Let’s start with a quick reminder: what is the Assessment Center? This methodology, which makes it possible to assess both the knowledge and the potential of an individual, is based on observation and behaviour during professional situations.

 
The Assessment Centre process

 
The Assessment Centre is used to screen, detect and develop talent. It is therefore completely different from any employee performance assessment procedure.

Previous assessments by line managers are not taken into consideration in the Assessment Centre process. The added value of this approach is the assessment of potential and not of current performance in a given function.

 
3 guarantees for the objectivity of the Assessment

 
To ensure objectivity, the first step is to ensure that the assessment is appropriate. The competencies that will be scrutinised are the essential dimensions that make an individual a talent, in terms of the company’s objectives and challenges.

 
1. In the Assessment Centre approach, the evaluation is based on measurable and identified factual criteria. In fact, all the dimensions to be surveyed are broken down into observable behaviours.

To illustrate, when listening skills are assessed, the behaviours used in the relationship are observed. For example, the appraisee allows time for the other person, lets the other person express themselves, clarifies or rephrases the messages received, etc.

 
2. In order to be objective and to be accepted by the employee, the Assessment Centre implies the neutrality of the assessors: they are external to the company and have no knowledge of the training and professional background of the person being assessed.

Thus, the evaluation consists solely of the performance of the participants during the various exercises. In this way, each participant is assessed in exactly the same way by a third party (i.e. neutral), everyone is given the same opportunities and any prejudices cannot play a role in the assessment.

Moreover, the training and professionalism of the team of evaluators ensures that there is no room for instrumentalisation of the process.

 
3. The Assessment Center assessment platform is built for a specific company and population. For example, sales managers will encounter the same situations to deal with, the same sales profiles to manage.

In addition to a team of several identical evaluators involved in the evaluation process, the use of a consistent procedure and rigorous benchmarking ensure an objective evaluation. The observation, recording and classification of actions allow for a standardised evaluation methodology.
 
Each element reported is the result of an in-depth discussion between the assessors. Each employee receives individual feedback to validate the Assessment Centre’s conclusions.

 
Ethics and deontology of evaluators

 
At Apostrof, our passionate consultants are committed to complying with all legal and regulatory requirements applicable to our talent management activities, including the guidelines and ethical considerations advocated by the HALDE in France.

In order to meet the quality objectives shared by your projects and our convictions, the Assessment Centre approach sets requirements in terms of quality and confidentiality. Thus, our tailor-made assessment solutions are developed in-house by our experts based on 3 complementary pillars:

• Taking emotions into account in relational interaction: Each Apostrof consultant is both an assessor and an actor; he or she feels and arouses emotions that will be a driving force in the development of talent. At Apostrof, we provide authentic feedback shared with the appraisee in order to gauge his/her awareness

• Real-life situations: Our exclusive approach is based on face-to-face assessments with a team of consultants representing the diversity of the company. The professional simulations are complemented by psychometric tests.

• Individual assessment in a team situation with multiple observers (minimum 3). Each observer is a trained and experienced assessment and workplace professional.

About the Assessment Center

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