Introduction
An assessment center is a recruitment tool employers use to identify potential candidates. The assessment center may include various activities, such as interviews, group exercises, and written tests (Nabi, 2017). The goal of the assessment center is to provide employers with a way to evaluate a candidate’s skills, abilities, and potential for success in a particular role. This essay designs an assessment center customized to correctly assess various people for the job opening of an Innovation Brand Manager at Unilever SEA. It will entail a series of tests, interviews, and other activities designed to assess a range of skills and qualities.
Assessors
The panel of assessors for the SEA innovation Brand Manager role should ideally consist of two SEA Home Care marketing leads, the HR Director for Unilever SEA, and two representatives from the advertising or PR agency that Unilever SEA works with. This panel will have a good mix of individuals familiar with the company’s innovation strategy and the Brand Manager’s role in executing that strategy. The panel members should also understand the skills and experience that the ideal candidate should possess (Chygryn et al., 2019). The panel of assessors should be able to provide a well-rounded assessment of the candidates based on their experience, knowledge, and skills. Furthermore, the board should be familiar with the company’s innovation strategy and the role that the Brand Manager will play in executing that strategy. This will allow the panel to ask more targeted and relevant questions during the assessment center.
Schedule
The assessment center will be held over two days, each with various activities for the participants. The first day will consist of an Individual Task (Report Writing) and interviews. Individual tasks assess the candidates’ ability to think strategically, work collaboratively, and communicate effectively. The second day will consist of group exercises and role-play tasks with Home Care SEA leadership team members. However, three weeks will be to prepare for the events, formulate interview questions and set activities for each assessment tool. Within this time, the job post will be advertised and candidates selected.
Competencies
The assessment strategies’ key competencies include displaying work ethics and discipline, strategic and critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurial and visionary traits. The candidate is also expected to depict cultural sensitivity for all stakeholders in Unilever SEA, especially workers, customers, suppliers, and management (Semenova et al., 2018). These requirements are necessary to ensure the selected candidates meet their roles in real life situations, as needed by the company.
Tests, Exercises, and Activities
Individual Task (Report Writing) (day 1: 10a.m to 11.00a.m)
The individual tasks will be used to assess the candidates’ communication ability and will be presented in a written format. The tasks will be designed to test the candidates’ ability to write clear and concise reports and to give information in an organized and professional manner (Carson et al., 2017). Home Care SEA leadership team members will evaluate the tasks. Another assessment strategy is to interview, conducted in a face-to-face format. It is aimed at determining the candidates’ knowledge of the Home Care SEA business, ability to think strategically, and motivation to work in the role.
Interview (day 1: 11.00a.m to 4.00p.m)
The interview also establishes the interviewee’s qualifications for the role by asking various questions regarding the responsibilities required. For instance, the panel can ask the interviewee to identify some techniques to arouse demand for new products designed by the company (Flores et al., 2021). Another question the interviewing board can ask the participants is how they can guide customers to find, purchase and have their products delivered to them through the latest technologies (Ramos-Villagrasa et al., 2019). This is among the essential roles expected of the aspired candidate. Besides, the interview will assess candidates’ ability to think strategically and critically and connect with others cross-culturally.
Besides, interviewees will be given a series of written and verbal communication tasks to complete. The written duties will include writing a marketing plan for a Home Care SEA product launch and developing a social media strategy for a Home Care SEA brand. It will also have recommendations for research and development ideas that could foster the company toward more environmentally sustainable products and services (Miminoshvili & Černe, 2021). The verbal tasks will consist of presenting the marketing plan and pitching the social media strategy to a panel of interviewers, showing how they can be integrated into actual practice for the improvement of the company.
Role Play Task (day 2: 8. a.m to 11.00a.m)
The workers will be given a role-play task, where they are exposed to various challenges regarding the multiple roles of the innovation Brand Manager. For instance, an interviewee could involve a customer who is unhappy with the product they have received and is demanding a refund or a team member has not completed their tasks for the day and is causing a delay in the project. Another instance is a supplier not delivering the materials on time, dragging projects down (Aust et al., 2020). These examples are presented with some company members acting as the customer, supplier, or worker, while the candidates respond to them regarding the issues. The panel notes their abilities to resolve conflicts, guide workers and establish solutions to critical problems.
Group Exercise (day 2: 2. p.m to 4.00p.m)
The group exercises will assess the candidates’ ability to think strategically and work collaboratively and will be the last activity on the second day. Moreover, the group exercise will determine the candidates’ ability to apply work ethics and cross-cultural competency with other members (Chygryn et al., 2019). The activity will be based on a case study of a Home Care SEA product launch. The candidates will be divided into groups, and each group will be given a copy of the case study. The candidates will be given two hours to prepare their launch strategy and will then be asked to present their strategy to the panel of assessors. The launch strategy should include a market analysis, target market, positioning, messaging, and go-to-market plan.
Attracting Applicants
The assessment center will be advertised on relevant job boards and career websites to attract the best candidates. Social media will also be used to promote the assessment center. The job advert will include the various academic qualifications and experiences that potential candidates should have to fit the role of an innovation Brand Manager (Jyoti, 2019). The posts should also mention the reasons anyone would be interested in working in the company to attract the interest of the most qualified workers (Carson et al., 2017). For instance, it could note how Unilever is committed to sustainability, employee growth in all aspects, proper compensation and perks, its global reach, and its focus on developing marketing capability. Candidates interested in applying for the SEA innovation Brand Manager role will be invited to attend the assessment center via email.
Feedback
The panel of assessors will provide feedback at the end of the assessment center. The board will give feedback on the candidates’ performance on each assessment task. The feedback will help the candidates improve their performance and help the panel decide who to hire for the role of SEA innovation Brand Manager (Zhang & Edgar, 2021). The candidate scoring the most points in all tasks combined will be the most eligible for the task. In case of ties, the candidates involved will be given an individual assignment to determine the winning party. The participants will fill out a questionnaire to provide feedback on how they felt about the process and whether or not they thought it was fair and helpful (Nabi, 2017). The cost of setting up the entire assessment center should be reviewed to establish cost-effectiveness. This includes checking the staff and resources used during the assessment: Thus, areas of improvement for the assessment center could be identified for more effectiveness.
Conclusion
The assessment center is the most efficient method for determining a candidate’s suitability for the innovation Brand Manager position at Unilever. The assessment center will evaluate the candidates’ capacity for strategic thinking, teamwork, and effective communication using various assessment strategies, such as group exercises, individual tasks, and interviews. The assessment center will also gauge the candidates’ understanding of the Unilever industry, their capacity for strategic thinking, and their drive for the position, hence selecting the best person.
References
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