Objectifying Assessment Centers

Assessment centers are widely accepted in public organizations as a means of evaluating and predicting managerial performance. However, some recent research has questioned the validity of evaluations using traditional assessment center methods and has suggested that these methods be altered so that the exercises are structured and administered according to the guidelines of hard science. It is contended that the changes proposed so far are unlikely to result in objective construct validity because assessors do not evaluate all participants, do not have common views of the relative importance of traits, and lack a common reference to measure traits. An alternative strategy within the framework of hard science is proposed. This proposal focuses on the evaluation itself rather than the exercises. Suggestions for improving evaluations include careful training of assessors, videotaping of exercises, and demanding consensus in assessor evaluations.