CASE STUDY: ROLE PLAY EXERCISE

Team Members:
Shraddha Bandivadekar (07)
Divya Bhati (09)
Archana Dumbre(14)
Prananli Phansekar (36)

Submitted to : Prof. Sarika Singh

Human Resource Applications

 Introduction of assessment centre
An assessment center consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on
multiple inputs. Multiple trained observers and techniques are used. Judgments
about behaviors are made, in major part, from specifically developed assessment
simulations. These judgments are pooled in a meeting among the assessors or
by a statistical integration process.

The term "assessment center" is really a catch-all term that can consist of some
or all of a variety of exercises. Assessment centers usually have some sort of in-
basket exercise which contains contents similar to those which are found in the
in-basket for the job which is being tested. Other possibilities include oral
exercises, counseling simulations, problem analysis exercises, interview
simulations, role play exercises, written report/analysis exercises, and leaderless
group exercises (Coleman, 1987; Filer, 1979; Joiner, 1984). Assessment centers
allow candidates to demonstrate more of their skills through a number of job
relevant situations (Joiner, 1984).

Essential Features of an Assessment Center:

• Job analysis of relevant behaviors

• Measurement techniques selected based on job analysis

• Multiple measurement techniques used, including simulation exercises

• Assessors’ behavioral observations classified into meaningful and relevant

categories (dimensions, KSAOs)

• Multiple observations made for each dimension

• Multiple assessors used for each candidate

• Assessors trained to a performance standard

• Systematic methods of recording behavior

• Assessors prepare behavior reports in preparation for integration

• Integration of behaviors through:

o Pooling of information from assessors and techniques; “consensus”

discussion

o Statistical integration process

Role Playing

Role playing is a type of assessment center exercise where the candidate

assumes the role of the incumbent of the position and must deal with another
person in a job- related situation. A trained role player is used and responds "in
character" to the actions of the candidate. Performance is assessed by observing
raters.

Problems with this technique:

• Since this technique is not conducive to group administration, test security

would be an issue.
• Job content areas identified in the job analysis were not as amenable to
this type of exercise as they were to the selection techniques utilized in
the final test

Case Competencies:

• Innovation – Innovation is a change in the thought process for doing

something, or the useful application of new inventions or discoveries. In
the organizational context, innovation may be linked to performance and
growth through improvements in efficiency, productivity, quality,
competitive positioning, market share, etc

• Co-ordination – Coordination is the act of coordinating, making

different people or things work together for a goal or effect.

• Analysis – Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or

substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it.

• Non verbal communication – Nonverbal communication (NVC) is

usually understood as the process of communication through sending and
receiving wordless messages. i.e., language is not the only source of
communication, there are other means also. NVC can be communicated
through gestures and touch (Haptic communication), by body language or
posture, by facial expression and eye contact. NVC can be communicated
through object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even
architecture, symbols and infographics.
 • Adaptation – Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby an
individual becomes better able to live in its habitat or within the team and
surrounding.

• Verbal communication – Verbal communication is one way for people to

communicate face-to-face. Some of the key components of verbal
communication are sound, words, speaking, and language.

• Decision making – Decision making can be regarded as the mental

processes (cognitive process) resulting in the selection of a course of
action among several alternatives. Every decision making process
produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of
choice.

Role play
Case Study Summary:

Abhayankar was an engineering firm with a turnover of Rs. 600 crore last
year and an employee strength of 1800. Two years ago, as a sequel to
liberalization at the macroeconomic level, the company had restructured
its operations from functional teams to product teams. The change had
helped speed up transactional times and reduces systemic inefficiencies,
leading to a healthy drive towards performance.

The Government of India had removed the capping on salaries of directors

and had left the matter of their compensation to be decided by
shareholders. The meeting of the managing committee was held to
discuss the company’s new pay plan for middle managers. Ravi Narayan,
Vice President (HRD) had designed the layout of this new pay plan after
discussing it with all the 125 middle managers individually over the last
few weeks and the plan was based on their feedback. This was designed
to enhance team-work and provide incentives for constant improvement
and excellence among the middle-level managers. According to this plan
the pay would be split into two components. The first would consist of 75
% of the original salary and would be determined, as before, by factors of
internal equity comprising of good Values; it would be a fixed component.
The second component of 25 % would be flexible and depend on the
ability of each product team as a whole to show a minimum of 5 %
improvement in the 5 areas every month – product quality, cost control,
 speed of delivery, financial performance of the division to which the
product belongs and finally, compliance with safety and environmental
norms. The five areas would have a rating of 30, 25, 20, 15 and 10
percent respectively.

But, Gautam Ghosh Vice President (R&D) didn’t like the plan as he felt
that each of his scientist is skilled in particular event and they need not
get all skills. Avinash Sarin , Vice President (Sales) liked the scheme but
he felt it would be unfair to the person who has worked hard in the team
when the other members of the team were not performing. Same was the
case with Vipul Desai Vice President (Finance) who was happy with the
scheme but he felt that there was a loophole in it to tackle external
factors which bring the performance down. Samuel Manezes, President
was not sure if this plan will work. He didn’t want to take risk as
Abhayankar Ltd, always got the top billings among the ten companies
Indian managers fancy most as a working place. They had been the trend
setters in executive compensation in Indian industry.

Role Play Analysis: Role Play Evaluation Sheet::

Competenci Jay Minal Shruti Malay Mohit

es Chedda Baniya Shah (43) Parekh Bansal
(12) (09) (32) (29)
Innovation 3.5 3.5 3.75 4 3.5
Co- 3.75 3.5 3.75 3.75 3.5
ordination
Analysis 3.75 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
Non verbal 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.5 3.5
Communicat
ion
Adaptation 3.5 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.5
Verbal 3 4 3.75 3.25 2
Communicat
ion
Decision 3.25 4 3.25 3.25 3.25
Making
Total 3 4 3.64 3.57 2.5
Average
Score:
Interpretati Good Very Good Good Fair
on Good
Evaluation carried out on 5 point scale method: Combining words and
numbers in a 1-to-5 rating scale provides an effective method for measuring the
pluses and minuses of everything from employee performance to the relative
importance of personal and business options. The 5-point scale forces a sharper
focus than is possible with the popular 1-to-10 scale. Depending on what is being
rated, take the time to assign appropriate words to each number.

1 = Poor, 2 = Fair, 3 = Good, 4 = Very Good and 5 = Excellent

Overall interpretation states that employee Minal Baniya scored

‘4’ that is very good as a competency score. While Mohit Bansal
scored less i.e. 2.5 –fair score in the competencies analysed in the
Role play.

Other employees scored good and managed competencies well

and it was analysed in the Role play of the case study.

Conclusion:
Thus, Human resource applications are important and provide support
to the Organization and help them to build strategies.
And, Role play is a useful technique for thinking about difficult
situations before they occur, so that you have good pre-prepared
responses for the different eventualities that can arise. Role-play can
also be used to analyze problems from different perspectives, to spark
brainstorming sessions, to experiment with different solutions to a
problem, to develop team work, and help group problem-solving.