Role relevance and content validity
Are the competencies, exercises, and rating criteria clearly linked to the requirements of the target role?
AC Audit for Organisations
Is your assessment centre still fit for purpose?
I review the design of your existing assessment centre for one defined role. You receive a clear view of what works well, where improvements are needed, and which steps to take first.
One existing assessment centre. One target role. €3,900 excluding VAT.
Discuss an AC AuditSee how the audit worksGrounded in research based quality criteriaClear recommendationsNo obligation to commission further work
More than budget goes into an assessment centre
External providers, venues, and materials are only part of the investment. Preparation, observation, evaluation, and feedback also take up internal time, often involving experienced managers.
Candidates have a great deal at stake, too. The relevance of the exercises, the transparency of the process, and the quality of the feedback all shape their experience of your organisation.
Why do some participants perform well in the assessment centre but less well once in the role?
Do the exercises actually assess the requirements that matter?
Are observations evaluated consistently and transparently?
How are individual observations brought together to support a decision?
Does the assessment centre reflect current professional standards?
Do its exercises, communication, and feedback support a fair and respectful candidate experience?
The AC Audit turns these questions into a structured basis for deciding what to improve.
When an AC Audit is useful
An audit is particularly useful if:
- your assessment centre has evolved over time without a systematic review;
- you have recurring doubts about the quality of selection decisions;
- the target role or its requirements have changed;
- exercises, rating methods, and documents were developed at different times;
- you want to identify priorities before redesigning the process; or
- you want to improve an existing assessment centre rather than replace it entirely.
When this audit is not the right fit
- there is no existing assessment centre to review;
- you need a completely new assessment centre immediately;
- you want an evaluation of a live assessment session or individual assessors; or
- you need an empirical validation study using later job performance data.
A new selection process can be discussed as a separate project.
What documents do I review?
Depending on your assessment centre, the review may include:
- role requirements and competency definitions;
- process plans and administration instructions;
- exercises and materials for participants and assessors;
- the competency–exercise matrix;
- observation forms, rating scales, and behavioural indicators;
- rules for combining ratings, weighting evidence, and making decisions;
- assessor training materials;
- report templates; and
- information about the feedback process.
Missing documents do not automatically prevent an audit. A documentation gap may itself be an important finding. The report distinguishes between a practice that appears to be absent and one that cannot be assessed from the available information.
What do I assess?
I review the documented assessment centre design against six research based areas of quality. The findings explain the professional reasoning behind each recommendation and point to relevant sources.
Assessment design and behavioural evidence
Do the exercises produce relevant, sufficient, and assessable observations of behaviour?
Observation and rating
Do the instructions, scales, behavioural indicators, and assessor preparation support consistent ratings?
Integration and decision rules
Is it clear how observations are combined, weighted, and translated into decisions?
Fairness, transparency, and acceptance
Are the assessment conditions, communication, and evaluation criteria appropriate and well justified?
Evidence and evaluation
Is the professional basis for the design clear, and could its quality be evaluated over time?
The audit examines the documented design and the information available. It does not establish the assessment centre’s actual predictive validity within your organisation.
What you receive
You receive a concise presentation that stands on its own and includes:
- an executive summary;
- clearly identified strengths;
- findings for each quality area;
- transparent limits on what can be concluded;
- prioritised improvements;
- the professional significance of each recommendation;
- an initial view of effort and dependencies; and
- references to relevant evidence and sources.
MG Assessment & DevelopmentAC Audit
Executive Summary
Strengths
Information limits
Prioritised improvements
fundamental gaps
priority improvements
further refinements
Findings distinguish between:
- not evidenced
- partially implemented
- clearly implemented
- not assessable from the available information
Recommendations are grouped as:
- fundamental gaps
- priority improvements
- further refinements
This makes it clear where action is needed now and what can be addressed later.
How the AC Audit works
Typical timeframe
You will usually receive the findings presentation within two weeks after I have received the agreed documents and we have completed the context discussion.
Define the scope
In a short introductory call, we establish which assessment centre and target role you want reviewed and whether the audit fits your needs.
Understand the documents and context
You provide the available materials. In a structured conversation, we discuss the role, how the assessment centre was developed and used, and any questions you already have.
Review the assessment centre
I examine the documents against transparent professional criteria and record strengths, areas for improvement, information gaps, and possible changes.
Prioritise the findings
I turn the findings into a practical improvement agenda, distinguishing professional importance from effort and dependencies.
Discuss the results
You receive the findings presentation. We then discuss the conclusions, your questions, and possible next steps together.
AC Audit at a fixed price
€3,900 excluding VAT
For one existing assessment centre and one defined target role.
Discuss an AC AuditIncluded
- Initial discussion and scope definition
- Review of the agreed documents
- Structured context discussion
- Professional analysis
- Prioritised findings presentation
- Results discussion
Not included
- Revising or creating assessment materials
- Designing a completely new assessment centre
- Observing a live assessment session
- Evaluating individual assessors
- An empirical validation study
Additional assessment centres or target roles are priced separately.
The agreed fixed price remains the same as long as the defined scope does not change.
You decide what happens next
The AC Audit is a complete service in its own right. You receive a basis for decision making even if you implement the recommendations internally or with another partner.
If useful, MG Assessment & Development can support selected improvements in a separate project, such as:
- revising individual exercises;
- refining competency definitions;
- developing behavioural indicators and rating forms;
- updating the competency–exercise matrix;
- improving the rules for combining evidence and making decisions;
- adapting report and feedback templates; or
- designing assessor training.
If the current assessment centre is no longer suitable as a whole, we can explore a tailored redesign as a separate project.
Your contact: Michel Gehrke
Through MG Assessment & Development, I support organisations in making well founded selection and development decisions. I conduct your AC Audit personally.
My background is in business psychology. I first worked with assessment centres nine years ago and have spent the past five years contributing to the design, organisation, delivery, and improvement of assessment processes.
- work on assessment and development centres for organisations ranging from small and medium sized businesses to DAX companies, including processes for trainees and leaders;
- recurring independent assessment responsibilities in German and English language projects;
- writing assessment reports and conducting feedback discussions; and
- work at a leading people and management consultancy, contributing to selection processes and the development of assessment materials.
Which documents do you need?
Ideally, you provide the documents that define how the assessment centre is designed, delivered, observed, rated, and reported. These typically include the role requirements, exercises, competency–exercise matrix, observation materials, decision rules, assessor training materials, and report templates.
Can you review the assessment centre if some documents are missing?
Yes. Missing documents do not automatically rule out an audit. The findings will distinguish between missing documentation and aspects of the underlying practice that cannot be assessed from the available information.
What is excluded from the audit?
The fixed price covers analysis and recommendations. Rewriting materials, implementing changes, designing a new assessment centre, observing a live session, and empirical validation are separate services.
Can you review several assessment centres?
Yes. The fixed price of €3,900 excluding VAT covers one existing assessment centre and one target role. Additional assessment centres or roles are priced separately after a brief discussion of scope.
Does the audit prove that our assessment centre is valid?
No. The audit examines whether the documented design meets research based quality criteria. Establishing its actual predictive validity in your organisation would require suitable job performance data and a separate study design.
How soon will we receive the results?
You will usually receive the findings presentation within two weeks after I have received the complete agreed documentation and we have completed the context discussion.
What happens after the audit?
You decide which recommendations to implement and who will carry out the work. If you wish, MG Assessment & Development can propose individual improvement modules or a separate project.
How do you handle confidential documents?
Confidentiality, secure transfer, retention, and deletion of the materials you provide are agreed before the project begins.
Let’s talk about your assessment centre
In a no obligation introductory call, we can discuss your questions and whether the AC Audit is a good fit for your existing process.