With the trend over the past few years for organisations of all sizes to streamline their workforces and focus on selecting and retaining only the “best and the brightest” employees, effective assessment has become vital to ensuring organisations are able to hire and retain top talent. The Handbook of Workplace Assessment
The book includes 24 chapters covering a comprehensive list of assessment topics, such as the basics of assessment, how to design and implement an assessment, best practices for assessing capabilities across a wide variety of positions, key strategic applications of assessment and advances, trends, and issues in the assessment field.
“The book consolidates the latest thinking, research, and practice across the broad field of assessment,” Scott said. The handbook includes chapters written by nearly 50 contributing authors, all leading experts in the assessment field. “I don’t think we could have found a more qualified group of authors,” Scott added. “These are world-renowned thought leaders who reflect cutting-edge theory and practice.”
Scott explained that now, more than ever, effective assessment is vital to organisations. “As companies are pressured to hire and retain the best and brightest employees, coupled with the skills gap that will soon emerge due to the magnitude of baby boomer retirements, organisational priorities have steadily shifted toward talent acquisition and retention, where the role of assessment is crucial,” he explained.
Reynolds and Scott said that in addition to shifting organisational priorities, the second factor shaping the field of assessment involves the rapid advancements in computer technology and the explosive growth of the Internet over the past decade.
“Quite clearly now a huge advantage of technology is that organisations are able to build and launch assessment programs on a global scale to measure an almost limitless array of attributes,” Scott explained. “Organisations are now assessing people in all different languages and locations around the world. This handbook specifically addresses how to handle the unique cultural challenges associated with global assessment.”
By leveraging technology, Reynolds explained, organisations can reach across national boundaries with their assessments, finding top talent to fill positions all over the world. New technology has also brought more sophisticated methods of assessment, such as Web-based assessment tools to simulate actual work environments and adaptive testing.
Despite the advances in assessment, however, organisations still face challenges in designing and implementing their own assessments systems. The book presents sound, practical guidelines steeped in empirical research for implementing an assessment process across a range of positions and contexts that will effectively drive an organisation’s critical talent decisions.
