The dynamics of assessment center validity: results of a seven year study

We investigated temporal trends in the validity of an assessment center consisting of a group discussion and an analysis/presentation exercise, for predicting career advancement as measured by average salary growth over a 7-year period, for a sample of 679 academic graduates. The validity of the overall assessment rating (OAR) for persons with tenure of 7 years, corrected for initial differences in starting salaries, restriction in range, was .39. There was a considerable time variation in the validity of both the OAR and assessment center dimensions. In accordance with findings from research in managerial effectiveness and development, the dimension interpersonal effectiveness only became valid after a number of years, while the dimension firmness was predictive in the whole period and increased in time. For comparison, validity trends for two types of interviews and a mental test were also studied.