Automating the Assessment Experience: The Latest Chapter
Technology has infiltrated the assessment center method in many was over the history of this assessment technique. Most commonly, technology has been incorporated to improve the efficiency of assessment administration, scoring, and reporting. The role technology plays in the assessment itself is changing, however, because the use of technology in the work being simulated has grown exponentially in recent years. This trend raises issues regarding how to best incorporate technology-based components (e.g., e-mail, the Internet) into assessment. The presentation will describe several examples of how technology can be integrated with and used to deliver assessment activities. These examples will be presented to illustrate the wide range of approaches being applied, as well as to identify the issues that are raised by these new tools.
Speaker
Audrey B. Smith, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Consulting
DDI
Audrey is senior vice president of DDI's Staffing and Assessment Consulting and Executive Succession Management groups. In this position, Audrey directs the activities of consulting teams which deliver selection and assessment consulting services and assessment center technology, including the design, implementation, and validation of selection systems, simulations and workshops.
Audrey's responsibilities include directing the activities of staffing and assessment consulting teams; overseeing the tailoring of selection and development systems to client needs; staffing/management of a group of professionals in the areas of consulting, executive assessment, coaching, and training; implementing assessment programs for executives/senior managers in a range of applications, including selection, promotion, and development; and design and implementation of executive development support services, including executive coaching/mentoring programs and succession management strategies.
Recent accomplishments include designing and implementing comprehensive assessment processes for various executive selection/development applications. Highlights include selection programs for General Motors' Vehicle Line Executives and Brand Managers in North American and International Operations as well as programs focusing on development for "high potentials" at PPG Industries, Steelcase, Whirlpool Corporation, and Heinz. Other clients include the United States Postal Service, United Nations, United Airlines, BMW, Toyota, Unisys, and Northern Telecom.
Before joining DDI in 1989, Audrey worked for Rockwell International, where she was a specialist in the development and evaluation of assessment and training. In addition, she conducted a corporate wide supervisory training evaluation study for Kodak.
Audrey earned a doctorate and a master's degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University, where she later taught courses in Psychometrics and Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is a member of the American Psychological Association.
Speaker
Doug Reynolds, Ph.D.
Manager
Assessment Technology Group
DDI
Dr. Douglas H. Reynolds is Manager of Assessment Technology for Development Dimensions International (DDI). He currently leads an R & D department focused on the development and implementation of new behavioral and psychological assessments. He has designed and implemented assessments and tests in both automated and traditional formats with several Fortune 500 companies and the federal government. Doug pioneered the development and use of Internet-based job application and qualification screening instruments used for large-scale corporate recruiting. He has worked with a variety of clients to validate and implement automated personnel screening systems including General Motors, Pfizer, Arthur Anderson, Johnson & Johnson, and Best Foods. Doug also has served as an expert witness regarding personnel selection practices, published and presented on automation of job screening and testing for job selection, and taught university-level courses in industrial/organizational psychology, statistics, psychological testing and measurement. Prior to joining DDI in 1996, Doug was with the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO); he earned his Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 1989.
