The assessment center is a method, not a place. It brings together many instruments and techniques of managerial selection. By using multiple assessment techniques, by standardizing methods of making inferences from such techniques, and by pooling the judgments of multiple assessors in rating each candidate's behavior, it is felt that the likelihood of successfully predicting future performance is enhanced considerably (Cronbach, 1984; Taft, 1959).

An assessment center can be completed on-line, in-person (one on one), or in a group format. Assessment centers can be very useful for development and/or selection. We have designed and implemented hundreds of assessment centers and believe that the multi-method, multi-rater approach is second to none in driving development.