Atlanta-based LOMA says it has developed a hiring tool that will enable insurance companies to combat the problem of frequent employee turnover in the customer contact center operation.
The tool, LOMASelect-Service Index, "is designed specifically to measure a core set of job fit dimensions critical to long employee tenure and job success," LOMA says. "Rather than measuring whether an applicant will have the skills to do the job, LOMASelect-Service Index successfully measures whether the applicant will like to do the job."
According to Barbara Kruse, second vice president, LOMA Employee Assessment Products and Services, "Turnover in contact centers is almost universal." She notes that in the companies she works with, the turnover rate within such centers is "much higher than in the rest of the organization."
This trend even continued during the recent economic downturn, she adds.
Kruse says LOMAs Web-delivered testing platform measures detailed dimensions such as:
Orientation toward customer servicethe preference employees have toward working with others; whether or not they like working with the same people each day or with different people; whether or not they like to work with people who have needs and complaints, and whether or not they can handle such people without taking the interchanges personally.
Job structurepreference for working in a job that has many rules and procedures vs. a more free-form atmosphere. Also, tolerance for doing repetitive tasks.
Work environmentwhether or not employees like to work quickly, provide fast-paced quick answers and are not interested in working on long projects, and if they can tolerate sitting at a desk for a long time.
Such information, which is generally unavailable via background checks, interviews or traditional assessment methods, "makes a huge difference in contact center turnover rates," says LOMA.
"We dont ask the questions directly," explains Kruse, adding that no standard psychological tests are utilized. "This is an instrument we created ourselves based on our research in call centers."
