Guidelines

The Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations were updated and endorsed by the 34th International Congress on the Assessment Center Methods (24 September 2008, Washington DC, USA), the guideline document is intended to establish professional guidelines and ethical considerations for users of the assessment center method.

In 2006 Professional Guidelines for Global Assessment Centres (draft version) emerged from ongoing discussions between B Byham, G Thornton (III), and A Ghawla at the 32nd International Congress on Assessment Centre Methods held in Las Vegas in 2004. The extended guidelines addressed issues relevant to the development, use and validation of assessment centres when applied across multiple countries for selection, promotion and development of leaders operating in a international context. These draft guidelines were tabled at the 33rd International Congress on Assessment Centre Methods held in London in 2006.

2007 South African Guidelines

During the 2006 ACSG Conference in Stellenbosch, it was decided to revise the South African 1999 Guidelines so that the South African Guidelines are aligned to the 2000 International Guidelines and so that they incorporate the 2006 Professional Guidelines for global assessment centres. One of the key features of the 2007 Guidelines is the incorporation of development centers as part of the Guidelines as well as the focus on the cross-cultural application of assessment and development centres in South Africa.

The following step-by-step process was followed:

• Various stakeholders, especially in the consulting domain of assessment centres, were consulted
• The latest information available on Assessment Centre Guidelines were collected and studied
• A task team comprising members of the ACSG facilitated a work session were a broad structure for the 2007 Guidelines was proposed
• A draft version of the 2007 Guidelines was presented at the March 2007 ACSG conference in Stellenbosch.

The final version of the AC & DC guidelines for 2007 will be launched at the 28th Annal Assessment Centre Study Group conference in March 2008.