Supporting you when you may need it most...
Our assessments can be carried out in a number of ways, as individual psychometric tests, or in a group setting over a period of time.
We can advise what is best for you, based on what your end goals are in performing an assessment in the first place. Whatever you decide the benefits will be clear; focused personal development to really enhance performance.
Assessment options
One of the best ways of starting any development process is to take stock of the current skill set and individual make up. Edison use a wide range of assessments performed by our own business psychologists. As well as being professionally qualified they are also accredited to use most psychometric instruments under the BPS test user and administrator licence (formerly Level A and Level B). You can therefore be assured that during any assessment, individuals will be treated with greatest respect and care following best practice guidelines on the use of assessments for both ability and personality.
Our assessments can be carried out in a number of ways by using individual psychometric tests, or in a group setting over one or two days. We can advise what is best for you, based on what your end goals are in performing an assessment in the first place. Download our summary brochure which provides some insight into our service options.
Assessment centres
All organisations are under pressure to cut costs, so we work hard with you to ensure that the assessment centre we design and deliver provide both real value and tangible results. The first step is to engage all stakeholders, including the senior team, and check that your vision and values are reflected in the assessment centre’s activity. Once this is done, there are a number of stages we consider depending on whether the assessment is for recruitment or a development process.
Planned approach
It is surprising how many assessment centres are designed without a real understanding of what makes someone effective in the role. We make the effort to really get behind the requirements of position by defining a role profile by observing and speaking to people who currently do that job and their managers. Although there are a number of off the shelf tools, if resources permit we much prefer to design our own exercises, specific to the qualities that we are trying to find and provide much more of a real insight into your business. If group scenarios are required, we often use actors to ensure consistency and fair comparison. Our assessment centre will offer every candidate an opportunity to demonstrate their skills so that good ones don’t slip through the net. The event is never about catching people out, so we ensure that everyone receives clear briefing information before the event and we allocate time to welcome candidates and address any concerns.
Skilled assessors
Only fully trained, qualified assessors will assess or interview candidates. Our team are all qualified to honours degree level in an appropriate discipline, usually psychology or human sciences, are members of the CIPD and have been accredited by a professional body, such as the British Psychological Society (BPS). Using such qualified personnel means there is no risk of poor selection decisions or legal challenges. Combining our external expertise with internal management who know your business well ensures the process is objective, transparent and supported by the business.
People not process
Our assessors will always put the candidates at ease and ensure that all activity and the venue provides a positive environment. Our carefully planned schedule will save both time and money in the long run. Exercise design and selection will go hand in hand with planning the timetable, and once planned we stick to it. Candidates will never be left to wait around for a late assessor; this could make them more nervous and will certainly give a bad impression of our organisation and the client. It is becoming much more common for cameras to be used to film some exercises rather than having assessors in the room, it is less intrusive for candidates and therefore more revealing of their behaviour. It also allows assessors to revisit the footage and review assessment decisions.
Evaluation and feedback
We ask all candidates for feedback so we can refine the process and learn for next time. We also provide extensive reporting to managers to get learning and development off to a flying start. We also help conduct long-term evaluation to make sure that the process delivers the best people who stay in the role.
