Group Assessment Days are an emerging tool in the world of employment, giving HR Managers an opportunity to jump in beyond the normal interview process, and see for themselves how short listed candidates interact in a team environment, respond to tailored activities and fit the organisational culture.

Whilst they're commonly used to whittle down a shortlist for one specific role, they are equally effective in drawing out the skills and talents of multiple applicants at once.

This is particularly handy when you are recruiting for a large number of roles.The Brisbane Ekka, for example, opened its gates for two weeks in early August. 3,600 jobs were created specifically for this year's Ekka, plus roles for 800 volunteers. That's 4,400 Showbag Sellers, Dagwood Dog Vendors, Information Booth Staff and Stockyard Cleaners from Brisbane that you can bet weren't fulfilling those duties the week before.

The magnitude of such an HR feat is overwhelming.

Employment Office (EO) is one of approximately 10% of companies who have joined this recruitment revolution and offer a variety of short listing services, with Group Assessment Days ever increasing in popularity.

EO Short Listing Specialist, Faye Kennedy explains, "In the case of the Ekka, there would be no time nor need to interview each applicant. That's not cost effective and frankly it's impossible without an army. The best way to work through such an enormous number of candidates would be with a series of group assessment days."

Without the need to dig too deep to assess people for these kinds of casual roles, our expert estimated a small Short Listing team of 4 or 5 could deliver recommendations on how to best employ 4,000 people within a month. "It wouldn't be the most laidback month of my career" Ms Kennedy notes, "but we could do it".

Similarly, an unskilled process workers position run by Employment Office has attracted a massive response of 1091 applications in just 30 days.

Rod Agar, Laboratory Production Manager for the Australian Wool Testing Authority, though pleased with the high quality applications, was somewhat surprised by the extraordinarily large response.

“I was quite amazed at the total number of people who applied,” Mr Agar said.

Whilst his screening and selection process was supported by EO’s specialist Shortlisting Team, another effective way of managing such a high volume of candidates would be to conduct a Group Assessment Day.

Employment Office’s Managing Director, Tudor Marsden-Huggins said that after the global financial crisis, many of the positions Employment Office advertised drew huge numbers of applicants, similar to the popular process workers role with the Australian Wool Testing Authority.

Paula Maidens, Managing Director of Recruitment Coach, a coaching and consulting firm for small businesses, specialising in recruitment and retention techniques, weighs in on the benefits of Group Assessment Days:

“In addition to being a great way to assess a large number of candidates cost-effectively, assessment days create a real sense of excitement and hype about working for an organisation.

"When a candidate is facing off against a wide range of other applicants, candidates really feel as though they are part of something ‘big’, creating some healthy competition and resulting in participants who really do want that job. Participants begin thinking, ‘If this many people want the job, I want it too!’”

Ms Maidens says Assessment Days are extremely effective in assessing how a candidate will actually perform on the job – while allowing employers to look at communication and interpersonal skills, activities can be focused around real on-the-job tasks.

Assessment days also set expectations for the realities of the job as participants complete relevant on-the-job tasks, she says.

“While new employees can be faced with a disappointing shock when they begin a job that doesn’t meet their expectations, participants can withdraw from the process if they dislike part of the job before they are even offered a role, reducing early turnover dramatically.”

For a more traditional role, Group Assessment Days reveal more about each applicant's skills, aptitudes and motivations than any number of interviews can, and can be completed much quicker.

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