A Different Look at Assessment Centers: Views of Assessment Center Users

This study aims to shed light on possible problems of assessment center users and designers when developing and implementing assessment centers. Semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of assessment center users in Flanders revealed that, besides a large variability in assessment center practice, practitioners experience problems with dimension selection and definition, exercise design, line/staff managers as assessors, distinguishing between observation and evaluation, and with the content of assessor training programs. Solutions for these problems are suggested.     

Boundaryless LMX: Examining LMX's Impact on External Career Outcomes and Alumni Goodwill

Research has convincingly shown that leader–member exchange (LMX) is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for employees within organizations. As employees increasingly pursue boundaryless careers that straddle multiple organizations, it is important to ask: Do advantages from LMX extend beyond the current organization and persist even after employees have left it? We propose that employees in higher quality LMX relationships with their managers benefit from stronger professional development, which can pay off in the form of better career outcomes on the external job market. Further, after leaving, whether or not ex‐employees (i.e., alumni) harbor goodwill toward their former organizations is likely to depend on their LMX quality prior to leaving. Alumni goodwill matters because organizations can potentially reap important strategic benefits from their alumni. Using time separated data including alumni interviews conducted by third‐party consultants, we find that, among employees who quit, pre‐turnover LMX is positively related to higher salaries and greater responsibility in their next jobs and is also positively related to alumni goodwill. Moreover, the strength of the LMX–alumni goodwill relationship depends on whether managers made robust retention efforts after employees communicated their decisions to quit.     

Attitudes towards women managers: Development and validation of a new measure with Turkish samples

This study reports the development of a new instrument measuring attitudes towards women managers (ATWoM). To test its reliability and validity data were collected from 456 Turkish employees from 23 organizations. Reliability and validitiy of ATWoM's final version were also tested with a separate sample comprised 312 students enrolled in junior–senior undergraduate and MBA programmes. ATWoM's psychometric properties were superior to one of the most widely used instruments measuring the same construct, Women as Managers Scale (WAMS). ATWoM was negatively correlated with traditional attitudes towards gender roles and positively correlated with respondents' report of quality in their interaction with women managers and general preference to work with women managers.     

Task‐Based Assessment Centers: Empirical support for a systems model

Task‐based assessment centers (TBACs) have been suggested to hold promise for practitioners and users of real‐world ACs. However, a theoretical understanding of this approach is lacking in the literature, which leads to misunderstandings. The present study tested aspects of a systems model empirically, to help elucidate TBACs and explore their inner workings. When applied to data from an AC completed by 214 managers, canonical correlation analysis revealed that extraversion, abstract reasoning, and verbal reasoning, conceptualized as inputs into a system, explained around 21% of variance in manifest assessment center behavior. Behavior, in this regard, was found to consist of both general and situationally specific elements. Results are discussed in terms of their support for a systems model and as they pertain to the literature on TBACs.     

关于评价中心若干问题的探讨

本文对评价中心的定义、评价中心与心理测验的比较、评价中心的预测效度以及影响评价中心成功实施的原因等问题,进行了综合分析和初步探讨,从而帮助人们能够正确地认识评价中心,有效地使用评价中心;同时,也为人们对评价中心的研究和改革,提供了理论和实践方面的依据。     

A SURVEY OF ASSESSMENT CENTER PRACTICES IN ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

Two hundred fifteen organizations in the United States provided information about multiple aspects of their assessment centers, including design, usage, and their adherence to professional guidelines and research-based suggestions for the use of this method. Results reveal that centers are usually conducted for selection, promotion, and development purposes. Supervisor recommendation plays a sizable role in choosing center participants. Most often, line managers act as assessors; they typically arrive at participant ratings through a consensus process. In general, respondents indicate close adherence to recommendations for center design and assessor training. Recommendations involving other practices (e.g., informing participants, evaluating assessors, validating center results) are frequently not followed. Furthermore, methods thought to improve predictive validity of center ratings are underutilized. Variability in center practices according to industry and center purpose was revealed. We encourage practitioners to follow recommendations for center usage, and researchers to work to better understand moderators of center validity.     

Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations1

This document is an update of several prior editions of guidelines and ethical considerations for assessment center operations dating back to 1975. Each set of guidelines was developed and endorsed by specialists in the research, development, and implementation of assessment centers. The guidelines are a statement of the considerations believed to be most important for all users of the assessment center method. For instance, the use of job‐related simulations is a core concept when using the method. Job simulation exercises allow individuals to demonstrate their abilities in situations that are important on the job. As stressed in these guidelines, a procedure should not be represented as an assessment center unless it includes at least one, and usually several, job‐related simulations that require the assessee to demonstrate a constructed behavioral response. Other important areas include assessor selection and training, using ‘competencies’ as dimensions to be assessed, validation, participants' rights, and the incorporation of technology into assessment center programs. The current guidelines discuss a number of considerations in developing and using assessment centers in diverse cultural settings.     

职业胜任力在工作要求-资源模型中的调节和中介作用

采用JD-R模型探讨了职业胜任力在工作要求-资源模型中的作用。结果表明:(1)职业胜任力弱化了工作要求和情感衰竭之间的正向关系;(2)职业胜任力正向影响工作投入;(3)职业胜任力在工作资源与工作投入之间起中介作用。本研究启示可通过提升员工的职业胜任力,促进员工的工作投入并缓解职业倦怠。     

What are the odds of burnt-out risk and leaving the job? Turnover intent consequences of worker burnout using a two sample New Zealand study

Job burnout is a pressing issue for organizations, and this study explores the new Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), which provides a robust calculation of burnt-out risk. Next, the odds of high turnover intentions from burnt-out risk are calculated using two samples: (1) N = 709 employees and (2) N = 313 managers. Analysis shows the odds of burnt-out risk are higher for managers (17%) than employees (8%). High burnt-out risk in employees shows a 47% likelihood of high turnover intent versus 13% for employees with nonburnt-out risk. High burnt-out risk in managers shows a 51% likelihood of high turnover intent versus 12% for managers with nonburnt-out risk. Furthermore, moderating effects of supervisor organizational embodiment were found to interact with burnt-out risk for employees only, showing the highest turnover intent when embodiment is high, reflecting the potential backlash against the organization.     

Assessment Centers: An Untapped Resource For Global Salesforce Management

The decisions surrounding salesforce hiring, career development and promotion choices have traditionally been left to the creativity and subjective judgement of marketing managers with very few decision aids from which to draw. As salesforce management became a task requiring an increasingly international focus, the complexity of the decisions and the cultural sensitivity required have left the management of the global salesforce as a very challenging function within the multinational firm. The assessment center, a structured means of evaluating potential new sales recruits and candidates for promotion and transfer, is offered as a tool to begin to address the above problem.     

心理资本对企业员工职业成功的影响：职业承诺的中介效应

采用问卷调查法,以265名企业员工为调查对象,在控制被试的人力资本及人口统计学变量之后,使用结构方程模型分析员工心理资本与职业承诺、职业成功的关系。结果发现：（1）心理资本对员工的职业承诺、职业成功有显著地预测作用;（2）职业承诺在心理资本与员工客观职业成功之间起部分中介作用;（3）职业承诺在心理资本与员工主观职业成功之间起完全中介作用。     

The Role of Trust in Salesperson—Sales Manager Relationships

Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) offers a way to better understand nuances of the salesperson-sales manager relationship. The study reported here employs leader-member exchange theory to evaluate how sales employees develop trust with their managers. Findings show that salespeople's perceptions of procedural justice positively influence salespeople's commitment to the organization, and thereby their satisfaction with the job. Suggestions are provided concerning how sales organizations can train managers to manage consistently and thereby build trust and commitment in salespeople.     

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT CENTER DIMENSIONS?

The construct validity of traditional assessment center dimensions was compared with that of a set of alternative constructs based on the functional structure of managerial work. Subjects were 75 middle-level managers in state government who participated in two developmental assessment centers as part of a centralized management development program. One assessment center measured performance in terms of traditional attribute dimensions and the other in terms of functions performed in managerial work. Results show that evidence for construct validity is weak for both sets of constructs.     

The advice and influence networks of transformational leaders

Existing transformational leadership research has focused primarily on the behaviors of leaders and their effects on followers. The authors extended this research by examining the social networks of managers who exhibit transformational leadership behaviors. Their focus was on the network of relationships that managers develop and whether they hold key positions in the organization's informal social networks. In a field study using data from 39 managers and 130 nonmanagement employees of 6 organizations, the authors found that managers who score higher on transformational leadership tend to hold more central positions in organizational advice and influence networks. Furthermore, the direct reports of these leaders were also more central in informal organizational networks. These results illuminate one of the ways that managers who exhibit transformational leadership behaviors may exert influence in organizations.     

Work Place Flexibility: Implications for Developmental Opportunities and Work-Family Conflicts

Contemporary HR practices in the business organizations today have moot concerns towards managing workplace in such a way that it is desirable for both employees and employers. This study proposes to assess the consequences of workplace arrangement promoting the individualization of employment conditions, i.e. flexible working hours- part time work and telecommuting. The implications of flexible working hours on the development opportunities available to employees and on work-family conflict are suggested. It is argued that flexibility at work place in terms of part time work and telecommuting options have the potential to reduce work-family conflict and reduced development opportunities among employees. It is concluded that work life balance depends on the fit between the schedule that employee needs and the actual number of hours worked. To this end effective use of flexible hours at work place needs to be identified and implemented.     

Initial Development and Validation of a Measure of Intercultural Development Scale

Intercultural development in global employees will aid organizations to function successfully in the current global work scene. However, there is a need for a psychometrically valid and reliable measure, which can be used by practitioners and academics to assess the capabilities of individuals. This vignette based intercultural development scale was conceived on the basis of Bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. The content was generated using interviews with international employees and subject matter experts. Psychometric properties were established with both qualitative and quantitative analysis. A sample of 461 international employees was used to test the validity of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis and construct validity was established with cosmopolitanism and openness to experience scales. The study confirms the scale’s dimensionality and established convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. The applications of this scale in building capabilities, talent management and strategic decisions in both practical and theoretical assessment are outlined.     

Structural Determinants of Boredom Among the Clients of Psychosocial and Vocational Rehabilitation Centers

In psychosocial rehabilitation programs, clients are encouraged to counter boredom by occupying their time in more structured, meaningful, and enjoyable ways. Several means by which the structure of service organizations reduces feelings of boredom were explored. Hypotheses were tested using data from a sample of clients of Flemish rehabilitation centers for people with chronic mental health problems. Results show that in larger, more heterogeneous centers, boredom is reduced by offering clients a wider range of more routinized activities; in small homogeneous centers, the same effect is obtained by enhancing the intrinsic value of the tasks and by providing more opportunities for task communication. Rehabilitation centers seem to adapt their rehabilitation technology according to their organizational structure.     

伦理型领导如何影响员工创造力:心理安全感与关系的作用

基于认知评价理论,以配对的328组员工为样本,探讨了伦理型领导与员工创造力的关系,及心理安全感、上下级关系在这一关系中的作用。结论:伦理型领导与员工心理安全感正相关;上下级关系与伦理型领导的交互作用强化了员工的心理安全感;心理安全感中介了伦理型领导对员工创造力的影响;上下级关系调节了心理安全感对伦理型领导与创造力关系间的中介作用。     

工具主义伦理气氛对员工沉默行为的影响——犬儒主义和传统性的作用

基于社会控制理论,运用问卷调查法,通过分析308组配对数据,探讨工具主义伦理气氛对员工沉默行为的影响机制。结果发现:工具主义伦理气氛对沉默行为有正向作用;工具主义伦理气氛对犬儒主义有正向作用;犬儒主义在工具主义伦理气氛与沉默行为之间起部分中介作用;传统性调节了犬儒主义与沉默行为的关系,也调节了犬儒主义在工具主义伦理气氛与沉默行为关系的中介作用。