PRESENTATION ON ASSESSMENT AND BARS METHOD

• Presented By : Haripriya Sunita Kiresur Shruthi Jain Murudeshwar.M

Presented By : Haripriya Sunita Kiresur Shruthi Jain Murudeshwar.M

Assessment Center Defined

An assessment center consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs. Multiple trained observers and techniques are used. Judgments about behaviors are made, in major part, from specifically developed assessment simulations. These judgments are pooled in a meeting among the assessors or by a statistical integration process.

Assessment centers

In any placement decision (e.g.., promotion decision), some prediction of

future performance is necessary.

One widely used rule of thumb is that “What a man has done is the best

predictor of what he will do in the future”

Assessment centers are used to predict the future performance more

accurately.

An assessment center is a multiple assessment of several individuals

performed simultaneously by a group of trained evaluators using a variety

of group and individual exercises.

Individuals from different departments are brought together to spend

two or three days working on individual and group assignments similar

to the ones they will be handling if they are promoted.

The pooled judgment of observes sometimes derived by paired

comparison.

The center makes it possible for people who are working for

departments of low status or low visibility in an organization to become

visible and, in the competitive situation of an assessment centre, show

how they stack up against people from more well-known department.

This effects in equalizing opportunity, improving morale and enlarging

the pool of possible promotion condition.

Main tools of assessment center are;

1. Psychometric tests

Three types of tests or questionnaires such as aptitude tests,

ability test and personality test are employed.

These tests are selected keeping in view.

Measurement of objectives

Reliability and validity

Time required for administration

Cost involved.

2. Interviews

Structured interviews are used to probe background, critical

incidents and situational and behavioural event of the employees.

3. Leaderless group discussions

A small group of employees are given a problem to solve and

are instructed to arrive at a group decision within a specified time

frame.

4. In-Basket exercise

The In-Basket or In-Tray represents day to day decision making

situation which a manager is likely to face.

The In-tray consists of various written messages and communications

from customers, suppliers, government authorities, internal

department, senior management etc.

The objective is to assess an employees’ activity level, problem analysis

skills, planning and organizing skills, time management, delegation.

The in-tray materials are given keeping in view the job duties and

competencies requires.

5. Business games / simulation exercises

A real life situation such as running a manufacturing operation, stock

trading etc. is simulated to entire group of employees.

The complexity varies.

The common denominator is relatively is unstructured nature of

interaction among participants and variety of action taken by all

participants.

The interactive nature of the business game provides opportunities to

assess the planning, team work, leadership and analytical ability.

Types of simulation exercises

• In-basket• Analysis• Fact-finding• Interaction Subordinate Peer Customer• Oral presentation

• Leaderless group discussionAssigned roles or not Competitive vs. cooperative• Scheduling• Sales call• Production exercise

6. Role playing

It is a method of adopting roles from real life, other than those being

played by the person concerned and understanding the dynamics of the

role.

Role playing tends to evaluate the human relations processes and

personal attitude and behaviour in a particular role such as conflict

management, leadership skills, group problem solving, team skills,

communication etc.

7. Presentations

One organizational issues, case studies are extensively used for assessing

employees and participants.

Merits

Very comprehensive method

Uses multiple assessment devices

More objective and provides personal development.

Demerits

Costly and needs experts to carryout the processes

Suitable for senior and middle level management.

BARS method

• A Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) is an appraisal tool that

anchors a numerical rating scale with specific behavioural example of

good or poor performance.

• It thus combines the benefits of narratives, critical incidents as scales.

Developing BARS requires five steps

1. General critical incidents

To ask persons who know the job (job holders or supervisors) to

describe specific illustrations (critical incidents) of effective and

ineffective performance.

2. Develop performance dimensions

Have these people cluster the incidents into a smaller set of (5 or 10)

performance dimensions and define each dimension, such as

“salesmanship skills”.

3. Reallocate incidents

To verify, have another group of people who also know the job reallocate

the original critical incident.

Here, they get the cluster definition (from step 2) and the critical incidents

and must reassign each incident to the cluster the think it fits best.

4. Scale of incidents

This second group then rates the behaviour described by the incident as to

how effectively or ineffectively it represents performance on the

dimensions (7 pt or 9 pt scale).

5. Develop a final statement

Choose about six to seven incidents as the dimensions behavioural

anchors.

Ex. Of dimensions for grocery checkout clerks.

Knowledge and judgment

Skill in human relations

Skill on operation of register

Skill in bagging

Organizational ability of check stand work

Skill in monetary transactions.

Observational ability

ADVANTAGES OF BARS

1. A more accurate gauge

People who know and do the job and it requirements better than

anyone develop the BARS.

2. Clear standards

The critical incidents along the scale make clear what to look for

interms of superior performance, average performance and so forth.

3. Feedback

The critical incidents make it easier to explain the ratings to appraisees.

4. Independent dimensions

• Systematically clustering the critical incidents into five or six

performance dimensions (such as “salesmanship skill”) should help

to make performance dimensions more independent of one another.

5. Consistency

• BARS based evaluations seem to be relatively reliable, in that

different rater’s appraisals of same person tend to be similar.

Disadvantages

• Behaviours are actively oriented rather than result oriented.

• Very time consuming for generation BARS.

Presented By : Haripriya Sunita Kiresur Shruthi Jain Murudeshwar.M