Using competency-based assessment centres to select judges – implications for equality and diversity Gill Kirton and Geraldine Healy, Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 19, no 3, 2009, pages 302–318 This article is concerned with two significant areas of HR practice – competency- based recruitment and selection and equality and diversity. The article provides a critical appraisal of the implications for equality and diversity of using a competency approach to select judges in the UK. The study reveals the socially constructed and ambiguous nature of competencies in practice. It offers partial support to previous claims that competency-based HR practices have the potential to be used more creatively and inclusively and thus have the potential to further equality and diversity objectives. However, the study also revealed dangers inherent in competency-based HR practices that arise from the inescapable fact that human, organisational actors (i.e. the assessors) are necessarily required to interpret the competencies and evaluate which candidates meet them and which do not. Thus, whatever the rhetoric, there is the potential for bias, prejudice and discrimination. Contact: Gill Kirton, Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. Email: g.kirton@qmul.ac.uk INTRODUCTION T his article is concerned with two significant areas of HR practice – competency-based recruitment and selection and equality and diversity. It reports and discusses findings of a study of competency-based assessment centres (ACs) used to select new judges. Competency-based HR policies and practices have been widely adopted in a number of countries and sectors, including UK government departments (Garavan and McGuire, 2001). Although the nature, substance and coverage of the practices vary across government departments and agencies, the majority use a competency framework for at least some HR functions, including recruitment and selection. The general belief seems to be that the use of tests (as found in competency-based ACs) enables higher quality selection, and arguably, the formalised, more transparent measurement of candidates’ suitability also affords organisations greater protection in a climate of increased equality regulation (Wolf and Jenkins, 2006). As Wolf and Jenkins (2006) note, growing consensus around formal testing means that it is seen as a major indicator of good HR practice in selection and isomorphic, normative pressures are bound to encourage organisations to follow the trend. However, Wolf and Jenkins also remind us that the selection literature doi: 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2009.00099.x HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 19 NO 3, 2009 302 © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Please cite this article in press as: Kirton, G. and Healy, G. (2009) ‘Using competency-based assessment centres to select judges – implications for equality and diversity’. Human Resource Management Journal doi: 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2009.00099.x