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Process of Defining Criteria Values as Skills with Expertise Codes and Weighting Factors

You define skills in the same manner as you define criteria values. Defining criteria values as skills with expertise codes is a preconfigured feature of assignment criteria values and works with assignment rules for service objects (or any other object you configure to use skills). By default, sales objects do not use skills.

To define criteria values as skills with expertise codes and weighting factors, perform the following tasks:

1. (Optional) Creating Expertise Codes for Skills
2. Adding Criteria Values as Skills to Assignment Rules Using Expertise Codes
3. (Optional) Defining Weighting Factors for Expertise Codes

These tasks are one step in Process of Defining Assignment Rules.

NOTE:  Criteria and skills need the same Assignment Criteria Attribute enabled for Assignment Manager to perform skill comparison. For more information about enabling Assignment Criteria Attributes, see Creating Assignment Criteria Attributes for Assignment Criteria.

Creating Expertise Codes for Skills

Expertise codes apply only to skills and are global; after they are defined, assignment criteria share the same set of expertise codes. Expertise codes are predefined for the following skill types (assignment criteria):

• Language Code
• Product
• Product Line
• Product Line Wildcard
• Product Wildcard

The three predefined expertise codes are Novice, Intermediate, and Expert. For most deployments, the predefined skills are sufficient, however, you can create new ones. Expertise codes are stored in (and can be modified, added to, or deleted from) the Administration - Data screen, and the List of Values view. To create new expertise codes, use the following procedure.

NOTE:  Perform the procedures in this topic only if the default expertise codes (Novice, Intermediate, and Expert) do not meet the requirements of your organization.

To create an expertise code

1. Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, and then the List of Values view.
2. In the List of Values list, click New.
3. In the new record, click in the fields to enter the relevant information for the expertise code:
   1. In the Type field, click the select button, query for EXPERTISE_CD in the Pick Value Type dialog box, and then click OK.
   2. In the Display Value field, type the name of the expertise code as you want it to appear.
   3. In the Language-Independent Code field, enter the exact value that you entered in Step b.
   4. In the Language Name field, click the select button to select the appropriate language in the Pick Language Name dialog box, and then click OK.
   5. In the Translate field, click to place a check mark (if not already checked).
   6. In the Order field, type a numerical value for the rank of the expertise code.

      The numerical value you enter in this field determines the rank of the expertise code. Use a higher value to apply a greater rank to the expertise code, and a lower value to apply a lesser rank.

      The new expertise value appears in the List of Values list and also becomes a valid expertise code selection in the criteria value drop-down menu when defining skills.

Figure 10 shows an example of creating a Manager expertise code that is ranked higher than the default expertise codes.

Figure 10. Example of Creating a New Expertise Code

Adding Criteria Values as Skills to Assignment Rules Using Expertise Codes

To add a criteria value as a skill to an assignment rule using expertise codes, select the desired expertise from the Expertise Code field in the Values list, as shown in Figure 11. The predefined expertise codes are: Novice, Intermediate, and Expert.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Criteria Values as Skills with Expertise Codes and Weighting Factors as well as a step in Process of Defining Assignment Rules.

To add a skill to an assignment rule using an expertise code

1. Navigate to the Administration - Assignment screen, and then the Assignment Rules List view.
2. In the Assignment Rules list, drill down on the assignment rule for which you want to add a skill, and then click the Criteria view tab.
3. In the Criteria list, select New.
4. In the new criteria record, click in the available fields to enter the relevant information.
5. Scroll down to the Values subview, and then click New.
6. In the new values record, click in the available fields to enter the relevant information.

   NOTE:  The assignment attributes for criteria values that are available differ depending on the assignment criterion you select in Step 4. In the example in Figure 11, the assignment attributes are: Score, Product Line, and Expertise Code.

Figure 11 shows an example of creating a required Product Line Wildcard assignment criterion that is compared to candidates. This criterion requires a minimum score of 10 and the modem product line skill with an expertise level of Intermediate or better.

In this example, only candidates with an Intermediate or Expert level of expertise qualify for this skill and receive 20 points.

If the predefined expertise codes are not sufficient for your needs, you can create new ones. To create new expertise codes, see Creating Expertise Codes for Skills.

Figure 11. Example of Adding a Skill with an Expertise Code

Defining Weighting Factors for Expertise Codes

Weighting factors for expertise codes apply only to skills and are global; after they are defined, assignment criteria share the same set of weighting factors for expertise codes. Weighting factors weigh expertise codes by applying a specified percentage to the skill score. Table 27 shows sample weighting factors that can be used for the three types of predefined expertise codes.

In this example, candidates with an Intermediate level of expertise for the matched skill are favored over other candidates, because they receive 100% of the skill score. This result may be desired if your organization has many more service representatives with an Intermediate level expertise than service representatives with an Expert level of expertise. In this case, you make sure that service requests that require only an Intermediate level of expertise are assigned to service representatives with that level of expertise.

NOTE:  Use weighting factors to adjust relative scoring for expertise; do not define separate criteria and scores for different expertise levels.

If you use weighting factors to weigh the expertise codes, candidates with different expertise receive different scores. For example, if you use the weighting factors described in Table 27 and the expertise code defined in Figure 11:

• Candidates who possess an Intermediate level of expertise in the modem product skill receive 20 points and qualify for this criterion.
• Candidates who possess an Expert level of expertise receive 10 points and qualify for this criterion.
• Candidates who possess a Novice level of expertise fail this criteria (because an expertise level of Intermediate or better is required), and fail the assignment rule (because the criterion is required).
• Candidates who possess an Intermediate level of expertise are therefore favored, because they receive a higher score.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Criteria Values as Skills with Expertise Codes and Weighting Factors.

Weighting factors for expertise codes are stored in (and can be modified, added to, or deleted from) the Administration - Data screen and the List of Values view.

To define weighting factors for expertise codes

1. Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, and then the List of Values view.
2. Display the list of values of type EXPERTISE_CD.
   1. In the List of Values list, click Query.
   2. In the Type field, click the select button.
   3. In the Pick Value Type dialog box, query for EXPERTISE_CD, click Go, and then click OK.
   4. In the List of Values list, click Go to complete the query.
3. For each of the resulting display values (default values are Novice, Intermediate, and Expert), click in the Weighting Factor field and enter a numerical value.

   The numerical value you enter in this field, relative to the maximum weighting value defined, represents the percentage applied to the skill score.

   TIP:   If the Weighting Factor field is not visible when the List of Values appear, use the Columns Displayed feature to make it visible (right-click, select Columns Displayed, use the arrows to move Weighting Factor from Available Columns to Selected Columns, and then click Save).

Figure 12 shows an example of defining the weighting factors for the default expertise codes using the values listed in Table 27.

Figure 12. Example of Defining Weighting Factors