DDI improves interview assessment scoring with Twilio

One aspect of DDI’s business is conducting assessments with people who are being considered for hiring and promotion. During the assessment, participants role play with assessors and these interactions need to be recorded in a way that ensures DDI’s high quality standards are maintained. By using Twilio, DDI was able to increase assessor productivity and save more than 50% in material costs annually. Furthermore, the Twilio platform has enabled additional response modalities in DDI’s web-based virtual assessment for mid-level leadership – Leader3 Ready®.

Challenge

One of the tools DDI uses to help clients identify and hire the right people is phone assessments. Previously, DDI would record conversations with the prospective employee via a cassette recorder that plugged into a special phone. However, cassettes are becoming nearly impossible to find and expensive. “It’s not the 1980s. Nobody is making mix tapes anymore,” said Ryan Graham, Application Architect at DDI.

Additionally, DDI was looking for a solution that would enable participants in its Leader3 Ready® virtual assessment to respond to stimuli via voice as well as engage in interactive phone role plays.

With tens of thousands of phone assessments each year and the need for voice capabilities in Leader3 Ready®, DDI needed a solution that was flexible, cost effective, and transparent to end-users.

Solution

After evaluating several vendors, DDI selected Twilio for its great pricing structure and easy-to-use API platform. Compared to other vendors, whose solutions would have required hiring a third-party system integrator for application development, Twilio’s robust APIs and comprehensive documentation allowed DDI to have a Twilio-based prototype completed in less than two hours and a production-quality solution done in less than one month.

DDI assessors now use Twilio to automatically record phone assessments and interactive role-plays and to offer participants the option to respond to questions via voice rather than typing responses.

One of the great features of the Twilio API is the ability to pass data into DDI’s application. This capability allows crucial information to be correlated with recordings from Twilio’s system, thereby, giving DDI the ability to score participants’ role-play responses seamlessly.

Results

Using Twilio helped DDI reduce materials’ costs by more than 50% and increase assessor productivity. Just as importantly, building a solution on the Twilio platform enhanced the quality of DDI employees’ work life—something that is very important to the company. Assessors welcomed the solution from the very beginning. “The team who built the DDI Twilio solution got a standing ovation from the assessors,” said Graham. “They absolutely love it. It makes a day in the life of an assessor significantly more productive and pleasant.”

Twilio has improved accessibility of the digital files for quality assurance (e.g. training new DDI interviewers), and for use if a legal challenge should arise. The new voice-based simulations provide a competitive edge for DDI, especially in Asia, where the new modality is a better cultural fit. Word has spread around DDI about the solutions built on the Twilio platform, and now other departments are considering how they can leverage Twilio.