Belt develops center to promote

Jim Meyer

Jim Erickson, left, associate professor emeritus of English, plays the role of a Raytheon Aircraft worker opposite Raytheon’s Nila Long during a performance review scenario. Observing the exchange in the background are Jim Wolff, assistant professor of management, left, and Sean Garrett of Raytheon. The scenario was part of a new promotion system developed for Raytheon by WSU’s John Belt.

Going to a two-hour committee meeting on a new performance-based pay policy, giving a presentation to top management, spending three hours sorting the in-basket from hell, and meeting to resolve a dispute and warn an employee about his attitude – all of that can make for a stressful day at work.

Now factor in that you were being observed and judged on how you did those tasks.

That’s exactly what a group of Raytheon Aircraft Co. employees experienced recently as part of a promotion system – known as an assessment center – developed by WSU management expert John Belt.

Belt, associate professor and chair of management, has designed and run more than 50 such centers for fire, police and city departments, among others.

The 24 Raytheon employees, pegged as potential promotion candidates, participated in five simulated exercises designed to measure their behaviors in situations similar to those they would encounter as a supervisor.

The candidates were judged by five teams of three observers – two Raytheon employees and a WSU business faculty member. The faculty, acting as the team leaders, were Nancy Bereman, Steven Farmer, Tim Pett and Jim Wolff.

Belt compared the assessment center process to selecting the starting lineup for a basketball team.

"A basketball team is selected on the skills the team members demonstrate in tryouts. A coach wouldn’t select players by putting them in a game and watching what they do, but unfortunately that’s what many companies do," he said. "Another problem is they make selection decisions based upon an employee’s performance in dissimilar positions. Just because you’re a good salesperson doesn’t mean you’ll be a good sales manager."

"Incorporating the assessment center selection process represents a new best practice for Raytheon Aircraft," said Frank Clifford, Raytheon Aircraft vice president-human resources and administration.

"Raytheon is committed to becoming the employer of choice and a company that provides significant opportunities for employees, as well as job candidates."

According to Belt, centers are more accurate in predicting future success than most traditional evaluation methods combined.

Its concept originated in World War II, when the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to today’s CIA, used it to select spies. Today, many companies and government agencies rely on the center as a key component to the selection process, particularly for managerial positions.

When Raytheon held its assessment center at WSU’s Marcus Center in January, part of the activities included prepping the actors needed for two role-playing scenarios.

Jim Erickson, associate professor emeritus of English, and Christine Tasheff, owner of Cabaret Old Town, rehearsed the scenarios one afternoon, picking up pointers from the assessment teams on how to make the situations as real-life as possible. The next day it was showtime with the candidates.

Belt said the most difficult thing for any role player is to remember they can’t improve their performance from one candidate to the next. Consistency of the conditions is key, because the candidates are to be measured objectively.

Erickson played the role of Fred Campbell, a sheet-metal worker who does first-class work but is a first-rate jerk with fellow employees, while Tasheff was a union steward with a contract concern.

For Tasheff, this was her first experience in such a role. Erickson is a veteran of assessment center role-playing, having participated in others Belt has developed.

- Compiled by Amy Geiszler-Jones