2014 Conference

2014 UK-ACG Conference

The second UK Assessment Centre Conference took place on the 25th & 26th November 2014.

The conference's theme was all about how assessment centres can add value in a rapidly changing world. The pace of change and its unpredictable nature have led some to coin the term ‘VUCA’, which refers to a world of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity and this state is now being recognised as permanent, so much so, that it has been referred to as ‘the new normal’. The conference therefore considered how the demands of the VUCA world impacts organisations and what this means for the role that the assessment centre method can play in helping organisations to tackle some of the challenges they face.

The theme was broken down into three inter-related strands:

How is technology impacting Assessment Centres?
How does the accelerating pace of change affect Assessment Centres?
How can Assessment Centres truly add value to the organisation?

The conference hosted an impressive collection of Assessment Centre experts, including three fascinating but different keynote sessions. Firstly, Professor Filip Lievens, who is one of the world’s leading researchers in the Assessment Centre field. Secondly, Liam Forde, who talked about how organisations need to respond to the demands of this rapidly changing world. Thirdly, Tim Sandiford, the President of the Army Officer Selection Board (formerly the famous War Office Selection Board), which has been running assessment centres for over 70 years!

Please click on each presentation link to download the relevant slides.

Click here to download the programme

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

Welcome and opening address by Phil Wilson, Civil Service Fast Stream

Keynote 1:

Filip Lievens, Ghent University -“Stirring Things Up in Assessment: Towards Hybrid Assessment Centres”

Breakout Session 1a:

Janice Caplan and Carolyn Ponder, Scala Associates -“How virtual simulation brings leadership assessment and development ever closer to reality.”

Breakout Session 1b:

Hannah Hemmingham and Marija Potter, IBM – “Assessing for Outcomes not Inputs”

Breakout Session 1c:

Elaine Yerby, University of East London; Duncan J. R. Jackson, Birkbeck, University of London – “Centres of Opportunity: Supporting Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Graduate Employability through Assessment Centre Rehearsals”