© 2013 HireIQ Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved
BEST PRACTICES IN ATTRACTING, SELECTING AND
RETAINING A HIGH-PERFORMING AGENT WORKFORCE
Kevin G. Hegebarth VP, Marketing HireIQ Solutions, Inc.
www.hireiqinc.com
www.hireiqinc.com
Agenda × Introducing the agent lifecycle × Harnessing the power of attraction × Screening and selection best practices × The REAL labor pool – the devil’s in the
details × Rise of the Machines: technology-aided
selection × Retaining the engaged workforce
www.hireiqinc.com
The Rise of the Agent Lifecycle WFO solutions contain complementary functions designed to improve the performance of customer engagement centers by means of optimized deployment of appropriately trained and motivated agents. The functions range from ones for recruitment and scheduling to ones of evaluation and training. By adding intelligence to each function, everything from recruitment to scheduling to training can be optimized.
- Gartner, Inc.
When centers adopt a “lifecycle” view that incorporates hiring, evaluation, training and retention into the performance picture, they achieve a more productive call center than if these efforts are isolated. In effect, it helps to assure that an initial hire is someone who will last through training, rather than someone who will take training and then decide the job is not a fit. A holistic viewpoint allows centers to target training more appropriately, with the result that they keep the most qualified agents on the job, and elevate the performance of everyone else.
- Frost & Sullivan.
www.hireiqinc.com
The Agent Lifecycle Attract • Source candidates • Market open positions • Create compelling event
Select • Interview and assess • Background, reference check • Offer preparation and
acceptance
Retain • Train and coach • Drive engagement • Measure and improve
performance
© 2013 HireIQ Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved
POWER SHIFT: IT’S A BUYER’S MARKET
Improving Candidate Sourcing Excellence
www.hireiqinc.com
The Agent Lifecycle Attract • Source candidates • Market open positions • Create compelling event
Select • Interview and assess • Background, reference check • Offer preparation and
acceptance
Retain • Train and coach • Drive engagement • Measure and improve
performance
www.hireiqinc.com
Agent Hiring Sourcing Dilemma × Shrinking unemployment means fewer
candidates to choose from. Or does it? × Industry attrition rate largely unchanged × Local labor pool is “overfished” × Increased requirements for higher skilled
labor × Increased pressure to attract and select
candidates quickly × Candidates have higher expectations and
shorter attention spans
www.hireiqinc.com
Speed Matters
Days from Application to Hiring Decision
Qua
lity
Can
dida
tes
Ava
ilabl
e
Ideal Hiring
Window
Applicants form an opinion of the company based on the hiring process experience. Companies that act quickly are more likely to attract high-quality candidates who will become engaged, high-performing employees. Source: “The Effect of Job Offer Timing on Offer Acceptance, Performance, and Turnover.” Personnel Psychology
www.hireiqinc.com
Communication Matters
Days from Application to Hiring Decision
Qua
lity
Can
dida
tes
Ava
ilabl
e
Ideal Hiring
Window
68% of applicants are influenced by the hiring process 75% hear nothing from a hiring company 82% expect they should 40% will never apply again 48% will not buy from hiring company 56% will chronicle their negative experience 82% of companies feel a bad experience has little negative impact 52% respond to fewer than half of the applicants Source: CareerBuilder Candidate Behavior Report, 2013, 2015
www.hireiqinc.com
Expand your Search
Source:U.S.DepartmentofLaborBureauofLaborStatistics
Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.
Persons who are neither employed nor unemployed are not in the labor force. This category includes retired persons, students, those taking care of children or other family members, and others who are neither working nor seeking work.
www.hireiqinc.com
Five Keys to Effective Sourcing × Treat your candidates like customers and
sell your company, not your jobs × Market jobs to those no longer in the labor
force × Frame the job posting in “what’s in it for
me” terms × Use social media – Facebook, Twitter, and
Pinterest – “fish where the fish are” × Use a progressive application strategy
© 2013 HireIQ Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved
SPEED, QUANTITY OR QUALITY? HOW ABOUT ALL THREE?
Strategies to Improve the Screening Process
www.hireiqinc.com
The Agent Lifecycle Attract • Source candidates • Market open positions • Create compelling event
Select • Interview and assess • Background, reference check • Offer preparation and
acceptance
Retain • Train and coach • Drive engagement • Measure and improve
performance
www.hireiqinc.com
The Labor Funnel
Applications
Screens
Interviews
Offers
Hires
www.hireiqinc.com
The Hiring Funnel: A Numbers Game Application
Resume Review
Pre-Screening
Live Interviews
Background Check & Drug Test
Offer First Day!
Cumulative Loss Rate 15% 24% 68% 90% 92% 94% 95%
Reasons • Not qualified • Location • Salary • Benefits • Job content • Incomplete
application
• Not qualified • Work
history
• Not qualified • No-show • Poor job fit • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job • Unable to
reach
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Failed or high-risk • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Low salary • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
1 3 13 18 24 28 Elapsed
Time (days)
1 2 10 5 6 4 Step Days
www.hireiqinc.com
It’s a Numbers Game Application
Resume Review
Pre-Screening
Live Interviews
Background Check & Drug Test
Offer First Day!
Cumulative Loss Rate 15% 24% 68% 90% 92% 94% 95%
Reasons • Not qualified • Location • Salary • Benefits • Job content • Incomplete
application
• Not qualified • Work
history
• Not qualified • No-show • Poor job fit • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job • Unable to
reach
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Failed or high-risk • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Low salary • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
1 3 13 18 24 28 Elapsed
Time (days)
1 2 10 5 6 4 Step Days
Impact: • 20:1 applicant:hire ratio • Best candidates lost early • Cost/hire ~$1,200, before onboarding
& training
www.hireiqinc.com
Virtual Interviewing × Interactive, on-line screening software × Automates labor-intensive, low-value,
tedious parts of the process × Trims valuable time from the critical early
stages × Increases candidate engagement and
interview completion – yield × Reduces candidate susceptibility to other
offers × Reduces recruiter labor effort and cost × Increases recruiting team value
www.hireiqinc.com
Automate Pre-Screening Step Application
Resume Review
Virtual Interview
Live Interviews
Background Check & Drug Test
Offer First Day!
Cumulative Loss Rate 15% 24% 45% 77% 79% 81% 82%
Reasons • Not qualified • Location • Salary • Benefits • Job content • Incomplete
application
• Not qualified • Work
history
• Not qualified • No-show • Poor job fit • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job • Unable to
reach
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Failed or high-risk • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Low salary • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
1 3 5 10 16 20 Elapsed
Time (days)
1 2 2 5 6 4 Step Days
www.hireiqinc.com
Automate Pre-Screening Step Application
Resume Review
Virtual Interview
Live Interviews
Background Check & Drug Test
Offer First Day!
Cumulative Loss Rate 15% 24% 45% 77% 79% 81% 82%
Reasons • Not qualified • Location • Salary • Benefits • Job content • Incomplete
application
• Not qualified • Work
history
• Not qualified • No-show • Poor job fit • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job • Unable to
reach
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Failed or high-risk • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• Low salary • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
• No-show • No longer
interested • Accepted
another job
1 3 5 10 16 20 Elapsed
Time (days)
1 2 2 5 6 4 Step Days
Impact: • 6:1 Applicant:Hire Ratio - 3x+
improvement • Increased interview yield by 50%+ • Cost of Hire reduced by 60% • Time-to-hire reduced by 30%
www.hireiqinc.com
Always On – Always Available
Over 45% of candidates complete their interviews outside of normal working hours. Effectively creates a 24/7 recruiting operation, with no increase in labor cost, and eliminates much of the shrinkage due to candidate inavailability.
© 2013 HireIQ Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved
ANALYTICS-ENABLED SELECTION
Predictive analytics tools to choose the right candidates everytime.
www.hireiqinc.com
www.hireiqinc.com
Definition: A variety of statistical techniques from predictive modeling, machine learning, and data mining that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or otherwise unknown events.
Predictive Analytics
What: A systematic, performance analytics-based approach for selecting new hires based on their demonstrated performance and engagement potential.
How: Compare pre-hire assessment data against observed post-hire tenure, engagement and performance measures of prior hires to create predictive performance models that aid in the selection of exceptional performers.
www.hireiqinc.com
NBER Study × 15 companies, 300,000 employees × Low-skilled labor positions – call center × Algorithmic recommendations based on
evaluation results (Red, Yellow, Green) × Tenure results
® Greens stayed 12 days longer than Yellows ® Yellows stayed 17 days longer than Reds ® Average tenure of all employees = 90 days
× Algorithmic recommendations consistently outperformed human judgment
www.hireiqinc.com
Predictive Selection Analytics
Pre-hire Interviews and Assessments • Identify key attributes • Collect actionable data
Performance Feedback • Collect observed performance • Report quality-of-hire
Predictive Analytics • Model excellent performers • Recommend candidates for hire
www.hireiqinc.com
Top
Middle
Bottom
Behavioral Language Cognitive Emotional
Pre-HireAssessments
Tenure CSAT Attendance Close
PerformancePotentialHigh
Medium
Low
www.hireiqinc.com
Top
Middle
Bottom
Behavioral Language Cognitive Emotional
Pre-HireAssessments
High
Medium
Low
Tenure CSAT Attendance Close
PerformancePotential
www.hireiqinc.com
Top
Middle
Bottom
Behavioral Language Cognitive Emotional
Pre-HireAssessments
High
Medium
Low
Tenure CSAT Attendance Close
PerformancePotential
www.hireiqinc.com
Effects
60% 90-DayRetention
56% FCRAttainment
28% CSATAttainment
58% HiringCosts
84% TimetoFillInterval
90% RecruiterLabor
© 2013 HireIQ Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved
EMOTIONAL ASSESSMENTS: DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION TO
CANDIDATE SELECTION
Transparent to the applicant. Effective for the company.
www.hireiqinc.com
Traditional Assessments × Based on ’50s OP theory × Episodic vs. continuous validation × Can be very lengthy × Gameable × Developed primarily for salaried positions × Don’t measure traits that relate to
delivering an exceptional customer experience
www.hireiqinc.com
www.hireiqinc.com
Role of Emotions on the Workforce • Members of a workgroup who exhibit similar affective
characteristics demonstrate higher customer service performance and lower absenteeism;
• A workgroup consisting of members with widely divergent affect tends to exhibit greater friction, more absenteeism, less cooperation and reduced business performance;
• Emotions are “contagious” and an employee’s disposition can be detected by customers, resulting in service quality evaluations that reflect that disposition – both positive and negative;
• Positive affect is associated with reduced absenteeism and propensity to turnover, conversely negative affect is associated with increased absenteeism and actual turnover.
“Why Affect Matters in Organizations” by Sigal Barsade and Donald Gibson
Academy of Management Perspectives, February, 2007
These emotions can be effectively identified from natural language communication, such as that found in pre-hire screening interviews.
www.hireiqinc.com
Emotional Assessments × Use natural-language pre-hire interview
recordings × Transparent to the candidate × Continuously validated × Does not introduce an extra step in the
hiring process × Measures traits that are directly relevant
to contact center positions × Highly predictive
© 2013 HireIQ Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved
RETENTION AND ENGAGEMENT
The engaged workforce is a high-performing workforce.
www.hireiqinc.com
The Agent Lifecycle Attract • Source candidates • Market open positions • Create compelling event
Select • Interview and assess • Background, reference check • Offer preparation and
acceptance
Retain • Train and coach • Drive engagement • Improve performance
www.hireiqinc.com
Degrees of Engagement
Engaged – Works with a passion and feels a profound connection to the company. Drives innovation and moves the company forward.
Not Engaged – Generally “checked out.” Sleepwalks through the day, putting in time, but not much energy or passion into their work.
Actively Disengaged – Saboteurs. Not just unhappy, but putting energy into their unhappiness. Actively undermine what engaged colleagues are accomplishing.
32.8% of American Workers
Source: Gallup, Employee Engagement in the U.S., Jan. 2016
50.3% of American Workers
16.8% of American Workers
www.hireiqinc.com
Role of Emotions on Engagement × Key factor in the engaged workforce
® Positive emotions are 5x more likely to be engaged ® Negative emotions are 10x more likely to be
disengaged
× Higher level performance ® 37% reduction in absenteeism ® 65% reduction in turnover ® 10% increase in CSAT ® 22% improvement in profitability.
REFERENCES:DaleCarnegieTrainingwhitepaper,EmotionalDriversofEmployeeEngagementGallupreport,StateoftheGlobalWorkplace
www.hireiqinc.com
www.hireiqinc.com
Improving Engagement × Measure at regular, key performance
intervals × Make it transparent to the agent
® Natural language assessment ® QA recordings
× Look for changes between intervals ® “Canary in the coal mine” ® Coaching and training implementation and
effectiveness
× Coach according to engagement level
www.hireiqinc.com
Key Takeaways × Actively market your jobs and the value
they offer × Use technology in place of repetitive, low-
value tasks ® Revise hiring process & eliminate bottlenecks ® Improves yield ® Shortens time-to-fill
× Trust the algorithms – model excellent performers
× Benchmark engagement and measure often
www.hireiqinc.com
HireIQSolutions,Inc.Headquarters
1101C Cambridge Square
Alpharetta, GA 30009 USA
Tel: +1.678.279.2838
@kghegebarth
HireIQSolutions
www.hireiqinc.com
www.hireiqinc.com
Kevin G. Hegebarth Vice President, Marketing and Product Management
Kevin Hegebarth is Vice President of Marketing and Product Management for HireIQ Solutions, Inc. He has over 30 years’ experience in providing software and technology solutions designed to improve the recruiting, hiring, performance, and quality of customer service professionals. He has held executive marketing, product management and business development leadership roles with leading companies serving the customer contact market. He is a frequent contributor to industry publications and has spoken at numerous industry events on topics such as workforce acquisition and optimization, the role of social media in recruiting and customer service, and innovative human capital management strategies. He is an inventor on a number U.S. patents relating to the use of predictive analytics in hiring and employee performance optimization. He can be reached at [email protected].