The validation of an assessment center for the selection of maintenance and production employees in a paper manufacturing company

The purpose of this study was to determine if an assessment center used by a paper manufacturing company is a valid selection tool for the hiring of maintenance and production employees. Assessment centers have been used primarily to assess managerial and executive job candidates, but the use of the assessment center for hiring non-managerial positions has not been thoroughly studied. In this ex post facto study 87 maintenance and production job candidates went through an assessment center to determine whether they had the job skills and personality attributes to function successfully in a maintenance and production position in a paper manufacturing plant. This ex post facto quantitative study used discriminant functional analysis to determine the degree of relationship between the results of the assessment center exercises and a supervisory performance evaluation conducted at 30, 60, and 90 days.; The study concluded that the assessment center, in its present form, has some validity as a selection tool for maintenance and production employees 30 days after hiring, but the predictive validity of the assessment center declines at 60 days after hiring and again at 90 days after hiring. Significant positive correlations were found between some of the behavioral dimensions of the assessment center and the supervisory performance evaluation.; It appears that the assessment center methodology has potential for use as a hiring tool for maintenance and production job candidates, but the assessment center exercises must measure essential job components. If an assessment center is not measuring actual skills and abilities to perform successfully on the job it will not be a valid predictor of future job performance.