Applicant Screening: Your business needs should always drive the talent assessment process.

The achievement of your organization’s vision depends on the success of attracting and hiring the right contact center talent. Whether you have clearly defined organizational goals in place, or are in the process of updating these based on evolving business needs, a key part of this strategy is defining the types of leaders and team members needed to advance those goals.

Consider this truth: You can’t hit a target unless it’s defined.

Our team of Industrial / Organizational Psychologists strongly recommend that before selecting any prehire assessment, a collaborative conversation between organizational leaders takes place to confirm the success factors needed in your center. This exercise may have twists and turns but ultimately, you’ll have clarity about your target.

You can use this list to jump start the conversation about the type of talent needed:

  • Pleasant and courteous with customers
  • Great detectives that listen closely and uncover what’s important to each customer
  • Problem solvers that can follow policies and procedures
  • Efficient screen navigators and keyboard operators to avoid “dead air” and extended call handling times that lead to customer frustration
  • Confident when positioning solutions and overcoming objections by connecting them back to customer needs
  • Effective communicators who are easy to understand and put customers at ease
  • Top supervisors and team leaders who know how to engage and motivate their teams

Once you’ve defined your contact center success factors, you can then determine the right applicant screening tools for assessing those factors. Consider how the new tools will attract the best candidates, streamline your process, improve employee retention, and drive bottom-line results.

3 Assessments Worth Your Time

In today’s tight labor market, the challenge is attracting and identifying the right talent as quickly and accurately as possible. These three tools will make that job easier.

1. Realistic Job Previews

Job previews promote transparency about your company’s culture and highlight how each employee can contribute to the overall mission of the organization. People want to know what role they are playing in the bigger picture. Candidates that are knowledgeable and excited about your company are more likely to make a smooth transition to the job and are less likely to leave prematurely.

2. Job Simulations

By using simulations that immerse candidates in realistic job situations, you can accurately predict how they will actually perform once on the job. The virtual environment creates a fun experience for candidates while predicting job success with scientific precision. Job-specific simulations are available for all key contact center roles:

3. Virtual Interviews

Automated virtual interviews are ideal for screening contact center talent. By adding an automated screening interview early in the process, you can quickly and efficiently evaluate candidates’ verbal communication skills and “phone presence.” Virtual interviews deliver dramatic time and cost savings by helping you pinpoint top candidates so you can invest your time with only the most qualified.

The Power of Three

Why three different applicant screening tools? Your goal is hitting a defined target. Why not use every available resource to get the job done with maximum efficiency? Imagine a cost-effective solution for assessing all of that in around 30 minutes – before job candidates ever walk through your door! This type of integrated, job-specific solution leads to improved cycle time, minimal drop rate, and the highest accuracy in selecting the best new talent.

“The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it.”  – Mal Pancoast

 

Hire Great People, Fast!

You might say contact centers are in our DNA. There’s no industry we know better . . . and there’s no industry where we’ve had more impact. For a free consultation about streamlining and optimizing hiring at your contact center, contact us today!