Assessment Materials |MTa Select

MTa Select is a package of practical assessment activities and tools designed to become part of an integrated approach to assessment centres within user organisations. It is inherently flexible and offers a range of options so it can be used within a wide range of organisations, functions, career tracks and individuals.

Its practical assessment activities provide opportunities at assessment centres for:

Participants to demonstrate specific skills and competencies
Assessors to observe participants whilst they work.

MTa Select is based on the premise that:

Observing and evaluating individuals in a controlled environment, in a structured way, can provide valuable insights when used in assessment centres and career development workshops
When people become absorbed in appropriately designed group tasks they demonstrate and reveal personal competencies, behaviours and attitudes

MTa Select can be used to assess over 100 defined qualities

The 8 activities in MTa Select can be used to observe, evaluate and assess over 100 defined qualities. Popular topics that MTa Select enables you to assess include:-

Leadership
Influencing
Customer focus
Team skills

Problem Solving
Communication
Decision Making
Managing Conflict

The tasks are split into two categories, ‘Foundation Tasks’ target common qualities needed by almost everyone in the workplace (e.g. listening) whereas the more complex qualities needed in more challenging roles (e.g. negotiating) are targeted by the ‘Complex Tasks’.

The target qualities for all the tasks are compared in a Matrix of Qualities (Download Matrix).

MTa Select provides a systematic framework in which to assess and select participants

Step 1: Challenging and Engaging Group Activities
Challenging and engaging activities provide an effective platform for assessment. The tasks are cleverly designed and tested to ensure that:- Participants have an opportunity to demonstrate both strengths and weaknesses in areas being assessed Participants are able to relate to the tasks The activities are challenging and involving, but not too daunting Participants have the opportunity to demonstrate a range of skills and behaviours openly
Step 2: Observation of candidates
Once the initial brief is given the activities enable assessors to fully concentrate on noting what they actually observe. The engaging nature of the tasks ensures there is plenty of behaviour to observe. The large scale of the components spreads participants allowing observers to get a much clearer view of the qualities demonstrated by individual candidates than in a traditional table top setting. In addition candidates can move around providing a more 'fluid' and 'richer' team dynamic.
Step 3: Evaluation
The evaluation process enables assessors to create a numerical rating for each of participant against set criteria: 5 (very high level of performance) to 1 (unacceptable level of performance) This is done by transferring all significant observations of each quality (both negative and positive) onto a Data Evaluation Matrix, and rating their use against the required performance.
Step 4: Selection
The final stage in selecting the best candidates is to combine the results of the MTa Select assessment activities with the traditional elements of an assessment centre to generate an overall candidate ranking. Additonal elements are likely to include: One-to-one structured interviews. If each participant is to have more than one interview, spreading them through the day provides balance. However as interviews provide the opportunity to probe issues raised by tasks on a one-to-one basis and deal with personal issues, at least one of the interviews should be towards the end on the whole process. Psychometric tests are best introduced early. This means that they can be scored during the other tasks and the results used (within the feedback) to provide information for interviewers and if appropriate within feedback discussions. Sample programmes with some of the possible options for assessment centres, selection days and career development workshops are provided in the MTa Select Assessors guide.

Example Testimonials

MTa Select is proven and tested yet the unique activities are fresh and innovative. MTa Select has been successfully used in different sectors, countries and organisations, including:-

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