UMB Counts on Hiring Assessments to Help Predict Associate Performance in a Service-Driven Culture

UMB Financial Corporation, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, considers customer service the key differentiator between itself and other financial institutions. UMB associates embody a culture that promulgates delivery of “the unparalleled customer experience” — in fact, the company uses this phrase as part of its vision statement.

UMB operates in seven states providing commercial, institutional and personal financial services. As it embarks on celebrating 100 years in business in 2013, UMB points to hiring and retaining the right people as the most significant reason for its solid reputation for integrity and expertise – leading to the company’s steady growth and success.

According to Christopher Bingham, UMB’s vice president of talent planning and development, service is more important than ever to standing out in today’s competitive banking environment. 

“We rely on our people to help UMB ‘own’ this service delivery capstone,” he said. ”Our mission statement is also all about service, asking every UMB associate to get to know customers, anticipate their needs, and exceed their expectations – even surprise them.” 

In 2008 the company began looking for ways to embed “TUCE” (the acronym regularly used by associates in reference to “the unparalleled customer experience”) and its foundational values throughout all levels and lines of business.

“While TUCE was a well-established part of our culture, we needed to find ways to ‘codify’ the behaviors and attitudes we need from everyone in order to consistently deliver,” said Bingham.

An associate team comprised of a cross-section of managers was formed and led by UMB’s executive vice president of organizational effectiveness and, with the support of UMB Financial Corporation Chairman and CEO Mariner Kemper, tasked with outlining exactly what associate behaviors lead to TUCE.

As a result of this team’s input and other leadership involvement, apocket-size book called The Unparalleled Customer Experience was born, documenting TUCE behaviors within the categories of “power, pride and passion.” The handbook, given to all associates, has become part of the UMB workplace culture.

“It’s not unusual for our CEO to open a meeting by taking the book out of his pocket and asking people to raise their TUCE books in the air. Our values are always top-of-mind and a constant reminder of our customer focus,” said Bingham.

UMB actively promotes TUCE. Expectations for how associates treat each other and customers are discussed in meetings, as decisions are made, during evaluations and are always included in large management conferences. The company has utilized screen savers, posters, meeting guides and other materials to keep the conversation going, and also designed training classes to educate employees on how to incorporate behaviors into their daily on-the-job lives.

Hiring for Pride, Passion and Power

When it comes to building a corporate culture, this could be the point at which most companies stop. TUCE as a vision is well articulated and documented; expectations and behaviors are woven into the workplace fabric; and the company continues to earn a reputation for customer service excellence.

But, UMB talent executives recognized that there was more to do. So, UMB examined its hiring processes to determine how to identify job candidates who had the skills and initiative to represent the company’s brand every day and who would likely thrive in the company’s culture.

“The challenge is to identify those candidates who have the potential to deliver TUCE and who personally value delivering a great customer experience,” said Bingham.

In early 2011, the UMB talent acquisition team began working with Corvirtus to develop hiring measures that would help guide the selection process, identifying candidates who would fit with UMB’s customer-focused culture.

A project leader from UMB worked closely with Corvirtus experts in I/O psychology to analyze jobs and identify critical competency areas. The team developed a Brand Ambassador Index for UMB, a multiple-choice assessment that takes a job candidate approximately five to seven minutes to complete. The Brand Ambassador Index examines how a candidate feels about “going above and beyond the call of duty,” both on individual and organizational levels, in order to support the overall success of the organization and to effectively create the organization’s intended experience for its customers.

UMB’s Brand Ambassador Index was designed to measure three TUCE-related performance dimensions:

• Pride: Embracing UMB values; possessing a positive attitude; demonstrating belief in the company, coworkers, and oneself; making customers feel special
• Passion: Showing enthusiasm and empathy; creating a welcoming environment; making connections with others; showing appreciation to customers.
• Power: Demonstrating a “green light” attitude; being confident and a good teammate; setting the example for others; showing a willingness to be accountable.

Taking Time to Validate Assessments

Next, the team conducted validation tests to determine how accurately the Brand Ambassador Index could predict successful, customer-focused job performance. The team administered the Brand Ambassador Index to a sample of 152 associates in customer-facing positions in three geographic areas in the bank with historically high turnover.

The team then analyzed the on-the-job performance of those associates with passing scores on the index, as well as those associates who did not pass. Associates who “passed” the index had a track record of significantly outperforming the “non-passers.” In fact, the index showed double-digit differences between passers and non-passers across the pride, passion and power dimensions. For example, passers scored 19 percent higher than non-passers on “brings enthusiasm to work every day,” and 17 percent higher on “demonstrates a can do, you bet I will ” attitude.“

We could see right away that the assessments were accurate and reliable,” said Bingham. “And, the fact that Corvirtus was willing to ‘test the test’ showed us that the company would provide a meaningful product for UMB to use.”

Building a Hiring Process to Support TUCE

With the successful completion of the pilot program, UMB now plans to use the Brand Ambassador Index, combined with a competency assessment and behavioral interview, as part of its standardized hiring process. Before the end of 2011, UMB will officially roll out the Brand Ambassador Index in all of its retail banking centers.Ultimately, Bingham envisions the Brand Ambassador Index will be used for screening all job applicants – not just for those with customer-facing roles.“Service is not done in a silo. Everyone contributes to the customer experience in some way. Corvirtus assessments can help us select the right people to make TUCE happen across all levels of the organization.”

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