Transcript Welcome to a Special Demonstration of CritiCall

The job has changed drastically…
your employment tests should
reflect these changes!
What is CritiCall?
• CritiCall is a nationally validated,
computerized pre-employment selection
test for choosing successful public-safety
dispatchers and call-takers
• CritiCall is designed to address the
federal Uniform Guidelines on Employee
Selection Procedure and the CALEA
Standards for Public Safety
Communications Agencies
CritiCall can
tell if your job
applicants can
actually
perform
important jobrelated tasks
CritiCall Testing can…
• Reduce Adverse Impact: Work-sample
testing has been shown to reduce adverse
impact against protected groups of
employees in some settings
• Lower Turnover: Persons selected using
work-sample testing frequently stay on the
job longer
• Measure the right skills for today’s
communication center: The important jobrelated skills measured by CritiCall do not
require any previous telecommunicator job
experience or special training on the part of
the applicant
CritiCall was created by the
Biddle Consulting Group (BCG)
• BCG is a Human Resource Consulting
company with over 30 years experience
assisting public safety agencies in
selecting their employees
• BCG has extensive experience in
computerized testing and product
support
• BCG provides a wide range of Equal
Employment Opportunity services to
clients nationwide
CritiCall is based on a
National Job Analysis Study
• CritiCall was first developed and validated in
a nationwide study involving 49 agencies
from 12 states, varying in size and type
– State, County, City, Local, Regional, University
– Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Cross-Functional
Communication Centers
Since then, CritiCall
has been adopted
and validated by
hundreds of public
safety agencies
• Oregon Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training has approved CritiCall
for the hiring of telecommunicators and/or
emergency medical dispatchers
• California Peace Officer Standards & Training
(POST) Standards Section 1018[c] indicates that
acceptable alternatives, such as CritiCall, can
be used for pre-employment testing of publicsafety telecommunicators instead of the POST
test
“The U. S. Department of Homeland Security
has chosen CritiCall® Pre-employment
Testing Software for testing emergencydispatch job applicants at the four Federal
Protective Service E-9-1-1 mega centers.”
9-1-1 Magazine, April 2005
Selecting the wrong
person can be very
expensive!
One Texas city
reported it cost
$88,000 for the
recruitment, testing,
selection, training,
and probationary
supervision of a single
dispatcher
You can reduce turnover
using CritiCall
• Research indicates that 80% of newly
hired telecommunicators who leave
before finishing probation leave
because they had inadequate jobrelated knowledge, skills, and abilities
• CritiCall measures important
knowledge, skills, and abilities needed
to be a successful employee prior to
hire!
A comment from a satisfied CritiCall user…
•“In 2000, before we started using CritiCall, we successfully
trained and retained only 15% of our new hires. In mid 2001
we started using CritiCall and our retention rate rose to 54%.
In 2002 we did even better, and retained 86% of our new
hires. And, believe it or not, in 2003 we had a 100%
retention rate. We have a lower number of new hires in 2003
due to the successes of the previous year, but for an agency
that employs 60 plus dispatchers we’ll stand behind our record
anytime. CritiCall was definitely not the only change we
made to our hiring and training practices, but I consider it
to be one of the most integral parts. Thanks again for a great
product and feel free to call on me anytime!”
•Susan Koch, Training Coordinator, Washington County 911, OR
We will gladly provide references upon request!
CritiCall’s System Administrator Program
JUST CHOOSE & CLICK
CritiCall screen-shot
With just the click of the
mouse, you can access all of
CritiCall’s many features!
CritiCall’s built-in Test
Creation Wizard makes it a
snap to choose those test
modules that are appropriate
for the job as it exists in your
agency
Easy to Customize
You can easily
customize many
areas of CritiCall
CritiCall screen-shot
It’s a snap to customize the
test administration features
CritiCall screen-shot
APPLICANTS JUST
SIGN ON AND GO!
CritiCall is self-administering
and self-scoring! The applicant
just signs on and takes the test.
Re-Testing is
Safe and Easy
• There are three versions of every
CritiCall test module
• CritiCall automatically administers
a different version of the test each
time an applicant takes the test
– Applicants who re-test are never given
the same test two times in a row!
CritiCall has tests that
measure the ability to…
• Quickly & accurately enter data copied
from a page and/or heard on a headset
• Make decisions and perform more than
one task at a time (multi-tasking)
• Compare / Contrast data
• Listen to calls and summarize or answer
questions about the calls
• Use information from an alphabetized list
• Prioritize
• Plus…
CritiCall also has tests that
measure the ability to…
•
•
•
•
Read maps and understand directions
Determine most likely events
Read and comprehend written text
Accurately spell easily-confused words
– e.g., “The doctor has lots of patience” vs.
“The doctor has lots of patients.”
• Identify clearly-written phrases
• Perform job-related Math
• and more…!
Another comment from a satisfied CritiCall user…
“Our agency uses the CritiCall program as a prehire testing format and it has enabled us to find and
hire the most qualified applicants. Being able to
hire the most qualified individuals for the dispatch
center has allowed us to spend our training budget
more wisely. I would recommend the use of
CritiCall to other agencies looking for pre-hire
testing formats.”
Cynthia L. Geiger
Training Coordinator, Berks County Communications Center
We will gladly provide references upon request!
You can also develop &
administer your own test
questions for Promotion or
Training Testing with CritiCall
CritiCall screen-shot
CritiCall’s Validation Wizard feature
automatically guides your agency
through a basic content-related
validation study of the job-relatedness of
CritiCall testing by asking your
experienced employees a series of simple
questions
CritiCall Report
CritiCall uses the information from
the Validation Wizard to create an
extensive report, which can be
presented as evidence of jobrelatedness and non-discrimination
CritiCall Never
Becomes Outdated
• CritiCall is constantly updated to
meet the ever-changing needs of the
Public Safety Communications
Community
Outstanding
Service and Support
With every CritiCall system, for
the first full year you receive
Complimentary software upgrades
Complimentary software updates
Unlimited toll-free telephone support
Another comment from a satisfied CritiCall user…
•
“We couldn't be more impressed with the test. It simulates our
work environment so closely and weeds out people who wouldn't be able
to handle the our jobs. I love the fact that the stress factor is there,
because that is what it's like to answer multiple phones, multiple officers
on the radio, run tags, enter a call, and continue to our jobs. We have
invited several surrounding agencies to come and see the test and if it is
something that could help out in their centers.
•We have been using it to test for about the last year and our turn-over
rate is at 0% for the ones we hired using CritiCall. This has cut down the
people we bring into our hiring process which saves us time, and saves
our Detectives time on backgrounds. The hiring process is lengthy
enough, we want to be sure the people we are spending the time on have
an above average chance of making it in our field.
•
Thank you so much for creating something that has positively
affected our center. I would highly recommend CritiCall to anyone
needing a new way to test.”
•Gale Pruett, Communications Supervisor,
•Franklin Police Department, TN
We will gladly provide references upon request!
• CritiCall’s consultants support the publicsafety community by contributing
articles to publications such as the
National Journal of Emergency Dispatch,
9-1-1 Magazine, Public Safety
Communications (APCO), Emergency
Number Professional (NENA), and other
magazines and journals about personnel
selection and other organizational issues
• CritiCall representatives present
educational sessions at
national/regional communications
conferences such as APCO, NENA, and
the National Academy of Emergency
Dispatch (Navigator)
• CritiCall products and services are
proudly exhibited at national and
regional conferences
• CritiCall “User’s Group” meetings are
held at the national public-safety
telecommunication conferences
Another comment from a satisfied CritiCall user…
“CritiCall covers each of these key areas for us and
is a very realistic simulation of our dynamic
environment, not to mention it requires very little to
no time to administer and is very easy to implement.
I just wanted to let you know how pleased we are
with CritiCall. I will gladly share the word with
others considering your product and you are
welcome to add me to your reference list.”
Cindy Thomas
RESPONSE Services Center, Columbia, Maryland
We will gladly provide references upon request!
In Summary, CritiCall…
• Uses a combination of work-sample and
other testing to measure computerrelated and many other skills that are
needed prior to the first day on the job
• Is virtually self-administering and selfscoring
• Can lower turnover / save money
• Can decrease training & supervision time
• Is easily validated specifically for your
agency
• Can be used to create your own tests
Bona-fide public-safety
agencies can obtain a free
demonstration version of
CritiCall to review by
calling
800-999-0438
Did you know…?
CritiCall also
offers optional
personality
testing
specifically
tailored for
public-safety
dispatcher and
calltaker
applicants
Thank you!
Please call us at 800-999-0438
for more information
Pre-Employment Testing
Software
Press the ‘Back’ button to return to the biddle.com website
Or visit the CritiCall website at criticall911.com