[Carrigman]

My company is considering using group assessment in selecting new employess in addition to our conventional telephone and one to one interviews. The idea is that group assessment would help to further identify team working and communication skills. The format would be for,say, 6 candidates to be given a scenario and asked to discuss the situation for 15 minutes. They would be observed by three Team Leaders who would then assess each individual on the basis of the skills identified (or not, as the case may be). I'm not convinced of the efficacy of this method. I think the setting with observers present busy writing away could be offputting to some otherwise good candidates. Nor do I think that a 15 minute exercise would necessarily bring such strengths as a candidate may have to the surface. There is also the matter of properly capturing all that is said and done by the Team Leaders who will be charged with doing the assessment. Am I right to be sceptical? Is G.A. just a fashionable H.R. construct, or does it really represent a significant advance on traditional recruitment techniques?

John,
Ireland