Interpersonal Dynamics in Assessment Center Exercises

Oliver, Thomas R.; Hausdorf, Peter A.; Lievens, Filip; Conlon, Peter D.

doi:10.1177/0149206314525207

Cited by 21 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Similar results were found for specific impression management behaviors (Klehe et al, 2014;McFarland et al, 2005). Strikingly, in Oliver et al (2016), there were no direct relationships between the interpersonal behaviors they investigated (i.e., relationship building and directive communication) and role-play performance. Although these studies offered some hints about the kinds of behavioral aspects that might be effective in interpersonal AC exercises, they were based on very few specific behaviors.…”

Section: The Effectiveness Of Interpersonal Behaviorssupporting

confidence: 66%

“…Although assessees' behaviors play a key role in both streams of research, the kinds of behaviors that assessees display have surprisingly not been studied very much and are thereby not well understood. That is, researchers have examined only a very specific set of behaviors (e.g., specific impression management behaviors; Klehe et al, 2014;McFarland et al, 2005;Oliver et al, 2016) or have obtained indirect information about behaviors via assessors' notes or checklist registrations (Lievens et al, 2015). This lack of attention to assessees' behaviors has left pivotal questions unanswered: What kinds of behaviors do assessees typically display, and can they be grouped into meaningful clusters?…”

Section: Interpersonal Behavior In Assessment Center Role-play Exerci...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interpersonal Behavior in Assessment Center Role-Play Exercises: Investigating Structure, Consistency, and Effectiveness

Breil¹,

Lievens²,

Forthmann³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Although the behaviors displayed by assessees are considered to be the currency of assessment centers (ACs), they have remained largely unexplored. This is surprising because a better understanding of assessees’ behaviors may provide the missing link between research on the determinants of assessee performance and research on the validity of performance ratings. On a practical level, a focus on assessees’ behaviors also informs dimension selection, exercise design, rating aids, and assessor training. Therefore, this study draws on behavioral personality science to scrutinize the behaviors that assessees express in interpersonal AC exercises. Our goals were to investigate (a) the structure of interpersonal behaviors, (b) the consistency of these behaviors across AC exercises, and (c) their effectiveness. We obtained videotaped performances of 203 assessees who took part in short interpersonal AC role-plays in a high-stakes context. Apart from assessors’ performance ratings, trained experts also independently coded assessees on over 40 specific behavioral cues in these role-plays (e.g., clear statements, upright posture, lively expressions, freezing). Results were threefold: First, the structure underlying behavioral differences in interpersonal AC exercises was represented by four broad behavioral constructs: agency, communion, interpersonal calmness, and intellectual competence. Second, assessees’ behaviors showed more consistency across exercises than performance ratings did. Third, the behaviors were related to role-play performance and predicted future interpersonal performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study’s granular, behavior-driven perspective.

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Section: The Effectiveness Of Interpersonal Behaviorssupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Interpersonal Behavior In Assessment Center Role-play Exerci...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpersonal Behavior in Assessment Center Role-Play Exercises: Investigating Structure, Consistency, and Effectiveness

Breil¹,

Lievens²,

Forthmann³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…Sail and Alavi (2010) assert that interpersonal skills increase the knowledge of employees after they receive training. Olivier et al (2009) mention that the structuring and awareness features of room-based collaborative platforms can enhance the learning experience of soft skills (communication and leadership skills) courses. Shyamala et al (2009) second that the infusion acquisition of soft skills remains highly concentrated on specific items/skills for both coursework and training.…”

Section: Soft Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of soft skills and training methodology on employee performance

Ibrahim¹,

Boerhannoeddin

Bakare

2017

EJTD

196

110

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of soft skill acquisition and the training methodology adopted on employee work performance. In this study, the authors study the trends of research in training and work performance in organisations that focus on the acquisition of technical or “hard skills” for employee training and evaluating work performance. This study was conducted to redirect the focus of employee training and development goals to the acquisition of soft skills, which have a very high and lasting impact on improving employee performance. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a quantitative research approach. Questionnaires were administered to selected managers and executives of a few Malaysian private companies. The questionnaire was specifically designed to examine the competencies of various Malaysian-based company managers, executives and supervisors who had undergone a soft skills training programme over a period of a few weeks or months. These soft skills training programmes were not conducted consecutively, but rather with a break or “time-space” in between each session. The target population in this study consisted of 810 employees from nine companies. The sample size was 260 trainees who were selected from the population with a 95 per cent confidence level within 0.05 risk of sampling error. Findings Using regression analysis, this study estimated the relationships between employees’ acquisition of soft skills, the training methodology adopted by the trainer, and work performance. The results indicate that the two predictors – soft skill acquisition and training methodology – significantly predict employee performance. The authors propose the need for employers to redesign the methodology for training employees in soft skills. Based on the findings, “time-spaced learning” is highly potent in undermining the hindrance associated with training transfer. Practical implications The findings of this study help to raise the awareness of employers, human resource managers, professional and industrial experts and the government to rethink the need to improve soft skills training methodologies. Specifically, this can be achieved by giving the trainees “space” or breaks to practice, apply and internalise what they have learnt intermittently during the training programme. This will enhance employee performance, and consequently, organisational performance. These findings also inform company managers that the time-spaced learning method enables employees to acquire soft skills more effectively, which will invariably bring about positive behaviour changes in employees towards their work and co-workers. Originality/value The originality of this research is based on the fact that the results are peculiar to Malaysia, whereas most of the literatures on training methodology especially the time-space and soft skill have focused on developed countries. Furthermore, the study emphasised that time-space learning training methodology helps employees in transferring knowledge acquired during training to their work. The research also emphasised that soft skills acquisition brings about increase in employee work performance. This research shows 14.5 per cent increased employee work performance in the selected companies because of their employees’ acquisition of soft skills and a 27.9 per cent increase in employee performance is based on time-space training methodology. This makes the investigation on the effects of soft skills acquisition and the training methodology adopted on employee performance very important for organisational survival.

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“…For the ratings of the social skill dimensions, we relied on global behaviorally anchored rating scales (e.g., Please rate the candidate's assertiveness) ranging from 0 to 5. Behavioral anchors were based on previous research concerning the selected social skills (e.g., Hirschmüller et al, 2015;Oliver et al, 2016) and were identical across the respective exercises (e.g., assertiveness: shows selfconfident posture, confident flow of speech, leads the interaction). 2 For all social skills, this included a mixture of nonverbal (e.g., warmth: friendly expression) and verbal (e.g., warmth: statements of support) behaviors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Distinct Social Skills via Multiple Speed Assessments – A Behavior-Focused Personnel Selection Approach

Breil¹,

Forthmann²,

Back³

2021

Preprint

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Social skills (e.g., persuading others, showing compassion, staying calm) are of key importance in work and education settings. Accordingly, the goal of many selection processes is to identify candidates who excel in desired skills. For this, high-fidelity simulations such as assessment centers (ACs) are regarded as ideal procedures because they can be used to evoke, observe, and evaluate candidates’ actual behavior. However, research has repeatedly shown that observed performance differences in ACs are not sufficiently driven by the specific skill dimensions that are defined for assessment. Building on multiple speed assessments and incorporating insights from behavioral personality science, we offer an alternative approach for the reliable and valid assessment of distinct social skills. We hereby (a) selected skills on the basis of a bottom-up analysis of observable and distinguishable interpersonal behaviors and (b) specifically designed exercises around these skills (i.e., one skill per exercise, multiple exercises per skill). Here, we present initial results of this newly developed procedure across three samples in a high-stakes selection context (N = 589). Generalizability theory analyses showed that a substantial amount of variance in assessor ratings could be attributed to the selected skills. This underlines the importance of more behaviorally focused selection procedures.

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Interpersonal Dynamics in Assessment Center Exercises

Abstract: Although interpersonal interactions are the mainstay of many assessment center exercises

Cited by 21 publications

References 62 publications

Interpersonal Behavior in Assessment Center Role-Play Exercises: Investigating Structure, Consistency, and Effectiveness

Interpersonal Behavior in Assessment Center Role-Play Exercises: Investigating Structure, Consistency, and Effectiveness

The effect of soft skills and training methodology on employee performance

Measuring Distinct Social Skills via Multiple Speed Assessments – A Behavior-Focused Personnel Selection Approach

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