This year has brought about unprecedented circumstances in the face of Covid-19 that have made us all rethink and change how and where we work, and our working environment.
It is a situation that has forced us all to adapt and think on our feet, as to how we can manage to continue operations, respond dynamically and maintain course to continue to deliver results in the midst of the pandemic.
Conducting traditional face-to-face assessment and development centres, is one area which has been impacted by the requirement to meet in person, in groups, and that includes regular travel. For this reason more and more businesses are choosing online assessment centres to facilitate the same process, whilst conforming to new social distancing requirements as well as ensuring the health and safety of their work-force.
The Career Progression Gateway – our online assessment portal has been at the forefront of this process, enabling projects to continue as scheduled, allowing FRSs to stay on track with their promotion calendars.
Here are the measures we have adopted with our clients to ensure things run smoothly and everyone stays safe…
- Factor in flexibility and leeway from the start to accommodate potential last-minute shifts to crew or administrative personnel availability – either because they themselves need to self-isolate or need to take leave to support changes to family circumstances.
- Plan the logistics of what restrictions you have to work within:
- How many administrative personnel do you have available on the ground to facilitate the process in person? How has this changed with remote working?
- What physical restrictions do you have to operate within in relation to the venue? How can you use the space you have to ensure social distancing measures are adhered to? E.g. do you have rooms big enough to host multiple candidates at once? If not, can you bring in more personnel to facilitate concurrent assessments in separate rooms? Or, do you have time available in the process to accommodate candidates individually? Asking these questions will inform your Timetable and administrative personnel requirements.
- What changes need to be made to existing practice to ensure social distancing compliance?
- Use of individual FRS laptops and mobile phones for the Case Study and telephone Role-play exercise to minimise contamination
- Provision of alcohol wipes/spray to disinfect work-spaces between assessments
- Provision of hand sanitiser to use upon entry and exit
- Provision of single use bottles/cups of water with adequate measures to safely dispose after use
- Ensure your measures are in alignment with any additional policy and procedures your own FRS may have
- Communication and expectation-setting is key. Briefing the candidates well prior to the assessment – what will be expected of them in terms of social distancing, hygiene and sanitisation measures – will make sure that no extra, unnecessary stress is added by the uncertainty of how to act during the assessment. This will go a long way to ensuring they arrive prepared and at ease, able to perform their best on the day.
