So verwenden Sie den Assessment Center

Die ultimative Simulation

So wie Piloten in einem Flugsimulator trainieren und Chirurgen in der virtuellen Realität testen und üben, können Führungskräfte ausprobieren und erleben, wie es ist, eine Führungskraft in einer virtuellen Umgebung zu sein, bevor sie dies im wirklichen Leben tun. Das nennt man Assessment-Center.

DDI revolutionized leadership selection and decision-making by bringing military-grade precision to the business world. What began as a method for identifying officers and spies after World War I was reimagined by DDI's industrial-organizational psychologist founders in 1970 to identify, evaluate, and develop leaders. Over the past 55 years, DDI's behavior-based assessment centers have evolved from in-person simulations to fully virtual, immersive experiences-empowering organizations worldwide with data-driven insights to build exceptional leaders.

Die Daten aus einem Leadership Assessment Center sind verhaltensbasiert, objektiv und messbar und in hohem Maße prädiktiv für den zukünftigen Erfolg. Discover everything you need to know about assessment centers-drawn from our decades of experience as the pioneers and innovators who've shaped how they're used today. 

What’s an Assessment Center?  

Think of an assessment center as a "day in the life" of a leader-packed into a single, immersive experience. Participants take on realistic challenges, make decisions, and lead in a simulated organization designed to reflect their actual role. While simulations are a key ingredient, an assessment center goes further by combining these experiences with expert observation and data-driven evaluation to reveal each leader's true strengths and opportunities.

An assessment center is a structured, standardized experience that evaluates how leaders think and act in real-world situations. It provides in-depth data to make accurate and valid hiring, succession, or development decisions based on who’s ready for future roles. Participants engage in role-specific simulations—such as leading teams, solving business challenges, or making strategic decisions—within a realistic, fictitious organization. These behavioral simulations are observed and rated by multiple assessors and are often complemented by other tools, such as cognitive or personality assessments and interviews.

Each exercise is designed to reveal behaviors critical for success in the target role. These key competencies are identified through a job analysis conducted before the assessment center begins.

Together, these components provide a comprehensive, data-driven view of each person’s leadership strengths and development needs.

In the simulation portion of assessments, participants face various tasks, challenges, assignments, and interactions that a typical leader would face in the real world. For example, during a first-level leader simulation, they might be asked to coach a direct report with a performance problem or assigned to delegate a new task to a peer. Für einen Teilnehmer auf Führungsebene kann der Auftrag ein hochkarätiges Medieninterview sein, um eine Krise zu bewältigen, mit der das Unternehmen konfrontiert ist. 

Zu den gängigen Jobsimulationen, die in Assessment-Centern verwendet werden, gehören:

• Inbox-Übungen, die früher als "In-Basket-Übungen" bezeichnet wurden 
• Gruppendiskussionen 
• Interactions or role plays with “direct reports” or “clients” 
• Übungen zur Ermittlung von Fakten 
• Analyse- oder Entscheidungsprobleme 
• Formale Präsentationsübungen 
• Schriftliche Kommunikationsproben 

A combination of skilled human assessors and objective technology evaluates the participant’s behaviors and produces a reliable evaluation report. The report includes overall ratings on leadership competencies as well as detailed feedback on specific actions or behaviors they observed.  

Wann sollte ich ein Assessment Center einsetzen? 

Die Assessment-Center-Methodik hat sich über mehrere Jahrzehnte als fair und valide erwiesen. It’s often the best method available to organizations if your goal is to make accurate hiring and promotion decisions while minimizing adverse impact. It’s also a very powerful way to engage leaders with a breakthrough experience and get them excited about their own development. 

Im Folgenden finden Sie spezifische Möglichkeiten, ein Assessment-Center zu verwenden: 

• High-Potential-Programme: Wenn Sie ein individuelles Programm für Ihre Top-Talente anbieten möchten, kann ein Assessment-Center ein außergewöhnlicher Moment in der Karriere einer Führungskraft sein. 
• Succession: Assessment simulations accelerate readiness by letting leaders experience a realistic “day in the life” of a future role. They can safely try out new challenges, uncover growth gaps, and build confidence—without the risk of real-world consequences.
• In-role development: Some organizations have found it valuable to use a "day in the life" approach for incumbent leaders in need of additional development in their current role. Zum Beispiel kann eine Führungskraft der ersten Ebene mit begrenzter formaler Ausbildung zusätzliche Erfahrungen in einer Assessment-Center-Übung sammeln.   
• Einstellung oder Beförderung: Immersive Simulationen können sowohl für externe Einstellungen als auch für interne Beförderungsentscheidungen verwendet werden.  

How Do You Know an Assessment Center Is Right for You?

Assessment centers can be used for both small-scale and high-volume leadership needs-any time an organization wants deeper behavioral insight and consistent evaluation. While immersive simulations require more coordination than lighter-touch assessments, they can be efficiently deployed across teams of any size with the right structure, technology, and trained assessors.

This flexibility makes them valuable for a wide range of situations: from assessing a small group of leaders for a key promotion to scaling across large groups in similar roles. For example, large organizations with tens or even hundreds of general managers can use scalable assessment centers to ensure every leader is evaluated against the same behavioral standards, creating a unified talent benchmark across locations. The result is stronger decision-making, more targeted development, and greater confidence in identifying leadership talent, whether the need is small or large.

Was sind die Vorteile von Assessment Centern? 

Assessment centers stand apart because they predict future capability, not just past performance. While most assessments measure what leaders have already done, an assessment center reveals how they'll perform when stretched into future challenges.

Key Advantages of the "Day in the Life" Approach:

• Predictive insights into future performance. A realistic "day in the life" simulation gives you a valid picture of how a person would perform in a target position before you decide to hire or promote them. 
• Objective data, not perceptions. Unlike 360-degree feedback assessments that are driven by perceptual data, assessment center participants receive an objective measure of their leadership capabilities. Die Ergebnisse basieren auf der Bewertung von professionellen Gutachtern oder intelligenter Technologie. 
• Gezieltes Feedback zu bestimmten Verhaltensweisen und Kompetenzen. Leaders receive specific examples of what worked and what didn’t, along with coaching to help them focus on behaviors that drive success. Ein Assessment-Center-Bericht und umsetzbares Feedback von einem Coach können Führungskräften helfen, sich darauf zu konzentrieren, wo und wie sie sich verbessern können. 
• Proven validity and fairness. Research over decades confirms that assessment centers are predictive, valid, and fair across gender, race, and age—more so than most selection tools.
• A pivotal development experience. Ein Assessment Center kann eine der wichtigsten Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten für eine Führungskraft sein. The insights they gain from the high-stakes experience can change how they lead now and throughout their entire career. Regardless of outcome, the experience allows participants to accept the fairness and accuracy of promotion decisions and have a better understanding of job requirements. 

Was sind die möglichen Fallstricke eines Assessment Centers?

Even with all their benefits, assessment centers come with challenges. To get the best results, avoid these common pitfalls:

• Failing to set clear expectations. Führungskräfte müssen wissen, worauf sie sich einlassen. Ohne die richtige Erklärung kann die Erfahrung einschüchternd und zeitaufwändig erscheinen. With the right preparation, the experience becomes a transformative learning opportunity rather than a test.
• Changing your data-sharing policy mid-process. Führungskräfte wollen wissen, wie die Bewertungsdaten verwendet werden und wer die Ergebnisse sehen wird. It’s important to be clear about how you plan on using the data, communicate your policy, and stick to it.
• Treating immersive simulations as all-or-nothing. Viele Unternehmen schrecken aus Zeit- und Kostengründen vor immersiven Simulationen zurück. Aber es gibt erhebliche Vorteile dieser leistungsstarken Methodik. Es hilft Ihnen, Ihre wichtigsten Talente zu entwickeln und hilft dabei, hochwertige und risikoreiche Auswahlentscheidungen zu treffen.

Was Sie in einem Assessment Center erwartet 

Before participating in an assessment center, it's important to set clear expectations and understand the process. Here's what a typical successful experience looks like:

Step 1: Prepare for the Assessment 

Communicate the purpose, importance, and how results will be used. Provide background materials-such as organizational charts, financials, and role descriptions-to set context for the simulation.  

Schritt 2: Simulation durchführen 

Leaders participate in a realistic, role-specific experience, either in person or virtually. Simulations may include emails, meetings, or problem-solving tasks-anything from conducting a business analysis to preparing a vision speech.

Schritt 3: Bewertungsverhalten 

Zertifizierte professionelle Gutachter und intelligente Technologie bewerten das Verhalten der Teilnehmer. Ihr Verhalten wird anhand spezifischer Kompetenzen bewertet, die für den Erfolg in dieser Führungsrolle erforderlich sind.  

Schritt 4: Feedback geben 

A trained feedback provider reviews results with the leader to connect data to real-world challenges and development goals. This step is often one of the most valuable parts of the process, helping leaders understand their strengths and commit to growth.

Schritt 5: Verwenden der Daten 

Rich data from assessment centers can inform selection, promotion, and development decisions.

• Use results to identify who’s ready now and who needs development.
• Create individual development plans for high-potential talent.
• Aggregate data to design group development strategies or pinpoint capability gaps across the organization.

Wie profitieren Führungskräfte von einem Assessment Center? 

In einem Assessment-Center können Führungskräfte von folgenden Vorteilen profitieren: 

• Behavioral and competency feedback. Führungskräfte erhalten detailliertes Feedback zu den spezifischen Verhaltensweisen, die sie gezeigt oder übersehen haben. Darüber hinaus erhalten sie Gesamtbewertungen zu Führungskompetenzbereichen. 
• Einblicke in Rollenstärken und Entwicklungsbereiche. Wenn die Führungskraft eine Simulation durchlaufen hat, die auf ihre aktuelle Führungsebene ausgerichtet ist, dann helfen ihr die Daten, auf ihren Stärken aufzubauen und die Lücken in ihren Entwicklungsbereichen zu schließen.  
• Daten zu Bereitschaftslücken. If the leader is put through a simulation targeted at the next level, they’re able to see which next-level competencies they’re ready for as well as any competency gaps. 
• Broader awareness of leadership demands. Selbst hochrangige Führungskräfte haben manchmal Schwierigkeiten zu erkennen, was es wirklich braucht, um in größeren Rollen erfolgreich zu sein. Ein Assessment-Center gibt ihnen einen Überblick darüber, was ihnen in diesen Rollen bevorstehen könnte und warum es wichtig ist, Schlüsselkompetenzen zu entwickeln. Die Erfahrung kann ihnen auch bei der Entscheidung helfen, ob sie bestimmte Rollen wirklich ausüben wollen.

Making the Most of Assessment Center Experiences

Assessment center experiences can vary in length depending on the level and configuration, typically lasting anywhere from 90 minutes to a full day. Because they are a high-value, high-stakes assessment method, these immersive, "day in the life" experiences are best administered once for each leader at each level-ideally when leaders are preparing for greater responsibility, being considered for promotion, or need targeted development for their current role.

While assessment centers focus on evaluating observable behaviors, many organizations enhance their insights by combining them with personality assessments or behavioral interviews. To maximize impact, results should be paired with individualized feedback and coaching sessions to help leaders translate insights into meaningful growth and action.

Über den Autor
Monica Corbitt Rivers, PhD, is a Managing Consultant on DDI's North American Consulting team. She manages a portfolio of client engagements across sectors, integrating the best of research and practice to provide thought leadership, drive innovation in client solutions, and align people and business strategies for optimal return on investment.