Content Description

This document establishes requirements and guidance for one or more service provider(s) in working with a client to carry out the assessment of an individual, group or organization for work-related purposes and to deliver quality assessment services.

This document addresses the requirements for the service provider with respect to, among other areas:

a) the choice, integration, implementation and evaluation of assessment procedures and methods in making recommendations to a client who has an assessment need, carrying out and delivering such assessments, and assisting the client in communicating with assessment participants and others;

b) the interpretation of assessment results and subsequent reports;

c) the collection, processing and storage of personal data of assessment participants and of assessment data;

d) ensuring the required competence and professionalism of any person working under its control with a role in the assessment process;

e) organizational decisions related to the delivery of assessment services.

This document also specifies assessment approaches and procedures that can be carried out for one or more work-related purposes made by or affecting individuals, groups or organizations, including, but not limited to:

— employment-related decisions (e.g. recruitment, selection, development, appraisal, promotion, outplacement, succession planning and reassignment);

— career-related decisions (e.g. recruiting, coaching, guidance, vocational rehabilitation and outplacement counselling);

— group decisions (e.g. training initiatives, team building);

— organizational decisions (e.g. restructuring, morale and culture initiatives, mergers and acquisitions).

No detailed technical or professional specifications are included within this document; however, an explanation of some of the more common professional quality principles used in assessment (e.g. validity, reliability, fairness, standardization) are included in Annex B. Despite the informative nature of this annex, the quality of assessment procedures and methods is important to the client in relation to the purposes of the assessment, the relevance of the measures involved, their validity, reliability, fairness, standardization and any issues relating to special needs of the assessment participant and other factors that affect the practicality, acceptability and utility of the assessment.

NOTE 1 Requirements for the client are specified in ISO 10667-1.

NOTE 2 See Bibliography for examples of various professional guidelines and national standards.

This document does not detail the specific competences required for assessors as these are dependent upon the nature of the assessment.

NOTE 3 See Annex C for further information on assessor competence.

About ISO

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, brings global experts together to agree on the best way of doing things – for anything from making a product to managing a process. As one of the oldest non-governmental international organizations, ISO has enabled trade and cooperation between people and companies all over the world since 1946. The International Standards published by ISO serve to make lives easier, safer and better.