Economic Utility of a First-Level Supervisor Assessment
Although assessment centres (AC) are expensive to develop and conduct, previous studies have demonstrated that economic benefits exceed costs of managerial ACs in private organizations. The current study demonstrates the economic utility of a first-level AC (vs a panel interview) for promotion to police sergeant in a large US city using actual costs and estimated benefits. Alternative calculations of utility (positive and negative) are reported for different levels of selection ratio, validities of the AC and alternative assessment procedures, and costs.
Speaker
George Thornton, Ph.D.
Colorado State University
Dr.
Thornton is Professor of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colorado, USA. Dr. Thornton earned his Ph.D. from Purdue
University in 1966. He is a Diplomate in Industrial/Organization
Psychology awarded by the American Board of
Dr.
Thornton specializes in assessment centers, selection practices, test
development and validation, and implications of employment
discrimination law for personnel psychology. He has developed,
validated, and implemented assessment centers and other situational
exercises for selection and development for numerous jobs. Dr. Thornton
is the author of over 55 publications in refereed journals, 6 book
chapters, and 3 books, namely Assessment Centers and Managerial
Performance (with William Byham) and Assessment Centers in Human
Resource Management (with Deborah Rupp), Developing Organizational
Simulations: A Guide for Practitioners and Students (with Rose
Mueller-Hanson). Dr. Thornton has made presentations on the assessment
center method to professional conferences such as the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Congress on
Assessment Center Methods, and the Society for Industrial and