Development Centres

"I think it has probably been the most useful learning experience I have had in years and would strongly recommend that it is rolled out for others in the organisation. I found it immensely helpful to my development....it has given me greater clarity into my strengths and areas for future work and has enabled me to think carefully about the ways in which I tackle some of the complex issues associated with my role."
Head of a University Department

What is a development centre?

A development centre is a structured process by which the organisation reviews the capability and potential of a group of leaders.  The focus is on the development of individuals against a given set of leadership and/or role competencies, in contrast with an assessment centre where the performance of participants is formally assessed.

Development centres are useful in helping inform decisions about talent management, career progression and leadership development at a corporate level.  There are benefits for the individuals who take part too.  In a well-designed development centre, individuals receive constructive, relevant and robust feedback.  This one to one feedback can be used as the starting-point for a tailored personal development planning process or coaching relationship.

What Salomons can do for you

We draw on our expertise in diagnosis, assessment and development to design and run tailored development centres on behalf of – and in partnership with – our clients.  A development centre may comprise a range of elements including:  use of psychometrics; group exercises; structured interviews and/or presentations; case studies; peer coaching; and, self-reflection.  The critical point is that each element should be relevant and tailored to the organisation’s requirements.

In running the development centre, we use highly experienced consultants who are accredited in observing and providing feedback on behaviours demonstrated by individuals throughout the several elements.  We also include a process for confidential and formal development feedback for each individual participant.

Salomons believes in making development sustainable.  We can tailor programmes to meet the development needs identified through development centres as well as developing the internal capability to run programmes in-house in the future.

For an initial conversation please call our team on either 01892 507696 or 0141 548 8140 or email ask@salomons.org.uk