ABSTRACT
A sensitive part of successful HR integration involves assigning roles and responsibilities within the new organizational structure. The scope and timing of the assessment includes two key processes: the population to be assessed and; the geographical coverage. The assessment process tends to divide neatly into two or three stages, each involving a different group of people, different processes and timescales. These assessments are followed shortly by announcements of new management appointments, and redundancies, with all the emotional turmoil such news invariably creates. In one company, each time an acquisition took place, all employees from both the acquiring and acquired entity had to go through an assessment and suitability programme. Conducting a pan-European or international assessment requires attention to a number of points, often overlooked when launching the project, which can become major hurdles. There are a number of different techniques and approaches that can be used for assessment. The most common involve a combination of face-to-face interviews and personality tests.
