Evaluating a development centre

Aims to explore factors which are thought to relate to the effectiveness of development centre processes. Studies a variety of attitudinal and motivational aspects concerned with attendance at, and benefit from, a development centre. The research was carried out using an instrument which was completed by 60 managers who had attended a development centre organized by a major British company. Hypothesizes a model which links development centre benefits to process validity, pre‐centre factors, and biographical factors. Results show partial support for the model, confirming the strong link between benefits and process validity, but fail to demonstrate the importance of support from a participant’s manager. Factor analysis demonstrates three distinct sets of benefits which have been labelled: personal development; career development; and organizational commitment.