Ford Motor Company
Production Supervisor assessment centre.
Situation
In a highly unionised environment Ford had been using traditional methods to select production supervisors using interviews and referee reports to assess a combination of factors which included track record as a production operative and seniority.
Major changes to production processes meant they needed a new type of supervisor who was more tuned in to the people dimension of the workplace and who also had good planning skills.
Solution
Our job analysis took account of the new, forward looking position description and information gathered in sensing interviews and focus groups with Production Superintendents and Supervisors.
A suite of simulations was developed and psychological tests were identified and were used to form a new Production Supervisor Assessment Centre.
Simulation tasks were specially written for Ford and included a scheduling task, an interaction which required candidates to deal with an emotionally distressed production operative, a short notice rescheduling task and a task involving preparation of an incident report.
Outcome
Once the new process was presented and explained to Ford management and unions, there was a high level of acceptance as it was seen to be a more realistic and fairer way of selecting people for promotion.
The process was subsequently rolled out across a variety of Ford production sites.