Psychological Assessment

Assessment in South Africa: Finding Method in the Madness

By: Elaine Saunders

Elaine Saunders is a consultant, and registered Industrial Psychologist with the Health Professional Council Of South Africa and can be contacted on ipcons@iafrica.com about competency-based assessment.

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1. Introduction

The topic of assessment generally, elicits suspicion and confusion in the minds of many. Assessment methodology has been the sacrificial lamb in terms of many assessment processes and outcomes. It has borne the brunt of the frustration of many who have been passed over for jobs, training opportunities and career development. This criticism is in many instances not unwarranted. The misuse of assessment by untrained people is significant and many serious injustices are performed in assessment processes.

This article looks at the role of assessment in business, and examines some of the ethical issues. It aims to provide something of a framework, and a set of recommendations to assist subscribers to conduct assessments fairly in the workplace, and to achieve value from assessment processes.

The article will look at assessment within the context of current labour legislation, and this discussion will reveal that there are different assessment situations, which need to be treated differently. It will also show that assessment is a vital tool in complying with the various demands of labour law.

A further section is dedicated to the issue of identifying competence since this is at the heart of fair assessment. Lastly, we will examine who should be implementing and managing assessment in the business environment, and what skills are involved in applying fair, valid and reliable assessment procedures.

This article is the first in a 4-part series on critical issues in the field of assessment in South Africa and 'finding method in the madness'.

2. Labour Legislation – Equity, Skills... [continues]

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