This is a complete assessment process, typically ranging in duration from one to three days, where participants are put through a series of simulations and tests to identify leadership effectiveness in a given role. Assessment Centres are the most valid and thorough process for identifying leadership potential and capability in depth.

These are carefully designed questionnaires, which use self report to identify areas of strength and weakness. These are mainly used to identify leadership traits, allowing effective predictions of likely leadership performance to be made.

These are tests of maximum performance, which measure a participant’s level of cognitive capability in a specific area. Examples include tests of numerical reasoning, inductive reasoning and verbal reasoning. Many other tests also exist such as spatial awareness or mechanical aptitude. Tests can, therefore, be chosen which are directly related to the ability required for on the job top level performance.

These are tests that mirror the judgments found in senior job roles and assess the participant’s capability to take correct decisions when faced with a specific circumstance or problem. This method is particularly suitable for roles where decision making is critical to the performance of a role and where a wrong decision can potentially have serious negative consequences.

This methodology is used to assess current performance and is particularly useful for identifying development needs. Questionnaires to assess an individual’s performance are sent to the participant’s manager, peers, clients and subordinates (if applicable). As this method uses confidential feedback from the participant’s colleagues and managers, it allows for what is sometimes a tough message for the participant, who may be unaware of the consequences of their actions on their peers and subordinates.

This is a specific type of exercise, which can be used for leadership readiness, potential or current performance assessment. The exercise allows for a wide range of problems to be presented to the participant on any issue, enabling the organisation to measure the level of understanding and decision making as well as competence of response.

These exercises are particularly useful for measuring the participant’s capability in depth of analysis, particularly in situations involving complex financial and business data. The subject is given a length of time to review a business case and identify both the issues as well as their proposed strategy and actions for dealing with it. This method can also be used in conjunction with a presentation, where the participant presents their findings, allowing an assessment to be made also of their communication impact.

Simulations are particularly effective at measuring the capability of leaders to deal with their staff and/or clients. With these, the participant is given a scenario and instructed to prepare themselves for a meeting. Scenarios typically involve the participant taking on the role of the person managing the problem. In the meeting itself, the assessor typically takes on the other role, allowing them to manipulate the meeting to ensure that all areas required to be addressed by the simulation are covered.