The Impact of Simulation Training on Call Center Agent Performance: A Field-Based Investigation
通过两家财富50强公司的实地实验，比较模拟培训与角色扮演培训对呼叫中心员工绩效的影响，发现模拟培训在准确性和速度上更优，且任务越复杂优势越明显。
The most prevalent form of training call center agents is via classroom instruction coupled with role-plays. Role-play training has a theoretical base in behavior modeling that entails observation, practice, and feedback. Emerging simulation-based technologies offer enhancements to behavior modeling that are absent in role-play training. This study evaluates the effectiveness of simulation-based training (henceforth, simulation training) as a behavior modeling technique vis-à-vis role-play training in a real-world call center environment across tasks of different levels of complexity. We collaborate with call centers at two Fortune 50 firms and examine on-job performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation training. The performance measures of interest are call accuracy and call duration because these are two important factors that influence customer satisfaction and productivity in call center operations. After controlling for factors such as trainee's learning and technology orientation, age, education, and call center experience, results show that simulation training outperforms role-playing-based training in terms of both accuracy and speed of processing customer calls. Further, the relative superiority of simulation training improves at higher levels of task complexity.