Assessment of Performance and Potential using the right tools the right way

The important question here is “Why do we need to assess people at all?” In order to predict an individual’s potential for future performance, we need to assess the person on a broad range of criteria, for example, the individual’s skills and abilities, personality, experience, interest and motivation.

 We also use assessment for many of the HR activities such as: recruitment & promotion, early identification of potential, diagnosis of training & development, organisation/ succession planning, management audit (in organisation restructuring) and career guidance/ counseling. 

 Some people will query the need to assess for internal candidates since companies already have their annual performance appraisal.  In fact, an objective assessment process provides complementary information to the performance appraisal.  While performance appraisal measures an individual’s current performance, an assessment process is able to predict future potential, something which is critically important for companies to face the challenge of today’s business environment.

 From both angles – performance appraisal and assessment of potential, companies can identify:

 ·   The “high fliers” with particular potential and those with particular weaknesses

·   Individual development needs and their respective personal development plans

·   Suitable candidates for certain positions based on the assessment of current performance and future potential.

 This will provide companies with a management audit, facilitate development action planning and facilitate succession planning.   

 To implement an assessment process in the organisation, there are some key steps that companies have to go through:

Job analysis and Competency identification:

Job analysis is a systematic process for defining the content of a particular job, position or level within organisation.  This process should be comprehensive, detailed and should result in thorough definitions of the tasks to be performed, descriptions of the skills, behaviour, knowledge, personality and motivational characteristics required by job holders in order to perform these specific tasks.  The common language for the above description is what we call COMPETENCIES, which is a structured way of describing effective job behaviour.

Select appropriate tools:

Assessment tools should answer our question about an individual: the CAN, the HOW and the WILL factor.   The following are examples of assessment tools:

 Interview:

This is probably the most popular method adopted by many organisations as it can be conducted inexpensively and provides an opportunity to assess the “chemistry” factor as well as gain an insight to an individual’s expectations and motivation.  However, interviews are also one of the least reliable methods of assessment if not properly conducted.  Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that interviews are conducted inconsistently, giving rise to perceptions and judgements about people which are inaccurate and lead to decisions which proved to be effective in the long run.  In fact, it is precisely because they allow an opportunity to see people face-to-face that they are so unreliable.  Because of their limited human capacity, people are notoriously subjective in their opinions and judgements about others and rarely make HR-related decisions on the basis of relevant characteristics such as actual ability to perform a particular job.  So, often in the interview, articulate candidates who are able to project a good image would have a much better chance of doing well in the  the interview.

A more structured way of conducting the interview, such as the competency-based approach, is significantly more reliable.  This method of interview uses task-oriented and behaviourally defined job criteria to increase the accuracy of the assessment.  However, the interviewer needs to be properly trained to carry this out effectively.

 Ability or Aptitude Tests:

These tests measure an individual’s skills and abilities in specific areas, such as spatial, numerical, mechanical or verbal skills.  Ability tests answer the question of whether an individual can perform a specific task in a discrete skill area and if so, how does the score compare with similar individuals in relevant comparison group. Such tests provide an objective comparison of candidates on a specific ability within a short time scale and directly compare the individual with a relevant comparison group.  However, the skill in the administration and interpretation of such data will play an important role in the implementation.

 Personality Questionnaires:

These are self report questionnaires which measure an individual’s preference for certain styles of behaviour in a work setting.  They answer the question of how an individual is likely to behave at work.  Important factors to be considered in using these questionnaire are whether the questionnaires are designed to be job-relevant, equipped to anticipate “faking” and conducted by trained practioners.

 Assessment Centres:

This is a multiple method of assessment, using a range of job simulation and psychological tests to measure an individual’s performance against core job competencies.  It answers the questions of whether an individual “CAN” do the job and “HOW” he or she does the job.  Because assessment centres involve several assessors and participants, as well as using several different tools, this method provides the highest prediction among all assessment tools. As a direct outcome of assessment centres, an individual’s strengths and weaknesses will be clearly identified and fedback to participants for development action planning.  While this approach is becoming more and more popular, the implementation process incurs significant amount of costs and management commitment.

 Set Up The Assessment Policy

It is very important to set up the Company Policy on Assessment Procedure before implementing it in the organisation.  This policy will ensure the standard quality used for the assessment, its objectivity and fairness.  It is also important from an ethical and legal point of view, especially in a country where these are potential issues.

The following are key points that need to be considered prior to the implementation of an assessment process in the organisation:

·         Objective of the Assessment

·         Procedure of the Assessment

·         Responsibility of Assessment Standard

·         Requirement of the Assessors

·         Confidentiality of Results

·         Lead time for re-assessment of employee

·         Monitoring of the tools, and the assessment result

·         Copy Right issues

Clear Communication

The communication process is very important, especially in the assessment of incumbents for development.  The objectivity and fairness of its implementation as well as management support towards the programme will increase an employee’s motivation to undergo the assessment, as well as to reduce suspicion and skepticism.

Involve Line Managers

Many HR professionals are finding it difficult to convince line managers of the value of objective tests, while the lack of line managers’ support not only threatens the use of psychometrics and the benefits it offers to the organisation.  The most important thing is to recognise that line managers might object to testing for a wide range of different reasons and each is best tackled using a different approach.  Examples could be to involve line managers in the initial discussions, conducting an assessment awareness workshop to emphasise the advantage of objective tests, and even to train line managers in the process are some of the ways to get the support of line managers.

 Follow Through

Following through an assessment process with development activities is something that many organisations do not emphasise on.  Based on the outcome of an assessment process, training and development activities for individuals can be put in place.  A structured development programme will provide immense benefit for both employees and the organisation.

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PT Saville & Holdsworth Indonesia

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