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Out of the box strategies for bottom line results
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Accelerated E-Learning: Simulations Take Over the Industry
Special Issue of Spice of the Month Accelerated Learning Ezine
Special Guest Writer: John Lamb
Reprinted with permission from:
Contact Professional Magazine
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For years, simulations have been used as a training tool for people in
high-risk and high-skill occupations. In areas such as the airline
industry and the military, simulation has long been used to provide people
with real-life experience in the safety of a training environment. The
merits of this approach are well-documented and, as technology has
advanced, simulation has started to move into the mainstream of corporate
America. In a recently released report, the Gartner Group dubbed
simulation e-learning's "killer application" and predicted that 70 percent
of all off-the-shelf and custom e-learning content will include some
application of simulations by 2006. Like many other market sectors,
contact centers are increasingly starting to take advantage of this
technology.
In this article, we'll discuss various types of simulations and then drill
down to how these types of simulations can be applied in your contact
center's training process. We'll also explain the benefits associated with
e-learning simulations and provide a list of the essential ingredients for
an effective simulation training solution.
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Why Simulations?
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E-learning is no longer just about putting paper-based training online.
Using the "old system" of page-turner courses providing low value and ROI
just doesn't cut it anymore. Companies are expecting their training
programs to step up a notch and ultimately are looking for tools that
allow for interaction and application of knowledge to develop skills. This
is where e-learning simulations catch the attention of contact centers
that need to give agents real-life experience without putting customers at
risk.
There are many variations on the types of simulations that companies are
using, and several are particularly well-suited to the contact center. The
most obvious and potentially most effective is the call flow simulation.
As anyone familiar with a contact center knows, agents are required to do
a great deal of multi-tasking. They must be able to listen, think, talk,
and type/navigate - all while providing the best service possible to the
customer on the other end of the line.
Call flow simulations seek to replicate this process, allowing agents to
master multi-tasking on a simulated customer before moving to a real-life
environment. Agents in training listen to a "customer" through their
headsets, respond to questions, and navigate through a simulated version
of software applications. This type of simulation allows the student to
get firsthand experience with both customer and application interaction
and provides a highly realistic emulation of real-life conditions. Call
flow simulations can be created for a variety of different call types that
incorporate best practice standards with techniques such as up-selling or
cross-selling.
A second type of simulation increasingly being used by contact centers is
the application simulation. Application simulations are used to train
agents exclusively when centers have a major new system rollout or
upgrade. Rather than building a duplicate system or "dummy" training
database, centers are using simulations that replicate system behavior,
allowing agents to practice interacting with the system without risking
data integrity. This type of training can be delivered in a classroom or
directly to agents on the floor, allowing for flexibility in training
scheduling and delivery.
An additional type of simulation that is gaining popularity is the soft
skill or situational simulation. These simulations incorporate
role-playing scenarios that are usually developed to assist learners with
problem solving. A scenario is presented to the student and roles are
given to the student and the simulator. For example, the role of the agent
would be given to the student and the simulator would play the part of the
customer. The "agent" would then be presented with a problem and be
responsible for solving the issue. This type of simulation is used to
train an agent on how to handle a certain type of customer - such as an
irate or happy one. The customer's demeanor and responses change
dynamically, based on the actions agents take. The simulation can also
include coaching, to provide guidance and support on how to interact with
the customer in the most appropriate manner.
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Applications
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So how can e-learning simulation be applied in your contact center's
training curriculum, and what's the best fit? As the use of simulation
grows, centers are finding that it can be applied across a wide variety of
business processes. Let?s take a look at four different areas where
simulation can be and is being applied:
- Hiring
- New Agent
- Ongoing Training
- Major Initiatives.
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Hiring
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E-learning simulations can be applied in the hiring process as both job
preview and prescreening tools. On the job preview side, contact centers
are using simulation to give applicants a realistic view of what the job
will be like. This type of job preview gives potential employees an
opportunity to experience the job firsthand and determine upfront whether
it will be a good fit for them.
On the prescreening side, simulations can be used to assess both soft
skills and technical skills. Applicants can be tested on customized
simulations and other exercises, giving hiring staff an opportunity to
assess their performance in conditions as close as possible to real-life.
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New Agent Training
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In new agent training, simulations provide an ideal method for exposing
newly hired agents to real-life conditions without putting customer
relationships at risk. Agents are able to master interacting with
customers and software applications in a safe environment. The benefits of
this approach relate directly to customer and new hire satisfaction. New
agents who have been trained using simulations have been proven to achieve
performance goals more quickly and to be less likely to succumb to the
stress of the job, thus improving attrition rates and customer service
levels.
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Ongoing Training
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With ongoing training, e-learning simulations provide tools that can be
used to address skill gaps of existing agents - either individually or in
groups. Many contact centers are starting to integrate simulation training
approaches with quality monitoring to identify specific skill gaps and
prescribe training to address them. For example, if a group of agents is
having difficulty with a particular type of interaction, a simulation can
be developed to address the gap and be delivered to those agents on the
floor. Likewise, simulations - either customized or packaged - can be
developed to address individual performance improvement needs.
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Major Initiatives
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In this category, contact centers are using simulations to assist with
major initiatives such as new application rollouts, major system upgrades,
or new center-wide campaigns. These types of initiatives are standard
practice at many contact centers, and the challenge of training so many
agents at one time can make them difficult to manage. Simulation provides
an alternative for getting agents up to speed in a more efficient and -
often - least costly way. It can also significantly improve performance,
since simulation by its nature requires agents to demonstrate their
ability to perform as desired.
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Benefits
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There are many benefits associated with using simulation in contact
centers, and they vary from center to center, depending on the specific
use in any given environment. However, some benefits consistently can be
achieved, and they are associated with the concept of learning by doing.
Gartner Group states that studies have shown that simulation can make a
student proficient at a skill four to six months earlier than those who
took a training class but had no application of the knowledge. This
accelerated learning is a key benefit of simulations delivered to any type
of audience-executive, manager, instructor or agent. The ability to become
proficient in skills more quickly is linked directly with the opportunity
to practice in a realistic job environment. Rather than trying to explain
what real-life is like or attempting to replicate it with activities like
role-playing, agents experience it firsthand and leave training with both
the skills and confidence to be successful. This can result in a host of
bottom-line benefits for contact center managers.
Among those benefits is reduced training time. The real-life experience
that simulation provides leaves agents better prepared to handle live
calls and reduces the support they require to become self-sufficient.
Another benefit is reduced attrition. A common complaint of contact center
agents when they enter the floor for the first time is that they feel
unprepared to handle a live customer interaction. This leads to
frustration, stress, and in many cases, an early exit from the job.
When George O'Donnell, director of North American Help Desk for Galileo
International, started looking at simulation training, the ability to
better prepare agents for the job was a top priority. Galileo
International is one of the world?s leading providers of electronic global
distribution services in the travel industry.
"Our programs focused too heavily on content and not enough on
performance," O'Donnell said. "We were providing newly hired agents with
12 weeks of training, and we regularly got feedback that they didn't feel
prepared to take their first calls. We needed to improve the fundamental
training of agents on how to do their jobs."
Before implementing an e-learning simulation solution from Simtrex Corp.,
Galileo relied on role-playing and buddying to give agents "hands-on"
experience.
"We spent a lot of time in role-playing, but it was very loosely defined,"
O'Donnell said. "Role-playing didn't do a good job of emulating real-life,
and our agents were unprepared when they got to the floor. Simtrex's
simulation training has allowed us to bridge the gap between classroom
training and the real world. It has been a breakthrough in our efforts to
provide agents with the real-life experience they need to be successful."
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The Bottom Line
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And finally, let's get down to the bottom-line: What kind of cost is
associated with e-learning simulation?
Ultimately the cost will depend on the type of simulations your contact
center requires and the degree of complexity involved. Some tools will
allow you to author your own simulations without programming knowledge,
while others require the subject matter expertise of vendors or technical
staff. Regardless of your specific needs, simulation is becoming
increasingly affordable as the technology continues to advance. With the
benefits it can provide - decreased agent turnover, lower call handling
time and increased performance levels within your center - the cost is
often clearly outweighed by the return on investment.
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SMART Simulation Training
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A simulation training solution should incorporate several essential
characteristics. To help you evaluate various solutions, use this SMART
list as a guide. Look for a training solution that will:
Simulate calls exactly as they would occur in real-life. Effective
simulations place the student in the "heat of the battle" by providing a
faithful representation of on-the-job conditions. Trainees should be able
to immerse themselves fully in the simulation, often forgetting that it
isn't real.
Mentor and correct students in real-time. Imperfect practice leads to
imperfect performance. An effective simulation training solution will
recognize errors in real time and correct students as they progress
through a simulation. This will ensure that agents practice in the right
way and allow instructors to accurately assess performance.
Accommodate self-paced skill building. One of the benefits that simulation
training can provide is the ability for students to learn at their own
pace, and this approach is further enhanced when agents are able to
practice parts of a customer interaction in blocks before combining their
skills. One example would be allowing agents to master system navigation
on its own before incorporating conversation.
Replicate call-handling time. The flow of the simulation should match the
pace of an actual call to provide a realistic experience. In other words,
when agents stop talking, their simulated customer should respond exactly
as a real customer would. This allows agents to get a realistic experience
and gives instructors the ability to evaluate call handling time metrics
for each student.
Teach best practices. Inconsistent performance is a common challenge for
contact centers. It is beneficial, therefore, for simulation training to
reinforce the best practice standards established for your center. This
will enable all agents to have the same training experience and minimize
the problem of tenured agents passing on undesirable habits to new hires.
In summary, effective simulations allow agents to practice the whole
customer interaction in a highly realistic manner, multi-tasking within
the real-world time constraints of a call. Taken as a whole, these
attributes define effective simulation training.
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For More Information
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More information about accelerated learning and e-learning:
Visit Our Spice Rack for an index of all Spice of the Month issues.
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Anne Thornley-Brown is the President and founder of The Training Oasis, Inc., a Toronto based consulting firm for rapidly changing organizations. Through a strategic alliance with Kuala Lumpur based FIK International, Anne has toured Asia 9 times and offered seminars to over 1300 executives, managers and HR professionals in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and India. Petronas, Malaysian Airlines, Digi, Mobil/Exxon, and Dell Computers are among the organizations that have sent delegates to her sessions in Asia. Anne is available as a keynote speaker, instructional designer and facilitator for seminars and team building.
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