ABSTRACT
To put assessment and development centre (ADC) usage into context in east Africa is to see how much the role of human resource management has changed within the past decade. This chapter argues that there has been an evolution within human resource management in east Africa a gradual process in which the appreciation of assessment and development centres has played a part. It examines how the cultural shift of investing in people and particularly the use of centres came about, and what challenges were faced in introducing these practices into an emerging market, which often grapples with worst practice'. Introducing centres coincided with the region's commercial transformation, with increased investment in Kenya, and by extension east Africa, as an important emerging market. Development centres (DCs) have recently grown in popularity within the region, despite facing implementation challenges, due to being seen as a novel intervention for internal talent development.
