Assessment & Development Centre (ADC)

Some FRSs are using Assessment and Development Centres s as a key part of their promotion procedure.

Many FRSs have dropped the term ‘ADC’ but are still using a combination of familiar assessment activities to explore the capabilities of applicants for promotion. It’s also sometimes referred to as the ‘Assessment Day’ or just the ‘Assessment Centre’.

An ADC or similar assessment event will usually include some of the following:

Roleplays
Inbox / written or analysis exercise
Group discussion
Interview
Operational assessment
Psychometric testing
Presentations

These types of assessment process usually apply to career moves from one management level to another eg:

From FF to Crew Manager (to Supervisory Manager level)
From Watch to Station Manager (from Supervisory to Middle Manager level)
From Group to Area Manager (from Middle Manager to Strategic level)

Overview of ADCs

An ADC is an event which is a collection of different activities such as role-plays and written exercises which are designed to deliver the organisation with a full evaluation of a candidate’s capabilities. The ADC is the most comprehensive way of assessing candidates, and is also best practice as it provides developmental feedback which an organsaition can act upon to support an individual’s career progression.
Performance in these activities is assessed by trained observers. their role is to evaluate how closely your behaviour matches what is required for an effective manager at the next level of promotion.
The PQAs/ competencies are the criteria which you are measured against. You can find details of these here
Sometimes the assessment day is divided up. You may have the written exercise (perhaps an inbox exercise or analysis/ report exercise) on one day. This will usually take no more than two hours. If you are successful at this stage you will be invited to attend the second part of the ADC which often involves role-plays and perhaps a presentation. These usually also take half a day. An interview might follow, usually on another day and after the ADC results are in.
You aren’t expected to have all the skills and knowledge to perform the next role highly effectively at this stage. the assessors are simply looking for evidence that you have the potential to handle situations you may find yourself in at a more senior level effectively. Once you have proven this and are deemed suitable for promotion you will be developed into the specifics of the role.

Other Assessment Processes

For those FRS choosing not to run full ADCs, they often break it down into its component activities, and use a selection of these in various combinations. For instance, this may be a some psychometric tests and a roleplay, or an operational assessment, inbox exercise and an interview.