The Career Progression Gateway (CPG) is an easy-to-use and accurate online assessment.
It uses relevant and relatable interactive tasks to identify effective leadership behaviours. It’s a reliable method to promote organisational effectiveness and career development whilst reducing stress.
An effective online approach to assessing candidates for recruitment, selection, development and promotion
Selecting top talent is crucial for organisational success and effective management. With tighter budgets and reduced staffing, many organisations need more efficient and reliable assessment methods.
Our CPG offers a robust, consistent, and efficient solution for staff assessments. It’s easy for HR to set up and for candidates to complete, proving effective in selecting the best talent cost-effectively.
Currently consistently used by fourteen UK Fire & Rescue Services for selecting future managers, the CPG provides a proven approach to talent selection.
Read our case study to learn more.
In a recent project, the client saved £34,800 using the CPG, averaging £600 per candidate
Benefits of the CPG
Administration
Exercises
We offer exercises designed for Firefighter recruitment and management progression across eight levels. At each level, candidates complete two exercises: a Case Study and a video/telephone Role-play. An optional values questionnaire is available for Crew to Station Manager levels, intended for developmental purposes only.
CASE STUDIES
ROLE PLAY
VALUES QUESTIONNAIRE
Exercise Validity
Strong evidence supports the validity of professionally designed assessment centres. Using two exercises and experienced Occupational Psychologists ensures fairness, while remote assessments minimise bias. Tailored exercises for the Fire & Rescue Service align with specific role requirements and are grounded in the well-researched FRS Leadership Behaviours Framework.
VCA’s 20 + years of experience with over 30 Fire & Rescue Services guarantees reliable implementation. We analyse data bi-annually and adhere to BPS best practices for validation, collaborating with an independent Occupational Psychologist to evaluate our tools and results
Bespoke Tools
You may have existing assessment tools developed in-house which you would prefer to use. We can import your assessment content onto our platform to allow your candidates to use your materials, supported by our ‘remote assessment’ system. This covers written exercises and one to one role-plays.
The candidates will complete exercises remotely, timed and managed by our software. Your assessors can continue to mark candidate responses using your existing methods.
Another option is that we can adapt our existing exercises to be more specific to your organisation.
Results
Assessments and scoring are conducted remotely by experienced VCA Occupational Psychologist and leadership professional assessors, or preferred internal assessors. Using a leadership-based behavioural framework, candidates are scored from 0 (no evidence) to 3 (significant evidence) in each area, generating easy-to-interpret percentage scores for overall and individual performance. Assessors provide supporting evidence which is used to automatically populate a detailed feedback report, which includes developmental guidance.
Results are generated automatically, delivering score tables within days of assessment completion.
The final feedback report is accessible via the CPG portal for Learning & Development/HR personnel. Marking criteria can be mapped to align with your organisation’s competencies.
Feedback
We believe feedback is just as crucial as the assessment, significantly impacting candidate well-being, performance, and motivation. We provide detailed reports for each candidate, including personalised psychological evaluations of strengths, development needs, and next steps for skill enhancement.
Candidates particularly value our online feedback sessions with the assessment team, where we discuss performance, actionable improvements, and support strategies, such as coaching or mentoring, to enhance their experience and development
Feedback LITE
In the new CPG LITE version, exercises, criteria, and standardised scoring match the full CPG. However, assessors can now select two statements from a pre-written list for each score instead of writing a paragraph of evidence. This list is derived from hundreds of previous assessments, ensuring relevance and precision. Both the full CPG and CPG Feedback LITE reports are automatically generated based on the assessment content.
With less time spent on evidence writing, the CPG Feedback LITE is offered at a lower price, ideal for Crew and Watch Manager assessments with high candidate volumes. While VCA assessors handle objective scoring, internal assessors can be trained to use the CPG Feedback LITE as well.
“This was my first time attending a CPG event and I found that this was an excellent and very positive way to assess. It was extremely useful to have relatable material in the CPG, e.g. a fire service setting. Overall it was a really positive process.”
“A fairer, more transparent process for the candidates.”
“The initial booking process from the very beginning, regarding the notice of interest, to booking the briefing session, to booking my assessments with VCA was very straightforward and user friendly.”
Pre-CPG Candidate Preparation
Clients benefit greatly from a one-hour interactive briefing before assessments, ensuring candidates are well-prepared and know what to expect for optimal performance. During the session, candidates can ask questions and familiarise themselves with assessment methods, criteria, and reporting, reducing uncertainty and improving engagement.
The workshop can be led by an in-house trainer with provided materials, or delivered by one of our consultants via MS Teams. Topics covered include an introduction to the Career Progression Gateway (CPG), performance tips, common mistakes, and is supported by access to the CPG e-learning course.
Take a look at our CPG Step by Step Guide to show you exactly how the system runs for the candidate, assessors and HR team.