The document discusses a case study on the perceived effectiveness of assessment centers for the Indian IT and call center industries. It examines interviews with 100 successful and 100 unsuccessful participants in assessment centers used for selecting team leaders. The study aimed to understand how individuals describe their assessment center experiences and identify strengths and weaknesses. It found issues around a lack of orientation, potential bias, and credibility of the process. Recommendations include providing better training, assessment, feedback and exercising during assessment centers.

1. Speaker Series
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

2. The Perceived Effectiveness
of Assessment Centers for
Indian IT and Call Center
Industries- A Case Study
Nidhi Dhanju, PhD
Senior consultant
Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI)
6th February 2009
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

3. Indian Call Center and IT Industries
• Largest growing industries in the world (Forbes,
2006)
• Two million English speaking graduates every year
(India Today, 2005)
• Provides off shoring technology services to foreign
companies. Software exports alone expanded by 53%
in 2008 (Gupta, 2008).
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

4. Indian Call Center Industry
• Call center work characterized by
routine, monotonous tasks
• Attrition rate - approximately 75%
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

5. AC defined…
“Variety of testing techniques designed to
allow candidates to demonstrate, under
standardized conditions, the skills and abilities
that are most essential for success in a given
job.” (Casio & Silbey, 1979, p. 203)
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

6. What is an Assessment Center?
• Participants’ behavior is observed by trained
raters, evaluated, categorized and scored
• Raters pool individual observations to arrive at
an overall estimate of potential, or score
• Participants are provided with oral and/or
written feedback regarding their performance
and potential
• Training and developmental plans can be
formulated
• Used for both development and selection
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

7. Building Blocks of Effective Performance
Skills
Knowledge Experiences
more easily
developed
difficult to
Value develop
Abilities Traits Interests
Motivations
Source, SRI, vol 2, 53, 1999
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

8. Assessment Centers (ACs)
for Indian Call Center and IT Industry
• ACs used for selection and development for
team leaders in many Indian call centers and
IT industries
• Most research about ACs focused on selection
for managerial purposes in the US and Europe
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

9. Research Problem
How effective are ACs perceived to
be as a selection method by successful
and unsuccessful team leader participants in
Indian call center and IT industry?
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

10. Purpose of Study
• How do individuals in the case setting identify
and describe AC experiences?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses
in the AC process?
• How can ACs be improved?
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

11. Significance of Study
• Development of a systematic promotional
process for team leaders
• Identification of strengths and weaknesses of
ACs from participants’ experiences
• Provide database of information to develop
models of evaluation, growth and
development
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

12. Limitations of Study
• Findings may not be generalized due
to nature of case study methodology
• Interviews may include inherent bias
• Feedback from assessors may influence
participants’ self-ratings and subsequent
responses
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

13. Review of Literature
• Introduction and characteristics of AC
process
• Organizational Justice Theories
Distributive justice
Procedural justice
• Validity and Reliability of ACs
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

14. Research Design
• Embedded case study design
• Data collection through interviews
• 100 interviews with successful AC participants
• 100 interviews with unsuccessful participants
• IRB permission obtained before study
• Email invitation sent to request participation
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

15. Assessment Centers (ACs)
for Indian Call Centers & IT Organizations
• Medium-sized organization
• Thirty ACs conducted since Sept 2004
• Exercises identified through job analysis
• Eleven dimensions, six job-related activities
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

16. Data Analysis
• Transcription of interviews
• Cross-case thematic analysis
• Member checks for validation
• Analysis of whole data set
• Synthesis
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

17. Frequently Occurring Constructs
for Successful and Unsuccessful Participants
• Lack of orientation regarding AC
• Bias in AC selection process
• AC and retention
• AC provides growth opportunities
• AC exercises realistically capture challenges on
floor
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

18. Frequently Occurring Constructs
for Successful and Unsuccessful Participants
• Final AC feedback
• *Training needed after successful selection
• **Credibility of the AC process
• Should organizations conduct AC?
* Successful AC participants only ** Unsuccessful AC participants only
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

19. Recommendations for Practice
• Provide orientation to AC participants
• Provide adequate assessor training
• Provide training to participants after AC
• Provide fair assessment processes
• Provide detailed feedback to participants
• Provide clear AC exercises
• Rotate exercises
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

20. Recommendations for Future Research
• International role of ACs
• Multi-faceted Nature of AC Methods.
• Model of AC- Industry-specific
• ACs for non managerial positions
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

21. Recommendations for Future Research
• Utilization of ACs as an HRD intervention
• Enhance generalizability of this case study
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter

22. Thank you
www.nhrdpune.org Copyright NHRD Pune Chapter