Current study from the field of HR management: How AI will change the future of assessment centers
Assessment centers (AC) continue to be a key instrument for strategically relevant selection and development decisions in HR management. At the same time, traditional AC formats are coming under increasing pressure: high resource requirements, limited scalability and rising expectations of fairness and transparency are calling existing practices into question. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important in almost all HR functions, from recruiting and talent management to learning & development, including in the context of ACs.
Prof. Dr. Stephan Weinert, Professor of General Business Administration, in particular International HR Management, at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG LU) has now investigated the role that AI will play in AC in the future. Together with his practice partner, Deepwood TeamEntwicklungs-GmbH, he investigated how AI will change the future of assessment centers.
The results of the study now available provide a clear orientation: AI is not seen by AC experts as a replacement for human assessment, but as a lever for modernizing and professionalizing existing AC processes. AI applications that consolidate observation data, standardize processes and make feedback and development more individual show particularly high acceptance and dissemination potential. These applications promise tangible efficiency gains, greater consistency in the assessment and increased added value for candidates - without relinquishing diagnostic responsibility.
Strategic development: stagnation as a competitive risk
At the same time, the study makes it clear that companies that continue to adhere to traditional AC formats risk being at a competitive disadvantage in the medium term. While individual AI applications are already available today, many organizations lack a clear vision of where AI should be used sensibly - and where it should deliberately not be used. This uncertainty inhibits innovation and means that potential remains untapped.
According to the study, the key need for action for companies therefore lies in a strategic reassessment of their AC practices. What is needed is not a radical system change, but targeted further development: AI should be integrated where it relieves assessors, increases the quality of decisions and makes processes more transparent. At the same time, HR functions need to build up targeted technological and data-related skills in order to not only use AI, but also to be able to critically manage and take responsibility for it.
"ACs remain a relevant tool, but not in their current form. Companies that consistently develop their AC practice now, use AI in a targeted manner and clearly define the role of people will ensure the quality, acceptance and efficiency of personnel selection and development in the long term. Companies that wait and see run the risk of their ACs losing their impact, attractiveness and strategic benefits," concludes study director Prof. Dr. Stephan Weinert.
Background:
Despite a wide range of potential AI application scenarios in ACs, the empirical evidence available to date has been limited. In particular, there was a lack of systematic data on which specific fields of AI application are considered desirable by AC experts and HR professionals, in which areas AI is actually already being used today and where it is expected to become more widespread in the future.
This study addresses precisely this research gap by systematically recording for the first time how different AI scenarios in AC are assessed in terms of their desirability, their current degree of use and their expected future spread. The study is based on the Delphi method, a structured expert survey procedure. The core of the method is a multi-stage, moderated and anonymized opinion-forming process among selected AC experts and HR professionals.
"The study is an example of innovative, practice-oriented research at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society with a clear focus on the current challenges in HR management. I cordially invite companies to work with us - whether in research projects, studies or the joint development of new HR approaches in the age of AI," says Stephan Weinert.
Interested in the complete study? Please send a short e-mail to stephan.weinert@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de.
Contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Department of Marketing and Human Resource Management
Prof. Dr. Stephan Weinert
Chair of General Business Administration, in particular International Human Resource Management
E-mail: stephan.weinert@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
