Assessment and Development Center

A more extensive, accurate understanding of one’s staff’s competencies and potential allows more aware and effective organisational and business choices and to protect the company from the risk of unexpected or unplanned turnover, thus guaranteeing professional staff and career development programmes and consistent growth.

The Assessment and Development Center allows companies to make decisions based on facts, as well as to safeguard and nurture their competencies. It gives employees an accurate picture of their abilities, thus boosting an improvement plan consistent with company expectations and potential.

PRAXI Assessment and Development Centers are the fruit of decades of experience and a close focus on clients’ development targets and changing markets. This allows us to assess competencies and potential in relation to company needs, also taking account of the market benchmark for similar figures, with an objective reference framework that can be compared with the situation outside the company.

PRAXI designs individual assessments for top executives and management, as well as group assessment and development center activities for middle management, up-and-coming figures and professionals.

PRAXI assessment is based on the Learning Agility concept (Lombardo, M.M., McCauley, C.D., The Dynamics of Management Derailment; Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC 1988), because we are convinced that in today’s rapidly evolving world, it is quick learners who make the difference in a company.

Our assessment method is exceptionally reliable, because tests are always provided for to verify competencies and potential after intervention has been requested and conducted, involving a number of figures.

PRAXI generally bases the Assessment and Development Centers (AC/DC) on a business game approach. Individual and group tests are devised for a single company scenario participants will work on throughout the AC/DC, during which they will have to deal with a range of different business aspects in a corporate situation comparable to their own in terms of business sector and company size. This simulation challenges all aspects of their managerial competencies - emotional, organisational, decision-making, ethical, relational and personal – and they will be called upon to apply their business mind to strategy scenarios and tackle micromanagement issues. In addition to the individual and group tests on how the simulated company is managed, the assessment programme comprises behavior analysis tests and individual interviews.

The outcome of the assessment is set out in an individual report, shared with participants in order to boost awareness and motivate improvement. Following the individual interviews, an improvement plan is drafted, featuring self-development, training and coaching methods.

In addition to detailed individual reports on participants’ competencies, potential and motivation, the company receives a summary overview of all the employees involved, comprising assessments and areas for improvement, as well as succession plans.

Praxi 360° is a tool we have developed for an exhaustive, all-round assessment of leadership. Each manager involved is assessed by his/her direct superior, co-workers and colleagues, and self-assessment is also provided for. The model is based on 16 competencies over 5 different areas and 120 assessment items. The questionnaire is supplied through a web platform developed by Praxi Information Technology, and the output provides a clear picture of the impact of the leadership exercise on each manager involved, with a view to developing a customised, individual development programme.