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Frequently Asked Questions for
Diplomat: Public Sector Customer Service Test tm
And Diplomat Series Phone Skills Test tm
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How does the Diplomat Series support public-sector customer service?
What will Diplomat tell you about an applicant?
How does the Diplomat Series work?
Who should take this test?
How do you give these tests?
Why is work simulation used for these tests?
What is the cost benefit of using the Diplomat Series?
How have these tests been validated?
What other testing is necessary?
What is the cost of the Diplomat Series and what is included?
Who is ERGOMETRICS?
How do I order one or both tests in the Diplomat Series?
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How does the Diplomat Series support public-sector customer service?
The modern trend to improve customer service focuses on the interaction of public employees with the citizens they serve. The increasing diversity of our communities calls for employees who are skilled in dealing appropriately with all kinds of people. In asking hundreds of public-sector customer service specialists what the difference is between an average and an outstanding customer service representative, the answer is consistently that the outstanding customer service representative has good judgment and good human relations skills.
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What will the Diplomat Series tell you about an applicant?
Diplomat is designed to assess a person's abilities in the areas of customer relations, situational judgment, teamwork, human interaction, observation and analysis, and calm response to provocation and frustrating situations. This test represents a major breakthrough in screening and hiring technology. For the first time, you can accurately and efficiently predict, before you hire, how an applicant will perform in these key skill areas.
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How does the Diplomat Series work?
The Diplomat Series is two separate tests.
Diplomat: Public Sector Customer Service is a video-based, multiple choice test consisting of 47 scenarios. Applicants see a typical situation they will face on the job, observe the various elements present, analyze the situation and make a quick judgment about how to respond. To score well on the test, they must evaluate each scenario as an entirely new situation and project the likely outcome of any given action.
Diplomat Series Phone Skills Test simulates multi-tasking demands. Test takers hear and see video taped telephone conversations. Working on specially made machine scoreable answer sheets, they assess customer information for accuracy, analyze records and indicate how they would respond to the situations presented.
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Who should take this test?
The most efficient and effective way to use the Diplomat Series is to test everyone who applies. This test is designed to be the initial screening tool to identify those applicants who have outstanding skills in the area of human relations. Screening out applicants prior to testing with the Diplomat Series limits the possibility of finding people with good judgment and outstanding human relations skills. Validation studies conducted by ERGOMETRICS show that prior experience and education are not reliable predictors of human interaction skills because they say nothing of how the person performed in those areas. Various administrative methods of reducing the applicant pool, such as evaluating applications, yield very poor results and waste the effort of recruiting.
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How do you give these tests?
Any number of applicants can be tested at one time, so long as they can all see and hear the video. The tests are easy to administer, as simple as putting a video cassette in the player, and takes less than two hours. The test is machine scored for ease of administration and quick results. There is no additional per-applicant charge for testing.
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Why is work simulation used for these tests?
Actually simulating critical job demands is a more powerful employment testing technique than either traditional paper and pencil tests or oral interviews. Simulation not only gives candidates a realistic job preview, but it ensures that the actual skills required for the job are directly measured by the test. A written test cannot possibly tell you very much about a person's people handling skills.
Video is a practical job simulation medium for assessing human relations skills. Written and oral tests are dependent on the ability to completely describe situations with language. Not only is it impossible and impractical to describe the minute details of a situation, the question is dependent on each applicant's interpretation of what the scene is supposed represent. Video scenarios present exactly the same information to everyone, allow for careful staging of the events and the surrounding environment, and require applicants to observe and analyze the situation themselves. It is a realistic way to see how a person reacts to actual job situations before being hired and put on the job.
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What is the cost benefit of using Diplomat?
Hiring and training a new customer service representative is a significant expense in terms of time, money and disruption to the organization. Validation studies on similar ERGOMETRICS' video tests show that improving the match between the applicant and the job dramatically lowers turnover and the use of leave. The Diplomat Series enables you to identify those applicants who have the key skills necessary to be successful customer service representatives, early in the screening process, thereby increasing the efficiency of subsequent testing procedures.
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How have these tests been validated?
Both Diplomat: Public Sector Customer Service and Diplomat Series Phone Skills Test conform to legal and professional standards for test validation, including those established by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of Federal Contract Compliance and the American Psychological Association. To ensure high content validity, this test was developed in conjunction with hundreds of employees and administrators in public agencies. The content of the scenarios and the answers to each were developed by customer service professionals working with test development experts from ERGOMETRICS. The video production was directed by test development experts from ERGOMETRICS working on-site with public sector customer service subject matter specialists to ensure that every detail is accurate and realistic.
A criterion-related validation study was conducted with 327 job incumbents from the sponsoring agency. Their test scores were compared to special research-based performance evaluations completed by their supervisors. There is significant correlation between test scores and performance in the areas of customer relations, communication style, initiative, support for organizational objectives and technical skills. This high correlation between test scores and actual job performance validates the test's ability to predict job performance of applicants. Additionally, other video tests developed by ERGOMETRICS all show extremely high correlation between test score and job performance.
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What other testing is necessary?
This test will supplement your existing testing process. After you have identified the pool of applicants with the human relations skills necessary to become outstanding customer service representatives they should progress through the routine testing process to evaluate other job-related skills. You may find that the Diplomat Series will reduce the need for various types of oral tests that attempt to assess human relations and judgment skill areas. ERGOMETRICS has developed a job-related payment-processing simulation test and an Office Skills Series Test Battery that are also available for your use.
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What is the cost of the Diplomat Series and what is included?
These tests are available both for purchase and for rental. The cost is based on the number of personnel in your organization. If you purchase one part of the Diplomat Series, your agency will receive two copies of the video test and a license for perpetual use. You will also receive a job analysis, to be filled out by your employees, to document the job relatedness of this test to your department. Finally, you will receive a copy of the validation report produced as part of this project. Smaller agencies may find it cost effective to rent the test on a per head basis. Rental clients receive two copies of the video test for specified use in their agency, during the rental period.
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Both tests of the Diplomat Series are priced in relation to the size of your organization. Contact Karen Strom at ERGOMETRICS (425-774-5700) to find the most affordable option for your agency.
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Who is ERGOMETRICS?
ERGOMETRICS and Applied Personnel Research, Inc., is a Seattle-based firm established in 1980. The co-founders are Carla Swander, nationally noted for the development of video-based testing tools and Oscar Spurlin, Ph.D., Organizational and Industrial Psychologist. This cutting edge firm has an extensive public and private sector clientele across the United States and Canada. ERGOMETRICS specializes in personnel selection and training and is recognized for its expertise in the development of video-based selection and training programs, physical abilities testing, work simulation tests and validation research.
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How do I order one or both tests in the Diplomat Series?
For more information about the Diplomat: Public Sector Customer Service and Phone Skills Test or to place your order, call ERGOMETRICS at (425) 774-5700 or e-mail.
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