Developing Assessment Center Tools to Identify Future-Ready Talent
Developing Assessment Center Tools to Identify Future-Ready Talent
Situation
In the journey to transform talent assessments, it's important to recognize if the current assessment center fits well with today's business era or the past eras, such as the pandemic era. At that time, the stimuli and scenarios within the assessment were designed to align closely with the unique challenges and uncertainties the business faced—making the process fit well with pandemic-related demands for agility, remote work capabilities, and crisis responsiveness.
Nevertheless, as the world moves fully into the post-pandemic era, our client recognizes the urgent need to evolve their assessment approach—not just to stay relevant today, but to boldly anticipate and embrace the demands of tomorrow’s business landscape. Today's business environment calls for addressing new market realities, changing customer expectations, and advanced digital transformation. The future competencies the organization needs now go beyond pandemic-era skills—they encompass innovation, adaptability to rapid market shifts, and alignment with refreshed business strategies.
This is where our Human Capital and Training Advisory team plays a vital role. We partner with the client to recalibrate the assessment center so it reflects current and future business needs more precisely. By updating the stimuli and evaluation criteria, we ensure the assessments measure competencies that matter most today—helping the client build a workforce that’s not only pandemic-responsive but truly future-ready, aligned with current market dynamics, the company’s mission, values, and long-term vision. In essence, this evolution of the assessment center represents a continuous commitment to relevance and resilience—making sure the organization remains ahead of the curve by identifying and nurturing the talent that will drive sustained success in the ever-changing business landscape.
Challenges
As one of the largest public transportation companies in Indonesia—with multiple divisions and seven subsidiary companies—our client operates in a complex organizational ecosystem. This vast structure, while powerful, also brings unique challenges when it comes to talent assessment.
Through our comprehensive organizational study—which included a deep dive into their business evolution, corporate structure, subsidiaries, values, and missions—combined with document analysis such as their Rencana Jangka Panjang Perusahaan (5 Tahun), the last 2 years Annual Report, Competence Dictionary as well as in-depth interviews with top management, we discovered the key challenges.
First, we identified role duplication and overlapping responsibilities across different divisions and subsidiaries. This made it challenging to clearly define which roles require specific skills, and in turn, to design assessments that accurately measure those competencies. Second, the wide spectrum of technical expertise spread across numerous specialized roles introduced another layer of complexity—demanding an assessment approach that could address both depth and diversity of skills. These challenges called for a precise, data-driven approach—one that could cut through complexity, honor the organization’s diversity, and create a clear map of the skills needed for the future.
Question
How can we create an assessment center that stays relevant in today’s fast-evolving business landscape and accurately mapping the diverse skills within a massive, complex organization while building a clear and reliable talent pool for internal promotions?
Answer (How do We Help)
To answer the key question, following our extensive research and analysis, our team focused on developing a comprehensive matrix mapping—identifying the exact competencies to be measured in each assessment—and designing a detailed blueprint for the new system. Recognizing the different demands of leadership levels, we created separate assessment models for Manager and Vice President positions.
The blueprint design process brought together experts in workforce and business management, enabling us to gain a thorough understanding of the current business climate. This insight allowed us to design hypothetical scenarios grounded in real-world challenges, ensuring the assessments could stimulate candidates’ raw ideas and decision-making skills. In the problem analysis, in basket, role plays, and group discussion we deliberately used a “hypothetical situation” rather than the client’s own organization. This was a strategic choice—previously, when the client used their own company as the case, candidates tended to rely heavily on their past experiences, making decisions based on familiar reflections instead of showcasing their full problem-solving potential. By introducing a neutral, yet realistic, scenario, we encouraged participants to think outside the box.
The simulations were designed to be dynamic and comprehensive, including in-basket exercises, problem analysis, and role play. The role play simulation consisted of two critical interaction types: customer interaction and subordinate interaction, providing insights into both external communication and internal leadership skills. These were further complemented by competency-based interviews and an inventory test in the form of situational judgment—allowing us to capture a well-rounded picture of each participant’s capabilities.
The development phase of the assessment tools spanned 2 months, followed by three rigorous trial runs to refine the tools until they met our client’s satisfaction—ensuring that all targeted competencies were accurately measured. Once finalized, we conducted a socialization session for all stakeholders, including assessors, to ensure smooth implementation.
We have reimagined the company’s traditional assessment approach to thoughtfully meet the demands of today’s dynamic business environment—delivering clear, actionable insights in a streamlined two-day process. Guided by the dedication and thoughtful expertise of our Human Capital and Training Advisory team, we have walked alongside the client throughout this transformation. Together, we built an assessment center that goes beyond measuring current performance; it embraces the evolving business landscape and nurtures leadership that is adaptable, humble, and ready to lead with purpose.
This work is a shared commitment, to empower the organization not only to succeed today but to grow sustainably and thoughtfully into the future, unlocking potential in ways that honor both people and the journey ahead.
In the journey to transform talent assessments, it's important to recognize if the current assessment center fits well with today's business era or the past eras, such as the pandemic era. At that time, the stimuli and scenarios within the assessment were designed to align closely with the unique challenges and uncertainties the business faced—making the process fit well with pandemic-related demands for agility, remote work capabilities, and crisis responsiveness.
Nevertheless, as the world moves fully into the post-pandemic era, our client recognizes the urgent need to evolve their assessment approach—not just to stay relevant today, but to boldly anticipate and embrace the demands of tomorrow’s business landscape. Today's business environment calls for addressing new market realities, changing customer expectations, and advanced digital transformation. The future competencies the organization needs now go beyond pandemic-era skills—they encompass innovation, adaptability to rapid market shifts, and alignment with refreshed business strategies.
This is where our Human Capital and Training Advisory team plays a vital role. We partner with the client to recalibrate the assessment center so it reflects current and future business needs more precisely. By updating the stimuli and evaluation criteria, we ensure the assessments measure competencies that matter most today—helping the client build a workforce that’s not only pandemic-responsive but truly future-ready, aligned with current market dynamics, the company’s mission, values, and long-term vision. In essence, this evolution of the assessment center represents a continuous commitment to relevance and resilience—making sure the organization remains ahead of the curve by identifying and nurturing the talent that will drive sustained success in the ever-changing business landscape.
Challenges
As one of the largest public transportation companies in Indonesia—with multiple divisions and seven subsidiary companies—our client operates in a complex organizational ecosystem. This vast structure, while powerful, also brings unique challenges when it comes to talent assessment.
Through our comprehensive organizational study—which included a deep dive into their business evolution, corporate structure, subsidiaries, values, and missions—combined with document analysis such as their Rencana Jangka Panjang Perusahaan (5 Tahun), the last 2 years Annual Report, Competence Dictionary as well as in-depth interviews with top management, we discovered the key challenges.
First, we identified role duplication and overlapping responsibilities across different divisions and subsidiaries. This made it challenging to clearly define which roles require specific skills, and in turn, to design assessments that accurately measure those competencies. Second, the wide spectrum of technical expertise spread across numerous specialized roles introduced another layer of complexity—demanding an assessment approach that could address both depth and diversity of skills. These challenges called for a precise, data-driven approach—one that could cut through complexity, honor the organization’s diversity, and create a clear map of the skills needed for the future.
Question
How can we create an assessment center that stays relevant in today’s fast-evolving business landscape and accurately mapping the diverse skills within a massive, complex organization while building a clear and reliable talent pool for internal promotions?
Answer (How do We Help)
To answer the key question, following our extensive research and analysis, our team focused on developing a comprehensive matrix mapping—identifying the exact competencies to be measured in each assessment—and designing a detailed blueprint for the new system. Recognizing the different demands of leadership levels, we created separate assessment models for Manager and Vice President positions.
The blueprint design process brought together experts in workforce and business management, enabling us to gain a thorough understanding of the current business climate. This insight allowed us to design hypothetical scenarios grounded in real-world challenges, ensuring the assessments could stimulate candidates’ raw ideas and decision-making skills. In the problem analysis, in basket, role plays, and group discussion we deliberately used a “hypothetical situation” rather than the client’s own organization. This was a strategic choice—previously, when the client used their own company as the case, candidates tended to rely heavily on their past experiences, making decisions based on familiar reflections instead of showcasing their full problem-solving potential. By introducing a neutral, yet realistic, scenario, we encouraged participants to think outside the box.
The simulations were designed to be dynamic and comprehensive, including in-basket exercises, problem analysis, and role play. The role play simulation consisted of two critical interaction types: customer interaction and subordinate interaction, providing insights into both external communication and internal leadership skills. These were further complemented by competency-based interviews and an inventory test in the form of situational judgment—allowing us to capture a well-rounded picture of each participant’s capabilities.
The development phase of the assessment tools spanned 2 months, followed by three rigorous trial runs to refine the tools until they met our client’s satisfaction—ensuring that all targeted competencies were accurately measured. Once finalized, we conducted a socialization session for all stakeholders, including assessors, to ensure smooth implementation.
We have reimagined the company’s traditional assessment approach to thoughtfully meet the demands of today’s dynamic business environment—delivering clear, actionable insights in a streamlined two-day process. Guided by the dedication and thoughtful expertise of our Human Capital and Training Advisory team, we have walked alongside the client throughout this transformation. Together, we built an assessment center that goes beyond measuring current performance; it embraces the evolving business landscape and nurtures leadership that is adaptable, humble, and ready to lead with purpose.
This work is a shared commitment, to empower the organization not only to succeed today but to grow sustainably and thoughtfully into the future, unlocking potential in ways that honor both people and the journey ahead.