Professor David Towner, head of assessment at RBS Group, told Recruiter that the early indications are that assessment centres are falling out of favour because they don’t fit in with the time demands and existing commitments of senior executives.

“With senior level hires you need a more flexible and responsive approach,” said Towner. “This has to fit in with when candidates are able to attend, and the amount of time they have to go through an assessment process.”

The benchmarking exercise, which began in August, compares RBS with 20 companies of a similar size, including other financial services companies.

Towner added that the other reason for the falling popularity of assessment centres is cost.

Towner said that there were also indications of “a more rigorous approach” being used in assessing candidates for senior roles. “There is a trend for a much more consistent and structured approach that assesses people against the competencies that organisations have defined for themselves,” said Towner.

In July, RBS chief executive Stephen Hester set out the six core competencies required for generic senior roles right up to executive board level. These include a focus on long-term strategy, rather than short term objectives, greater emphasis on the customer.