Call centre management.

[check] This checklist aims to provide a guide to best practice in call centre management. There are currently about 5800 call centres in the UK, with 4000 of these having a staff of over 30 and the remainder employing over 100 staff each. The industry is expanding; by the end of 2000 it has been predicted there will be about 750,000 people working in call centres in Europe, with 1/3 of these in the UK alone, equivalent to about 1.5 per cent of the total UK workforce. Up to 70 per cent of these employees are women. Further growth is predicted at two per cent per year over the next 2-3 years.

Call centres are used largely by utilities, larger retailers, financial services, travel and telemarketing industries. They tend to be clustered together in regional areas of the UK, forming local markets.

The perception of call centres as controversial sweatshop operations is commonplace. It is true that terms and conditions vary greatly. Increasingly, however, call centres have begun to tackle problem areas such as staff morale, turnover and training provision. A growing number are being managed successfully and the introduction of innovative staff retention strategies has helped in this process. Competition within the industry is tending to improve pay levels and conditions of employment.

Definition

A call centre can be defined as a geographically remote department or business wholly focused on telephone-based customer enquiries. Call centres usually provide a centralised point of contact for an organisation and support telephone selling, aftersales service, telephone helplines or information services either for a parent organisation or on a contract basis for other businesses. There is also a move towards the multipurpose customer contact centre where communication is through multiple channels, i.e. telephone, email, internet, fax and postal services.

Advantages of call centres

Call centres can:

* offer companies a cost-effective way of communicating with customers

* provide a controlled and measured process for the treatment of customers

* be an important link in customer retention and relationship marketing

* improve service quality for customers

* offer flexible working opportunities.

Disadvantages of call centres

These can include:

* High staff turnover, which, although declining in some centres, can still be a serious problem.

* Stress, which can be caused by excessive control and monitoring.

* The possibility of hearing damage, voice loss, and repetitive strain injury to staff.

* Skill shortages, especially in local labour markets.

* Setting of unrealistic targets, which can lead to a demoralised workforce.

* Poor access to training and career development.

* High investment required in the latest communication technologies.

Action Checklist

1. Cultivate an open culture within the organisation

The roles of team leaders and managers, together with a review of the management structure of the call centre, are important if a change in culture is to be achieved. Employees at every level should be able to contribute ideas and have their say.

2. Invest in training

The rapid growth of the call centre industry and a concern to avert serious skill shortages have heightened the need for training. In addition, as customers increasingly use the Internet for simple enquiries, staff in call centres may receive more complex enquiries. Call centre training should cover:

a) Induction

It is vital that employees are given a well-planned induction explaining the organisation, its products and services. Employees need to be very well briefed to enable them to deal efficiently and confidently with customers.

b) Effective communication skills training

The importance of soft skills training should not be underestimated. Employees need to know how to talk to people, how to use pace and time without rushing, and positive language to follow a conversation through. They should also be given guidance on how to handle irate customers.

c) Technical skills training

The use of high-tech systems necessitates substantial training to ensure that staff are able to fully utilise information that is available to them.

d) Human relations training and team building exercises

As in any other organisation, it is important to build relationships, support each other and encourage teamwork. A focus on people skills requirements and behavioural issues in training programmes can result in significant improvement in performance.

3. Provide a diverse range of incentives to combat staff turnover

These could range from providing competitive salaries and rewards, including bonus schemes, to providing competitive benefits packages, which could include pension plans, share save schemes, preferential banking, interest-free loans, discounted goods, or membership of, for example, a health club or private health scheme. Some call centres provide subsidised restaurants and leisure facilities or employee assistance programme where support and advice is offered.

4. Offer flexible working and family friendly policies

Many call centres operate long hours--in some cases 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In such cases flexible working would be of great benefit both to the company as well as to employees. As the majority of call centre staff are women, it would also pay to consider family-friendly benefits such as child care facilities and job sharing.

5. Introduce multi-skilling

Employees should be encouraged to acquire a range of skills and to work on different products and services and take different types of calls. Flexibility is increased from the employer's point of view and variety is introduced into often repetitive work.

6. Consider the physical environment of the call centre

Arrange workstations in small groups to allow employees to interact and support one another more easily and to operate as part of a team. Health and safety regulations may require regular breaks from visual display work. Noise and lighting levels need to be monitored regularly

7. Operate real time supervision

Ideally, supervisors should sit with employees and observe and correct any problems as they arise, rather than relying solely on listening to tape recordings from the previous day.

8. Consider using a call centre hotel

Before setting up an inevitably costly operation, consider renting workstations, using your own staff. This can provide a half-way house between outsourcing and an in-house set up.

Dos and Don'ts

Do

Develop innovative staff retention strategies.

Recognise the importance of training.

Recognise that working in the often pressurised environment of a call centre can be stressful.

Provide more varied work.

Offer career development opportunities by having regular performance reviews and encouraging good performance.

Don't

Rely on single parameters, eg, time required to handle a call, to measure performance.

Forget that the call centre industry is rapidly expanding and operates in a competitive environment.

Useful Reading

The UK contact centre industry: a study London: Department of Trade and Industry, CM Insight, Call and Contract Centre Association and ContactBabel, 2004

Call centres and human resource management: a cross-national perspective Stephen Deery and Nicholas Kinnie, eds Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004

Understanding the contact centre environment, David Mack and Claire Bateson Canterbury, Financial World Publishing, 2002

Useful Addresses

Call Centre Association (CCA)

20 Newton Place, Glasgow, G3 7PY

Tel: [phone] www.cca.org.uk

Thought Starters

* There is more to being customer-friendly than having a call centre

* In today's competitive business environment, if you don't treat your staff well they will simply walk away