Our development assessments can be conducted with any employee at any stage in their career and are used to provide neutral third-party assessment information on the employee to help them in their current role. Two instances in which organizations often seek development assessments are with high-performing employees who organizations wish to prepare for advancement or, alternatively, with employees who are struggling.

Organizations often lack the time or resources to help high-performing employees maximize their potential and prepare for advancement. This may result in decreased engagement by the employee or lost opportunities to increase their contribution to the organization. A development assessment can assist the employee with establishing and taking action towards achieving goals, increasing work engagement, and taking greater responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments. BL Associates Corporate Psychologists Inc. development assessment services are designed:

  • to identify key strengths that can be further leveraged, and
  • to provide the employee and the organization with:
    • an understanding of the areas where further development could be beneficial
    • alternative resources to address identified development opportunities, and
    • a structured process of action-planning and review to guide development activities.

Alternatively, there are times during a career when any employee may struggle. This can be due to any of a number of reasons, from work demands to personal issues, but results in a key individual exhibiting behaviours that are unproductive, ineffective, and potentially damaging to the organization’s operations and the employee’s career. BL Associates Corporate Psychologists Inc. development assessment services are designed:

  • to clarify the reasons behind the employee’s difficulties, and
  • to provide the employee and the organization with:
    • an understanding of the areas where development should be focused
    • alternative resources to address identified development needs, and
    • a structured process of action-planning and review to guide development activities.

Competencies Assessed

  • Problem Solving and Decision Making: the employee’s ability to handle the complexity of issues encountered and to make sound decisions in a timely manner.
  • Work Application: the employee’s motivation, energy, and ability to focus his/her efforts on accomplishing objectives and moving the organization forward.
  • People Skills: the employee’s ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with co-workers, representatives from other departments, the public, and other stakeholders.
  • Leadership Potential:  the employee’s ability to demonstrate the qualities that others look for in an organizational leader, including an examination of potential “derailers” (personal characteristics that have been shown to blunt leadership effectiveness and create negative consequences for organizations and their stakeholders).

Steps in the Assessment Process

  1. We confer with organizational representatives to obtain a full understanding of the developmental issues from the organization’s perspective.
  2. The employee completes a battery of online questionnaires and attends an interview (in-person or via video conferencing) with a Corporate Psychologist.
  3. The interview and test results are analyzed and evaluated against the demands of the job and the performance expectations placed on the employee. Strengths on which the employee can build are identified, as are areas that limit or are likely to limit the employee’s effectiveness.
  4. The Corporate Psychologist reviews the assessment results with the organizational representatives requesting the assessment and discusses the implications of the results for a successful development effort.  
  5. A written summary report is prepared that documents assessment findings and identifies relevant developmental resources.
  6. The employee meets with the Corporate Psychologist to obtain detailed feedback on their results. If desired, an audio recording of the conversation is provided to the employee for their future reference.
  7. The Corporate Psychologist meets with the employee and their supervisor (a) to establish priorities-for-attention with respect to the areas identified for development and (b) to create the structure of an action plan for addressing the employee’s development needs. With the action-plan structure and developmental priorities established, the employee is tasked with completing their development action plan and putting it into motion.
  8. The employee presents their completed developmental action plan to their supervisor for approval.
  9. The employee undertakes the actions specified in their development plan and, together with their supervisor, monitors progress and evaluates it against performance criteria specified in the action plan.
  10. We remain available to the employee and their supervisor for guidance, advice, and support.