ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008 - (Page 12)

PEOPLE Service behavior was erratic: Some days they were on, some days they were off — really off. The ability for one-call resolution seemed to be lacking. These new agents just did not have the “snap” to remember things and think quickly on their feet. Concerned about this lackluster performance level, the center decided to improve its method of hiring agents. The obvious choice was to add formal testing to the hiring process to get more information about applicants’ potential for success. ABC found, however, that incorporating tests for new-hires is a worthless strategy if the tests do not measure skills directly correlated to overall service goals. GUESSWORK AND ASSUMPTIONS The Performance Pyramid ABC center relied on a common method to select a test. It identified a test that measured core agent performance skills. The test of choice measured hard Source: LIMRA International, www.contactcenter.limra.com M What Is a Pre-Employment Test and Why Care? The goal of pre-employment testing is to provide helpful information for agent hiring decisions. In many countries, these tests must meet legal standards to show both effectiveness for organizations and fairness to applicants. But on a more pragmatic and business perspective, testing should consistently identify and separate superstar talent from poor talent. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time and money. The $64,000 question: What is a “pre-employment test”? Most of us think of pre-employment tests as similar to the tests we took in school or simulation tests, such as a keyboard test. But did you know that interviews and application forms are preemployment tests, too? Even informal assessments are pre-employment tests, such as asking applicants to role-play handling a rude customer. That being said, all tests must meet quality metrics expected of pre-employment tests. Unfortunately, call centers sometimes overlook this point. The legal definition of a test provides good logic on the key feature of a test used in a hiring decision. In the United States, courts and government agencies define a “hiring test” as any activity used to rank applicants so that one individual becomes more “eligible” or “qualified” than others for employment. This means that a lot of pre-employment activities that don’t “look or smell” like tests are, nonetheless, hiring tests. Managers may protest, “Interviews aren’t tests! My role-play isn’t a test!” But the interview or role-play is a test if it is used to evaluate applicants so that some are: 1) ranked, or 2) moved ahead in the hiring sequence while others are not. Here is the big implication: If you use a test, it should meet quality metrics of reliability, validity and fairness. It is not only a legal issue; it is also a business issue. These metrics help to show that the test effectively and fairly identifies qualified individuals from unqualified ones. The truth is many hiring tests — mostly unrecognized — are assumed to be useful in agent hiring, but there is no evidence of benefit. Too often, they have no value to a call center and you are wasting time and resources. If you choose to use a formal or informal test, it should include information on the quality metrics. It only makes sense for successful agent hiring. icmi’s insight www.icmi.com | JANUARY 2008 12 http://www.contactcenter.limra.com http://www.icmi.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008

ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008 Contents Customer Care Technologies Ad Index Editor's Page Contact Center Spotlight People: Prehire Tests In The Center Strategy: Video Contact Centers Show Preview Operations: Knowledge Management Industry Research Contact Centers Face Today's Realities: A Case for Consolidation 2.0 Is Your Agent Training Process Evolving with the Role? The Key to Innovation Is Maintaining Your Strengths Becoming Strategic: Using Customer Contact Analytics to Empower the Contact Center's Role

ICMI's Customer Management Insight - January 2008

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