The Impact of Simulation Training on Call Center Agent Performance: A Field-Based Investigation

The most prevalent form of training call center agents is via classroom instruction coupled with roleplays. 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 paper 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. This paper collaborates with call centers at two Fortune 50 firms and examines on-job performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation training.