Risk in Human Resource Management - Essay Example

The scenario faced by the case Ricci v. DeStefano would be used for this purpose. The circumstances of the case would be discussed and courses of action would be suggested on what could have been done by the government to avoid this lawsuit. In line with providing the appropriate measures with the discussion on the course’s modules, an assessment center would be defined and analyzed in terms of determining how it could help avoid problems in the future. Swanson & Foster wrote in their chapter on A Practical Guide to Conducting Assessment Centers a concise description of an assessment center as both a process and a place.

Initially, the aim of assessment centers is to evaluate the performance of sergeants who compete for promotion to the ranks of a lieutenant. The term was defined by the International Task Force on Assessment Center Guidelines (2000) as consisting of “a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs” (Swanson & Foster, 557 in Condrey, 2005). In greater detail, the process specifically involves “evaluating the behavior of candidates (sergeants) for a specific purpose (promotion) by providing them with multiple independent opportunities (simulations or exercises) to demonstrate abilities and by monitoring them with multiple trained evaluators (assessors), whose individual judgments are pooled to form an overall evaluation of the extent to which the candidates have the skills necessary to succeed as police lieutenants” (Swanson & Foster, 557 in Condrey, 2005).

On the other hand, an assessment as a place is a designated appropriate site to serve the purpose and the process identified above. The Ricci v. DeStefano case is a legal action brought about by nineteen city firefighters of New Haven, Connecticut against the city of New Haven for violations of their civil rights and for discriminating against them regarding possible promotions. The firefighters were due to be promoted to managerial