The ‘Open Access’ Career Progression Gateway (CPG) calendar means that we will be running CPG assessments for candidates for a specific level of promotion on specific dates. Any FRS can join these events. All you need to do is let us know you have candidates you would like to have assessed, and we will add them to the process.

We can assess your candidates on how effectively they meet the requirements outlined in the leadership behaviour, code of ethics and FRS values frameworks. We do this using an Occupational Psychologist designed assessment process, comprising an online Case Study and a video Role-play exercise, hosted on a web-based platform called the Career Progression Gateway (CPG). The ‘CPG’ has been used to measure leadership potential at all levels from Firefighter Recruitment to Leading the Service level managers (including CFO), and for operational, support, control and on-call staff across 13 FRS’s since 2019, and are in negotiations to provide CPGs for four more FRS’s this year 2024 alone.

The process has been streamlined to make it simple, requiring minimal FRS internal resources to manage. Assessments are hosted remotely, with VCA project managers, administrators and invigilators facilitating every step of the way for you. The steps:

This option to assess candidates for promotion massively reduces the burden on internal resources and budgets. Obviously there will need to be some liaison with an internal point of contact, for instance making sure candidates with reasonable adjustments needs are met, but most arrangements are managed by our team.

By sharing events with other FRS’s we can streamline processes, and reduce costs, savings we can pass on to you.

Using methods of assessment which are fair, relevant, objective and evidence- based reduces grievances and complaints. This allows internal teams to focus positively on candidate learning and development, irrespective of their results.

“CPG assessments fairly and accurately differentiate between candidates AT ALL LEVELS, giving you the peace of mind of knowing you are identifying the candidates who are aligned with and clearly demonstrating the ethics, values and leadership behaviours crucial for the success of your FRS.”

The assessments last approximately 2 hours in total. Candidates are invited to complete a short feedback survey after completing each exercise and will have a scheduled 15-minute break between the two exercises.

Once the assessments are complete, the exercises will be marked by VCA’s Occupational Psychologist assessment team. Within 5 working days we will send you a table of rank ordered results, a detailed feedback report per exercise and development guidance for each candidate. Depending on your internal process, you can then make your next step decisions on interviewing, or allocating places in a development pool for successful candidates.

An option to create further impact for candidates is by following up with a Developmental Feedback Session delivered by one of our assessment team via video call. These sessions examine performance, aspirations, strengths, and next steps and are rated very highly by candidates as it emphasises the developmental opportunities presented by the assessment process, shifting the focus from pass/fail to “how can I benefit from this experience”, creating additional value, especially for those who were unsuccessful.

If you have a requirement to run a promotion process in 2024/ 2025, let us know by email or call us on 01202 798272.

Depending on candidate numbers the procurement process should be fairly straightforward (VCA is on various procurement frameworks which has streamlined the process for recent FRS clients e.g there is no longer a requirement for a tender process).

In terms of managing information and communicating the change within the organisation, we have free resources we can provide if you wish to provide an internal briefing to prospective candidates, or we can run a briefing session for you which can be recorded for repeated use.

If your promotions requirements don’t fit into the existing calendar, don’t worry, we can also tailor projects specifically to your dates and needs.