Assessment examples of cases with solutions for sales people. Assessment center as a method of assessing personnel in an organization. Teamwork

Any large company someday faces the problem of evaluating its staff. Such monitoring is necessary to find out the level of efficiency (or, in other words, efficiency) labor activity employees.

Dear readers! The article talks about typical solutions legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:

It's fast and FOR FREE!

There are many ways and techniques to determine the fruitfulness of work. And among them, not the last place is occupied by the Assessment center method of comprehensive assessment.

What it is?

The assessment center (AC) is the most accurate and reliable method of personnel assessment of all.

With its help, you can not only get to know an employee deeply - his psychological qualities, strengths and weaknesses - but also identify:

how suitable he is for the position he occupies (or perhaps intends to occupy);
What professional traits does he have?

And also find out his potential as a specialist.

This assessment technique is a kind of guarantee of the successful functioning of the company.

History of the center

AC was originally developed for the selection of officers in the army of Germany and Great Britain. This was in the 30s of the XX century. At that time, the method did not yet have such a name, and it intersected with the present only in its essence.

It was in those years that the assessment of military actions in simulated situations was first used. This was done to study the skills of officers and their combat readiness in order to clearly know how this person would behave if a similar situation occurred in reality. This became the basis for the founding of the Assessment center.

The method was further developed during the Second World War. Over time, such experiments smoothly moved into the business environment. It began to be used in organizations since 1956.

AT&T is the largest American company- then built a building designed specifically for employee assessment and analysis. The institution received the name Assessment center, and later the name was transferred to the methodology itself.

The method gradually began to spread and already in the 60–70s it was widely used in industrial companies USA and UK. It appeared in Russia in the 90s, when old methods stopped producing results.

Currently, AC is rightfully considered one of the best assessment methods.

Goals and objectives of the assessment method

An acute shortage of talented managers at all levels of management is problem No. 1 in any large company. It is this situation that pushes managers to search for employees who will take the enterprise to the forefront, and not drag it to the bottom.

Identifying competent and capable managers among managers and ordinary employees is the main goal of the Assessment center.

The objectives of the method are as follows:

Provide the organization with competent personnel (in the case where the method is used for hiring).
Diagnose company employees in terms of their training and development needs. Encourage staff to self-development.
Make the most accurate estimate professional qualities managers and other specialists.
Optimize the management function of the organization.
Form a personnel reserve. Find those people among employees who are capable of becoming leaders. Determine a program for their further development and promotion.

The AC will allow you to make the correct placement and “castling” among the company’s personnel.

Advantages and disadvantages of Assessment center

This technique has its pros and cons.

Advantages	Flaws
AC gives employees an understanding of the strategy of the company in which they want to work or already work.	Conducting a personnel assessment in this way will cost much more than an ordinary interview or internal testing of employees.
AC is a 100% objective assessment. Only with the help of this technique can you study the footage so comprehensively and deeply.	Time. If an interview or test can be conducted outside of work, then AC is possible only in work time and will take an average of one and a half days.
The method identifies employees who want and will develop. And this allows the company to more efficiently invest money in personnel training.	For a full-fledged AC, it is necessary to prepare observers who are recruited from people working in the organization. Three days must be allocated for the training.
The program is easily understood by those being assessed. Its results are completely clear.	—
The procedure itself is a certain stage of development. The resulting assessment inspires confidence among employees.	—
Feedback motivates staff to improve themselves.	—

Typology

There are several types of ACs:

Traditional- diagnostics of personnel competencies.
Strategic- forecast for the development of the organization, definition of strategy further actions and directions of the company's work.
Team building- such an AS unites managers of different levels and specialists into one team.
Developmental- An assessment center of this type creates conditions for personnel development.
Individual- comprehensive assessment of the manager.

The assessment center, as a way of assessing personnel, has its own principles and rules.

Principles

The score should be:

complex;
independent;
unambiguous.

All participants are required to have equal opportunities to demonstrate their abilities and talents and at the same time be in the same conditions.

The assessment is carried out only on the visible behavior of the subjects, without examining internal causes. This allows you to understand exactly what is needed for the correct objective analysis: how an employee acts in a particular situation at work, and how high his efficiency is.

Method rules

It is necessary to eliminate as much as possible factors that may affect the outcome of the test.
The opportunity for participants to deliberately behave in such a way as to please the expert by anticipating his expectations should be minimized.
All exercises and tests must contain clear instructions, including: procedure; behavior rules.
Subjects should not be stopped mid-task to do something else.

Stages of the AC

The assessment center consists of several stages.

I

Drawing up a successful profile necessary for a specific position.

At this stage, experts discuss with managers what competencies the employee should have.

For example, for a middle manager it is:

impact on personnel;
self-organization;
ability to make decisions, etc.

All competencies (this is the ability to solve professional problems) when assessed are represented by a scale with a description.

Each position has its own specific level of competencies that an employee must have in order to be in this position. The stage allows you to determine at what phase of development each of the necessary abilities is in the test subject.

II

Evaluation process.

Several techniques are used here:

business game;
interview;
testing.

A business game is precisely those simulated situations that are the basis of the AC.

Such conditions for assessment may be, for example: negotiations, work to attract clients, management, etc. The game is played in front of specially trained observers.

Game example:

The director of the company encouraged his employees with a bonus and scheduled its delivery for a certain period. But at the time of receipt Money turned out to be less than expected. Assignment: you need to choose among the workers who to give a reward and who to refuse. And explain your verdict to those who were left without a bonus.

The managers of one company where a similar game was played explained their decision as follows: they either told those who were left without a bonus that they had not earned it, or that they (the managers) did everything possible, but the superior manager decided in his own way.

Test and interview after the simulation business cases allow you to combine estimates into one whole, and make the resulting result especially accurate.

III

Results.

After beating work situation completed, the observers of the game give the participant scores for all the necessary competencies.

This forms a profile of each subject, which clearly outlines the extent of the development of his abilities. Everything is entered into a report for the manager.

It’s worth talking about feedback. All results are brought to the attention of participants. Shortcomings are pointed out and recommendations for improving skills are given. This increases the motivation of the company’s specialists for self-development.

Methodology for diagnosing professional abilities

It is clear that of two candidates with the same functional professional skills, the one with the highest level of competencies is most suitable for a managerial position. Because the skills are easy to learn, especially if the applicant for the position learns quickly, but to develop them to the required level competence is not so simple.

This is at least 1.5–2 years:

efforts aimed specifically at improving a specific ability;
regular trainings;
practical activities in this direction.

So, the diagnosis consists of three points:

Competency model.
Assessment tools.
Combining tools with practice.

Assessment Tools

Assessment tools for AC are divided into 2 types: ascertaining and promoting.

Ascertaining tools:

diagnosing;
control measurements;
business profile;
promotion recommendations.

Promotional tools:

rating;
expert selection;
public consolidation of competency models;
stratification;
rotation.

The use of these tools in AC allows you to give the most objective assessment to employees.

What is assessed during the AS?

Although for each leadership position has its own “success profile”, in most cases the following criteria are assessed on a five-point scale:

intellectual;
emotional;
communication;
self-esteem;
leadership skills.

The scale indicators are:

Absolute incompetence- the employee is irresponsible and has no desire to change, much less develop.
Temporary incompetence- competence can be developed.
Average- the employee is reliable in normal situations.
High competence- the specialist is particularly reliable, even in non-standard cases.
Leader indicator- the AS member is calm in the event of force majeure and is able to manage any number of subordinates in the most difficult situations.

The results of the Assessment center are compiled in the form of a report for each program participant.

Assessment center is the most effective method assessing personnel potential. And its results are not only the identification of a possible manager, but also a great achievement for the participants, regardless of the outcome of the test.

Because each of them, with the help of feedback, will definitely find out their main mistakes and receive recommendations for working on themselves.

APPLICATIONS AND CALLS ARE ACCEPTED 24/7 and 7 days a week.

Assessment center - a successful Western method of personnel assessment is becoming increasingly widespread at Russian enterprises. The technology involves testing business skills and abilities, as well as the personal characteristics of an employee necessary to solve problems corresponding to a specific position.

Historical excursion

For the first time, technologies currently called assessment centers were used in the British army. In the 40s of the 20th century, young officers were asked to solve combat missions in exercises simulating combat. Later, intelligence officers of the US Central Intelligence Agency began to be trained using this method.

American Telephone and Telegraph was the first to begin modeling business problems. AT&T built a special building to train employees. It was this building that gave the name to the most successful HR technology of the 21st century. “The Assessment Center” was the name of the historical building.

For decades, the assessment method has proven itself to be the most effective. The conclusions obtained as a result of using the technique are closest to real results. According to research by the British Psychological Society, the reliability of the results of the assessment center is 65-70%. For comparison, the results of a regular interview with a candidate are estimated at 5-19%.

Application area

Translated into Russian, the word assessment means assessment. In the Russian version, a frequently encountered name for the technique is assessment center. Initially, the technique was used to select candidates for responsible positions. Subsequently, the scope of use of the method expanded significantly. Currently, the assessment center practices:

to assess the compliance of the employee’s competencies with the ideal competency model for the corresponding position;
to identify employees’ ability for career growth;
to form personnel reserve companies;
to draw up individual training programs for employees.

Competence is understood as a set of qualities (skills, skills, motives) that contribute to achieving goals in a particular workplace. The peculiarity of checking an employee’s compliance using the assessment center method is the identification of a person’s potential capabilities, and not the assessment of past merits.

The essence of the method

An assessment center is a set of assessment activities that reveals a person’s success in professional activity. The criteria are laid down in the competency model. Test exercises are designed in the form of individual lessons, business games, discussions and other tasks.

The full procedure in the classic version takes 1-2 days. Several employees or applicants for a position are assessed under equal conditions. Specially trained experts observe the behavior of participants. To monitor the results, it is possible to record the completion of tasks.

According to the Russian assessment center standard, a modeling exercise contains no more than 5 competencies. Optimally, 3 competencies per task. Based on the results of the observation, experts rate the participants. The final results are formalized after discussion and agreement on the opinions of observers.

The components of the assessment center are formed based on the company’s requests, as well as time and financial resources.

Business game

The main component of the assessment center’s methodology is a business game. It models business situations typical for the functionality of the position whose competencies are being assessed. A business game is characterized by:

the vitality of the situation;
repetition of tasks and procedures that are the essence of the game;
presence of conflict;
the existence of hidden reserves.

Business cases reveal a person’s ability to work in a team, the ability to smooth out conflict situations and take a role that corresponds to knowledge and skills.

The leadership qualities of the participants are assessed, as well as the compliance of the given goals with the results of the game. The ability to distribute time among the stages of a task is tested.

The basis of a business game is the assumption of the similarity of behavioral characteristics in different situations. That is, it is assumed that human behavior in the game will be the same as in reality. A business game can be used both to assess a person’s qualities and to train and develop certain competencies.

Other group exercises at the assessment center

The development of technology has led to the emergence of a large number of new exercises that allow assessing certain competencies of candidates or employees. Let's look at some of them.

"Group Discussion" A team of several people is presented with a problematic situation. Within a specified period, it is necessary to discuss the situation, identify possible development options and develop a solution to the problem.

"Brainstorm". We need to find as many solutions to the problem as possible. In addition to the obvious options, it is necessary to identify implicit answers. During brainstorming, criticism of other participants' options is not allowed.

"Mailbox". The team is offered materials in the form of official papers, letters, notes. It is necessary to analyze the information contained in them and propose a solution to the problems presented.

Like business games, group exercises show the behavioral characteristics of a person in a team, his ability to work with other people and his role. In addition to assessing candidate competencies, team assignments can be used to identify skills that need development to improve job success, as well as to train employees.

Individual tasks

In addition to group exercises, the assessment center provides candidates with individual tasks. Like collective assignments, they should identify the level of competencies required for a profession or position. Individual exercises can precede group classes or be used simultaneously with them.

"Testing". The candidate answers a large number of questions. The test results will show how ready the participant is to solve business situations.

"Report". The participant prepares a speech on a given topic. The “report” is then presented to the audience. At the end of the presentation, the speaker answers questions on the topic.

"Presentation". The candidate prepares a short speech about himself, trying to show the qualities the company needs. Listeners can ask additional questions.

"Data analysis". The participant independently analyzes the information provided and proposes a solution.

Additionally, inspectors can conduct interviews, consultations, and questionnaires of participants.

Who can conduct an assessment center

The competencies of employees have the right to be assessed by trained specialists. It could be employees personnel service companies or invited experts. Large organizations have their own appraisers, financial resources which are allowed to maintain a staff of observers. Managers who do not plan to invest in training internal experts invite outside consultants. When preparing the required number of assessors, it should be taken into account that during the assessment center, one assessor can observe no more than three participants.

The assessment center assumes different roles for appraisers:

observer;
leading;
program designer;
administrator;
task developer;
role player.

In practice, one person can perform different roles.

Assessment Center Stages

The assessment center is a lengthy, complex process. It includes the following stages:

preparation of the assessment center;
carrying out assessment activities;
generation of reports;
feedback on the results of the assessment center.

Assessment activities are discussed in detail earlier in the article. Let's look at the preparation for the assessment center and the final stages.

Preparatory stage

The assessment results directly depend on the preparation of the event. The preparatory process can take from two weeks to 3 months. At the first stage, it is necessary to define assessment goals, develop competency models or update existing ones.

The competency profile is prepared based on the example of successful company employees, as well as the accumulated experience of experts.

In accordance with ideal model Exercises are being developed to identify and assess competencies. Then the assessment center scenario is developed. At the preparatory stage, appraisers from among the employer’s employees are trained. Most often, this role is performed by the head of the company, personnel managers, and the immediate superiors of the employees being evaluated.

Reports and feedback

After the assessment center, experts prepare reports for each participant. Strengths and weak sides candidates. Depending on the purpose of the assessment, recommendations are prepared for the customer.

The results are discussed both with the assessment customer and with all participants. Candidates are provided with assessment results from which they can determine areas for further development to develop necessary competencies. The assessment center is a powerful driver of employee learning. An individual approach guarantees the participants’ interest in advanced training. The expert shows the employee growth areas and hidden reserves.

We suggest using the services of the Avantage company when recruiting personnel in St. Petersburg. Extensive experience in the labor market and satisfied clients are our business card.

Finding a suitable leader is not easy. The candidate must be not only a professional, but also a leader. It is not always convenient to hire someone from outside; it is easier to push him out of the team. An assessment center or management assessment center will help with this.

From this article you will learn:

What is an assessment center

Centerassessments or assessment -center (English assessment center, often mistakenly written as “assessment”) is one of the most effective and popular methods of personnel assessment today. It consists of various techniques, the correct application of which makes it possible to give an objective assessment of the professional and personal qualities of employees.

The main difference between the assessment center and other assessment methods is that the expert commission makes its assessments during business games. That is, the assessment center is not aimed at training staff (like similar business trainings), but at identifying the business qualities of employees. During the simulation of work situations, a team of competent specialists observes the participants and evaluates their actual behavior.

It is worth noting that conclusions about the competence of employees are made not only on the basis of the behavior demonstrated by participants during business games. Information obtained during the interview, as well as the results of professional testing or questionnaires, are taken into account. An integrated approach allows you to avoid subjective assessments and obtain the most reliable results.

Assessment Center: main goals of assessment

The main difference between an assessment center and other methods of personnel certification is that a competent commission evaluates employees in the process of business games. Unlike business trainings that are so popular now, assessment centers are not designed to train staff or develop necessary qualities employees, but to identify them. Experts observe the event participants and evaluate their actual behavior.

Note that conclusions for each employee should be made not only on the basis of studying behavior in business games. Experts analyze interviews of assessment participants, study the results of testing and business simulations, review questionnaires, that is, they take an integrated approach. It allows you to avoid subjectivity in assessing company personnel.

To correctly evaluate the results of the assessment center, experts can use:

Russian assessment center standard, which was created by the Personnel Assessment Federation in 2013;
international standards at the assessment center;
national standards of economically developed countries.

The key goal of assessment activities is to identify the potential of each employee, especially when it comes to senior and middle managers. Based on the data received, the department personnel policy will be able to make informed decisions regarding personnel rotation.

In order for the assessment activities to be accepted by the team with understanding, it is necessary to convey to employees the goals of organizing the assessment center and explain what prospects will open up for employees after the assessment (promotion, increase in wages). If the company has a “Regulation on Personnel Assessment”, it should set out in what cases an assessment center can be carried out, for which categories of employees and how exactly the assessment will be carried out.

Who makes the assessment

Experts who have undergone special training should be involved in studying the results of the assessment center. Assessors (appraisers) must be able to observe employee behavior, interpret it correctly, know behavioral classification and be able to conduct competency assessments.

If a company cannot afford to train its own assessors from among the personnel department employees, it should use the services of third-party specialists. This approach to organizing assessment centers has an undeniable advantage - it is almost impossible to influence the opinion of independent appraisers, so the initiator of the assessment (the head of the company) can be confident in the objectivity of the information received.

How to organize an assessment center

When creating an assessment center, you should take into account the individual characteristics of the company and the goals it pursues when conducting assessment activities.

The basic version of the assessment center consists of 3 main assessment blocks:

Business game (simulation of work situations);
Testing and/or questioning;
Interviewing.

Business games mean the recreation of work situations: simulation of the negotiation process, group discussions, individual presentation of employees.

It is the presence of business games that distinguishes the assessment center from other classical assessment methods. An expert commission evaluates all the actions of the game participants, the degree of their interaction with colleagues, their psychological state, and the success of performing actions when simulating certain situations. Testing (questioning) and interviewing are of secondary importance and only complement the experts’ opinion about certain participants.

Assessment center: examples of cases

We present to your attention examples of assessment cases for assessing managers.

Case No. 1.

Let the assessment center participants consider the following situation:

Manager (Conventional Name) has been working in the company's sales department for 2 years. According to legend, he is a responsible employee, familiar not only with his direct responsibilities, but also with the activities of the company as a whole. He is characterized as a non-conflict person who maintains friendly relations with all members of the work team. The main disadvantage of this manager is the minimum acceptable level of sales and lack of initiative. At the same time, he takes an active part in the life of the team (helps organize corporate events) and is engaged in social work.

Case No. 2.

Invite assessment center participants to analyze business correspondence subordinates and, based on the data obtained, identify the most effective employee of the department.

Case No. 3.

Assessment center participants are invited to consider the situation:

3 managers occupy the same position in the company and regularly receive bonuses. At the same time, the size of the incentive suits only two of them, and the third constantly expresses his dissatisfaction.

Exercise: conduct a conversation with all three managers and find out why two employees are satisfied with the amount of payments, but the third is not. Come up with ways non-material motivation for the third manager.

Assessment center: test examples

Tests for the assessment center may be different. The choice of test depends on the preferences of the assessors. These could be tests aimed at determining the speed of decision-making or tests that help identify hidden abilities and talents. Projective tests allow us to identify life values and employee principles.

The assessment center is suitable not only for competent implementation personnel changes. It can serve as a tool for assessing the effectiveness of the company's management system and ongoing training.

This material presents some successful management cases and tasks for assessing managers (cases on management skills). Including tasks for assessing sales department managers.

1. There is an employee in your department who has gone through all stages of career development. At the moment, no one knows the specifics of the unit’s activities better than he. However, you understand that after a while he will get bored of working here. What will you offer him?

2. A specialist came to you to discuss the situation: he was offered to move to another department, he is interested in it, he sees prospects, but understands that the situation on the labor market is difficult and finding a replacement for him within even a quarter is not an easy task. What will you do?

3. After the training you provided, it became clear that one of your subordinates was unable to put the course material into practice. Find a way to tell him about it.

4. Your subordinate is an older lady, so she prefers to do many things sedately and in an orderly manner, which, in your opinion, does not always correspond to the rhythm of the company’s activities. How will you tell her about this?

Answer to the first 4 cases:

Such cases allow managers to consider in detail the frequently encountered management practice difficult situations:
. related to the formation of motivation or management of an employee’s career (situation 1);
. related to solving issues of retaining specialists in the company for long term(i.e. working with counterproposals) or for the period of searching for a replacement (situation 2);
. consisting in finding a way to transmit information and choosing a channel for data perception (situation 3);
. requiring a clear identification of the problem and the provision of feedback by the manager to subordinates (situation 4).

5. Appearance.

The secretary comes to work wearing a too short skirt and heavy makeup. Do you understand that appearance subordinate does not comply with the company dress code. Your actions?

Answer: Desired answer options: “I will make an oral remark,” “I will ask you to re-read the requirements for the dress code in the company.” After answering the first question, you can ask the following: “What will you do if your subordinate does not respond to your remark?” Desired response options: “I’ll make a second comment”, “I’ll apply disciplinary action" But the answer “I’ll complain to higher management” should be alarming; it may indicate a lack of management and communication skills.”

6. Delegation of powers.

We invite you to consider an example of a case, with the help of which you will evaluate a manager’s ability to delegate authority, skill in organizing work, and ability to rationally use working time.

Fable. The head of the design department went on maternity leave. Victoria D was appointed in her place. Her responsibilities, among others, included checking reports and calculations of department employees. In addition, every month she had to submit a statement for the payment of bonuses. By nature, Victoria was very responsible and scrupulous. She carefully checked all reports and calculations of employees to the point. And even knowing that some of them do not make mistakes, I still studied all the data in detail. This took a lot of time, she did not have time to complete other duties and often stayed late. The leading specialist suggested that she give some of the reports to him for verification, and the calculations and drawings to the chief engineer. But Victoria did not agree. As a result, several times in a row she did not draw up a statement and the employees did not receive a bonus, which worsened the atmosphere in the team.

Exercise. Are such scrupulous checks of employee performance necessary? How to properly organize Victoria’s work in the department?

Answer options	Interpretation
He believes that the work of subordinates must be checked carefully and that this cannot be trusted to anyone, since the boss is responsible for the results of the department’s work. And in order for Victoria to have time to do everything, employees need to avoid mistakes and submit reports and calculations earlier	This answer shows that, on the one hand, the person correctly determines the need to check the work of subordinates, and on the other hand, he does not know how to trust his colleagues and delegate authority, and believes that only he can complete the task best. He also does not take into account that if you reduce the time for preparing reports, employees will rush and start making mistakes, which will only increase the verification time. Thus, a person is process-oriented rather than result-oriented
He proposes to remove Victoria from her position if she fails to cope with her duties. This is normal, because she lets down the whole team, because of her people don’t receive bonuses	The answer shows that the person does not analyze the situation and immediately proposes drastic measures, although the solution requires logical and consistent actions. And the situation shows that Victoria has problems only in organizing her working time, and this is not a reason for dismissal
He believes that the work of subordinates needs to be checked one way or another, but there is no need to go to extremes. He invites Victoria to learn to trust employees and delegate her powers, especially since her subordinates are ready to help her	This answer shows that the person adequately assesses the need to check the work of subordinates. Tends to delegate authority in order to optimize the work process and will trust his subordinates

7. Teamwork.

An example of a case that will help you evaluate the skill of interaction in a team and conflict-free communication, as well as the ability to discuss the problem that has arisen.

Case “Annoying newcomer”

Fable. A new employee, Irina M., came to the personnel department. The head of the department introduced her to her colleagues, gave her a tour of the office, showed her where to get sample documents, and set tasks for the week. After some time, the girl turned to department employee Yulia D. for help, who explained to her all the nuances in detail. A few hours later, Irina again asked about what Yulia had already told her in detail. But, despite this, Yulia calmly repeated everything that had been said and once again explained where to get necessary documents. A few days later, requests to clarify something were repeated, and then it got to the point that Irina began to tug at Yulia on any very insignificant issue. One day, Yulia could not stand it and was rude to a new employee, and Irina complained to her manager that she was not helping her adapt.

Exercise. What should a leader do in such a situation? What should Yulia have done when Irina began to pester her with constant questions?

Interpretation of answers to the case “Annoying newcomer”

Answer options	Interpretation
Accuses Yulia of rudeness and lack of restraint. It was necessary to enter into the position of a beginner, help him adapt, and not be rude to him. He invites the manager to talk to Yulia and reprimand her for such an act. So she only disrupts the atmosphere and does not build relationships in the team	Such an answer shows that a person analyzes the situation one-sidedly and is inclined to take someone’s side. Does not know how to find a compromise, is categorical in judgments
He believes that Yulia is not guilty, any person could have done this. The whole problem is Irina, who cannot understand her responsibilities. She offers to study her competencies again, maybe they hired the wrong person. And if Irina can’t cope, you need to break up with her	Based on this answer, one can judge that the person analyzes the action from different sides, but at the same time is also inclined to make a unilateral decision. Does not make impulsive decisions, first tries to understand the situation
Invites the manager to talk with Yulia to find out what really happened, what questions she had to answer and how often. Ask her to be more restrained. And also talk to Irina about what she doesn’t understand. Offers to assign Irina a mentor who will bring her up to date	This answer shows that the person analyzes the situation from different angles. Tries to find points of convergence between the two sides, tries to prevent conflict and calmly discuss the situation. Does not take sides, knows how to maintain neutrality

8. Focus on career.

A case option with which you can assess whether an employee is focused on career growth, his readiness to perform more difficult work, if circumstances require, the ability to take responsibility and diligence.

Case “Earn a Promotion”

Fable. Olga F. has worked in the marketing department for several years. Recently she began to feel that her job dissatisfaction was increasing and that she was ready to take on more complex work. She realized that she could very well take a higher position, and turned to her manager with a request to consider the possibility of promoting her. The boss invited her to perform the work of a leading specialist along with her duties for three months. Her salary will remain the same, but she will receive a bonus based on her performance. After three months, a decision will be made on her promotion.

Interpretation of answers to the case “Earn a Promotion”

Answer options	Interpretation
	This response may mean that the person is not ready to take on additional responsibility. His interest in the position is higher than in the work itself. Doesn't trust manager's decisions
I agree with the manager’s decision, but believes that Olga needs to clarify the criteria for evaluating the results of her work in order to know exactly what to strive for, as well as find out the timing and size of the bonus in case of good results	Such a response shows that the person is ready to take responsibility, interest in professional development higher than the need to occupy a higher position. Able to assess his strengths and the tasks assigned to him. Will be able to work independently
I completely agree with the boss's decision. He believes that Olga has been given a good chance to prove herself. And for this you can work even without bonuses	Such a response is either very similar to the socially desirable one, that is, the person does not reveal his true attitude to the situation, or he cannot imagine himself in a similar situation. In addition, such a response shows that the person is ready to obey the leader, but in reality will resist

9. Honesty.

And this case will help you evaluate such personal qualities, such as financial integrity, honesty, lack of tendency to kickbacks.

Case “Personal reward”

Fable. Inna - head of the secretariat large holding. Among other responsibilities, she was looking for suppliers to support the life of the office. The head of the company was not happy with the previous supplier stationery and asked Inna to find the optimal replacement. She studied the needs of the departments and approved the budget. Based on demand and allocated funds, I chose two companies - “P...” and “K..”. They had a similar range and comparable prices. The organization “P...” offered Inna a personal reward. In the end, she chose this company. After the first delivery, she conducted a survey which showed that all departments were satisfied with the quality of the office supplies. A few months later she placed an order again. But this time the quality was worse. The dissatisfaction reached the manager. Inna was reprimanded and asked to change supplier. She found herself in a difficult situation, since she had already taken a reward for the third order.

Interpretation of answers to the case “Personal reward”

Answer options	Interpretation
She believes that Inna did nothing wrong. The reality is that many receive kickbacks from deliveries. This is the way to get Additional income. We need to pay employees competitive salaries, and then such situations will not happen. Offers Inna to return the money taken for the third order and change the supplier	Such an answer may indicate that the person lacks financial integrity and, at any opportunity, he can do the same as the heroine of the case. He doesn’t even try to condemn Inna’s actions even a little; on the contrary, he supports her and suggests how she can get away with it
She condemns Inna’s actions and says that she needs to confess everything to her manager and return all the money she took from the supplier. And he advises the boss to select personnel for such positions more carefully and not to trust Inna to choose suppliers	This answer is more reminiscent of a socially desirable one. Or it may be that the quality of “honesty” is too dominant in a person and then there is a danger that he will complain to the manager for any reason as soon as he notices that, in his opinion, someone is acting dishonestly
He says that the reality is that such cases are not uncommon in companies. And if Inna decided to take the reward, she had to think about what the consequences might be if someone found out about it. Is it worth the risk, because this way you can lose a good position, lose the trust of your manager and subsequently have bad recommendations	Such a response shows that the person acknowledges that such situations happen, and it is quite possible that he could do the same. But at the same time, a person appreciates the manager’s trust and will not take risks to get a kickback. It is important for him to have good recommendations, and he also cares about what people say about him

10. Communication skills.

To identify communication skills in the process of team management, the following competencies are assessed:
- self-confidence, ability to independently solve work problems;
- ability to show flexibility and avoid unnecessary conflicts;
- the ability to make rational decisions and act in an unusual, stressful situation.
Case (management skills):
The head of a small company asked the HR manager to hire the daughter of a very important partner for the company. The partner’s daughter had not worked anywhere for many years and wanted to be more around people. She didn’t show any ambitions for a career in the company. The main goal was to make the girl feel in demand. The HR manager did not propose her candidacy for line divisions and accepted the girl for the position of HR specialist. She was asked to master the simplest functions and perform them to the best of her ability. As a result, the main, highest quality skills that she acquired during adaptation were: receiving incoming documents, entering account, packaging corporate documentation into folders. For several months everyone was happy and the work went on as usual. Six months later, the position of leading document management specialist became available. While they were deciding to find a person from outside or choose from among their own, the director called the head of the personnel department with a proposal to promote the partner’s recently hired daughter, at his request. Knowing that there are employees in the department who are more suitable for the position of leading specialist, the HR manager could not give this position to a new employee, but also general director she couldn't put herself in an awkward position in front of her partner.

Questions:
What do you think the head of the HR department should do in this situation?
Could this problem have been avoided?
How will the promotion of the partner’s daughter affect the team if the general director insists on this decision and the head of the personnel department has to carry out this order?
Case assignment: Offer your options for solving the problem.

Answer options

1. The applicant takes the side of the general director and explains this by the fact that in companies, anyway, everyone below the head of the company does not decide anything. As the management says, that’s what everyone does. There was no way to avoid this situation.

2. The applicant is of the opinion that it would still be fair to think about those who have been working in the team for a long time and offer the partner’s daughter an alternative solution. For example, he suggests that someone from the team can be promoted, and she (the daughter) be placed not in the place of a leading specialist, but in the place of a simple specialist who has been transferred. It was hardly possible to avoid it, since it is impossible to predict how events will develop.

3. The applicant assumes that the basis for refusal may be selection policy norms prohibiting the employment of relatives of the founders or partners of the company. But now that the head of the department has already faced this problem, she needs to make a decision taking into account all parties and promote someone from the more qualified ones, and offer her partner’s daughter something else. Otherwise, a decision in favor of only one side can ruin the relationship between the team and the manager.

After the answers are formulated, you need to interpret them and draw conclusions about how well they correspond to expectations.

Our key advantages

Industry solutions and implementers

We understand how important a contractor’s expertise and willingness to offer successful industry experience and models, rather than generally accepted templates, are in business. We will always find a trusted specialist with experience in your field who will help you with the solution.

Strong project management team

Working a lot with different performers, we selected the best and created our own team of project managers who know how to work and love their work, have strong business and consulting experience. The level of project managers is our calling card.

Acceptable price

We also work with expert practitioners, using in-house, remote or project-based workers the necessary experience to solve exactly your problems. At the same time, we do not incur unnecessary ongoing administrative costs that affect the price of the service.

Large-scale projects

In the case of complex and related projects, we are ready not only to select and attract, but also to control the work of teams. We know experienced performers in every field, have unlimited opportunities to attract them and have our own standards for assessing and monitoring their work.

It might be useful to read: