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Norwegian Cruise Line: Case Study

Norwegian cruise line focuses on providing excellent customer service. 15 percent of customer complaints were related to employees who did not understand the needs of guests because of a language barrier. The majority of NCL's customers are american, they expect to communicate in english.

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86 views

Norwegian Cruise Line: Case Study

Norwegian cruise line focuses on providing excellent customer service. 15 percent of customer complaints were related to employees who did not understand the needs of guests because of a language barrier. The majority of NCL's customers are american, they expect to communicate in english.

Uploaded by

venkathari45
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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C ASE STUDY:

Norwegian Cruise Line


Overview: Communicating for Quality Customer Service
Employees on the front line who interact with customers on a regular basis can play a powerful role in shaping a companys reputation in the minds of its customers. To ensure a positive customer experience, recruiting best-in-class staff is crucial for any company, in any industry. One qualification that is sometimes hard for recruiters to measure when processing job applications is the candidates communication skills. An employees ability to effectively and appropriately communicate with customers can be the critical element that makes one companys customer service top-notch and anothers secondrate. Language skills are often intricate and difficult to master, especially when learned as a second language, which can further compound the recruiters job when making hiring decisions for a service industry. For Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), operated by NCL Corporation Ltd., providing an excellent customer experience is a focus for their organization. The level of English proficiency of its staff was identified as a key factor impacting the overall quality of their customer service. Fifteen percent of customer complaints were related to employees who did not understand the needs of guests because of a language barrier.

Versant was the right solution for us to ensure we hire highquality applicants
Miriam Torres Director of Recruiting, NCL

Background: Norwegian Cruise Line Discovers Recruitment Need


As a leading and innovative global cruise company, NCL recruits on an ongoing basis and worldwide, often through 40 job fairs throughout the year. With the introduction of new ships to the fleet, thousands of positions need to be filled quickly, in addition to managing new hires to maintain service on existing ships. In a given week, NCL interviews approximately 300 candidates in person, over the telephone and online requiring efficient hiring tools to identify talent who have the proper skill set for the available positions and personality to fit into the company culture. Excellent customer service is paramount for NCL. To achieve this goal, it is important for employees to have the ability to communicate clearly with passengers, particularly among the customerATA Am er ica

facing staff. Since the majority of NCLs customers are American, they expect to communicate in English. Therefore, employees must have an appropriate level of English proficiency to manage guests needs and provide quality customer service. continued on back

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because clear communication matters.

Copyright 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s). All rights reserved.

C ASE STUDY:

Norwegian Cruise Line continued


Challenge: Quickly and Accurately Test Applicant English-language Skills
Because of the global nature of NCLs recruiting efforts, being able to measure English proficiency of its new hires and existing staff was a problem particularly among those who speak English as a second language. NCL recruiters realized that for customer service and guest satisfaction to improve, applicants must be screened for English fluency during the hiring process.This presented a unique challenge for NCL to find a state-of-the-art English proficiency assessment system that complemented and did not interfere with the current recruiting process.The added step of evaluating applicants language skills needed to be easy for recruiting staff to administer and provide fast, automated results, while consistently and accurately processing applicants from various countries in person, over the phone or online.

Solution: Integrate Leading Language Assessment Tool into Recruiting Process


NCL recruiting found a solution in Versant for English a quick, objective and accurate assessment of spoken language skills powered by the patented Ordinate technology, and provided by leading test developer and publisher, Harcourt Assessment. The tool is based on years of research in speech processing, statistical modeling, linguistics, and testing theory. Once an NCL recruiter determines they are interested in further screening of a candidate, they will administer the Versant test to measure the candidates level of English proficiency. Harcourt Assessment developed a customizable benchmarking system solution, based on the demands of NCLs business, to establish an acceptable test score that job candidates must meet or exceed. Versant evaluates an individuals ability to understand spoken language on everyday topics and to respond appropriately at a native-like conversational pace. The system generates scores based on the exact words used in the spoken responses, as well as the pace, fluency, and pronunciation of those words in phrases and sentences. The Versant test fit NCLs business needs because it can be conducted over the telephone in 10 minutes with results provided directly to the recruiter online within minutes after an applicant completes the test.

The results provide NCL recruiters with the ability to evaluate critical success factors for customer service satisfaction, such as: The applicants ability to accurately understand customers The applicants ability to communicate effectively with customers Consistent language proficiency levels across all staff Objective identification of quality applicants

Results: Increased Customer Satisfaction and Retention Rates


One year after implementing the Versant test as part of their recruiting process, NCL no longer receives complaints from guests about the staffs ability to communicate in English. We received complaints in the past, but since implementing the English assessment test, we havent received any, said Miriam Torres, director of recruiting at NCL.Versant was the right solution for us to ensure we hire high-quality applicants, especially as we introduce new cruise ships and continue to hire new staff. With Versant, NCL recruiters have been able to administer the tests to their geographically dispersed applicants efficiently and have improved customer service across the board. Versant has been used for hiring and screening of more than 1,326 applicants since its implementation, and employee retention has increased 20 percent due to hiring staff with the right language skills.

For complete information, call 800-211-8378, or visit VersantTest.com

because clear communication matters.


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Copyright 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s). All rights reserved.

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