The Pathology of the Assessment and Developmental Centers of Iran: An improvement Suggestion

A recent approach to study business organizations is focusing on the dynamics of environments, developing competencies and trying to create knowledge-based and learning organizations. Considering this approach, the creation and enforcement of Assessment Centers is an effective factor for developing capabilities and competencies of employees. Assessment Centers with more than sixty years of practices in the world and about a decade in Iran is a combine way of various exercises that is based on holding different work positions in order to collect accurate and reliable information from candidates of recruitment, selection and promotion processes and evaluate them in a workplace. Assessment Centers with developmental approach, is a process of receiving feedback from the employees who work on a job, followed by individual developmental plans in order to enhance his or her ability, knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to identify the challenges faced by the Centers and propose the ways to improve the Centers work processes. We interviewed twenty one business executives, professionals and experts who are involved in carrying out the function of the Centers assessments. Using thematic analysis. we provided a framework that consist the requirements and prerequisites for accomplishing the function of Iranian Assessment Centers. These requirements are grouped into six conceptual categories; the organizational acceptance culture, the process of assessment preparation, the Centers planning processes, the Center implementation processes, The achievements of the ACs and its evaluation processes