One always
has to be very careful when mentioning clients. However, this public
project from 2003 done pro bono provides an interesting example of our
work.
Chamber
of Commerce Employee Survey of Contact/Call Centres
2003
Our
task was to design, administer and evaluate the employee portion of a
broader organizational study conducted by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo
Chamber of Commerce.
The Tamarack Group’s extensive experience
in this area coincided nicely with the needs of the Chamber and as a
public service we agreed to contribute.
Special
care was taken in the design to reflect the the sensitivity of some
employers in having their staff respond to a study of this type.
Consequently, while the questions were necessarily broad, they elicited
some very thoughtful and useful responses. The complete results and
ensuing discussion and recommendations were presented at a Chamber
breakfast June 10th, 2003.
Part
1
These are the questions
that were asked of a sample of employees from each contact/call centre
in the Waterloo Region. Responses came by way of a faxback survey.....
- What do you like best about
this type of work?
- What do you dislike most about
this type of work?
- How did you hear about this
job?
- What is the principle motivator that keeps you
here?
- What effect do incentives (if offered by your
organization) have on your work?
- How does scheduling affect
you?
- How would you describe your working environment?
- How would you describe the morale of your team?
- Do you see the
contact/call centre industry as a long-term career for you?
Part 2
Our Final Recommendations from our evaluation
of the data
(distributed on June 10th at
the Chamber breakfast)
The
First Steps:
1. Decide what kind of
organization you want to be: How do you want customers to think about
you as an employer? What kind of employer do you want to be? How best
can you meet those employer goals?
2.
Do you have vision, mission and values statements? If you do, how do
you and your employees practice each and every element? If you don’t –
it’s time to start - especially as the market tightens.
3. What kind of employee would best help you
to reach these goals. For example,
Do
you want people who think of this as just a job or do you want people
who think of this position as a career?
How
can the job be adjusted to make it into a career choice?
How do you become an employer of choice?
How must you change as a organisation to meet these
goals?
Remember that it’s important to
include all present employees in change. Many of the people working in
our organisations have more knowledge, more skill and more ideas than
we are ever aware of.
4. These questions are the
starting point. Create committees with your employees to think about
them -- make a list of ideas or next steps and assign people to work on
them. Involving people in change increases interest in the job as well
as their own commitment to the organisation.
Other Initiatives to Consider:
- 1. Talk with your employees at
the beginning of the shift – invite their ideas on how to serve the
customer better or solicit their advice on improving work place
practices.
Use these times
to set the tone for the shift -- to energize people, to build solid
teams, to learn new customer skills, new product information, new
technology skills. Also, make it clear what needs to be achieved and
then discuss ways of reaching those goals so that employee and manager
can leave feeling successful.
- 2. Meet with employees at the
end of shift. Thank them for the work they’ve done ask them how their
day went. And if it didn’t go well, both you and the employee need to
contribute ideas on what changes might be introduced to improve on
perhaps chronic issues.
- 3. Create more diversity in
the job itself. Rotate types of calls to keep the interest strong and
the thinking vibrant. If this isn’t possible, insert other kinds of
tasks for short periods that may not be call centred. Find ways to
offer employees growth in the job. Further training in sales or
technology to be able to answer questions before passing the call to
someone else.
- 4. Ensure managers or
supervisors are supportive, respectful, open, and good listeners. But,
at the same time, especially in this industry, ensure your managers
aren’t micro-managing or creating an overly vigilant or judgmental
environment that simply add to the stresses of employees who might
already be dealing with people who are upset! Train supervisors and
managers so they bring out the best in employees
- 5. Involve
employees in initiatives that build a strong tie to the client. If you
are an outbound centre representing other companies, whenever possible
have employees meet with those companies, involve them in script
writing, or invite employees to meetings with representatives from these
companies to learn in depth what their needs and expectations are.
If you are providing technical support for your own
products have your employees meet frequently with people from other
departments to learn more about the product lines Build a stronger
connection to the over all company.
- 6. Create a hiring and
screening system that brings in the people who will thrive in your
environment. Hire for the present, but imagine where you’re going to be
in a year or more and who you need on board to get there.
Hire people who want to make a contribution, who
are autonomous, who are able to take initiative, who are excited about
learning and learning more, who want to commit to the company, and of
course people who are good communicators skilled in the discerning the
social subtleties of human relationships. Remember you can train in
technology, but it is vastly more difficult to coach people in social
skills.
- 7. Tie goals to
loftier values like the importance of the customer and the importance
of doing a good job for one’s own satisfaction. Remember, while having
incentives, you want people to do a good job because the job, the
company and the customer are important to them, not because of some
material or monetary prize at the end. Yes, have incentives, but have
them connected in a minor more accessible way to successes.
- 8. Provide
meaning and value to the work people do. Find practical ways to
recognise the work people do. Create more opportunities for employees
to help one another during the course of a shift. Explore other means
to increase job interest (i.e. building teams, expanding decision making
authority, training programs, etc...). Have meetings that offer
opportunities for employees to express their ideas, but also have
regular employee surveys that allow employees a safe environment to
comment on the quality of their work life anonymously. (Do keep in
mind, if you solicit ideas and contributions you must be willing to
change!)
- 9. While many of us are using
the web site to train our people we need to balance this with effective
training programs that not only build knowledge but concurrently build
relationships internally in the organization.
- 10. Know your
people. Know what their skills are and how they feel they might
contribute further. And finally, create an atmosphere of energy and
fun! This is a great industry with people who are very skilled and
willing to commit!
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