Topic: Assessment, Training
Publication: American Psychologist
Article: Developing Managerial Talent
Through Simulation
Authors: G. C. Thornton, J. N. Cleveland
Reviewed By: Rachel Marsh
Simulations
are replications of essential parts of a job and have been utilized by
organizations for over 55 years. They are used to study, assess and develop
talent, especially managerial talent, and offer more information about
assessees than questionnaires. Job simulations can range from being low
fidelity and very simple (e.g., asking
employees what they would do in certain situations, to very high fidelity and
quite complicated (e.g., behavioral simulations that include analyzing many
different aspects of company information).
Standardized
simulations are often performed by trained assessment center personnel who can
quantify the actions of employees into usable data that is based upon the
performance of managers or managerial candidates who have gone through these
simulations in the past. Because trained assessors perform the
simulations in a controlled setting, there is also more control over the
different variables the managers must deal with in the job simulation. This allows the organization to make a
simulation very specific for each position or employee/applicant.
The general
assumption regarding simulations as an assessment tool is that employees will behave
similarly in real work situations as they do in the simulation, thus helping
companies make better hiring/promotion decisions. When used in a training
and development context, simulations help identify competencies that need
improvement so that a specific training plan can be developed for the employee,
saving the company time and money.
In their
review article, Thornton and Cleveland suggest that in order to best utilize
simulations for training they should be used in conjunction with other training
methods such as lectures and demonstrations, and that employees should start
with the simplest methods or training, then move to more complex methods.
Constant feedback should also be included in the training process to ensure
employees’ optimal learning from the training. In order to best utilize
simulations for research and assessment, the authors suggest that several
different methods of simulations should be used, as this will ensure companies
get the most accurate employee information.
