The more the years go by, the more the term evaluation becomes a nebulous thing in our eyes. Indeed, depending on the audience concerned, but also on the perspective that some people want to give, evaluation means so many different things.

From the employee’s point of view

The employee often discovers the evaluation when he/she joins the company. The assessment then takes the form of performance indicators, usually including quantitative as well as qualitative indicators.

These objectives are generally linked to the employee’s variable pay. This is why employees are made aware of evaluation relatively early on in their careers. Nevertheless, this can take many forms: for the numerical part, it involves Excel-type reporting, whereas for the qualitative part, the formats are more informal.

To sum up, for the employee, evaluation is mainly accepted as objectives to be achieved on pain of financial penalties. By extension, the latter also relies on his or her numerical performance in order to claim to be promoted.

The human resources vision

For members of the human resources department, evaluation rhymes with the annual appraisal interview. Indeed, the HR department is particularly solicited for this annual campaign, or even bi-annual for some companies.

The final objective is to bring up the training needs expressed in order to organise the training plan for the coming year. Not forgetting that in some organisations, HR department staff provide operational support to managers in conducting annual interviews.

Companies that have worked on forward-looking employment and skills management sometimes have a different approach: skills assessment is added to the performance assessment required by operational staff.

Competencies are therefore entering the company through the back door of HR, but with a more than strategic dimension for future competency needs, but also for the employability of employees.

In the context of internal or external recruitment

Most companies use face-to-face interviews in their recruitment process. Conducted by different actors within the organisation, the candidate is assessed on his or her background, the skills he or she claims to master and certain aspects of his or her personality.

Of course, the assessment of skills seems easier when the employee is positioned for an internal development opportunity. The notion of assessing potential often appears at the beginning of a recruitment process.

Indeed, in this context, the company seeks to assess the candidate’s ability to evolve subsequently within the structure. Thus, the potential of an application becomes the essential element to be evaluated. But what tools are available to detect potential? Because, by definition, potential represents future skills or aspirations.

Some companies are now working in the Anglo-Saxon way, integrating this dimension of potential through PeopleReviews or Comité de Carrière in French.

However, this approach only concerns current employees, who can be evaluated on the famous key performance indicators. These data rarely take into account future skills or strategic know-how.

As you will have understood, the company is then helpless when it comes to assessing potential. And this is understandable.

Indeed, automated tools and other tests seem very practical, but again, how can they identify the postures and behaviours that indicate an employee’s potential to evolve into a management position?

About the Assessment Center

The Assessment or Development Center are methodologies that use a professional situation. The objective is to carry out a precise diagnosis of the strengths and areas for improvement of a candidate or employee.

In the context of recruitment, this stage enables the company to advise on a suitable integration plan for the individual’s personality and skills.

Also, having a global vision of talent is essential to prepare a new organisation within a company. In the case of internal mobility, the assessment includes specific recommendations on a development plan.

GO FURTHER …

Whatever your objectives, we can help you attract, motivate and find the right talent. To contact us, use the contact form or write to us directly at contact@apostrof.fr