The Participant plays the role of a Senior Manager in the Finance Department of a Government Agency. The organisation runs a buddying system and the Participant has been asked by an individual that they buddy to meet up. The individual is a Senior Technical Specialist who wants to talk over some upcoming decisions about an internal career move. The challenge for the Participant is to coach the individual (who is at the same level in the organisation structure as them) to make the best decision. During the discussion further information arises around personal issues outside of work and conflict with another employee.
Competencies: Interpersonal Sensitivity
The Participant assumes the role of the Assistant Director of Internal Project Co-ordination for the Department of Personal Data, which is responsible for the collection, co-ordination and dissemination of all personal data for use by other government departments. The Participant is required to meet with a colleague to discuss a ministerial briefing in preparation for the opening of a new Computer Data Centre. The colleague is the Chair of the Task Force responsible for overseeing the launch of the Centre. The challenge for the Participant is to brief the colleague that the meeting agenda has now changed due to a serious security breach and to liaise with the colleague to address ministerial and public concerns, agree the content and actions required, and to motivate the colleague to agree a high level plan of the next steps to take to resolve the situation.
The Participant plays the role of a manager at a firm of consulting engineers who has to deal with a supervisor who reports to them and is alleged to have harassed another member of staff. The Participant brief contains details of the complaint, which has come to them through the normal grievance procedure, together with guidance notes on company policy from the Human Resources Department. The objective of the interview is to come to an understanding of the supervisors position and develop a suitable course of action in response to the complaint.
The Participant is the Director of Change within a large Government department and is about to meet with the Head of Information Services to communicate the new Efficiency Review that the Board has agreed. The Review will mean that over the next 5 years, a number of departments will be restructured and inevitably, there will be staff losses and an outsourcing of some support functions. Using the background information provided, the Participant will need to communicate the reasons for change to the Head and gain their buy-in to the change.
The Participant is Head of Data Collection within Town Planing Surveyors, who have recently undergone an organisational change involving the merger of two departments. The Participant must now interview one of the Department Heads, who was an unsuccessful applicant for the Head of Section job which the Participant now holds. Since the selection procedure was open, that fact is known to them both. The Participants task is to gain agreement to improving performance on a project that is falling seriously behind target delivery dates.
The Participant plays the role of an Internal Consultant responsible for driving forward a new internal change programme within AHead, a mobile communications company. The Participant is required to meet with a senior manager who has been making negative comments about the changes and has expressed their unwillingness to co-operate. Unbeknown to the Participant, the senior manager has encountered similar initiatives in the past which have not been successful and is also feeling vulnerable due to the redundancy rumours circulating around the Company. The Participant needs to turn the situation around with the disillusioned senior manager.
The Participants, as a group of work colleagues at a multi-national organisation with a strong manufacturing background, meet to discuss a number of scenarios. Faced with four issues, the Participants must discuss recommendations for the way forward. The scenarios raise issues of integrity, employee relations, commercial awareness, organisational and interpersonal sensitivity. The process itself, complemented by the issues being discussed manifests evidence of interpersonal skills which can also be evaluated.
Participants take on the role of Branch Managers in the Financial Services Division of Universal Life, an insurance company. They are meeting to discuss several issues that the firm faces. These include strategies for targeting key markets, the analysis of performance figures, the introduction of a customer service charter which goes beyond meeting compliance regulations, and ideas for improving the effectiveness of the recruitment of Financial Advisors. The group is expected to prepare recommendations for subsequent review by the Regional Director.
Participants form a team of Area Sales Managers at a software company, DataSure. They have been asked by the Regional Sales Manager to discuss a number of typical sales issues and to make recommendations on how these issues should be handled. The issues include problems to do with customer service, sales administration, sales performance and general sales policies.
As an Area Sales Manager for a large food and beverage company, Supreme Cuisine, the Participant has been tasked with launching a new product into a test market. Using the information provided, they must prepare a presentation for the National Sales Manager, outlining their launch strategy in terms of who they intend to target and exactly how they will promote and market the new product effectively.
