Tag: Recruitment

Hire Right, Hire Fast

Posted on by Blake Graves

This case study highlights an energy client and a retail and subscription services client. It was originally published on Oct. 13, 2021, and was updated on Aug. 19, 2024, to reflect the two featured clients’ current metrics and results.

In a competitive market for high-quality customer service agents, time to hire is more important than ever. Here’s how iQor recruits, onboards, and retains the best-fitting agents for your business in record time.

Why iQor?

In this case study, iQor showcases its ability to quickly hire, train, and retain high-performing agents across diverse industries. Our recruitment process is designed to identify top candidates swiftly and efficiently, ensuring that we meet our clients’ staffing needs with precision. By leveraging a combination of AI-driven recruitment tools, data analytics, and a deep understanding of industry-specific requirements, we deliver customized hiring solutions that drive success.

We highlight two distinct client success stories—one with a leading retail subscription gifts company and the other with a major energy provider. Both clients benefit from iQor’s innovative recruitment strategies and our commitment to operational excellence, which result in significant improvements in time to hire, employee retention, and overall business performance.

Finding the Right People

At iQor, we understand that the key to delivering exceptional customer experiences begins with hiring the right talent. We take an immersive approach to understanding client support needs to build out unique agent profiles. From requisition to onboarding, expectations are clearly defined to only bring in applicants that fit the job description. 

Day 1

Apply, Pre-Screen, and Chat With Recruiter

Day 2

Right-Fit Assessment

Day 3

Accept, Onboard, and Train!

Day One: Automated and Reliable Pre-Screening

The clock begins once the candidate applies. From there, we send an automatic mobile link for our customized pre-screening questionnaire. If the candidate meets the criteria, our recruiter reaches out to them within the hour via text message and phone call. We track candidates like we would track sales leads and staff our recruiters accordingly in order to contact every pre-screened candidate. This can be done seasonally and for promotional campaigns so call volumes are staffed just right. 

Day Two: Finding the Best Candidates with Right-Fit Tests

On day two, the pre-screened candidate will either receive our customer situational simulation or online candidate scoring model to be scored on customer service aptitude. These tests tell us if the candidate has what it takes to be an empathetic, customer-driven agent that will propel positive customer experiences for your brand.  

Day Three: Onboarding

On day three, the candidate finishes the final round of interviews (in-person or virtual) and can be extended an offer and on-boarded for training that same day. No matter the location, our thin client technology and cloud-based infrastructure allow us to ramp up agents in any location instantly.  

For remote workers, we conduct a work-at-home validation check to confirm the candidate’s internet, upload/download speed, operating system, memory, and more so we know they have the equipment necessary to deliver a quality customer experience. 

Revolutionizing Recruitment With iQor’s Symphony [AI]TM 

At the heart of iQor’s transformative approach to recruitment and retention is our AI ecosystem, Symphony [AI]. This powerful platform integrates advanced AI capabilities with a human touch, enabling us to streamline talent acquisition, enhance employee engagement, and drive operational excellence. 

Symphony [AI] offers a suite of tools designed to optimize every stage of the employee lifecycle. From AI-driven prescreening that identifies top talent with unprecedented accuracy to real-time analytics that provide actionable insights into candidate performance, Symphony [AI] ensures that iQor remains at the forefront of innovation in the CX industry. 

By leveraging Symphony [AI], iQor accelerates the hiring process and enhances the overall candidate experience, resulting in higher employee satisfaction and retention. This innovative ecosystem empowers our clients to achieve their CX goals with the right people in place during steady-state and seasonal ramps, driving long-term success and operational efficiency. 

The Results

20% Increase in Acceptance Rate Over Two Years

Conversion up by 13% Over 1 Year

Time-to-Fill 63% Faster Than the Global Average 

Retaining Top Talent in a Competitive Market

You got the agent fast, and now you want them to last. iQor maintains employee retention by using data analytics and predictive models that get better and better with time. We track retention by a number of attributes, including recruiter, lead source, work type, and geographical location to analyze retention combinations and identify areas for improvement.  

We harness the power of machine learning to monitor real-time interactions and identify agents at risk of leaving. Using this technology provides insights into which employees will benefit from intervention with timely supervisor engagement, personalized coaching, and support, which improves retention and fosters stronger connections between agents and their supervisors. 

Combined with our award-winning training, culture, and retention initiatives, this approach has led to increased retention and employee satisfaction for our clients.

Success Stories in Retail and Energy

A core element of iQor’s recruiting strategy is our dedication to employee engagement and development. We do more than hire quickly; we invest in our employees’ growth and satisfaction from Day One. This approach has led to industry-leading employee net promoter scores and significantly higher retention rates compared to industry norms.

Our clients benefit from this focus on engagement, as motivated and well-trained agents are better equipped to deliver outstanding customer service. The result is a workforce that exceeds client expectations, contributing to long-term operational success.

Let’s explore how iQor’s recruiting and training expertise has transformed operations for two clients.

Case Study: Transforming Talent Acquisition for Retail Subscription Services 

An international retail subscription gifts supplier faced the ongoing challenge of meeting the rigorous demands of both steady-state and seasonal customer support. With a need to rapidly scale their workforce while maintaining high standards in talent acquisition, the client sought a partner capable of optimizing their hiring process. 

As a strategic CX partner, iQor introduced an AI-driven recruitment strategy for potential agents in the Philippines to transform the client’s talent acquisition process. Our approach includes:

  • Automated Prescreening: Utilizing AI to streamline initial candidate selection. 
  • Real-Time Evaluation: Implementing AI-driven tools like Talkscore for immediate candidate assessment. 
  • Seamless Integration: Automating the integration process with hiring managers for efficient decision-making. 
  • Scalable Recruitment: Developing a scalable system to manage a large and diverse talent pool. 

Tangible Results and Enhanced Efficiency

The implementation of AI in the recruitment process has led to significant improvements:

3.45% increase in conversion rate.

7.54% increase in sales CSAT.

10.65% increase in service CSAT.

6.87% decrease in average handle time (AHT). 

This case study exemplifies how iQor’s innovative AI-driven recruiting solutions can transform talent acquisition, delivering measurable improvements in both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. By partnering with iQor, the client is able to meet and exceed their workforce demands, setting a new standard for recruiting excellence in the retail subscription industry. 

Case Study: A New Standard in Recruiting Excellence for the Energy Sector

A Fortune 500 energy provider partnered with iQor to address the challenges of high-volume CX delivery and agent retention. The client sought to reduce attrition rates and optimize operational efficiency while ensuring compliance and maintaining high standards of employee satisfaction.

iQor has implemented a multi-faceted approach to boost agent retention, focusing on:

  • Active Learning Training Programs: Accelerating agent proficiency to enhance engagement and reduce turnover. 
  • AI for Predictive Attrition and Performance Insights: Leveraging AI to anticipate attrition risks and improve performance management. 
  • Automation for Back Office Optimization: Integrating automation to streamline processes, allowing agents to focus on higher-value tasks. 
  • Multilingual Support and Satisfaction Strategies: Providing tailored support to meet the diverse needs of a global workforce, ensuring employee satisfaction. 

Significant Improvements in Employee Retention and Satisfaction

The implementation of these strategies has led to remarkable outcomes:

$14 million cost savings in Year One. 

3% agent attrition rate, one of the lowest attrition rates in the industry. 

+5.5% year-over-year increase in CSAT.

+4% year-over-year increase in QA Scores.

+20.3% improvement in AHT for voice.

+6.5% improvement in AHT for email.

This case study highlights iQor’s success in developing and implementing strategies that retain top talent and improve overall operational efficiency. In partnership with iQor, the client achieves industry-leading retention rates and significant cost savings, setting a new benchmark for employee satisfaction and operational excellence in the energy sector. 

Elevating CX and Employee Engagement Through Strategic Innovation

By leveraging AI-driven recruitment and advanced retention strategies, iQor has consistently delivered measurable improvements in both customer satisfaction and workforce engagement. Our tailored solutions have enabled clients across various industries to achieve exceptional results, from reducing attrition and optimizing operations to enhancing customer interactions and achieving significant cost savings.  

As we continue to innovate and adapt, we remain committed to empowering our clients to reach new heights in customer experience, operational efficiency, and long-term success with the right people—from the hiring process and beyond. 

This case study was originally published on Oct. 13, 2021. It was updated on Aug. 19, 2024, to reflect the two featured clients’ current metrics and results.

Ep. 32 How to Achieve High-Volume Talent Recruiting Success

Posted on by Bernie Borges

Modern Recruitment Strategies Rely on Artificial Intelligence for High-Volume Talent Recruiting

This week’s guest is Max Armbruster. Max is an expert in talent acquisition in high volumes. He is the founder and CEO of Talkpush, a leading conversational CRM for recruitment that utilizes automation to help businesses focus on finding the right talent. When utilizing modern recruitment strategies for recruiting in high volumes, it’s best to treat candidates like consumers–monitoring their changes over time and adapting the recruiting process to their evolving behaviors. Max offers best practices for how to achieve high-volume talent recruiting success at scale.

Building Software to Support Talent Acquisition

When Max began his recruiting career he quickly identified the challenges recruiters faced and began developing ways to increase efficiencies and success rates throughout the hiring process. He first purchased human resources recruiting software 15 years ago, utilizing technology to assist in his recruiting strategy. Building on his experiences with that platform, three years later he began developing his own recruiting software for internal use. Eventually, after tweaking and improving the system, his entrepreneurial journey began when he started selling the recruitment program. He is committed to building software to help recruiters use intuitive tools to improve outcomes and expand their talent acquisition pool. This organic evolution from recruiter to talent management software developer is grounded in Max’s own experiences and knowledge enabling him to address the needs recruiters face in an ever-evolving hiring world.

 What is High-Volume Recruiting?

In years past, high-volume recruiting used to focus on hourly workers and temp workers–think food and beverage sector, transportation workers, and the like. In recent years, however, an under-looked part of the talent acquisition space has gained prominence through the use of high-volume recruiting technologies to address a variety of hiring situations. High-volume recruiting exists in many companies through graduate hiring, retail and hospitality, seasonal staffing, the BPO sector, and other service industries that manage high numbers of candidates. Companies that hire more than 1,000 people for the same job or job type on an annual basis experience this type of high-volume recruiting.

The Evolution of High-Volume Recruiting Over the Past Decade

High-volume recruiting has experienced significant growth over the past 10 years, especially from process and technology standpoints. With so many options in the marketplace, there are myriad opportunities for companies to evolve beyond Excel spreadsheets and a multitude of staffing providers to help fill their hiring funnel. Many companies have embraced their roles as digital marketers and own the digital recruiting journey from acquisition to onboarding. They employ digital tools to manage everything from the very first ad displayed on a job board or on social media to communicating with new employees throughout the onboarding process. Candidate behaviors are changing and digital tools help recruiters adapt with data-driven processes for assessing and improving hiring metrics. Efficient and strategic high-volume hiring processes can exponentially increase outcomes when screening and shortlisting candidates.

Modern Digital-Marketing Approach to High-Volume Recruiting

Recruiters looking to fill positions ideally want to follow the shortest path to a qualified candidate. To put it simply, recruiters look for candidates who have the right qualifications and are available now, so they can make an offer. Marketers, thinking in larger numbers, can have a funnel with a high ratio of 1,000 leads to 1, and the technologies in place offer methodologies that empower them to handle these large volumes in more efficient ways than if they were operating everything manually.

Looking at recruiting from a marketing standpoint can also mean talking to candidates who don’t know they’re candidates yet. They’re individuals who are browsing and considering options, looking to be inspired. Recruiters as marketers can embrace these opportunities and inspire potential job seekers to consider a career with their company. Digital marketing automation tools can help encourage candidates to consider careers and companies they may not otherwise have pursued.

Technology Platforms That Support Personalized High-Volume Hiring

There is a changing landscape of technology platforms to aide in digital marketing recruitment campaigns. Traditionally, job boards were a key component of reaching job seekers in high numbers. Twenty years ago, Monster dominated the field, 10 years ago it was Indeed. Now social media is the place to go to reach a large audience. The new technology integration platforms of today are dominated by Indeed, LinkedIn, Google Talent Cloud, Facebook, and the rising prominence of TikTok.

Indeed and LinkedIn offer large audiences, but Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are particularly effective among the younger portion of the population with innovative offerings such as TikTok’s video resumes. Recruiters that activate these channels find a gold mine for talent. 

Utilizing Tools to Personalize the Message

One of the pillars of digital marketing today is a personalized approach to messaging. This approach extends to recruiting, enabling recruiters to create a personalized experience that connects potential candidates with businesses.

The platforms allow users to target the message to certain populations through demographic segmentation, location, and preferences. Through this type of persona marketing, recruiters can, for example, design an ad for mothers that focuses on the benefits for working mothers at their company. Or they can tailor their messaging to students or individuals in the middle of their career looking for a career change. The key is to assess the talent pool and identify a handful of personas that can be targeted at scale. Then build high-volume hiring campaigns around those personas, addressing them with personalized messages as if talking one-on-one with them but actually talking to thousands of people through Messenger, SMS, etc.

It’s essential to have appropriate technology and tools like an applicant tracking system in place so that after these conversations are started recruiters know the names of potential candidates and their other details within the context of what was discussed.

After utilizing persona marketing strategies, recruiters can segment their audiences into multiple personas to begin personalized conversations with potential candidates. Once those leads are generated and the conversations have begun, conversational AI (or chatbot) is beneficial for sending personalized messages and conversations that take on human personalities. Using conversational AI, recruiters can talk to candidates based on where they’re at in their job-seeking journey. Have they decided what they want? Have they completed a first interview? Are they at the onboarding stage? To use conversational AI with impact, it’s important to recognize the candidate’s status, read their intentions, and deliver the information they want through well-designed, simulated human conversations. There are also hybrid options in which candidates interact partly with a chatbot and partly with a human, converting to a phone conversation with a recruiter after the process is initiated through conversational AI.

Engaging candidates through modern digital marketing techniques can be playful and can communicate selling points along with screening questions. Chatbots that live on messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and the likes deliver more than just text, supplementing words with gifs, images, and videos to enrich the experience. Conversational AI can create text and video at a speed beyond what a human is capable of, making for high-volume interactions.

For example, in the days leading up to a candidate’s first day on the job, conversational AI can provide them personalized messages about facilities, work life, and other insights into what life will be like when they begin working. This would be challenging for a recruiter to provide in high volumes without the use of digital solutions.

High Volume Recruitment in Action

iQor’s chatbot, named Qori, offers a great example of how to use conversational AI with a personality to engage in productive conversations with candidates. A number of individuals have shared their journeys through #iQorianStories on Facebook and other social media outlets. They discuss their experiences coming into the BPO sector from a variety of backgrounds. Some were motivated financially in an effort to help their families, some left industries with slowed growth.

Digital marketing and high-volume recruiting can inspire people through stories that prompt them to follow a page, listen to a voice and then remember those stories when they are deciding on their next career move. iQor’s #iQorianStories highlight individuals seeking quality employment in a professional services environment and how these opportunities helped transform their lives. This is a good example of using social media to generate a larger talent pool than you would have access to simply by posting a job announcement on a talent board.

What Max Does for Fun

Pandemic life has rooted Max in front of the webcam for hours on end. As soon as he switches off the camera, he likes to go out and exercise in the fresh air. He used to exercise two to three times a week. As COVID changed the nature of his work environment, he ramped up his exercise routine and now participates in sports every day. When he’s not swimming, he’s playing squash which better equips him for ongoing video calls. Squash is his favorite–providing an outlet for him to scream, hit balls, and let it all out!

Learn more about iQor’s digital customer experience capabilities.

Ep. 13 Why the Net Happiness Score is Simple and It Works

Posted on by Blake Graves

The Net Happiness Score Measures the Sentiment of Employees

William Adams started at iQor nine years ago. He is Vice President of Operations, managing a team of employees in the Philippines that support two telecom clients. The client programs he oversees manage the entire life cycle of the customer journey, including customer care, collections, chat, and retention. Another client program that William leads is a B2B program. Both are large customer experience programs that require keeping a pulse on employee’s morale. When iQor moved thousands of agents to work-at-home (WAH), he came up with the Net Happiness Score to monitor their morale with data to enable leaders to engage with them more effectively.

Net Happiness Score Defined

The Net Happiness Score is derived from a simple survey that determines an employee’s sentiment based on one question: How’s life going for you at iQor? The employee clicks one of five smiley faces on a scale of one (unhappy) to five (very happy).

Similar to Net Promoter Scores (NPS), the Net Happiness Score measures satisfied employees by subtracting the number of unhappy employees from the number of happy employees. This method is calculated by the Mood-o-Meter model, invented by Andrew Reilly, the lead data scientist featured in episode 14.

Context for Net Happiness Score

Covid was the springboard that accelerated the need for a metric to measure employee morale. In 2020, we moved thousands of employees to work-at-home. We realized that we needed an effective way to monitor agent sentiment for the expanding remote workforce.

William saw that previously, high-performing teams were beginning to struggle with attrition and performance, so he made it his mission to determine how to address this challenge. He met with 600 agents on his quest to understand what agents want from an employer relationship. What he learned is that frontline employees want compassionate leadership. They want an environment that balances conversations about KPIs with recognition of effort while celebrating small successes.

William realized the need to create a best-in-class employee experience. He needed a measurement tool to help meet that mission.

Operationalized Data

The Net Happiness Score metric has provided the impetus for leaders to create richer engagement and balanced conversations with agents. Simple things such as asking about their family demonstrate compassionate leadership. To get there, iQor trained frontline supervisors and managers to engage with more intentional compassion. The results include an improvement in sentiment score while one program experienced reduced attrition by 50%. 

Now, we’re experiencing an amazing cultural improvement through one-on-one conversations. Leadership engages with iQor agents effectively through an intentional conversation focused on the agent’s humanity, and positive sentiment continues to grow.

The Mood-o-Meter survey is provided to employees weekly. At that time, frontline leaders can access the data to put the proper action steps, such as reaching out to employees for more details on their positive and constructive feedback. Since the survey data is updated weekly, leaders can be constantly engaged in intentional conversations and ensure employees are getting what they need.

The Future of the Net Happiness Score

The survey process is elegantly simple creating room for the consumption of the data and actions to evolve and improve continuously. The survey delivery will continue to occur weekly so we may continue to maximize our employee’s happiness on an ongoing basis.

What William Does for Fun

In pre-pandemic times William liked to ride motorcycles. During pandemic times, he enjoys binge-watching Netflix shows and spending time with his family.

Learn more about iQor digital customer experience capabilities.

Hiring 1,500 Agents in the Philippines

Posted on by Blake Graves

Customer

Leading eCommerce in the US

Industry

eCommerce

Services Provided

  • Customer Care
  • Inquiries & Education
  • Order Management
  • General Inquiries
  • RMA/Warranty Management

The Challenge

With the onset of COVID-19, this leading eCommerce client needed help meeting the sudden increase in online shopping demand. Not only that, their peak season was right around the corner. They needed skilled agents by the thousands and they needed them fast.

The Solution

Drawing upon our existing pool of prescreened candidates, internal social recruiting program, and Recruitment Automation Platform where we use social media channels to target, find, and engage candidates, iQor staffed agents quickly. In two months, we had 1,500 agents hired, trained, and serving customers.

The Results

iQor assisted 35,000 customers during the client’s peak shopping week. In the months leading up to its peak season, iQor’s Fairview and Davao contact centers ranked above all the client’s other new partners. They met all volume forecasts with high-performing service levels and performance targets, including Average Handle Time (AHT).

1,500 customer support experts recruited in 2 months

<4% attrition rate

35,000 customers assisted

Five Guidelines for a Successful Call Volume Event

Posted on by Robert Sloma, Jr.

The Right Plan Makes All the Difference

Call volume events can be major online shopping days to rival Cyber Monday, the release of a new smartphone, or a customer appreciation sale. Whether you’re part of your company’s operations or workforce management team, or if you’re in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, planning for any call volume event can be daunting. Your plan, and how you execute it, will determine the call center’s success.

Five Call Event Guidelines to Keep You Focused

1. Forecast

You need to know what to expect, so review as much historical data as you have available. (If you’re a BPO, be sure to ask your client for any available data in enough time to raise questions.) Ask your marketing and sales departments for input on customer response rates. Review your forecast with senior leadership from both operations and workforce management.

As you forecast, remember that call volume may be higher in the days leading up to the event, as customers call in with questions or trying to beat the rush. Conversely, you could have lower than average call volume afterward. And don’t forget to consider the impact these events can have on-call handle time.

2. Agent Schedules

Every call center needs more coverage for special events. You may need to bring in additional agents or ask your regular agents to work more than their normal shifts.

Consider the following questions as you create schedules:

  • Is overtime mandatory or on a volunteer basis? 
  • Will it be necessary to shorten breaks and lunch? 
  • Can you switch agents’ days off so that most are scheduled to work on the day or days of the event? 
  • Do you have other hourly employees, such as lead or quality assurance representatives, who can take phone calls? How about supervisors and trainers?
  • As you schedule agents to be on the phone, think about how many other staffers you’ll need available to assist agents with questions and escalated calls. 

3. Food

More than likely, you will need to reduce lunch breaks, leaving your team no time to run out for food or even grab something from the vending machines. If you have the budget, look into providing a meal for each agent. Shop around for the best price, order in advance, and have the food delivered throughout the day.

If you have a smaller budget, try to arrange for at least drinks and snacks. And if there’s no money, consider a potluck. Management can provide plates, cups, and utensils, and you can create a sign-up sheet so workers don’t bring in too many items from one category.

4. Fun

This is where it’s time to get creative. It’s going to be a busy day, and the activities you plan should motivate your agents not only to come to work but also to stay for the duration of their shift or longer. For instance, you could raffle off an Apple Watch or hand out certificates for additional dress-down days. Whenever possible, tie prizes to desired outcomes or KPIs, such as call handling time or conversions. 

Schedule attainment jumps off the page as something to always focus on partnered with sales conversion for marketing and sales events. 

5. Communication

From the beginning, get out there and talk to your agents and front-line support staff. Announce the upcoming call volume event as soon as possible. Explain what you need from everyone to make the event successful. Describe the activities you’ve planned. Ask for a show of hands of who will be there. And if you can afford it, let everyone know that lunch is on you. 

Tap into iQor’s experience in seasonal and event-driven call volume spikes. Contact us to learn more. 

Robert Sloma, Jr. is a senior workforce manager at iQor.