gain in efficiency in the long term.
However, accurately evaluating a candidate remains one of the major challenges in the hiring process.
How can you be sure that the person interviewed will really know how to adapt to the position and perform on a daily basis?
To answer this crucial question, more and more companies are using a particularly comprehensive assessment method: the assessment center.
But What is an assessment center and what are its advantages, especially in terms of objectivity during recruitment?
In addition to answering these questions, in this article, we will review the different possible phases of this process, compare the assessment center with other recruitment methods and study how to implement this valuable tool both for recruitment and for taking up a position or developing leadership.
The assessment center, which is sometimes translated as” assessment center ”, is a selection method that has been particularly used in the professional world since the 1980s.
These are not simply classical tests, but a structured and immersive device that allowsthoroughly assess a candidate's suitability for a position, in particular in terms of soft skills and practical skills (hard skills).
Unlike a traditional interview or a simple CV exam, the assessment center generally comes after an initial phase of sorting applications.
Over one or several days, it brings together a set of varied exercises — interviews, role plays, professional situations, psychotechnical tests — which confront participants with scenarios close to the reality of the position in question.
The objective is twofold: to observe how candidates behave in specific contexts and to assess their ability to manage complex situations.
This process allowsAnalyzing qualities such as decision-making, stress management, the ability to communicate in groups, personal organization or the ability to solve unexpected problems.
During these sessions, participants are observed by professionals called “advisors”, trained to detect behaviors that reveal the managerial or operational potential of a candidate.
These observers grant a great importance on how individuals respond to the challenges proposed, more than just the results achieved.
It is therefore not a pure technical assessment, as the qualifications are usually already known via the CV.
Rather, the challenge is to identify the professional personality of the candidate and its adequacy with the requirements of the position, especially in positions of responsibility.
In summary, an assessment center is a dynamic approach to recruitment, which favors The observation Situational behaviors to better predict the future success of a candidate in his work environment.
Do you want to set up a tailor-made assessment center to be sure to recruit talent that fits perfectly with your development strategy?
Discover the VISCONTI PARTNERS Assessment Center service
Using an assessment center in a recruitment or promotion process has many advantages.
This structured assessment process, which combines scenarios, tests and observations, is a tool that is both reliable and relevant.
Rather than multiplying individual interviews, the assessment center makes it possible to assess several candidates at the same time, in a common framework.
This speeds up the selection process considerably while making it easier to compare, resulting in faster and better informed decision-making.
Unlike traditional interviews that often focus on discourse, this method places candidates in front of scenarios that are close to the reality of the position.
It thus makes it possible to identify behavioral and operational skills that would otherwise remain invisible — such as stress management, teamwork or the ability to make decisions.
Using precise and standardized observation grids, all participants are judged on the same criteria.
This reduces subjective bias and allows for a more equitable assessment. The result: fairer choices, which limit the risk of recruitment errors.
On the candidate side, while it can be a source of stress for some profiles, the assessment center can also be seen as a way to better show your strengths, beyond a simple CV or an interview.
It is also an opportunity to live an enriching, sometimes even formative, experience.
Finally, using this technique sends a strong signal: that of a rigorous, transparent recruitment process that is focused on real skills.
This contributes to improving the attractiveness of the company to talent.
The Assessment Center is generally presented as a structured session during which candidates go through a series of tests and exercises, individual or collective.
The objective is to place participants in situations similar to those they could experience in the position to be filled, in order to observe their behaviors, reactions, and abilities.
The format of the assessment varies according to several factors: the type of position, the values of the company, the number of candidates or the skills sought. Two main types of formats are common:
Even though each session may differ, all share one central characteristic: putting candidates under pressure.
Recruiters seek to assess reactions in a difficult context, by deliberately creating a climate of stress or urgency.
This makes it possible to reveal certain attitudes or skills that a simple resume could not reflect.
At the opening, candidates are often invited to Introduce yourself freely, with no imposed format.
This moment, which may seem trivial, nevertheless allows us to observe the candidate's ability to structure his speech, his self-confidence and his sincerity.
It is a first opportunity to stand out for its naturalness and clarity.
From the start, candidates usually take online or paper-based questionnaires.
We find cognitive tests, which measure the intelligence quotient in particular, as well as personality tests, designed to identify the behavioral traits of the participant.
When these evaluations are computerized, the results can be obtained quickly, facilitating the analysis of the overall profile.
Once carried out with real physical mail, this test now takes the form of a mailbox overloaded with messages, internal notes and urgent appointments to manage.
The aim: to sort effectively, identify priorities, delegate secondary tasks, and react to conflicting instructions or last-minute changes.
This exercise tests the candidate's ability to stay on track under pressure and to demonstrate a keen sense of organization.
Alone or in a group, the candidate is confronted with a realistic professional situation. He must analyze the elements, propose a solution and above all, explain his approach.
This type of exercise allows recruiters to judge not only technical skills and analytical skills, but also the ability to work in a team and to argue their choices.
This test is also based on a concrete problem.
This time, not all the data is provided at once: the candidate must go and look for it himself by interviewing an “expert” made available.
This test measures curiosity, the relevance of the questions asked, and the investigative strategy used to fill in the gray areas before proposing a solution.
In some recruitment processes, collective evaluations replace conventional tests.
These grouped assessments make it possible to observe candidates in concrete and interactive situations, close to professional reality.
Widely used in collective evaluations (but also sometimes individually), role plays confront candidates with simulated situations : tense discussion between a manager and an employee, negotiation between a salesperson and a customer, management of a team conflict, etc.
Candidates are given a common challenge to be solved together.
It can be a situation inspired by the daily life of a company, or a more original exercise, such as a sports or creative challenge (e.g.: escape game, open innovation, etc.).
The aim is to see how everyone interacts, collaborates, and makes decisions as a group.
Another evaluation format: several candidates are interviewed together. They may have to discuss a controversial topic, with or without an assigned role.
The interest here is to assess their ability to argue, convince, listen and negotiate. This type of exercise reveals the quality of the speech, the power of persuasion, but also relational intelligence.
At the end of the process, a final individual interview takes place. The candidate is invited to share his feelings about the experience and to make his own assessment.
He can take the opportunity to explain certain behaviors or performances, and highlight his successes.
Recruiters, for their part, provide feedback on the candidate's career path. The hiring decision can be communicated immediately, but it is more common for it to come later, after a thorough analysis of the results.
The Assessment Center is distinguished by the rigor of its process.
The evaluators, who are specifically trained, rely on a structured and ethical procedure, common to all candidates, which guarantees a fair evaluation.
Each interview and each exercise follow a precise procedure, designed to limit the occurrence of bias as much as possible.
To go further, this method is based on several key pillars:
Finally, the Assessment Center is not limited to judging: it accompanies. Candidates benefit from personalized follow-up to experience the evaluation in a positive way, which also contributes to the reliability of the results.
It is this combination of rigor, technique, human expertise and transparency that makes the Assessment Center an approach that is at once fair, reliable and respectful.
When it comes to recruiting, several assessment tools are available to businesses. Each has advantages and limitations, and the choice often depends on the position, budget, and hiring issues.
This solution, the most commonly used, is based largely on feelings. Despite efforts to make it more objective, this approach remains subjective in nature.
However, it still has an essential value: it makes it possible to create a human link and to identify the personality of the candidate.
That said, She quickly shows her limits when it comes to accurately assessing skills or the ability to succeed in a specific function.
Whether psychotechnical, personality, logical..., tests have grown in size, driven by digitalization and the growing need to make recruitment more reliable.
They provide greater objectivity and meet growing demands in terms of diversity and non-discrimination.
However, the profusion of tools makes them sometimes complex use and their interpretation depends on the expertise of the recruiter.
This process combines several approaches: simulations, scenarios, tests and interviews, all supervised by several evaluators.
It thus offers a thorough, collegial and more reliable analysis of skills, especially behavioral skills.
This method, although powerful, requires time, coordination and a substantial budget. It is therefore particularly relevant for strategic or high-stakes recruitments, but may be excessive for more common positions.
Setting up an assessment center means, above all, clearly defining your intention.
Depending on the context, the objectives may vary: validate strategic recruitment, support a new position or even strengthen the managerial skills of an existing leader.
Before designing the assessment, it is essential to determine what you want to assess:
Once the objective is defined, the content of the assessment center can be structured: simulations, scenarios, interviews, personality or logic tests, etc.
Each exercise should make it possible to observe behaviors related to the skills sought.
To go further, some companies choose to call on experts in the subject. For example, specialized firms like Visconti Partners.
Indeed, executive coaches and Chiefs of Staff coaches Visconti Partners offer tailor-made assessment centers, focused on leadership development.
Rather than limiting themselves to a static evaluation, they use tools like the TMA method to build a personalized development plan, aligned with the challenges of the position and the ambitions of the manager.
Visconti Partners presents its advice, inspiration, and case studies to help you unlock your potential and that of your business.
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