Development Centre

Testing Key Behaviours

The following Development Centre was run for eight delegates who were assessed by four observers.

The organisation needed to create a culture that encouraged creativity and innovation. The delegates were selected as they were in roles that could influence the new culture. A programme of work was carried out to identify key behaviours that are desirable for the new culture. These are:

Open Minded
Accessing Broad Stimuli
Supportive
Non Judgmental
Influential Communication
Lateral Thinking
Progressive Thinking
Courage
Resilience
Progressive

See table below for a full description of the behaviours

The Development Company UK Limited was engaged to design a Development Centre that would show whether or not each delegate demonstrated the key behaviours.

The tests were designed and the Development Centre was scheduled to run over two days.

The observers arrived on the first day with the afternoon dedicated to Observer Training.

The Observer Training is designed to ensure participants:

Understand their role as observers in the Development Centre process
Are familiar with the documentation, logistics and timetable for the Development Centre
Have a clear understanding of how to record assessment data in the observation documents
Recognise and explore the behaviours identified for the role
Understand the range and nature of the assessment tasks being used in the Development Centre process

The delegates for the Development Centre arrived on the second morning and were subjected to a series of exercises to test the behaviours. The exercises included timed tasks, coaching and working in teams. The objectives were to:

Assess each participant’s ability against the defined behaviours
Identify each participant’s specific development needs
Enable each participant to receive in-depth, constructive feedback on their performance
Ensure that the creative and innovative aspirations of the organisation are being supported by the managers within the department
Be able to support each participant as they develop themselves and their role

The day was very intensive and concluded with a surprise exercise to develop an entertainment sketch to be performed after the evening meal.

At the end of the Development Centre the observers fed back their scores and observations. As a result of the Development Centre training needs for certain individuals were identified. One delegate was promoted immediately after the Development Centre.

Behaviour/Attitude	Description
Open Minded	Is able to receive ideas and look for the positive aspects of those ideas and where possible builds on those ideas.
Accessing Broad Stimuli	Actively seeks different sources of information and references. Explores how different people, departments or organisations for sources of inspiration and insights into the latest thinking or best practice.
Supportive	Demonstrates supportive behaviours to fellow colleagues to encourage creativity and innovation in others.
Non Judgmental	The ability to suspend judgmental thinking or bias in order to explore a range of ideas, opportunities and perspectives.
Influential Communication	Is able to put across ideas, and new ways of approaching problems or opportunities which other people understand and commit to.
Lateral Thinking	Takes a wider perspective when dealing with problems and challenges. Identifies and moulds different ideas to suit the challenge in hand.
Progressive Thinking	Continually looks how systems, processes and ways of working can be refined and improved. Is not content to adopt a “that’s the way we have always done it” attitude.
Courage	Is prepared to challenge and take a calculated risk in the pursuit of positive and worthwhile change.
Resilience	Is able to remain focussed and committed to their goals and objectives despite setbacks or the negative behaviours and attitudes of others.
Progressive	Learns from their experiences and applies this learning in what they do now and in the future. Continually looks to improve their approach and way of dealing with issues, challenge and problems. Does not rely on what has happened in the past to dictate how things can be done now.