The successful onboarding and training of new staff in assistance requires meticulous planning and organisation. Fostering the potential of newcomers entering assistance has a considerable impact on whether employers can retain their staff and maintain a healthy working environment.

We asked experts how they determine the suitability of a candidate for a role during the application process, uphold best practice during initial training, appropriately calculate training time frames and maintain standards across all levels of expertise.

Effectively deciding on the right candidate

When presented with an array of applicants, the first step for any employer is to distinguish the most suitable candidates to shortlist. We spoke to companies about how they decide the skills and credentials they are looking for in applicants and why certain attributes demonstrate an individual’s competency for an assistance role.

When shortlisting candidates, Lara Helmi, Managing Director of CONNEX Assistance, highlighted the importance of academic credentials, including background and performance. She said that CONNEX ordinarily selects candidates who hold bachelor’s degrees from select universities in the region.

Further to this, she added: “Experience in the medical field is an advantage, as it shows the candidate’s readiness to contribute effectively from the onset and interact efficiently with medical providers and personnel.”  

Being multilingual is essential when managing cases worldwide, Helmi said: “Applicants must speak at least three languages, with English and Arabic being mandatory, to ensure assistance coordinator candidates can communicate effectively in various cultural contexts.”

She elaborated that the multilingual applicant is considered more likely to have a broader cultural perspective, which is deemed an especially valuable skill in today’s globalised work environment.

Candidates who excel in problem-solving and can maintain composure under pressure are highly sought after

Helmi added: “Candidates who excel in problem-solving and can maintain composure under pressure are highly sought after. Key attributes include the ability to think outside the box, troubleshoot effectively, and demonstrate resilience.”

Applicants must also “be capable of adapting to changing circumstances and collaborating with others to achieve common goals”, she said.

Griselda Werner, Chief Operations Manager at Logimedex, reflected: “Our selection process is based on a series of rigorously defined criteria that encompass academic background, clinical experience, and interpersonal skills.”

According to Werner, to ensure that candidates can handle situations of varying complexity, Logimedex seeks individuals with a strong medical background, e.g. doctors, often with at least one year of clinical practice in both private and public health systems.

Werner also emphasised the importance of the candidates’ aspirations and future. “We discuss their commitment to be remaining in the position for at least one year, and their short- and long-term objectives. This evaluation helps us gauge their level of dedication and suitability for long-term roles,” she concluded.

Upholding best practice throughout initial assistance training

By creating and managing comprehensive training programmes, in the long term companies will often see an increased performance in productivity and efficiency. When ineffective, training can waste both time and resources, leading to unforeseen problems later down the line in terms of cost and performance. 

Adhering to industry best practice can help employers avoid common training pitfalls. We asked assistance companies how they ensure that best practice is maintained during training.

Helmi outlined three distinct training phases that CONNEX’s new recruits undergo:
•  Onboarding: Introduction to medical assistance, company’s code of ethics, IT security awareness and data privacy training
•  Shadowing period of three months: 
    - Classroom training: recruits participate in classroom sessions where they learn about different types of cases and the procedures for handling them
    - Alarm centre shadowing: new staff observe the experts in action at the alarm centre, gaining real-world insights into case management and emergency response
•  Handling simple cases and on-the-job training: after the shadowing period, new assistance coordinators undergo a rigorous evaluation to assess their readiness. 

This last phase includes: 
•  Exam: recruits take an exam to demonstrate their understanding of the job and their ability to apply what they have learned
•  Handling simple cases: successful candidates start by handling simple cases, allowing them to apply their knowledge and skills in a controlled environment
•  Performance-based advancement: as new coordinators demonstrate their capability in handling simple cases, they are gradually assigned more complex responsibilities. Their performance is continuously monitored, and additional training is provided as needed to ensure they are fully equipped to handle the demands of their role.

Our selection process is based on a series of rigorously defined criteria that encompass academic background, clinical experience, and interpersonal skills

“These measures collectively ensure that our new staff members are well prepared to uphold best practices and provide high-quality assistance from the outset,” Helmi said.

According to Esma Tekin, Strategy and Reporting Assistant Specialist at Marm Assistance, best practice at her company is reinforced by its training procedure, which is a key element of its quality management system. 

“To help our employees realise their potential, we have established Marm Academy within our office. Marm Academy is designed to ensure that our training sessions are highly efficient, and all training materials used are tailored to meet specific needs,” she said.

Claudia Schmiedhuber, Founder and CEO of the Global Assistance & Medical Transport Institute (GAMTI), said that her company maintains high standards through a comprehensive and standardised training approach that ensures all trainees are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge required to fulfil their roles.

She explained: “Our structured curriculum is meticulously designed to cover all essential aspects of assistance roles, following the natural case management flows in a step-by-step approach. This way, we not only cover everything that is essential to their roles but also assure that practical knowledge is transferred through quizzes, case studies and challenges to be solved.”

Similarly, Werner outlined how Logimedex upholds best practice through establishing “clear objectives and a detailed action plan with a specific timeline for each type of case, starting from the simplest and progressing to the most complex, while introducing new collaborators to our operations and protocols”.

She added: “Training focuses on several key aspects: effective communication in English and Spanish, task coordination for efficiency, resource utilisation to optimise time and materials, and critical information analysis.”

To ensure that each new team member meets Logimedex’s standards, Werner stated, “at the end of the first month, we conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation, identify areas for improvement, and provide additional training as needed”.

Determining training time frames

Often candidates demonstrate different levels of industry experience prior to applying for the same role, which can be a challenge for employers when determining a training duration to suit everyone.

To combat candidates entering training with different levels of prior experience, Helmi said that the duration of training at CONNEX varies based on the candidate’s performance and capabilities. 

However, she stressed that CONNEX’s recruitment and training process for aspiring assistance coordinators is both extensive and demanding, with a success rate of less than 50%. For example, she said: “Many candidates opt to pursue different career paths after the shadowing period, while a dedicated few demonstrate the resilience required to continue and embrace the learning opportunity.”

Schmiedhuber said that GAMTI caters to a range of experience by having multiple levels of courses. The first is its basic course, which covers the essentials of the industry and is tailored to entry-level roles or administrational staff. Then its advanced course includes detailed and practical case studies, along with a wider range of additional topics, including its communications module. Finally, it has an expert course which offers exclusive, in-depth industry knowledge, put together by global experts.

She went on to say that, at GAMTI, new employees get the best out of their training by having everything online, with the option to complete all training at their own pace.

On training individuals with no prior experience, Tekin described how “new starters undergo on-the-job training before the operations team oversees desk-based training”. This enables her team to first identify the needs of the individual and plan the training duration accordingly. “Personalised training repetitions are conducted based on the individuals’ understanding of the topics and/or customer feedback. Our quality and internal audit department listens to calls and continuously monitors the customer request system in the medical department via the database, recommending improvements and enhancements and planning corresponding training sessions,” she said.

Werner reflected: “Since our team primarily consists of doctors and nurses, they already possess valuable experience in patient care, which is a significant advantage during training. These professionals understand the urgency and importance of delivering medical services efficiently.”

However, she added: “We have found that one month of intensive training, involving new collaborators in assistance tasks from day one, is essential for our training programme. This hands-on approach ensures they quickly acquire the necessary skills to handle medical assistance cases, even in challenging contexts. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.”

Maintaining standards across all levels of expertise

Beyond entry-level roles, companies strive to maintain high standards across all staff members and levels of expertise. We asked how they maintain standards of training during development within a role and when preparing employees for a promotion.

Renee Abbott, Consultant at International Assistance Group, commented: “The role of an assistant case manager is crucial, and this training forms an essential part of supporting their connection to a dynamic and fast-paced world of assistance.”

When ineffective, training can waste both time and resources, leading to unforeseen problems later down the line in terms of cost and performance

She noted that, with many professionals having left the industry during the pandemic, assistance companies face the challenge of onboarding new personnel who often don’t have any industry experience.

Schmiedhuber said: “Our courses undergo a rigorous review process and at least 40 experts look at them before they are launched.” This helps ensure that what new recruits learn is not only current but can also be practically applied in their roles immediately.

Speaking on CONNEX’s expectations of candidates, Helmi said: “They must demonstrate essential people management skills to inspire and guide their teams effectively and showcase a high-level understanding of medical assistance. Additionally, upon being promoted to a new role, candidates are required to complete a three-month probation period, during which their capabilities are thoroughly assessed to ensure they meet our stringent standards.”

Tekin pointed out that opportunities for interdepartmental rotation and different roles within the same unit at Marm Assistance allow individuals to develop multifaceted skills.

“Marm’s extensive internal and external expert network creates significant growth opportunities for all employees. Environmental awareness, occupational safety, and constantly updated areas like data protection play a major role in Marm’s training programmes,” she explained.

Likewise, to cultivate an environment that fosters personal improvement and facilitates professional growth, Werner emphasised the value of involving her teams in significant projects and encouraging collaborative problem-solving.

“Additionally, we offer scholarships for them to acquire new skills and knowledge that enable advancement within the company. This approach not only strengthens our internal capabilities but also ensures that our medical assistance services maintain the highest standards of quality, regardless of the complexity of the environment in which we operate,” she said.

In conclusion, when it comes to shortlisting candidates for an entry-level role in assistance, while there is no fixed rule with regard to prior experience, companies will have basic requirements for a role pertaining to education and skill set. 

In terms of ensuring best practice, it is beneficial to determine clear objectives and detailed action plans with a timeline for each role type. However, training time frames are often flexible and treated on a case-by-case basis, given that the prior experience of new recruits varies. 

To maintain high standards across different levels of expertise, companies such as CONNEX apply a three-month probation for promotional roles, to determine a candidate’s suitability for the new position. Marm Assistance, meanwhile, emphasises the value of interdepartmental rotation for enabling employees to develop a wider skill set and find their niche.