Opportunities for Assessment Centers in the Chinese Market
The fast-growing Chinese market economy has resulted in a dramatic change in the way people think of selection, training, and promotion. On the one hand, business decision makers demand valid assessment tools as a solution to their human resources problems. On the other hand, the wide application of paper-and-pencil academic assessments in the work setting is suffering an image of low validity. The gap between the need for assessment and the availability of assessment techniques are widening. Assessment centers will fill such a gap. While the AC method is being introduced to China, silently, by multinational companies and academic researchers, aggressive marketing of assessment centers will open a promising area of HR consulting services. The speaker predicts that the assessment center business will grow rapidly in China in the near future. Key success factors for assessment centers in China include 1) a convincing competency model, 2) face validity and assessee acceptance, 3) effective marketing and education campaigns, and 4) an indigenous business model.
Speaker
Feng Li
General Manager of Assessment Services
Talent Shanghai Co., Ltd.
Feng Li is General Manager of Assessment Services at Talent Shanghai Co., Ltd. His current job responsibilities include developing and marketing assessment centers for the assessment, training and development of generic and specific managerial competencies. Feng Li received his BS in psychology from Peking University in 1988 and his doctorate in psychology from the University of Hong Kong in 1998. He has published research in the area of personality and social psychology in American and Chinese peer-reviewed journals. He worked as Research Director at The Gallup Organization in Shanghai between June 1999 and August 2002.
