Assessment Centres | Meaning and Definition

What is an Assessment Centre?

An assessment center is a system in which candidates are examined to determine their suitability for specific roles. This usually involves a series of assessments, including interviews, group tasks, and written exercises. The aim is to provide employers with a more holistic view of a candidate’s skills and abilities. 

Assessment centres can be used for various roles, from entry-level positions to senior management roles. They are handy for jobs that require hard-to-measure skills, such as leadership or communication ability. The assessment centre method will typically be looking for evidence of the following qualities:

• Motivation and drive
• Ability to work under pressure
• Clear thinking 

Importance of Assessment centres

Assessment centres have become an integral part of the hiring process for many organisations. They are seen as valuable ways to assess candidates more holistically and identify the best potential employees. There are several reasons why they are essential:

• They allow organisations to evaluate candidates on various factors, not just their qualifications or work experience. This can help identify the best possible employees, especially if the organisation looks for someone with specific skills or qualities.
• Assessment centres allow candidates to demonstrate their abilities and skills in a real-world setting. This can help distinguish between strong and weak candidates, and it can also help employers assess how well a candidate might fit into the role. 

Disadvantages of assessment centres

The main disadvantage of these centres is that they are expensive to conduct. They also take a significant amount of time to set up and administer. Additionally, because they centres are designed to measure various competencies, they can be quite complex and difficult to understand. This can lead to problems with administration and scoring.