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Nearly 68% of the organisations arecurrently using assessment centres forrecruitment, revealed a recent study
by TJinsite. About 79% of the organisationsusing assessment centres, believe they arereasonably effective means of recruitingworkforce. By definition, an assessmentcentre is a place where a person/prospectiveemployee is assessed to determine theirsuitability for a particular jobprofile/role/position. Multiple trainedobservers and techniques are used for thissuch as interviews, examinations andpsychometric testing. Employee behavioursare assessed in a workplace-like settingthrough specifically developed assessmentsimulations. Some organisations conductinternal pre-employment assessments. Butmajority of organisations today are opting forassessments centres to conduct these
assessments. According to the study, 45% ofthe employers stated that assessment centreslargely works because they offer acomprehensive insight into candidate’ssuitability. Nearly 36% employees feel thatthe evaluation information from assessmentcentres is fairly transparent andcomprehensive. Over 50% the organisationsuse assessment centres mostly to hirefresher/graduates. Nearly 30% companiesseek assessment centre services while movingan employee from executive role tomanagerial role. The remaining 20% saidthey avail the centre’s services when seeking aposition at a senior level. Where there areadvantages, there are limitations also of usingassessment centres. For 50% of the employersthe biggest limitation comes from the lack ofskilled assessors to perform the taskeffectively. Majority of the organisations also
feel that subjectivity of the characteristicswhich needs to be measured posses a bigbarrier to use of assessment centres. Thepersonal traits and behaviour examined viaassessment centre exercises may notnecessarily give similar results. Also,assessment of a candidate’s personality andother traits to some extent depends on theassessor’s individual judgments, which couldbe biased or skewed, stated employers. Morethan 80% of the surveyed employers predictan increased use of assessment centres in nearfuture. Therefore, it is essential for thecandidates to acquaint themselves with thefunctioning and role of assessment centres.The job-seekers must prepare themselves forthe varied individual and group exercisesincluding an assortment of group eventsranging from presentation, problem-solvingexercises to role play.
H I R I N G & B E Y O N D
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Building Talent Pool
ASSESSMENTCENTRES
with
v Identify v Analyse
v Communicate v Review
Assessment Centre is more ofa science that would requireassessors whose judgmentalabilities are unbiased andbeyond subjective influences.They assess candidate from afuturistic perspective.
Dr M S Manohar, Group President -HR & Strategy,JRG Group
To achieve organisationperformance goals it isimperative for organisationsto have competent people andthus assessment centres havebecome an integral part of thebusiness process.
Hema Parikh, Director – Human Resources,Ajuba Solutions
Competition is improvingquality and capabilities ofassessment centres. The futureof assessment centres lookspromising with large-scaletechnology adoption andminimum human intervention.Rajan Sethuraman, Recruitment lead, Accenture’s Global
Delivery Network for Technology in India
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HIRING & BEYOND
Creating an impact through Employer Branding
Employer Branding is gainingtremendous importance in timeswhen the talent pool is
shrinking and it is becomingincreasingly difficult to attract andretain talent. It then becomes critical toposition the organisation in the mindsof the target audience to give it everypossible advantage in attractingemployees with superior skills andknowledge - a primary source ofcompetitive advantage for anyorganisation.
Companies are increasingly focusingon their employer branding strategy toposition themselves as an organisationpeople would want to be a part of. In aneconomic climate where business istough, there is pressure to cut costs andincrease productivity. This makes theneed to get the right people in the rightjob even more crucial.
Employees who have the right skills,experience and knowledge, in relationto the critical areas of a business todrive growth, becomes strategicallyimportant.
To attract and retain the highly mobileworkforce that we have today,companies need to focus on developinga plan of action to brand themselves asan employer of choice.
The organisations need to understandthe expectations of today’s workforceand plan the branding strategylikewise. Knowing what employeescare about the most will help thecompanies locate the appropriateresources to get the right talent onboard. Identifying effective channels ofcommunication and phrasing themessage correctly are other crucial
elements of a successful employerbranding strategy.
A strong employment brand is in a wayan assurance that it is reliable enoughto build a strong employer-employeerelationship. An employee once hiredshould be able to build a strongrelationship with the organisation byembracing the employer brand. Anemployer brand should be so powerfulthat the employee will become anambassador of the brand.
TechGig, India’s most passionate techcommunity understands the need ofhaving a strong employer brand. It hascome up with multiple new offeringsfor its corporate clients (visit:http://www.techgig.com/corporate)which can be utilized to ensurecontinuous employer branding andengagement with the tech community.
Using tools such as skillpagesponsorship, code/skill contests,expertspeaks, codehire and company
page, on TechGig corporate site,organisations can improve their brandby being involved with the techcommunity in various ways and atmultiple levels.
Branding is necessary; be it, a product,a service, a person or an organisation,a brand value brings an extra edge anddimension that helps create and leavean impact in the minds of the targetcommunity.
To stay ahead and to ensure continuousgrowth and success, organisations needto contribute a significant amount oftime and effort toward formulating andimplementing their employer brandingstrategy, so as to establish and positionthem as a brand worth working for andemulating.
brought to you by
Your employer brand is “the image of your organisation as a ‘great place to work’.The objective of Employer Branding is quite simple. It is a strategy employed by anorganisation to create an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) that would convey todesired current and prospective employees why the organisation is unique, appeal-ing and a fantastic place to work in.
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Survey Highlights
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HIRING & BEYOND
The main reason cited fornot using services ofassessment centres is lack
of skilled assessors (42%)followed by budget constraints(23%). Employers feel that theexpense of using an assessmentcentre is usually high. This tendsto restrict their use, sincebudgets are allocated basis theprofile and level of the job onoffer.
Another 23% of theorganisations also feel that use ofassessment centres is a timeconsuming exercise. Nearly 13%see lack of executive/leadershipsupport in initiating a pre-hireassessment initiative as a majorbarrier. The majority of theserespondents were currently
relying on in-house pre-employment assessments and arelargely using interviews,resumes and references as theassessment techniques.
Over 50% respondents claimed touse behavioural and ability testsand 30% use personalityassessments while hiringcandidates.
• 40% of theorganisations useboth paper-basedand automatedassessments
• 50% of theorganisationsplanning to shiftto online testingin near future
• 36% employersbelieve processtransparency andcomprehensiveinformation is thekey feature of asuccessfulassessmentcentre
Almost 77% of the surveyedorganisations arecurrently using
assessment centres forrecruitment. The key benefit ofusing assessment centres asstated by nearly 40% of theemployers was that it helpsassess existing performance aswell as predict future jobperformance of a candidate.About 35% companies felt that itprovides comprehensive insightinto candidate’s suitability for aparticular job and organisation.
Employers largely useassessment centres as part oftheir graduate recruitmentprograms for selecting middlelevel management.
The key consideration whilechoosing assessment centreexercises was the ability of theexercises to map againstcompetencies or capabilities,
stated over 50% of therespondents. Nearly 23% of theemployers stated, techniquesused by assessment centres to
evaluate candidate’s performanceas a critical consideration,followed by level of insight.
Use of pre-employment assessmentcentres
40%
35%
19%
6%
Assess existingperformance as wellas predict future jobperformance
Comprehensiveinsight intocandidate’s suitability
Provides standardizedapproach toevaluatingperformance
Enhances theemployer brand value
23%Budget
constraints
42%Lack ofskilled
assessors
12%Lack of
leadershipsupport
23%
consumingTime
What is the biggest
barrier in use of
assessment
centres?
Challenges in pre-employmentassessment
What is the key benefit of using assessment centres?
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Survey Highlights
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Over years assessmentcentres have been used aspart of the recruitment
process. Different types ofindividual and group exerciseshave been evolved to assess acandidates’ competencies andbehaviours.
Role play exercise was the mostcommonly used exercise overall,stated by nearly 26% of therespondents. The writtenanalysis exercise (24%) andpresentation analysis (23%)were also popular. Thecompetency assessed mostregularly was team work, stated23% of the surveyedorganisations. Communicationand influencing (20%) andleadership (16%) are the othercompetencies measured mostoften. Competencies such ascreativity & innovation,
strategic focus and leadership,which are basically meant formanagerial level positions are
assessed occasionally and arebelieved to be difficult ones toassess.
Type of assessment centreexercises used most often
• 36% employersbelieve processtransparency andcomprehensiveinformation is thekey feature of asuccessfulassessment centre
• 55% of theorganisations useassessment centreslargely forrecruiting fresher/graduates
• 38% of theemployers feel pre-hire assessmentsare effective inenhancingemployee retention
Over 70% of therespondent organisationsreport that they do
evaluate the use of assessmentcentres. Close to 80% of theorganisations using assessmentcentre services, felt thatevaluating assessment centreperformance on periodic basishave a positive impact on theirorganisation.
Nearly 26% employers useturnover and retention metricsto judge the impact ofassessment followed byrevenue/business outputtracking (23%).
Most recruiters accept thatassessment centres exercisesare quite intimidating events.Hence, evaluating their usageand performance assists in
making necessary modificationsfor better functionality.Evaluation is a critical part ofany assessment implementationand help organisations clearlyunderstand the effectiveness of
their assessment programs.Such an understanding is acritical foundation on which thedevelopment and expansion ofan assessment program may bebuilt.
Evaluating effectiveness ofAssessment Centres
26%
23%
19%16% 16%
Which is the preferred metrics to evaluate assessments?
Turnover and retention
Revenue/Business output
Training performance
Traditional recruiting metrics
Supervisory rating
15%
26%
24%
12%
23%
Role play
Written analysis
Presentation analysis
Focus group exercise
Group exercise
Which assessment centreexercise is used most often?
NAIP held its 4th MajorConference on 14th June2012. The mid-year
Conference was held for the firsttime in Delhi at the prestigiousShangri La Hotel .
The full day event was wellattended by an internationalaudience. The delegates camefrom many sectors of industryas well as the public sector.
The Conference Chief Guest wasRt Hon. Mr Santosh Bagrodia, a
leading Parliamentarian andformer Central GovernmentMinister. Mr Bagrodia praisedNAIP for its initiatives and theimportance of payroll withinthe country.
Rt Hon. Dr Narendra Jadhav ,Member of the NationalPlanning Commission andNational Advisory Council forthe Government of India, whichis responsible for thedevelopment of the India’sStrategic policy development
under the Country's 12th FiveYear Plan, presented a thoughtprovoking Key Note Addressand praised and pledged hissupport to the work of NAIP(National Academy of IndianPayroll) and to NAIP'sChairman, Mr Nayaz Qazi.
NAIP's Chairman, Nayaz Qazi,outlined the work of NAIP andthe importance of NAIP'sactivities to the employee lifecycle, and in particular to theemployee, employer andauthorities.
The day's Conference allowed adetailed look at the pertinentsubject areas presented by thespeakers as well as interactivepanel session which includedpresentations of complex andcurrent issues byrepresentatives of ESI, PF,Income tax and LabourCompliance and the Q & Asession with the Panel whichprovided the delegates a uniqueplatform to raise their concernsand to learn about possibledevelopments and reform.
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Events
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HIRING & BEYOND
The National Academy of Indian Payroll’s(NAIP's) 4th Major Conference
EVENTS
CALENDAR
Seminar on AligningHR Initiatives forBusinessSustainability - "TheChanging Paradigm ofHR Role"27th July 2012India Habitat Centre,New DelhiOrganised by NHRDN
MASSMERIZE 2012A Retail and FMCGCompanies' PlatformAugust 7th, 2012 - TheLeela, MumbaiOrganised by FICCI
Upcoming Events
Every organisation aspires tobuild over a period of time astable and dynamic reserve of its
most important asset – people. In thisgoal, organisations spend significantresources in identifying, developingand retaining the right talent. Themain goal of human resources is toachieve competitive advantage by thestrategic creation and allocation ofqualified personnel. Researchdemonstrates that there is no viablesubstitute for objectively observing andsystematically predicting how peopleactually perform at the workplace. Employee assessment allows acompany to understand and predictpotential and actual performance,ensuring the right person gets selectedfor the right job. It improves the qualityand efficiency of HR processes such asrecruiting, qualifying, interviewingand selecting, allowing for better hiringand development decisions. At themacro level, it ensures that employeeswill be a good fit for the organisation’sculture. Employee assessment is alsorelevant because it can be used to mapand create a pool of people with themost important skills required for thesustainability of the business.
Growing importance of CriticalThinking – the most importantworkplace skill for the 21st Century
In today’s workplace, when oneconsiders the challenges thatbusinesses face today - competition,technology, the speed of change – thesechallenges have simply made doingbusiness more complicated. As aconsequence, organisations are optingfor flatter structures where layers ofbureaucracy are reduced andresponsibility passed further down theorganisation.With globalisation and the increasedspeed of business, employees at everylevel are facing an increasinglycomplex flow of information tonegotiate. Work settings are changingrapidly and employees aretransitioning into new roles, often withlimited guidance. Employees can nolonger rely completely on superiors orpeers to make key decisions. They oftenmust make them on their own, andquickly. Crucial decisions, such as where tocontrol costs, which job candidates tohire, and what features should go into aflagship product, are also being made ata faster pace and by people at everylevel in an organisation. With shorterdesign-to-market times, moreemployers are taking steps to helpidentify and train their employees oncritical thinking skills that will enablemore effective decision-making. According to a study conducted on themost important workplace skills,critical thinking was identified as theskill of most increasing importanceover the next five years. However, thestudy indicated that not only dograduates but also many emergingleaders lack good critical thinking. Organisations often assume thateveryone at the highest corporate levelsis a “good thinker”. What organisationsneed to realise is that critical thinking,although a fundamental skill for otherhigher order thinking is a high-stakeskill, which when not presentadequately in mid to top management,can have serious implications for thefuture of a business. Researchconducted by Pearson TalentLens as
well as by other independent academicshas indicated that people who scorehigh on critical thinking are also ratedby their supervisors as possessing good analytical, problem-solving,judgment and decision making skills,demonstrate good overall jobperformance, the ability to evaluate thequality of information presented,creativity, job knowledge, and thepotential to move up within theorganisation. Because it is oftendifficult to discern such criticalthinking skills through a resume or jobinterview, many organisations areturning to assessments to help themevaluate candidates. One of the most widely usedassessments in this area is the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisalfrom Pearson TalentLens. The Watson-Glaser offers a hard-skills appraisal,and is suited to assess employees inprofessional and managerial positions.Pearson TalentLens has developed aRED model for critical thinking –Recognise Assumptions, EvaluateArguments and Draw Conclusions – asa new way to apply critical thinkingprinciples when faced with a decision-making situation. Besides critical thinking, organisationsalso need collaborators who can workeffectively in teams, problem-solverswho can think clearly in complexsituations, as well as individuals withpersonal and interpersonal workplacemotivators that fit into theorganisation’s values. PearsonTalentLens offers assessments such asGolden Personality Type Profiler,Raven’s Progressive Matrices andSOSIE personality test, to respectivelymap such workplace competencies andbehavioural characteristics. Some final thoughts – the cost of awrong hire is not apparent right awayor even in the long run. Progressiveorganisations that realize that buildingthe right talent requires a commitmentto appropriate resources, will useobjective, reliable and accurateassessments capable of predictingperformance, and which willeventually ensure their employeesdrive positive results for the business.
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Guest Column
VOLUME-II | ISSUE 8JULY 2012
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HIRING & BEYOND
A commitment to identify and develop talent the right way
Prashant Banerjee
The author is Marketing Head, Pear-son TalentLens. He can be reachedat [email protected] know more about assessmentsmentioned in the column, visitwww.talentlens.in
Employee Assessment
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Recent News
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Demand for educationists growing in fashion sector:AnalysisAccording to TimesJobs.com data, jobs in fashion education spacehave registered 7% growth in a month-over-month analysis. Almost19% of the total job postings in the fashion sector were for teachingprofiles. A detailed analysis elucidates that demand of educationistsexperienced in domains such as fashion designing, fashionillustration, sketching & pattern making, merchandising, fashionretail management, fashion technology and fashion business is on arise. In view of Sharad Mehra, COO, Pearl Academy of Fashion,today, education in fashion has moved much beyond the boundariesof fashion designing, touching multiple recently-evolved areas suchas fashion forecasting, fashion merchandising and fashionjournalism, apart from designing, styling and specializing intextiles.n The Economic Times, June 2012
Employee surveys valuable to enhance businessproductivity: SurveyNearly 32% HR managers voted employee surveys as a useful tool toexamine employee perception about the organization across levelsin a survey conducted by TJinsite, research and knowledge arm ofTimesJobs.com. "An employee survey can be one of the mostpowerful tools for management in assessing the effectiveness of itsstrategy and maximizing the potential in its human capital", allegedSakshi Khera, HR-Head, Da Milano.n The Economic Times, June 2012
Retaining working mothers to fight talent crunch works:Survey A large section of women employees, especially working mothers,feel more engaged and productive in a supportive and flexible workenvironment says a survey conducted by TJinsite, research andknowledge arm of TimesJobs.com. In view of HR managers, it isessential to have a focused strategy to engage and retain womenemployees to drive better productivity for the business, particularlyin high-pressure industries such as IT/ITeS, where their attritionrate is much higher. n The Economic Times, June 2012
Favouring family members leads to employeedisengagement: Study In a study conducted by TJinsite, research and knowledge arm ofTimesJobs.com, a large proportion of employees voiced thatcompetency should be the most important criteria for employmentor promotion. And, they feel disengaged when relatives are given akey position or promotion, bypassing talented employees. The studyhighlighted that nepotism policies -favoritism towards familymembers- degrade level of commitment, loyalty and the sense ofownership amongst employees and leads to higher attrition rate. n The Economic Times, June 2012
Attitude and communication skills imperative for ITfresher: Pallab Bandyopadhyay "Most entry level jobs in the Indian IT industry are filled throughcampus recruitments, therefore the college reputation and thepercentage of marks are still considered as the strongest credentialsin hiring", informed Dr. Pallab Bandyopadhyay, Director-HR, CitrixSystems during a "High-Tea" session on a dedicated chat platform byTimesJobs.com for candidates. “If candidates are from IITs, NIITsor top regional colleges, their journey is fairly smooth and easy butcandidates from 2nd or 3rd tier colleges have to work really hard ontheir aptitude, problem-solving and communication skills to get anedge in the jobs market”, he added.n The Economic Times, June 2012
Growth in banking jobs steady: Hamsaz Vasunia "In the next few years, there will be almost 5 lakh jobs available inthe Banking industry. With the new banking license regime, itshould only make the job market more lucrative", stated HamsazVasunia, Group-Vice President, DCB Bank during a "High-Tea"session, a dedicated chat platform on TimesJobs.com for candidatesto ask career related queries from experts. Despite the globaleconomic slowdown, growth in the Banking industry has beensteady, she added. Referring to the current hiring scenario in theBanking sector, Vasunia explained that most banks today are farmore cautious and are looking at consolidations wherever possible.However layoffs are not so rampant in the Indian banks.n The Economic Times, June 2012
TJ RESEARCH IN NEWS
Expert Speak
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Disclaimer: Information provided in this newsletter shall not be reproduced, published, re-sold or otherwise distributed inany medium without the prior written permission of TimesJobs.com and a clear acknowledgement to TimesJobs.com.Contact: TJinsite, TimesJobs.com, Plot No 6, Sector 16A, Film City, Noida. Write in to [email protected]
Copyright ©2012 Times Business Solutions Limited. All rights reserved.
Why are Assessment Centrerequired?An Assessment Centre is a process ofapplying multiple techniques to assessmultiple competencies in a simulatedenvironment. The core objective of anassessment centre is to helporganisations identify the strengthsand potential development areas ofindividuals for a pre-defined role.Assessment centre is used for variedpurpose like selection process, careerdevelopment, potential appraisal,identification of high flyers,succession planning, allocation ofchallenging assignments, managementdevelopment, identifying trainingneeds etc. It is also conducted asDevelopment as a part of Training &Development initiative.
What are the essential elements ofAssessment Centre?The most essential elements of anassessment centre include:a) The assessment centre must be
based on a job analysis designed tounderstand competencies requiredfor successful execution of the job.
b) Multiple assessment techniques/exercises must be used to assesseach essential competency.
c) Accurate and unbiased observationis the most critical aspect ofassessment centre.
d) To eliminate biases, multipleassessors should assess theperformance of the candidate.
e) Assessors must be trained to recordtheir observation systematicallyand accurately for futurereferences.
f) Integration of scores and pooling ofinformation from differentassessors should be done throughstatistical techniques only.
g) Each participant must be givensystematic feedback on theirperformance.
What are the advantages of usingAssessment Centre?a) The techniques used in Assessment
Centre enable assessors to observeand assess candidates’ behaviour ina number of different situationswhich provide a morecomprehensive and all roundedpicture of the candidates.
b) Assessment Centre map the nextlevel challenges and simulate themin exercises. The old way ofevaluating a person based on pastperformance does not work manytimes, as the challenges of the nextlevel are different from thechallenges in the existing position.
c) The assessment by independentassessors becomes unbiased andfair.
d) The validity of Assessment Centrein higher than most othertechniques because it simulatesreal job challenges and evaluatesthe candidate on same.
What are the limitations of usingAssessment Centres?The top most limitation of AssessmentCentre is the cost and time involved. a) Assessments centers are costly and
consumes at least three workingdays.
b) Post Assessment Centre counselling
which is very crucial is ignoredmany times. Lack of counselingmay lead participants losingconfidence and become nonperformers.
c) If the quality of assessors iscompromised the whole purpose ofAssessment Centre is defeated asthe observers might bring in theirown prejudices and loose thecredibility of such effective tool.
What are the global practices in thearea of Assessment Centre?Assessment Centre are conducted inlarge organisations across the globe.There is growing trend in midsizedprogressive organizations whoemphasise on value of talent. MostAssessment Centre are conducted forduration of 2 to 3 days. The durationchanges with the change in thepurpose of running AssessmentCentre. Globally, it is observed that in-basket tests and role plays are mosteffective tools to choose rightcandidate. Mental ability test andpersonality test are least effective inpredicting the future effectiveness ofthe candidate. Most widely assessedcompetencies in Assessment Centreinclude: Leadership, Decision Making,Business acumen, Flexibility,Initiative, Communication, Organizingand Planning. Most widely usedexercises in Assessment Centre areInterview, Presentations, In-Trayexercises, Business games and roleplays.
Identifying Talent with Assessment Centres
Vijay L Sonawane, Sr Vice President – HR, Glodyne Technoserve Ltd
Read full interview on www.research.timesjobs.com
Vijay is a Human resources professional with twenty five years of experience from IT,Media, Manufacturing and Consulting, working as Global HR head in India andoverseas. He specialises in Business transformation, Business Growth, Business Turnaround and implementing Mission Critical Business projects successfully throughinnovative HR intervention. He has worked with companies including Thermax andSatyam.
