April 15, 2016 An expert in the field of personnel selection for middle and senior management (I will find the best!). IP Guzenko Anastasia Sergeevna

Game for the assessment center "Emergency on the Moon" (assessment cases, seller assessments)

I have experience conducting assessment centers for groups of about 15-20 people (I practiced at the Children's World Center). Usually 15-20 people. divided into 2-3 teams. When the group of candidates is large enough, the assessment game significantly saves time (in relation to conducting individual interviews) and helps evaluate candidates. I used this case to evaluate candidates for the position of “sales consultant”.
The game helps to identify more active candidates and the leader in general, the ability to argue their point of view, the ability to hear other group members, communication skills, attention and much more.

Game/case for assessment center “Emergency on the Moon”

group of 15-20 people, divided into 2-3 teams.

Goals: develop the interactive potential of the players, teach them to make collective decisions, identify the leadership capabilities of the game participants, and show the benefits of cooperation.

Procedures:

Making individual decisions.

Developing a collective decision in groups.

Intergroup interaction: discussion.

Analysis of the results and summing up the game.

Time: 30-40 minutes.

• Information for game participants:

On the lunar rover that each of you controls, the engine has failed. The base - lunar station - is about 300 km; You need to get there on foot within three days. Half of the journey must be walked along the dark side of the Moon, the other half along the illuminated side. On board the Lunokhod there is an emergency reserve consisting of 15 items:

Matchbox

Food concentrate

Inflatable raft

50 feet of nylon rope

Magnetic compass

Parachute silk

Portable heater

Flares

2 .45 caliber revolvers

One pack of milk powder

Two 100 liter oxygen cylinders.

1st stage. Items must be taken with you, and to reduce the load and speed up the movement, get rid of them one by one according to the degree of importance and as they are used. The order is recorded on a card given to each player, with the first item thrown out being number 15, the last item thrown out being number 1.

Time to make this decision is given no more than 5-7 minutes, provided there is complete silence among the players.

2nd stage. At the second stage, the interactive part of the game begins. Teams of 5-7 people are created. The goal of the game is to get to the base of the lunar station and stay alive; The goal of the team is to discuss the problem and make a collective decision. Each player during the discussion defends his point of view, tries to implement an individual survival program, using a variety of interaction strategies.

Time for discussion: 10-20 minutes.

After group decisions are made, their presentation and defense.

After completing all stages of the game, the participants write down on their card (in the “directive assessment” section) the order of release from objects.

Correct solution:

	Item name		Correct number	Explanation
	Two 100 liter oxygen cylinders			there is no air on the moon
	5 gallons (approximately 19 L) water			You can't live without this for long
	Star chart (lunar constellation map)			needed for navigation
	Food concentrate			you can live for some time without food
	Solar-powered radio transmitter-receiver			for communication
	50 feet of nylon rope			may be useful for hiking on uneven terrain
	First aid kit with injection needles			a first aid kit may be needed, but needles are useless
	Parachute silk			to carry something
	Inflatable raft			of some value as shelter or for carrying something
	Flares			no oxygen, can only be used for pushing force
	2 .45 caliber revolvers			to use the pushing force
	One pack of milk powder			you need water, but there is not enough of it
	Portable heater			It's hot on the bright side of the moon
	Magnetic compass			The Moon's magnetic field is different from the Earth's magnetic field
	Matchbox			there is no oxygen on the moon

Having received this data from the leader of the game, its participants find the difference between their assessment and the directive one, or vice versa, write down the data in the appropriate column of the card, then sum up the result. Next, the same calculations are carried out with collective assessment and assessment of leaders.

The group that is closest to the directive estimate wins.

The leader sums up and notes the “positive” and “negative” leaders and individual listeners who led the group to victory or defeat. It is advisable to identify people who had correct or close to the standard assessments and the reasons why they could not be carried out, and to convince the group of making such a decision.

The subject of analysis can be not only the decisions themselves, but also how the participants in the game interacted, for example, aggressively or loyally, correctly or without respect for the partner, demonstrated a culture of listening or not, are able to express thoughts clearly and convincingly, or this skill is not sufficiently developed degrees, etc.

The game leader should also pay attention to the individual style of interaction and the choice of communication strategies (avoidance, confrontation, concession, compromise, cooperation). I recommend this case for assessment.

The assessment center has its own examination committee. Not a single incompetent employee will penetrate the walls of the company.

Accompanied by talk of a new crisis, such a prospect seems increasingly tempting. How to organize your own assessment center? How expensive is it? Experts shared step-by-step instructions and examples of tasks.

“An assessment center is a method of personnel assessment based on modeling the key moments of the assessee’s activity to identify his professionally significant qualities,” states the definition of the assessment center of the St. Petersburg Center for Psychological Support Ilgiz Valinurov, President of Business Connection Corporation.

For the first time in the foreseeable past, this assessment method was used by the British Army: in the 40s of the 20th century, young officers were asked to demonstrate their management skills in a situation simulating combat operations. A few years later, the new method was borrowed by the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Therefore, perhaps, we owe it to intelligence officers that the assessment center is now used to evaluate personnel in thousands of companies. Who knows: were the employees of the American Telephone and Telegraph company retired CIA agents? One way or another, it was AT&T that introduced the “military” method into business practice. For these purposes, the company even built a separate building called “The Assessment Center.” Since then, this phrase has entered the lexicon of HR specialists.

A Valuable Valuation Method

“Currently, more and more companies are turning to the issue of personnel assessment, since the issue of employee performance is very acute,” states Irina Kandaurova, managing partner of the HR studio “Time of People”. It is the assessment center that allows you to comprehensively evaluate a candidate or employee, that is, weigh all his skills and abilities necessary to work in a given position.

As experts note, the assessment center has a number of advantages over other methods. “For decades, this method has proven itself to be the most effective,” says Irina Kandaurova.

Moreover, as stated Ilgiz Valinurov, the assessment center is a universal method that helps in all aspects of personnel management. The expert gives the following list: “The assessment center can be used for:

1. personnel selection;
2. training and development;
3. employee promotion;
4. career management and mentoring;
5. motivating employees, receiving feedback from them.”

Proving the value of the assessment center, President of Business Connection Corporation refers to scientific research: “How valid are the assessment results? Researchers from the British Psychological Society provide data on the validity of personnel assessment methods. They claim that the personnel assessment center (reliability of results 65-70%) allows you to evaluate a candidate with greater accuracy than a behavioral interview (48-61%), a simulation of a work situation (54%) and, even more so, a traditional interview (5-19%) "

The effectiveness of the assessment center in the practice of talent management and motivation is confirmed by Irina Kandaurova. According to her, the use of this technology allows us to create an individual development plan for each employee, taking into account his strengths and weaknesses.

“The developmental assessment center helps to create motivation among employees for self-development and learning, which significantly increases the effectiveness of further training and development activities for company employees,” continues the expert.

Dear Commission

Who should be on the examination committee? According to Ilgiza Valinurova As a rule, assessments are carried out by external experts: HR consultants. Their qualifications and experience increase the speed of preparing, conducting and processing assessment results. Managers of the customer company are also required to participate in the assessment.

Thus, the corporate “examination committee” includes: HR consultants, a representative of the company’s management team and the immediate supervisor of the examinees or a leading specialist in the field.

Irina Kandaurova offers the following algorithm of actions for those who are planning to create an assessment center based on their company:

1. Preparation of materials for the working meeting on the development of competencies. Formation of a portfolio of competencies to determine the ideal employee profile.
2. Development of a profile of the key competencies of an employee (for a certain position) in a group with customer experts and consultants (working session). In terms of time, this stage can last from 2 weeks to 3 months.
3. Formation of an ideal profile, description of behavioral manifestations of a successful employee.
4. Development of evaluation procedures (it is advisable to develop evaluation procedures based on the actual activities of employees). Options.
5. Selection and training of observers (observers must have experience in similar work. For a group of 7 people, 3-4 observers are needed).
6. Development of evaluation sheets.
7. Development of a schedule and coordination of the time of the assessment center. In a group of up to 10 participants, 2 observers are assigned to each.
8. Conducting an assessment center (the assessment takes from 1 to 2 days depending on the category of employees).
9. Processing and analysis of assessment results (processing of results is the most labor-intensive stage of work. It can take from 2 weeks to 1 month).
10. Preparation of the final report and individual expert assessments of the assessment center participants and presentation of the report to the manager.
11. Individual feedback for participants based on the results of the assessment center. This stage is necessary to develop an employee development plan, as well as to create motivation for development and training.
12. Development of an employee training program.
13. Development of individual employee development plans.

What assessment methods should you choose? “Each company forms its own set of components for conducting assessment centers depending on its needs, as well as time and financial resources,” states Ilgiz Valinurov. The expert offers the following options:

1. Interview with an expert, during which data is collected about the employee’s knowledge and experience.
2. Tests (psychological, professional, general).
3. Brief presentation by the participant to experts and other participants (sometimes audio and video recordings are used).
4. Business game: under the guidance of an observer, a group of employees or candidates acts out a business situation according to a pre-prepared scenario.
5. Biographical questionnaire.
6. Description of professional achievements.
7. Individual analysis of specific situations (case-study). The participant is asked to choose a specific strategy and tactics of action in the proposed situation.
8. Expert observation: based on its results, recommendations are drawn up for each employee.

Initially, it was the business game that was the essence of assessment. As we see, HR managers now have many more options at their disposal. There are other assessment methods - many of them are discussed in the materials on our portal.

Visual material

Experts told us what a typical check looks like at an assessment center. Irina Kandaurova shared with us cases that are used in this procedure.

1. Assignment for the manager

You are the leader. Alexander, a specialist, works under you. This is a young ambitious man. He has been with the company for 3 years, started from scratch, but quickly grew and is now a qualified specialist who knows the company’s product well and shows consistently high results in his work. Today Alexander brought you a letter of resignation. You absolutely do not want to lose a qualified specialist. You decide to talk to Alexander. You have 5 minutes to think about what you will say to Alexander in order to prevent him from being fired from the company.

2. Assignment for an employee

You got a job at XXX company 3 years ago, when you were a student at the Faculty of Marketing at a prestigious university in Moscow. 2 years ago you graduated and hoped that the higher education you received would serve as a green signal for your career growth. You have been working as a specialist for 3 years and are showing good results. But you would like career growth. You have decided to start looking for a job. You have job offers as a senior specialist with the prospect of moving to a manager position after a probationary period. But the salary in the new place will be slightly lower than what you have now. In addition, the corporate culture of the new company is more rigid than in XXX, and you doubt whether you will fit into it, but you still decided to write a letter of resignation. Your manager wants to talk to you about your future.

Ilgiz Valinurov explained what is included in the timing of the assessment procedure:

“A properly prepared assessment can be completed in 3 hours:

Gathering of participants, tea/coffee - 15 minutes;
- a welcoming speech from the organizers or presenter about the procedure - 5 minutes;
- filling out professional or personal questionnaires - 30-60 minutes;
- presentations of participants - 30-60 minutes depending on the number of participants;
- conducting a business game: 3 minutes to explain the task, 15 minutes - individual work, 20 minutes - group work, 10 minutes to present the results, that is, approximately 50-60 minutes;
- summing up the results of the assessment and informing about further actions - 10 minutes.

That is, only 2.5-4 hours, depending on the number of participants and assessment procedures.”

Long and expensive

It is obvious that organizing an assessment center is a waste of time and resources.

Therefore, it is unlikely that it will be possible to evaluate each candidate using this method. “It is advisable to use this method to assess the most significant category of employees for the company. More often it is used to evaluate sales and purchasing managers, service personnel, and management,” says Irina Kandaurova. Sometimes, to save time, mass assessment is used for candidates applying for the most sought-after positions in the company.

Another difficulty in organizing your own assessment center is the high demands placed on those who conduct it. “The assessment center is one of the most labor-intensive methods of assessment, requiring a high level of competence of the experts who conduct it,” states Irina Kandaurova.

If your company has the necessary resources, including human resources, it can organize an assessment center using its own HR specialists. But if you are not completely sure of this, and the need for an accurate assessment of candidates is acute, you can turn to those who specialize in assessment. Moreover, according to Ilgiza Valinurova, external experts are independent, objective and impartial in relation to company employees. And without objectivity there is no need to talk about any accuracy

• Recruitment and selection, Labor market

This technique is most simply defined as extended interview and testing. The duration of such a test can reach several days. If earlier assessment was used mainly in the selection or diagnosis of middle and senior management personnel, today this method is often used when hiring ordinary employees.

Recently, the following trend has been observed in the personnel market. If earlier assessment was used mainly in the selection or diagnosis of middle and senior management personnel, today this method is often used when hiring ordinary employees. Moreover, the larger the company, the greater the likelihood that an applicant applying for a more or less significant position will have to go through an assessment.

Often the news of upcoming tests comes as a complete surprise to a candidate for a position. It turns out that instead of a regular interview, he will face execution, in which not only the personnel manager will take part, but also a psychologist, sociologist, and mysterious persons under the pseudonym “observers” who do not utter a word during the interview...

Naturally, any normal person who has no idea about such tests comes to mind scenes from adventure films with cross-examinations of spies. The applicant has a feeling of unequal chances, excitement and anxiety increase. It should be noted that the chances are really unequal. Your interlocutors are armed with professional knowledge, psychological techniques and experience from previous competitions. What can be on the applicant's side?

You should not give any recommendations for passing psychological tests; here it is best to be as collected as possible and not try to jump in over your head. The tests are mostly used by professional ones (different from those printed in glossy magazines in the “Popular Psychology” section), and the best strategy here is to remain yourself, calmly answering the questions posed.

But you can and should prepare for the interview, which takes up a significant part of the assessment. Practice shows that it is during such a conversation that a decisive opinion about a person’s professional suitability is formed.

The form of the interview itself is quite different from a regular meeting - a dialogue with a personnel manager. In this article, we will try to give some tips on preparing and passing an assessment interview, focusing on the main points and possible difficulties.

Let us emphasize once again that the assessment involves an extended interview, when the employer pays close attention to the subject’s behavior style, body language, ability to conduct a dialogue with several participants, ability to think logically, refer to practice, etc. In addition, today many interviews include one or another form of presentation - a speech by the candidate on a pre-agreed topic.

The assessment interview must be preceded by serious preparation on your part. Many underestimate her, expecting to act according to the situation, get her bearings and express herself fully during the conversation. This misconception has led to disappointment for many people.

Start by collecting information about the organization. Take a look at the website, pay special attention to completed projects and key partners of the company. Many companies post such information in the appropriate sections. Find in the organization's completed projects something that relates to your intended position, and imagine yourself in them. It is important to accurately determine for yourself the knowledge, skills and personal qualities that you possess that make you suitable for this job.

The most important part of preparation is the following. You must be clear about what you want to demonstrate to the interviewers. Believe me, one of the most unpleasant feelings is to fail an interview because people did not see what is really in you! During interviews, the “right questions” are not always asked, allowing the applicant to reveal himself fully. Therefore, it is necessary to convey the necessary information to your interlocutors yourself. First, think about your strengths related to the proposed job. Then prepare stories and examples to illustrate them.

Finally, practice presenting examples and stories. At the same time, it is advisable to maintain common sense and avoid emotional phrases like “Without a doubt, the company I worked for before stayed afloat thanks to my professionalism!” There is a golden rule of interview ethics - to evaluate the effectiveness of only personal activities, and not the company as a whole. The exception is the people who directly carried out management, that is, top-level managers. If you are one of them, you can put the journal down and check your email or answering machine. Surely there are a dozen hot offers from headhunters who closely monitor temporarily unemployed top managers.

But let's return to more mundane options. When preparing, first of all, you need to pronounce speech modules - logically connected sentences that reveal certain topics. Such a rehearsal will help you meet the so-called mandatory questions fully prepared, and not a single serious interview can do without them. There is almost a 100% chance that you will be asked to talk about your current/last job, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, remember your relationships with “difficult” colleagues, justify your desire to take this particular position, etc.

Needless to say, the answers to similar questions should blow your mind. However, here you need to know some tricks.

— When talking about your previous work, highlight those points that are directly related to the proposed position. Identify points of intersection between past and future responsibilities.

— When assessing yourself, your loved one, build your answer around the qualities that are important for work. And be sure to back up your words with evidence. Having listed your advantages (it’s better not to get carried away here and limit yourself to three or four laudatory epithets), you can say the following: “And now I would like to give brief examples that illustrate, in my opinion, these qualities...”

— You shouldn’t talk about relationships with problem employees using a set of platitudes: “Despite the character of people, you need to be polite and fair with everyone, etc.” Ancient Greek philosophers wrote about this. Examples from your experience look much better. Describe production problems that arose due to the difficult character of a former colleague. Justify your position and actions in relation to him from the point of view of work efficiency, but try to avoid personal assessments.

— When justifying your desire to work in a company that is new to you, it is advisable to show more enthusiasm. Turn on the sparkle in your eyes and talk about the work experience that you would like to continue, about the pleasure of such activities, etc. Frank admission of a thirst for career growth is also well received. Just remember to add that you are considering such growth within the same organization.

During the interview process, avoid general language and reasoning whenever possible. This common mistake is most often pointed out by hiring managers. When answering “mandatory questions,” try to quickly move on to describing work situations. The correct line of conversation is that you should treat every question as an opportunity to give the interviewers a concrete example of your professionalism. The more illustrations you prepare in advance, the better for you and the more interesting for your interlocutors. Feel free to clarify questions. Practice shows that such candidates are more attractive to employers. From a psychological point of view, such a manner of conducting a conversation is regarded as an example of active listening and high interest.

Do not forget that you have the right not only to clarify questions and answer them, but also to ask questions yourself. The applicant’s questions are very important, if only because they are kind of his last word at the interview. As a rule, an assessment interview ends with the phrase: “Do you have any questions for us?” This turn of events is a good chance to correct the situation if you were not up to par during the interview.

Well-worded questions that demonstrate initiative and enthusiasm can change people's perceptions of you. Think of new ideas and put them in the form of a question. For example: “I have some thoughts on how to improve the effectiveness of advertising your products. I was able to implement similar proposals at my previous job. Tell me, are new ideas welcome at your company?”

In fact, the question is only the last sentence, but what kind! It is difficult not to approve of such formulation.

There are also neutral questions with a positive effect. Let's say about training and development opportunities in the organization, priority projects at the moment, etc.

Finally, the test was over. Polite smiles, firm handshakes, gratitude for the interview. What had previously seemed like an execution turned out to be not so terrible. I would like to return to the interview topics again and again. After the fact, you already know exactly what should have been said and how, what questions to develop... But after a fight they don’t wave their fists. If you are the lucky owner of a vacancy that has already filled, tell your new colleagues something like: “I’m glad you chose me. I hope our cooperation will be effective.”

If this time luck has turned away from you, there is no need to dramatize the situation. In any case, you are now better aware of your strengths and weaknesses, which will help you find the right path for your own development. Be optimistic, if only because, according to generally accepted observations, such people are: a) happier; b) live longer; c) more successful. And the latter means that you will definitely conduct your next assessment interview with flying colors and win!

This material presents some successful management cases and tasks for assessing managers (cases on management skills). Including tasks for assessing sales department managers.

1. There is an employee in your department who has gone through all stages of career development. At the moment, no one knows the specifics of the unit’s activities better than he. However, you understand that after a while he will get bored of working here. What will you offer him?

2. A specialist came to you to discuss the situation: he was offered to move to another department, he is interested in it, he sees prospects, but understands that the situation on the labor market is difficult and finding a replacement for him within even a quarter is not an easy task. What will you do?

3. After the training you provided, it became clear that one of your subordinates was unable to put the course material into practice. Find a way to tell him about it.

4. Your subordinate is an older lady, so she prefers to do many things sedately and in an orderly manner, which, in your opinion, does not always correspond to the rhythm of the company’s activities. How will you tell her about this?

Answer to the first 4 cases:

Such cases allow managers to consider in detail difficult situations often encountered in management practice:
. related to the formation of motivation or management of an employee’s career (situation 1);
. related to resolving issues of retaining a specialist in the company for a long time (i.e. working with counterproposals) or for the period of searching for a replacement (situation 2);
. consisting in finding a way to transmit information and choosing a channel for data perception (situation 3);
. requiring a clear identification of the problem and the provision of feedback by the manager to subordinates (situation 4).

5. Appearance.

The secretary comes to work wearing a too short skirt and heavy makeup. You understand that the subordinate's appearance does not comply with the company dress code. Your actions?

Answer: Desired answer options: “I will make an oral remark,” “I will ask you to re-read the requirements for the dress code in the company.” After answering the first question, you can ask the following: “What will you do if your subordinate does not respond to your remark?” Desired response options: “I will reprimand”, “I will apply disciplinary action.” But the answer “I’ll complain to higher management” should be alarming; it may indicate a lack of management and communication skills.”

6. Delegation of powers.

We invite you to consider an example of a case, with the help of which you will evaluate a manager’s ability to delegate authority, skill in organizing work, and ability to rationally use working time.

Fable. The head of the design department went on maternity leave. Victoria D was appointed in her place. Her responsibilities, among others, included checking reports and calculations of department employees. In addition, every month she had to submit a statement for the payment of bonuses. By nature, Victoria was very responsible and scrupulous. She carefully checked all reports and calculations of employees to the point. And even knowing that some of them do not make mistakes, I still studied all the data in detail. This took a lot of time, she did not have time to complete other duties and often stayed late. The leading specialist suggested that she give some of the reports to him for verification, and the calculations and drawings to the chief engineer. But Victoria did not agree. As a result, several times in a row she did not draw up a statement and the employees did not receive a bonus, which worsened the atmosphere in the team.

Exercise. Are such scrupulous checks of employee performance necessary? How to properly organize Victoria’s work in the department?

Answer options	Interpretation
He believes that the work of subordinates must be checked carefully and that this cannot be trusted to anyone, since the boss is responsible for the results of the department’s work. And in order for Victoria to have time to do everything, employees need to avoid mistakes and submit reports and calculations earlier	This answer shows that, on the one hand, the person correctly determines the need to check the work of subordinates, and on the other hand, he does not know how to trust his colleagues and delegate authority, and believes that only he can complete the task best. He also does not take into account that if you reduce the time for preparing reports, employees will rush and start making mistakes, which will only increase the verification time. Thus, a person is process-oriented rather than result-oriented
He proposes to remove Victoria from her position if she fails to cope with her duties. This is normal, because she lets down the whole team, because of her people don’t receive bonuses	The answer shows that the person does not analyze the situation and immediately proposes drastic measures, although the solution requires logical and consistent actions. And the situation shows that Victoria has problems only in organizing her working time, and this is not a reason for dismissal
He believes that the work of subordinates needs to be checked one way or another, but there is no need to go to extremes. He invites Victoria to learn to trust employees and delegate her powers, especially since her subordinates are ready to help her	This answer shows that the person adequately assesses the need to check the work of subordinates. Tends to delegate authority in order to optimize the work process and will trust his subordinates

7. Teamwork.

An example of a case that will help you evaluate the skill of interaction in a team and conflict-free communication, as well as the ability to discuss the problem that has arisen.

Case “Annoying newcomer”

Fable. A new employee, Irina M., came to the personnel department. The head of the department introduced her to her colleagues, gave her a tour of the office, showed her where to get sample documents, and set tasks for the week. After some time, the girl turned to department employee Yulia D. for help, who explained to her all the nuances in detail. A few hours later, Irina again asked about what Yulia had already told her in detail. But, despite this, Yulia calmly repeated everything that had been said and once again explained where to get the necessary documents. A few days later, requests to clarify something were repeated, and then it got to the point that Irina began to tug at Yulia on any very insignificant issue. One day, Yulia could not stand it and was rude to a new employee, and Irina complained to her manager that she was not helping her adapt.

Exercise. What should a leader do in such a situation? What should Yulia have done when Irina began to pester her with constant questions?

Interpretation of answers to the case “Annoying newcomer”

Answer options	Interpretation
Accuses Yulia of rudeness and lack of restraint. It was necessary to enter into the position of a beginner, help him adapt, and not be rude to him. He invites the manager to talk to Yulia and reprimand her for such an act. So she only disrupts the atmosphere and does not build relationships in the team	Such an answer shows that a person analyzes the situation one-sidedly and is inclined to take someone’s side. Does not know how to find a compromise, is categorical in judgments
He believes that Yulia is not guilty, any person could have done this. The whole problem is Irina, who cannot understand her responsibilities. She offers to study her competencies again, maybe they hired the wrong person. And if Irina can’t cope, you need to break up with her	Based on this answer, one can judge that the person analyzes the action from different sides, but at the same time is also inclined to make a unilateral decision. Does not make impulsive decisions, first tries to understand the situation
Invites the manager to talk with Yulia to find out what really happened, what questions she had to answer and how often. Ask her to be more restrained. And also talk to Irina about what she doesn’t understand. Offers to assign Irina a mentor who will bring her up to date	This answer shows that the person analyzes the situation from different angles. Tries to find points of convergence between the two sides, tries to prevent conflict and calmly discuss the situation. Does not take sides, knows how to maintain neutrality

8. Focus on career growth.

A case option with which you can assess whether an employee is focused on career growth, his readiness to perform more complex work if circumstances require, his ability to take responsibility and diligence.

Case “Earn a Promotion”

Fable. Olga F. has worked in the marketing department for several years. Recently she began to feel that her job dissatisfaction was increasing and that she was ready to take on more complex work. She realized that she could very well take a higher position, and turned to her manager with a request to consider the possibility of promoting her. The boss invited her to perform the work of a leading specialist along with her duties for three months. Her salary will remain the same, but she will receive a bonus based on her performance. After three months, a decision will be made on her promotion.

Interpretation of answers to the case “Deserve a Promotion”

Answer options	Interpretation
	This response may mean that the person is not ready to take on additional responsibility. His interest in the position is higher than in the work itself. Doesn't trust manager's decisions
I agree with the manager’s decision, but believes that Olga needs to clarify the criteria for evaluating the results of her work in order to know exactly what to strive for, as well as find out the timing and size of the bonus in case of good results	Such a response shows that the person is ready to take on responsibility and that the interest in professional development is higher than the need to occupy a higher position. Able to assess his strengths and the tasks assigned to him. Will be able to work independently
I completely agree with the boss's decision. He believes that Olga has been given a good chance to prove herself. And for this you can work even without bonuses	Such a response is either very similar to the socially desirable one, that is, the person does not reveal his true attitude to the situation, or he cannot imagine himself in a similar situation. In addition, such a response shows that the person is ready to obey the leader, but in reality will resist

9. Honesty.

And this case will help you evaluate such personal qualities as financial integrity, honesty, and lack of tendency to kickbacks.

Case “Personal reward”

Fable. Inna is the head of the secretariat of a large holding company. Among other responsibilities, she was looking for suppliers to support the life of the office. The head of the company was not satisfied with the previous supplier of office supplies and asked Inna to find an optimal replacement. She studied the needs of the departments and approved the budget. Based on demand and allocated funds, I chose two companies - “P...” and “K..”. They had a similar range and comparable prices. The organization “P...” offered Inna a personal reward. In the end, she chose this company. After the first delivery, she conducted a survey which showed that all departments were satisfied with the quality of the office supplies. A few months later she placed an order again. But this time the quality was worse. The dissatisfaction reached the manager. Inna was reprimanded and asked to change supplier. She found herself in a difficult situation, since she had already taken a reward for the third order.

Interpretation of answers to the case “Personal reward”

Answer options	Interpretation
She believes that Inna did nothing wrong. The reality is that many receive kickbacks from deliveries. This is a way to earn extra income. We need to pay employees competitive salaries, and then such situations will not happen. Offers Inna to return the money taken for the third order and change the supplier	Such an answer may indicate that the person lacks financial integrity and, at any opportunity, he can do the same as the heroine of the case. He doesn’t even try to condemn Inna’s actions even a little; on the contrary, he supports her and suggests how she can get away with it
She condemns Inna’s actions and says that she needs to confess everything to her manager and return all the money she took from the supplier. And he advises the boss to select personnel for such positions more carefully and not to trust Inna to choose suppliers	This answer is more reminiscent of a socially desirable one. Or it may be that the quality of “honesty” is too dominant in a person and then there is a danger that he will complain to the manager for any reason as soon as he notices that, in his opinion, someone is acting dishonestly
He says that the reality is that such cases are not uncommon in companies. And if Inna decided to take the reward, she had to think about what the consequences might be if someone found out about it. Is it worth the risk, because this way you can lose a good position, lose the trust of your manager and subsequently have bad recommendations	Such a response shows that the person acknowledges that such situations happen, and it is quite possible that he could do the same. But at the same time, a person appreciates the manager’s trust and will not take risks to get a kickback. It is important for him to have good recommendations, and he also cares about what people say about him

10. Communication skills.

To identify communication skills in the process of team management, the following competencies are assessed:
- self-confidence, ability to independently solve work problems;
- ability to show flexibility and avoid unnecessary conflicts;
- the ability to make rational decisions and act in an unusual, stressful situation.
Case (management skills):
The head of a small company asked the HR manager to hire the daughter of a very important partner for the company. The partner’s daughter had not worked anywhere for many years and wanted to be more around people. She didn’t show any ambitions for a career in the company. The main goal was to make the girl feel in demand. The HR manager did not propose her candidacy for line divisions and accepted the girl for the position of HR specialist. She was asked to master the simplest functions and perform them to the best of her ability. As a result, the main, highest-quality skills that she acquired during adaptation were: receiving incoming documents, entering an account, and filing corporate documentation into folders. For several months everyone was happy and the work went on as usual. Six months later, the position of leading document management specialist became available. While they were deciding to find a person from the outside or choose from among their own, the director called the head of the personnel department with a proposal to promote the partner’s recently hired daughter, at his request. Knowing that there were employees in the department who were more suitable for the position of leading specialist, the HR manager could not give this position to a new employee, but she also could not put the general director in an awkward position in front of her partner.

Questions:
What do you think the head of the HR department should do in this situation?
Could this problem have been avoided?
How will the promotion of the partner’s daughter affect the team if the general director insists on this decision and the head of the personnel department has to carry out this order?
Case assignment: Offer your options for solving the problem.

Answer options

1. The applicant takes the side of the general director and explains this by the fact that in companies, anyway, everyone below the head of the company does not decide anything. As the management says, that’s what everyone does. There was no way to avoid this situation.

2. The applicant is of the opinion that it would be fair to think about those who have been working in the team for a long time and offer the partner’s daughter an alternative solution. For example, he suggests that someone from the team can be promoted, and she (the daughter) be placed not in the place of a leading specialist, but in the place of a simple specialist who has been transferred. It was hardly possible to avoid it, since it is impossible to predict how events will develop.

3. The applicant assumes that the basis for refusal may be selection policy norms prohibiting the employment of relatives of the founders or partners of the company. But now that the head of the department has already faced this problem, she needs to make a decision taking into account all parties and promote someone from the more qualified ones, and offer her partner’s daughter something else. Otherwise, a decision in favor of only one side can ruin the relationship between the team and the manager.

After the answers are formulated, you need to interpret them and draw conclusions about how well they correspond to expectations.

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