Why is an Assessment Centre effective in the recruitment process?

Employees are certainly the most important resource for any organisation, but also the most expensive. This makes recruitment the key to business success, regardless of the industry. A correct and professional approach to recruitment ensures a cohesive and productive team, which in turn will add value to the whole company.

One of the most effective tools in this respect is the creation of an Assessment Centre to be used in recruitment. A simple search on the job aggregator Jooble shows that more than a third of current recruitment advertisements include an assessment in an Assessment Centre.

But what exactly is an Assessment Centre, and what makes it effective in the recruitment process? We consulted with the experts at Jooble to better define the concept and bring you market evidence on its effectiveness.

An Assessment Centre is the set of methods an organisation uses to determine whether a candidate is suitable for the job they are applying for. An Assessment Centre is used in the recruitment process as a tool to assess the skills, behaviour and personality traits of candidates. The Assessment Centre can also be used to estimate the management potential of employees proposed for promotion, or to identify the training needs of existing staff.

This process takes place under standardised conditions and places candidates in a series of group and individual exercises that simulate workplace conditions - psychological tests, role-playing, simulation of real situations, debates, interpersonal communication activities and more. In the exercises, assessors analyse candidates' behaviour, which can then serve as a basis for realistic predictions of their potential.

The assessment centre offers a number of objective advantages over traditional recruitment methods:

Standardisation and equal opportunities

The tests in the assessment centre are standardised and offer a wide variety of tests and exercises. All candidates have the chance to demonstrate their strengths, as the tests cover a wider range of skills and knowledge than traditional interviews. The tests also do not take into account gender, age, class, religion or ethnicity, which virtually eliminates the possibility of a discriminatory approach to recruitment.

Transparency and objectivity

Because the tests and exercises are standardised and have a well-established scoring system, they offer much more transparency than any interview or recommendation. In addition, the involvement of several specialised assessors, including through outsourcing, guarantees more objectivity in the assessment. The employer cannot be accused of giving preference to a particular candidate for subjective reasons.

Cost efficiency

Although it requires some initial investment, setting up an Assessment Centre allows the employer to eliminate traditional recruitment with all its stages. Over time, the Assessment Centre ensures that the recruitment process is more efficient and that the cost of hiring per candidate is reduced. Moreover, studies show that employees recruited through the Assessment Centre perform better on average in the workplace, justifying the investment.

Further employee development

In addition to its candidate selection function, an Assessment Centre is also an excellent information gathering platform. Thus, any new employee will already have a well-defined personal profile describing their behaviour and skills, which can then be used by HR specialists to develop training plans and individual professional development strategies.

Increased retention rate

In addition to participating in exercises and tests, potential employees provide their own feedback throughout the assessment process. This feedback can be used constructively by the employer to understand candidates' expectations and meet them in the future. The existence of an Assessment Centre is also an important element of employer branding, which improves the company's image in the eyes of potential candidates.