OMT Group to be well represented at ACSG
The 39th annual ACSG (Assessment Centre Study Group) conference will take place at Erinvale in Somerset West, South Africa from 11 to 15 March 2019. The conference week includes Assessment Centre (AC) Academy training workshops on 11-13 March, pre-conference workshops on 13 March and the actual conference on 14 and 15 March. Evalex attends this important conference every year where we exhibit, sponsor and present on a variety of current topics.
Dr Pieter Bronkhorst, founder and head of the OMT Group, which comprises OMT, Evalex and Odyssey, will present on “How artificial intelligence is radically transforming AC simulations.” Pieter will discuss the impact of technology on the talent assessment landscape and the origins and impact of artificial intelligence in the AC arena. He will also share research and information on the cutting-edge work being done by the team in this exciting area.
David Bischof, our director for business development, will be representing Assessment Standards South Africa (ASSA) at the conference with a topic entitled “Assessment Standards South Africa: a review of the current South African testing and assessment landscape and the implications of a revised approach to assessment evaluation criteria.” David will provide insight into the activities of a collaborative working group consisting of representatives from the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology of South Africa (SIOPSA), Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) and Association of Test Publishers (ATP) which together form ASSA.
At its core, ASSA seeks to assist and facilitate processes to ensure psychometrically sound and ethical assessments are used in South Africa. The presentation will provide information on the current SA assessment and testing landscape as well as background to ASSA and a discussion on the evaluation criteria proposed by ASSA.
Kevin Distiller, our MD for Odyssey, will be presenting a paper entitled “Gamification vs Gimification.” The objective of this presentation is to introduce the concept of gamification in the assessment centre space, and to explain why there is so much excitement around it.
The presentation will unpack the perceived need for practitioners and companies to gamify their assessment centre processes and will discuss both the likely benefits and the pitfalls and risks that need to be considered when attempting to gamify traditional, robust AC techniques and technologies. Specifically, the presentation will discuss which elements of the AC methodology are appropriate to gamify, and which are not.
The presentation will also discuss the risks involved in automating AC methodologies, and what advantages might be gained when gamified methodologies are applied over traditional AC methodologies.