Kenexa Launches New Customer Service Simulation Platform to Predict Job Performance

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - June 23, 2008) - 2008 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition -- Kenexa® (NASDAQ: KNXA), a global provider of talent management and retention solutions, today unveiled SimSJT™: Customer Service, the new online simulation platform designed to assess customer service aptitude. SimSJT engages candidates in a virtual 3D environment that measures knowledge of roles associated with excellent customer service -- greeting, anticipating, information exchange, task performance, empathy, solving problems, adding value/upgrading, and follow-up.

SimSJT requires candidates to indicate how they would handle specific customer service situations. SimSJT gives applicants a realistic preview of customer service positions, while enabling organizations to identify the most talented candidates. The program efficiently and effectively identifies talented candidates with exceptional customer service aptitude, thus predicting on the job performance and reducing staff turnover. In addition, the use of multimedia functionality makes the SimSJT assessment accessible to a broad range of candidates, regardless of their literacy level or English-language proficiency.

"Traditional text-heavy Situational Judgment Tests, or SJTs, rely on candidates reading through and comprehending often lengthy passages before they respond. Our SimSJT eliminates the need for this text-intensive approach by replacing it with simulated interactions that the candidate watches and listens to," said Troy Kanter, president and chief operating officer of Kenexa. "Kenexa has a long history of delivering custom simulations for clients in the U.S., Europe, Russia and Australia. Through this work, we realized that a lot of customer service behaviors are consistent across positions or cultures. An off-the-shelf product, such as SimSJT, can be deployed rapidly across a wide variety of market sectors and industries."

In SimSJT, candidates are led through a series of customer service episodes taking place in different locations: a restaurant, a hotel, a retail store and an office. Through the use of engaging 3D simulation -- similar to online games and virtual worlds like The Sims™ and Second Life® -- SimSJT captivates and maintains the interest and attention of candidates, resulting in less candidate attrition through testing stages.

Jeff Weekley, Ph.D., a senior researcher at Kenexa, commented, "We relied on extensive research from our Industrial and Organizational psychologists, as well as industry expertise from animators and computer programmers, to deliver a product that will reduce cost-of-hire by eliminating the need for in-person testing."

This is the first of the series of SimSJT online assessments built on Kenexa's e-Psymulate™ platform. In the next 12 months, Kenexa will release Integrity, Teamwork and Safety Awareness assessments. More information is available at http://www.kenexa.com/en/solutions/Assessment/Simulation.aspx.

About Kenexa

Kenexa (NASDAQ: KNXA) is a global leader in building the world's greatest workforces using a combination of software, employee research science and business process optimization. Kenexa's global solutions include applicant tracking, onboarding, recruitment process outsourcing, employment branding, skills and behavioral assessments, structured interviews, performance management, multi-rater feedback surveys, employee engagement surveys and HR Analytics. Kenexa is headquartered in Wayne, Pa. (outside Philadelphia). Additional information about Kenexa and its global products and services can be accessed at www.kenexa.com.