Shaker Consulting Group

Case Studies

CASE HISTORY 1

Reducing Turnover of Store Management
At a 5,000+ store retail chain

Challenge
A rapidly growing nationwide discount retailer was faced with turnover rates for
management personnel that were damaging profitability, restricting customer service
and impacting associate retention. In fact, store managers were turning over at a
rate above 75% while the turnover rate for assistant managers was devastating at
a rate above 100%.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group implemented a pre-employment assessment, in pilot markets,
to document the business impact from more objective management selection practices.
Candidates for these managerial positions filled out questionnaires over the internet
or at on-site kiosks. The questions delved into each person’s working style, situational
judgment and problem-solving techniques. Shaker Consulting Group then created a
scoring model for the assessment, paying particular attention to certain core competencies
such as customer focus, priority setting, and other key indicators of managerial success.

Business Impact
The retailer’s objective of increased business growth has been enhanced by reversing
the trend of high turnover in store management. Turnover of managers was reduced
by 65% in one year, while assistant manager turnover was cut by 57% in the same
time period. In markets not covered by the pilot program, turnover rates remained at
or near previous levels.

CASE HISTORY 2

Improving Hiring Decisions and Associate Performance
At a Field Service Organization

Challenge
A company providing integrated technology solutions needed to hire hundreds of field service technicians annually. Historically, the company attracted thousands of applicants, many of whom didn’t have the skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing role. In addition, the company faced inconsistent hiring practices across locations and extremely high training and replacement costs.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group was commissioned to develop a tailored, on-line pre-employment assessment. This assessment had to be easy for the administrator and candidate to use and had to include structured interview questions to enable in-depth exploration of a candidate’s qualifications. In addition, the assessment had to:

Reinforce the company’s brand and image
Capture the true complexity of the technician’s role
Foster two-way information exchange
Utilize multiple assessment methods to predict job performance (e.g., troubleshooting, technical knowledge, customer interactions, etc.)
Manage a large volume of applicants efficiently
Screen out poor-fit candidates with minimal resource requirements
Demonstrate considerable ROI
Conform to EEOC Uniform Guidelines for Employee Selection

Business Impact
The field service technician pre-employment assessment offers a wide range of business-centered benefits, including:
Quality Hires made in less time, with a reduced interview-to-hire ratio and fewer poor fit candidates.
Cost Control due to fewer return trips, reduced cost and cycle time to hire, and decreased time and dollars required for training/on-boarding individuals.
Increased Performance as measured along key performance metrics for the technicians.
Customer Satisfaction through timely resolution of the process, the advantage of having the technology available, and the assurance of a systematic, objective hiring process.

CASE HISTORY 3

Standardizing & Improving Hiring Decisions
At a Fortune 500 Financial Services Company

Challenge
As part of a large-scale transformation of its branch culture, a regional bank with over 1200 branches was looking to improve their selection processes for a variety of positions including Branch Manager, Teller, Call Center Representative, Collector, and Sales Representative. To transition its business from traditional and transaction-based to innovative and relationshipbased, the organization realized it had to upgrade the quality of its new hires. And to do this efficiently it had to drastically change its hiring process since, among other issues, the existing approach was time consuming, labor intensive, subjective, and not focused on key performance differentiators.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group was commissioned to develop a tailored, on-line pre-employment assessment. This assessment had to be easy for the administrator and candidate to use and had to manage a large volume of applicants efficiently. In addition, the assessment had to:

Reinforce the company’s brand and image
Include a Realistic Job Preview to help applicants understand the true challenges of the role
Utilize multiple assessment methods to predict job performance (e.g., work style, information
processing, customer interactions, etc.)
Screen out poor-fit candidates with minimal resource requirements
Demonstrate considerable ROI
Conform to EEOC Uniform Guidelines for Employee Selection
Serve as a scalable basis for additional assessment applications throughout the organization

Business Impact
The tailored assessments were pilot tested with existing employees, and the results showed strong relationships between assessment scores and business results. After using the Branch Manager assessment for one year, analysis showed that:

New hires scoring in the top 70% on the assessment showed 15% higher balance increases compared to new hires scoring in the bottom 30%. This equates to more than $100,000 per branch in a typical month.
Use of the assessment has helped the client find new hires that are better able to increase unit sales. In fact, the new hire group is increasing unit sales at a much faster rate than legacy employees.

CASE HISTORY 4

Improving Sales Results

At a $600 Million Manufacturer of Coatings and Sealants

Challenge
A global manufacturer of coatings and sealants was challenged with a goal to double revenue in seven years. The organization was successful in building a strong operational model, but after an internal audit, leadership development and growing management talent emerged as a critical priority. Effective execution of near-term goals while developing bench strength for expansion and succession was imperative.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group collaborated on defining a competency framework to be used for an updated performance management process and as the content areas for a multi-rater survey. Over the course of three years, the top 150 executives and managers began moving along a path of personal growth while working on and executing their existing business objectives.

Shaker’s proprietary process, Results Driven Development, helped each individual identify the aspects of their current work load that offered the most significant potential for personal growth. Each manager created a detailed developmental action plan tied to the achievement of his or her near term goals. This technique embedded learning into day-to-day actions and increased the likelihood of learning from experience.

Business Impact
Valuable insight on management style was gained by 77% of the participants. Specific actions to take for improving their effectiveness were identified by 88%. More objective and results focused meetings with their supervisor regarding personal development were held by 67% of the managers. Improved dialogue and better engagement on the goal setting process was cited by 69% of managers. The company is ahead of its growth objectives three years into its seven-year plan.

CASE HISTORY 5

Improving Brand Delivery

At a Top Auto Insurer

Challenge
This top four auto insurance company wanted to ensure Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) were positively impacting customer retention by delivering the ideal brand experience. To do so, the organization wanted to accurately measure the customer experience and provide actionable feedback to CSRs.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group collaborated with the client to develop a customer experience index that was statistically linked to customer satisfaction and business outcomes. Specifically, Shaker Consulting Group collaborated with the client to:

Define the specific CSR behaviors that drive the ideal brand experience
Build a technically sound rating tool to capture and score the exhibition of these CSR behaviors
Statistically link the CSR’s audit scores with customer experience
Develop a coaching tool to support the CSR’s ability to improve his or her brand delivery skills
Establish the relationship between CSR’s audit scores and consumer experience and behavior
Confirm the impact of the audit tool in the coaching process as a way to consistently improve the CSR’s ability to deliver the ideal brand experience

Business Impact
The delivery of the client’s ideal brand experience had a tremendous impact on the bottom line. Not only did the brand delivery impact consumer behavior around purchase choice, it also was able to predict referral behavior. That is, those who found themselves the recipient of a “more ideal” brand experience were more likely to refer friends to the client. The client believes the financial impact of this project was felt in three areas:

Increased first call sales rate by 5%
Enhanced customer retention
Increased customer referrals

CASE HISTORY 6

Developing Leaders

At a Fortune 500 Healthcare Organization

Challenge
After experiencing significant and rapid growth, a Fortune 500 healthcare organization was operating nearly 500 facilities across 40 states. The organization’s challenge was to enhance its team by developing their Field Operation Leaders, each of whom was responsible for 10 to 15 medical facilities. Due to the organization’s meteoric growth, it was critical that these leaders evolved from clinical professionals to business market managers.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group was selected to work with the organization to develop a practical, field-based approach to developing the organization’s leaders for results today, as well as success tomorrow. Shaker Consulting Group’s proprietary process, Results Driven Development (RDD), was a first-class solution for the client’s needs. For this project:

New leader success factors were defined based upon the strategy of the business, and the key differentiators of performance were detailed
Each leader’s responsibilities and accountabilities were clarified given the new strategy, including the identification of specific operational metrics for various critical areas
A survey feedback tool was constructed to provide data to the leaders relative to their exhibition of these critical behaviors
Work style and behavioral data around the success factors were gathered and linked to specific business outcomes and metrics
Clear, succinct action plans were created for each leader to support the delivery of critical business results, as well as providing for his or her personal development

Business Impact
The RDD process created the link between leader’s success factors and bottom line operational results. This allowed for:

Individual development plans to support each leader’s ability to be effective in achieving his or her business results
Targeted plans to address critical business outcomes related to employee retention, clinical and operational outcomes, and financial metrics

CASE HISTORY 7

Improving Quality of Hire

At a Top Auto Insurer

Challenge
To support its strategy for growth and build upon its reputation as an employer of choice, this leading-edge casualty ins urance company faced the challenge of screening thousands of applicants for call center representative positions. After revising both the training and the interview process, the organization continued to face a performance challenge in staffing its call centers. Candidates unable to pass the state insurance licensing exam were terminated after a significant investment in on-boarding and training.

Solution
Shaker Consulting Group developed a pre-employment assessment that included a high fidelity job simulation. Since its inception, over 100,000 candidates were screened for in-bound sales and service roles. Shaker Consulting Group’s solution has reinforced the organization’s brand and made a significant contribution to sales and profits. The power of closed-loop analytics was leveraged, and revised scoring on the pre-employment assessment raised average individual sales levels. Candidates with the potential to sell at a rate well below average were screened out early in the recruiting cycle. The project also supported an improvement in delivery of the organization’s Brand Promise. This corporate initiative is critical for creating a higher level of positive encounters and referrals in the market.

Business Impact
During several phases of the project:

18% involuntary turnover was reduced to 2%, realizing an annual cost savings in excess of $1M.
An annual increase of $10M in sales is projected from hiring candidates with greater sales potential.

CASE HISTORY 8

Optimizing Candidate Flow for New Plant Start-Up

At a Fortune 500 Leader in Commercial and Architectural Coatings

Challenge

The client needed to reduce administrative demands on recruiters in a Greenfield start-up. A major goal was to align hiring outcomes with performance and culture requirements. Shaker Consulting Group was asked to support the successful new plant ramp-up from sourcing to first batch shipping.

Solution

Shaker Consulting Group created a four step process for engaging and educating candidates, while also evaluating them and learning about their job-fit. First, a realistic job preview (RJP) presents the candidate with a balanced view of the job demands and work environment prior to beginning the screening process. A second step presents the candidate with questions to establish minimum qualifications and relevant work experience. Third, applicants with optimal qualifications are invited to complete the Virtual Job Tryout ™ candidate evaluation. Recruiters use a structured interview guide to conduct the fourth and final data gathering step.

Results

Findings from the validation analysis documented that the evaluation is able to differentiate and predict performance across a broad range of job criteria such as:

Safety
Career Stability
Following Policies and Procedures
Teamwork and Collaboration
Problem Solving
Productivity

Candidates find the process fair, objective, and job relevant. Recruiters spend more time with the most qualified candidates. The resume is eliminated as a screening tool and the interview to hire ratio is reduced from 7:1 to 3:1.

CASE HISTORY 9

Delivering the “Gold Standards” for Patient Interactions

At a Fortune 500 Global Leader in Medical Diagnostics

Challenge

The client was charged with reducing staffing waste and improving service delivery by improving the quality and objectivity of the hiring decision. They needed to leverage recruiting technology and provide decision support for recruiters in 33 business units with operations in all 50 states. Ultimately, the client wanted to reduce dependency on the resume for decision making.

Solution

Results

Findings from the validation analysis documented that the evaluation is able to differentiate and predict performance across a broad range of job criteria such as:

Absenteeism
Patient Interaction and Communication
Patient Information Management
Documentation Accuracy
Following Policies and Procedures
Teamwork and Collaboration
Work Orientation
Delivering Quality Services
Problem Solving
Specimen Collection and Processing
Supervisory Potential

Candidates find the process fair, objective, and job relevant. Recruiters spend more time with the most qualified candidates.