Companies have two primary goals during recruitment: Hire fast and hire right. However, with Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) hiring, achieving these goals at scale can be tricky, especially when hiring based on information on a candidate’s resume.
While resumes can tell you about the candidate’s professional history, they’re not exactly the most reliable means of candidate evaluation. Thankfully, skills-based hiring in BPO can solve this problem. On this premise, let’s dive into skill-based assessments and how they can optimize your BPO recruitment.
Understanding Skills-Based Assessments
As the name implies, a skills-based assessment is a test that measures candidates’ skills to prove their fit for a role. This dynamic evaluation technique prioritizes each candidate’s knowledge and ability to apply their skills to real-world scenarios.
Usually, BPO recruitment executives face the delicate task of finding many perfect fits for various roles. While resume screening can help filter through applicants, it only tells a little about skills or proficiency. According to a 2022 study by Resumelab, 1 in 3 people testify to lying on their resumes. So, these professional records could be false. Fortunately, skill assessments don’t lie.
Unlike traditional evaluation methods, a skill-based assessment uses practical tasks, simulations, and project-based evaluations to measure each candidate’s job fit. Ultimately, this assessment method proves more efficient since you can see candidates apply skills and knowledge in real-time. As a result, you can more accurately predict how they will perform in a role.
Overall, integrating skill-based hiring in BPO recruitment can help you find the right candidate for your job. With these assessments, you can comprehensively evaluate candidates’ skills, from language and communication skills to technical skills like software development.
Best Practices for Implementing Skills-Based Assessments
When implementing skill-based assessments in BPO hiring, you should consider a few things. Hiring based on skill can help you find top talent, but knowing how to implement this technique can boost its effectiveness. With that said, here are some best practices for implementing skills-based assessments in BPO recruitment:
1. Clearly define the job requirements
Before applying any skill-based assessment to your BPO recruitment, you must pinpoint the skills the role requires. This serves as a blueprint to guide you on what assessments to use.
For example, if you’re looking to hire customer support representatives, you should outline the skills the role would demand. In this case, these skills could include:
- communication,
- language proficiency, and
- problem-solving skills.
Outlining your job requirements also involves specifying the level of proficiency the role requires. This proficiency could be in language or technical skills. For instance, with language proficiency, you should determine whether the role requires a fluent or native speaker of the language.
2. Use a job-specific test
Pre-employment testing practices are highly role-specific. This means that while two roles may have similar skill requirements, they always have their differences. For example, though communication skills are essential for every position, each role demands a different level of proficiency. With this in mind, it’s important to utilize job-specific skill tests during BPO hiring.
For example, utilizing a cybersecurity skills assessment would be ideal when hiring a cybersecurity analyst. The assessment evaluates cybersecurity skills alongside risk management, problem-solving, and communication skills, which are also vital for the job. This gives you a 360-degree view of the candidate’s performance, which is crucial to making great BPO recruitment decisions.
3. Invest in an excellent testing platform
As beneficial as skills testing is to BPO recruitment, using an inefficient skill-testing platform can cause more harm than good. Essentially, skill-based hiring can only work in your favor if you do it right and use a capable platform.
With an excellent skill-based assessment platform like Vervoe, you can create and deliver reliable tests that suit your needs. Vervoe comes with ready-made assessments, each with diverse yet valid tests that provide comprehensive skill testing relevant to a role.
It can also help you save time and costs during recruitment while optimizing your hiring. For one, Vervoe automates repetitive tasks like candidate registration and grading by leveraging AI.
4. Leverage your technology stack
Undoubtedly, technology in recruitment has come a long way. Today, hiring is more efficient and less time-consuming. With the introduction of AI, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and predictive analysis, recruitment processes are much more accurate and effective.
Furthermore, leveraging technology in your BPO recruitment opens countless opportunities. For example, you can easily communicate with your candidates from one platform and use AI to rank their performance at scale or answer frequently asked questions. Also, after the candidates take the test, the system compares and ranks their performances. This way, you can easily spot those with the skills you’re looking for.
5. Implement legal compliance in your recruitment
During BPO recruitment, hiring managers can get so focused on discovering all about a candidate that they infringe on screening laws. This can lead to legal suits, fines, and legal battles, affecting a company’s smooth operation.
To this end, it is essential to ensure your recruitment processes comply with screening laws like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations. These laws exist to protect applicant privacy and information while ensuring fairness in hiring. Adhering to them is critical for legally compliant recruitment.
Tools and Technologies for Skills-Based Assessments
BPO recruitment practices have evolved over the years, all thanks to technological advancements. From the development of online assessment tools to Virtual Reality (VR), there’s been a significant increase in the tools for skill-based assessments during BPO hiring. Below, we’ll explore some of these technologies which are critical for effective recruitment:
1. Automated skill assessment platforms
Online assessment platforms are an integral part of skills-based hiring today. These platforms provide media for BPO companies to access various applicants’ skills online. With features for easy navigation and usage, these automated platforms make skill-based testing much more effortless.
Vervoe, for instance, provides a platform that caters to the dynamics of BPO hiring, thus simplifying recruitment. With this platform, you can automate tasks like applicant information entry and reminders or alerts. As a result, HR managers can let the system do the repetitive tasks while they focus on other demanding responsibilities to boost their efficiency.
2. AI-driven screening tools
AI helps to simplify challenging candidate assessment tasks like information processing, background checking, grading, and ranking of applicants. Consequently, incorporating AI into candidate assessment has made it possible for BPO companies to process vast amounts of candidate data.
With that said, Vervoe leverages AI to offer advanced screening capabilities that help you make excellent hires every time. With our platform, you can analyze candidate results and rank them according to their performance. As a result, it’s much easier for BPO companies to find the perfect candidate with the highest potential for success in a role.
3. Simulation and VR assessment tools
Fundamentally, simulation skill assessments use immersive real-world scenarios to test how well a candidate fits a particular role. These tools replicate practical situations that give the applicants an on-the-job experience of the job’s responsibilities. This enables you to see them apply their knowledge and skills to tackle challenges that may arise in the role.
Vervoe stands out by using job simulations to observe candidates in action and utilizing a day-in-the-life approach to test the candidates. These simulations come in the form of real-world-based questions, videos, and images, which give the candidates an immersive testing experience. In the end, the BPO companies can have deeper insight into the candidates’ skills, ensuring a more accurate evaluation of their job fit.
4. Video interviewing
Interviews play an important role in pre-employment screening. This is because they allow the hiring manager to assess factors like personality, culture fit, and communication on a deeper level.
Given how important interviews are, it’s critical that you conduct them thoroughly, especially when hiring remotely. Fortunately, with video interviews, effective virtual assessment of candidates is a walk in the park.
Vervoe’s intuitive testing platform harnesses the effectiveness of video interviews to enable BPO companies to screen candidates at scale. Our virtual interviewing features are suited for any role and cater to all your BPO hiring needs. Not to mention, Vervoe provides customizable interview question templates that help streamline the process and boost BPO recruitment effectiveness.
Case Studies: Successful Implementations in BPO Recruitment
Numerous companies across various industries implement skills-based hiring to refine their recruitment. Their success stories are proof that using skill-based hiring for BPO recruitment can only bring benefits to the table.
Below, we will explore some of these success stories and find out how skill assessments aided their recruitment.
1. World Outsourcing Solutions
For World Outsourcing Solutions, an outsourcing company, effectively screening applicants was challenging. The business sought a solution to reduce the time it took to schedule interviews and screen applicants. Fortunately, Vervoe offered the solution it needed.
With Vervoe, World Outsourcing Solutions could automate its recruitment process, making it easier to perform tasks like scheduling interview times. This streamlined the process and reduced costs while adequately testing each applicant with real-life simulations.
2. Pro R.E.A. Staffing
Pro R.E.A. Staffing couldn’t deny that there was a clear discrepancy between its candidates’ resumes and talent trials. This was an issue because it couldn’t present candidates to prospective clients with confidence. After all, its assessment methods weren’t working out as they should. However, once Vervoe came into the picture, a solution emerged.
By applying skill-based hiring to its strategy, Vervoe offered confidence and speed in recruitment. Soon enough, Pro REA Staffing could see the benefits. Now, it presents candidates with full confidence in their pre-tested skills and capacities.
3. MediBank
MediBank had 10 days to ramp up its mental health service during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the limited time was one of the many problems it had on its hands. MediBank also needed to change its recruitment process within that time. Luckily, this telehealth employer succeeded by working with Vervoe to achieve its goal and conduct an outstanding recruitment process.
The results? MediBank was able to transition from traditional screening methods to online skills-based hiring. This led to an optimized recruitment process and over 150 talented new hires within 10 days. And to top it off, it eradicated hiring bias, creating an atmosphere of fairness and positive candidate experience.
Leveraging Skills-Based Assessments for Better Hiring Decisions
Hiring right is within BPO is only possible when you apply the most effective hiring strategies. These strategies equip you with the right information about a candidate’s skill, allowing you to make excellent hiring decisions. With skills-based assessments, you can easily identify candidates’ practical competencies that align with your needs.
So, enter the world of Vervoe, where skills-based hiring is a breeze. Loaded with comprehensive assessments, AI-powered features, and an excellent testing system, our platform guarantees streamlined recruitment in reduced time.
That’s precisely why you should schedule a demo today and step into a world of BPO hiring possibilities with Vervoe!
