Page 207 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

190 assessing potential and future performance
made: person versus organisation, or the comparison of the ideal situation with the actual
situation at the level of the person. As an addition to the above-mentioned methods and
techniques, values and motivation measurements are useful when wanting to determine
potential and how it can best be developed. Attention will, however, still have to be paid
to the actual predictive value of various comparative methodologies, given that, from a
psychometric point of view, these call for a number of difficult analyses for which, from
a technical viewpoint, a good solution is not always available.

Assessment and development centre
Therefore, at the present time, a combination of measurement methods and/or instru-
ments is utilised during a selection procedure at the start of a career, or during a potential
assessment. These are so-called assessment centres or development centres, which may
also include intelligence and personality measurements. In practice, an assessment or de-
velopment centre normally refers to situational tests, often also called exercises or practi-
calcases.Thesemethodsconsistofaseriesofmeasurementinstruments(realisticpractice
simulations which lend themselves to a considerable objective measurement) with which
individuals’ relevant skills and competencies can be identified. This could be a 3-way
conversation whereby agreement has to be reached between two conflicting parties, the
solution of a (fictional) company dilemma, the giving of a presentation, a group discus-
sion, or an in-tray exercise. The assessment of explicit work-related behaviour on the
basisofpre-formulated(positionspecific)competenciesisalwayscentralhere.Questions
that can be answered in this way are: “To what degree does the person concerned possess
the potential to show a certain desired behaviour in specific situations?”, “Is the person
concerned able to react and act in the desired way in an unfamiliar situation?”, but also
“To what degree can a certain competency be developed in the person concerned, and
what is the assessment of his/her career potential?” It now appears to be possible to
answer these questions with a considerable degree of validity, although this does depend
on the exact organisation of the assessment and development centre (Altink & Verhagen,
1999).
The above-mentioned questions also illustrate the difference between the applicability
of an assessment centre or a development centre. At an assessment centre, the emphasis
is on the measurement and assessment of competencies in relation to an explicit function
profile. This is often applicable in selection situations. At a development centre, the
emphasis lies emphatically on developmental possibilities and the potential, or degree to
whichitispossibleforthepersonconcernedtodevelop.Ingeneral,theresultisananalysis
of strong and weak points in somebody’s performance, development requirements and
a personal development plan for the mid-term or long term. Within organisations, this
information is often combined with internal performance or potential assessments and
possibly the 360 degree feedback method.

DEVELOPING POTENTIAL AND FUTURE PERFORMANCE:THE PROCESS

The measurement of potential is the first step, but this cannot be seen separately from
step two: the determination of what an organisation and the individual are going to “do”
with the potential measured. In the past, when the potential to progress to a management