Actio re-envisioned the new hire training experience for Concierge Service Agents just in time for an upcoming hiring surge.
The Challenge
The customer advocate team for a client in the global professional services industry was poised to double in size: in eight weeks, a large wave of new team members would arrive for training in three locations.
Problems existed in the current training experience for new hires, however. Training delivery lacked desired engagement, was inconsistently delivered across sites, and almost exclusively focused on knowledge instead of skill-building, performance, or whole-task practice. After completing the lengthy training program, new hires were often unable to perform basic tasks. Many experienced “job shock” once on the job and taking live calls. The client wanted to markedly improve this experience for incoming team members.
The Solution
Actio centered the onboarding program’s learning strategy on building specific knowledge, skill, and performance requirements. We simplified and streamlined the content and designed a progression of performance-focused modules throughout the program. We infused the onboarding process with authentic, high-value practice.
We selected massed and interleaved practice, starting with low difficulty and complexity, and building to scenarios that mimicked the real-world situations that agents encountered on the job. At each stage of practice, as the scenarios became more complex and realistic, feedback was provided and time was allotted for the learner to reflect on, consider, and implement improvements to their performance.
Once a base level of proficiency was demonstrated, practice shifted into clusters of two, three, and five calls, organized to mimic the flow of work back on the job. The scenarios explored both technical difficulty and interpersonal difficulty. Changing the combinations in order to make the practice a valuable part of the instruction.
Measurement tools used by managers and coaches in the field were used throughout the training experience, to help ground the practice in the real world and prepare the new agents with an authentic experience. We capped the onboarding process with a series of performance assessments that included instructor observation as a new hire practiced live calls.
Even with little lead time between program redesign and the onboarding of new hires in three locations, Actio built 42 hours of custom content in just six weeks. Given the project’s success, the client engaged Actio to redesign other training experiences for the organization.
Company Bio
This global firm is a leading cloud-based provider of integrated digital human capital and business solutions. Leveraging proprietary AI and data analytics, they optimize business process as a service (BPaaS) to deliver superior outcomes for employees and employers across a comprehensive portfolio of services. They allow employees to enrich their health, wealth and work while enabling global organizations to achieve a high-performance culture. They have 15,000 dedicated colleagues who serve more than 30 million employees and family members. They serve more than 70% of the Fortune 100.
