ASSESSORSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT: THE EFFECTS OF SERVING AS A TRAINED MEMBER OF AN ASSESSMENT CENTER STAFF ON MANAGERS' PROFICIENCY IN ACQUIRING, EVALUATING, AND COMMUNICATING INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE

This thesis presents an investigation of the effects of assessorship (i.e., attending an assessor training program and subsequently serving as an assessment center staff member) on three categories of managerial behavior, broadly classified as acquiring, evaluating, and communicating information about people. The overlap between the behavioral requirements of the assessor job and those of managerial jobs in general is first pointed out. The contemporary psychological literature is then reviewed to illustrate how assessorship incorporates elements of training procedures which research has shown are effective for improving proficiency in these assessor/manager behaviors.; A field experiment is reported in which 80 managers who had been selected to serve as assessors in an entry-level management assessment center were assigned to one of two groups. Immediately prior to assessor training, one group participated in three behavioral exercises designed to measure proficiency in acquiring, evaluating, and communicating information about people. The other group participated in these exercises after they had accumulated at least 3 months of full-time experience as assessors.; The results indicate that compared to the managers who had not yet had assessorship experience, the experienced assessors demonstrated greater proficiency in several aspects of assessor/manager behavior. The experienced assessors were more proficient in interviewing another individual to obtain relevant information about job candidates. However, no difference was found regarding their proficiency in observing nonverbal behavior. The experienced assessors were more proficient in verbally communicating and defending information about others' managerial qualifications, and in communicating this information in short written reports. In evaluating the managerial ability of hypothetical (videotaped) subordinates, the ratings made by the experienced assessors possessed somewhat superior psychometric properties. Experienced assessors also were better able to cite in writing specific examples of ratee behavior to support their ratings.; The implications and limitations of the study regarding the value of assessorship as a developmental experience for managers are discussed.