Page 86 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

current challenges and discussion 65
All specific elements were discussed with participants, but even this specific information
contrasts with the desire of many participants to obtain very specific results about their
scores on their personality test.
For this reason, the feedback strategy was altered such that after the assessment center
every participant received a personal narrative report of the OPQ results. This report
also showed results of a norm group against which to qualify individual results. The
norm group will eventually be the group of all former and actual dCDC participants;
because the program had just started, however, a group of “professional and managerial”
employeesprovidedbytheconsultantcompanywasusedasthenormgroup.Thenarrative
report did not address any personnel development aspects, and, even more important,
this narrative report stood alone and was not integrated with the diagnostic information
collected from other perspectives in the remaining parts of the AC and development needs
identified therein. So this concept was turned down again, especially since the integration
of personality test results into the overall result was not apparent to the participants. Also
the participant’s subjective reflection of receiving only partial information may lead to
attributing greater importance of this self-image perspective, neglecting other elements
of the diagnostic triad.
All this again led to a further development in modification: the personality test results
are fully and explicitly integrated in the feedback process of the debis Career Develop-
ment Center. All the pieces of the puzzle of a person’s career development are verbalized.
Consequently, given this information reflecting a broad understanding of the employee,
the employee is led into fruitful discussions about further opportunities for development
and career advancement.

CURRENT CHALLENGES AND DISCUSSION

The answers to the following questions are of importance for an evaluation of the suc-
cess of the debis Career Development Center: How does the past result look like with
reference to acceptance, validity and success? Are modifications of the procedure nec-
essary? Were the postulated goals achieved? To what extent were the success criteria
fulfilled? Are there effects visible in the organizational culture and politics? If yes,
what do they look like? How far did the integration of the different interest groups
succeed?
A positive summary about the present project’s status can be made in the sense that
the experiences with the previous model led to some substantial modifications in the
construction of this development system which have resulted in positive effects. The
goals and requirements in terms of the procedure are defined clearly and serve as a
strong basis for building the debis Career Development Center. The shifting from tra-
ditional selection procedures to a more development-oriented organization offers clear
advantages from the employee’s point of view, and can also prove to be very meaningful
from a business perspective in the long term. The process and development/diagnosis
components—despite all methodical difficulties—form an integral and critical aspect of
the debis Career Development Center. The roles for participants, management, and the
personnel department are formulated clearly, thereby allowing for direct implementa-
tion and change when needed, as well as highlighting to all parties the many advantages
conferred to the organization.