Using Psychology to Get Contact Centres Right - CallNorthWest

The assessment of candidates’ performance on the exercises was often based on very complicated andambiguous rating scales. These scales were open to different interpretations and therefore left theprocess open to high levels of subjectivity and bias.The competency-based face-to-face and telephone interviews used tended to focus on past behaviourand not future potential. Therefore there is a risk of ruling out potentially effective Advisors who havenot had the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities fully. This is especially pertinent when oneconsiders the high levels of competition when trying to attract Advisors.The methods used did not always appear to be cost effective. For example, many organisations usedcomplex interview-based procedures which assessed around 10 different competencies. Due to thecomplexity of the procedure, a substantial investment in training was required to achieve high interraterreliability.Managing Expectations: Psychological research has shown that job satisfaction and retention arerelated to the impression of the job people form during the recruitment process: i.e. the more realisticthe view of the job an individual has before they join, the more job satisfaction they report and thelonger they stay. The tendency to ‘talk-up’ the job can result in candidates’ expectations beingviolated and contribute to low job satisfaction and a higher risk of quitting.RecommendationsKaisen has the following suggestions for improving selection methods following their research:• ‘Cast the net far and wide’: The recruitment process should attract a wide range of applicantsand select people on the basis of capability, not experience.• Manage agencies carefully: When working with agencies, they should be provided with a verytight brief and the quality of service and candidates supplied should be monitored closely.• Use a ‘staged’ recruitment process: To increase the likelihood of identifying candidates withthe ‘right stuff’, the recruitment process should stimulate a large volume of applications andincorporate a number of stages to ‘filter’ candidates. Use of screening questionnaires is a usefultool for ruling out unsuitable candidates at an early stage.• Assess core skills: The assessment process should be focused on those fundamental qualitieswhich underpin effective job performance but which are difficult for people to develop, such asempathy, motivation and emotional resilience. It is much easier to train people in systems andselling techniques than to train them to empathise with customers.• Look for ‘contact centre qualities’: Select people on the basis of the personal qualities whichspecifically predict contact centre success. In particular, assessing candidates’ ‘motivationalfit’ with the Advisor role and contact centre environment is critical to identifying highperforming employees.• Use work sampling: Using assessment methods which simulate the psychological demands ofthe job will increase the accuracy, objectivity and fairness of recruitment decisions. Forexample, use role-play exercises where candidates need to perform a task while talking to acustomer to assess the ability to empathise with customers and ‘multi-task’.