It’s About People.. Not Computers

Jim DunkinDirector of Computing ServicesHousing and Ancillary ServicesThe University of Western Ontario

Amanda GraingerManager of Communications and RezNet ServicesHousing and Ancillary ServicesThe University of Western Ontario

Our Goal Today

• Describe our solution to the changing face of technical support:

– Non-tech hiring campaign – “It’s about People, not…”

– Increased focus on behavioural interviews– Simplified training modules that anyone can

learn

The University of Western Ontario

RezNet @ Western:

• Founded in 1996• 5000 subscribers• Inroom and hotline networking support• 97% subscription rate• Wired connection, wireless in common areas• RezNet is part of the Division of Housing and

Ancillary Services

Yes, we’re RezNet with a Z

The University of Western Ontario

The University of Western Ontario

35 student staff Aug - Oct

+ 15 student staff Oct - April

+ 1 full time RezNet Manager, who reports to the Director of Computing Services

= An A+ Customer Service Team!

At RezNet Our Philosophy is

Students Helping Students

We are primarily student run organization who values the skills each student brings

to the team

Students Helping Students!

Getting to know you…

Do you hire students with little technical knowledge?

This story starts a couple years ago…

• RezNet applicant pool doesn’t at all reflect campus demographics (e.g. gender and faculties)

• RezNet team demographics don’t match either…(e.g 2 returning females out of 26 staff)

** Almost 60% of our incoming first year students are female **

We were also observing…

• A shift from packet drivers, registry, BLASTER, and WINIPCFG…

• To angry parents, bandwidth locks, gaming and unsolvable performance complaints

Back then…

• Several applicants had very strong customer service skills

• However… they did not meet our minimum technical requirements

So we changed the criteria!

• A decision was made to change the criteria for working at RezNet

• We hired these 4 students with little technical knowledge– Theory: most RezNet problems could

be solved with great customer service skills

– We could teach the tech…

Success!

• The 4 students worked out well!

• Two problems remain unsolved– Customer service issues still increasing– Not enough customer service skills in our applicant

pool

Our New Strategy

• A marketing campaign to encourage

non-technical applicants

• Heavier emphasis on behavioural interview questions

• Develop training modules for non-technical staff

Our Marketing Challenge

• Our theory was that non-tech students could not visualize themselves working for us, thus did not apply for a job

• We needed a marketing campaign that would encourage students with great customer service skills (but little tech) to apply

“It’s About People, Not Computers”

• Made conscious decision to change “geek stereotype”• Feature staff profiles on our website• Create ads with happy people not computers• Place posters in Social Science and Arts buildings• Hiring booths in dining halls

Creating Staff Profiles

• Encouraged all staff to fill out profile questionnaire

• Selected profiles that:– Matched our theme “It’s about People”– Blended personal (restaurants, music) with work

related (training, what I love about RezNet, people, career experience)

– Showcased a variety of demographics (gender, faculty etc.)

Staff Profiles

Wait? No ads for techies?

• “It’s about people… not computers” did not appeal to technical staff

• We didn’t want to exclude technically inclined students …

Be a Hero Campaign

•Appeals to those who enjoy helping others

•Promotes having technical skills because you can “be the hero”

It’s About People… campaign worked!

• Significantly more applications with customer service experience

• The applicant pool better reflected campus demographics:– 31 males / 24 females

– 23 non-tech faculties / 32 eng/ sci faculties

Questions?

About our non-tech hiring campaign?

The Interview Challenge

• Technical skills are easy to measure in an interview

• Customer service / people skills are much more difficult to evaluate in an interview

Ideal Candidate?

In the Interview:– Outgoing personality– Built a rapport with interviewer – Polite – Nice clothes – Good body language – Great eye contact

Is this what you look for?

Shift in interview focus

• Work experience at McDonalds, Starbucks Wal-Mart experience becomes more important than IBM, Google, Microsoft

• We will rely heavily on behavioral questions…

(We will teach the tech)

Question

Who’s using behavioural questions?

Behavioural Interview Questions

“Behavioural interviewing requires candidates to respond with specific examples of past experiences rather than generalized or hypothetical responses.

At the root of this interview style is the belief that past performance is the most accurate predictor of future performance”.

~Louise Kursmark | Monster.ca

Examples of Behavioural Questions

• Tell me about a time on the job where you had a difficult situation that tested your coping skills. What was the situation and what did you do?

• Tell me about a time when you had difficulty with a co-worker. What was the situation, and what did you do?

Examples of Behavioural Questions

And the toughest question:

• Tell me about a time when you had a difficulty with a supervisor. What was the situation, and what did you do?

As opposed to:

• If you had a difficulty with a supervisor, what would you do?

Behavioural Questions are Magic!

• We reviewed hiring over the past few years.

• Usually, “not-so-good hires” scored poorly on the behavioural questions

• Often tech skills and references are ok

• The key to better hiring was right in front of us

We also observed…

• Strong behavioural answers correlated to:– Willingness to come forward with issues– Stronger work ethic– Better decision making skills

• Insight into:– Candidate strengths and weaknesses– Candidate value system

How Our Job Offers Changed

Tech Skills Soft Skills Old Hiring New Hiring

Strong Strong Of Course! Of Course!

Strong OK Yes Possibly

Strong Weak Probably No **

OK Strong Yes Yes

OK OK Probably Possibly

OK Weak Probably No **

Weak Strong No Yes **

Weak OK No Possibly

Weak Weak No No

Behavioural Questions Challenges

• A lot of candidates struggle to answer– Must give them lots of time + reassurance– Be prepared with 2-3 prompts– Be careful not to move off the question before

fully answered (2 interviewers helpful)

• Evaluating answers can be tricky

Behavioural Question Challenges

• Evaluating answers can be tricky– Truthful answers often put candidates in a

poor light – that is often OK!– No meaningful answer usually means no hire– Allowances must be given for those without

job experience– Occasionally you run up against a student

who has studied Behavioural Questions…

A Strong Behavioural Answer

SARISituation

Action

Results

Interesting Features

~Jason Warner

Googlehttp://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/03/13/google-guy-ace-the-behavioural-interview/

We believe that behavioural questions focus have helped us:

• Reduce unfortunate hiring decisions

• Increase the quality of customer service support

• Improve retention of staff

• Have an excellent student team that reflects campus population

Questions

About our interview process?

Good Resource: www.quintcareers.com

Our Training Challenges

• How will we train non-tech staff?– Will they feel included?– What will their job satisfaction be like? – Can we retain them?

Solution: we simplified our content

• Asked ourselves, What do they NEED to know?

• What can they learn once they’re on the job?

• Started with an overview of networking• Provided hands-on time• Paired up new staff and returning staff on

move-in days• We gave them a simple training guide…

Can we simplify all our RezNet technical training into one 90 minute session?

We wondered…

YES!• Easy to use 5 step troubleshooting guide

adapted from the 7 layer OSI model

• Allows non-techs to record and diagnose most RezNet issues

• Technical staff also use the 5-step troubleshooting guide with the benefit of quality documentation

5-Step Troubleshooting…

1. Physical

2. IPCONFIG

3. Network Connections

4. Internet Options

5. Security Center

Refer to handout for our 5-step process!

Step 1 - Physical

• Check cable, port, network card

Step 2 - IPCONFIG

Record:

• IP address

• Release / renew

• MAC

Step 3 – Network connections

• Wireless disabled

• LAN enabled

• Gateway Settings

Step 4 – Internet Options

• No proxies

• Security GREEN

• PPPoE disabled

• Dial up disabled

Step 5 – Security

• Anti-Virus

• Updates

• Firewall ON

• Spyware check

Advantages of 5-step process

• Great for hotline and inroom use

• Repeated in every technical presentation

• Non-technical staff do not need a deep understanding of networking to follow the 5 step guide

Questions about 5-Step?

Ideas?

What creative ways do you have to train technical and non-technical staff at the same time?

Why has “It’s About People” worked?

• We now have a wide variety of candidates to choose from

• Our interview now better identifies the best candidates

• Our 5-step process solves the majority of our technical problems

But are our customers happy?

• We feel that we are handling customer service issues better than ever

• Our annual customer service survey suggests no drop on service measurements

Providing the best service

A more balanced team allows us to provide the best service in tune with the changing

needs of our customers

Timeline of Service Model Shift

• Service need shift / desire for stronger customer service skills

• New advertising to attract candidates

• Criteria for hiring changes

• New training model

Thank you!