MONEYFLOW DORA SCHOLARIOS
A financial services call centre, Moneyflow, dedicated 3 hours 20 minutes to each candidate for the position of Customer Advisor. At the time, there was a vibrant employment market in the area and this call centre was competing against 15 other companies for qualified staff. Many of those recruited often left after the two days of training. Recruitment consultants were used to preselect candidates for the company to interview. The recruitment agency chosen seemed to understand the skill specifications required. The company also carried out a validation of the process by correlating scores at the hiring stage (predictors) with Customer Advisors’ supervisory performance ratings (the criterion) after six months on the job (i.e. for those who were hired). These validity coefficients are shown in parentheses for each selection method below.
Stages of recruitment/selection
1 General register of candidates formed (few active call centre workers were available given the buoyant employment situation).
2 Ads placed locally and nationally, including in universities.
3 Candidates asked to complete work history and a financial planning questionnaire (to eliminate credit risks).
4 Customer orientation score (.30): the company designed a self-assessment application form based on critical incident methods. This captures five customer-oriented competencies (customer focus, fact finding, relating to customers, convincing, oral communication) and two related to discretionary behaviour (independent facilitation, job dedication). It also acts as a realistic job preview to inform candidates of the sales component of the job.
5 Skills test score (.58): combined scores on tests of visual accuracy; spelling; key depressions; arithmetic and alphanumeric skill.
6 Telephone role-play rating (.58): ‘You are a CA in a travel service.’ Two assessors looked for questioning/listening/selling skills.
7 Recruitment consultants sent a list of candidates to the company to select for one hour interview with two team leaders. Depending on need, the agencies often put all candidates forward for interview without pre-selection.
8 Interview rating (20–30 minutes with manager) based on CV/work history (.21): sales skills were explored further in the interview.
Questions
1 Based on Table 4.1 and the validity coefficients, what is the overall psychometric quality of this procedure?
2 Explain the ‘balance of power’ in the selection process between employers, candidates and other stakeholders.
3 What recommendations would you give the call centre on their selection process? Refer to Table 4.2.
Table 4.1
