A Leadership Imperative
1 Mar, 2009
By: Deepak Lal,Gerry BarberDevelop Talent for the Call Center and Beyond
Talent Development Solutions that Create a Win-Win for the Enterprise, Call Center and Employee
The available skilled workforce in the United States is dwindling according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There simply will be less skilled workers available in the coming years. Notwithstanding the recent economic conditions and temporary rise in unemployment, it will continue to be difficult to find and keep quality talent. Looking globally for talent is not the panacea it once was either. This lack of quality talent will have a significant impact on the call center community¡¦s ability to deliver distinctive service.
Talent Development is Directly Linked to Retention.
There seems to be two schools of thought on the subject of developing talent. On one hand there are organizations that see employees as a commodity. These organizations tend to believe that if they develop employees with the idea of personal growth they will leave and take their knowledge and skills with them.
This usually ends in a self-fulfilling prophecy. These organizations tend to experience high attrition due to the cultural attitude of the organization. On the other hand, there are organizations that believe in investing in their talent by developing them to succeed in their current jobs as well as in future roles. Through an engaged workforce, these organizations tend to reap greater business results not only for today, but well into the future.
Industry employee satisfaction surveys back up the latter scenario. Employees overwhelmingly state that learning new skills, coupled with company interest in their personal growth, are among the most important contributors to employee satisfaction. Industry studies also linked results such as lower customer complaints, lower turnover and higher retention of essential employees to organizations that deploy talent development strategies.
This article explores one organization¡¦s (Deloitte Services. LP) strategy and commitment to purposefully develop talent for the call center and beyond.
Four Win-Win Talent Development Strategies
1. The call center leaders best serve the enterprise by developing themselves and the talent around them
The call center leadership team adopted a ¡§servant leadership¡¨ style. Servant leaders have a strong commitment to helping people achieve their goals. Servant leaders know that to achieve the collective vision of the call center, and ultimately the enterprise, it takes a knowledgeable, committed, engaged, and passionate team. Servant leaders in the call center see the organization chart upside down. Their role as leaders is to take responsibility for removing any and all roadblocks that prevent team members from performing at the highest level. Servant leaders understand that if they develop the talent around them, then the entire team grows in confidence. Confidence leads to greater risk taking, and through risk taking the team is more willing to take action to achieve extraordinary business results. Last but not least, servant leaders know that they are only as good as the sum total of the quality of team members around them.
2. The on-boarding process is key to talent development and engagement
Immersing the new hire in easy and fun ways to learn about the organization increased employee engagement. In new hire orientation, a ¡§virtual tour¡¨ orientation program has been adopted. This virtual tour of the enterprise is available online to the new hire 24x7. In addition to this online new hire center, an orientation program exists that avoids lecture and PowerPoint presentations in favor of bringing new talent together with seasoned team members from across the enterprise. This orientation program engages the new hire in activities that provide fun ways to learn and grow in preparation for their career. All this happens well before the call center new hire is educated in specific call center curriculum.
In the next phase of orientation, the new hire starts the call center training process. The call center curriculum is performance-based. It is developed to include classroom, Web-based, and blended learning approaches. The curriculum goes beyond the ¡§how to¡¨ to include an understanding of the importance of the organization¡¦s support delivery model and its relevance to the mission of the call center and the enterprise.
3. A purposeful interest in each employee¡¦s career goals is taken
Talent development is strongly supported with current and future business requirements in mind. A framework has been built to help increase choices so employees can easily shape their career paths. The framework requires dialog between employee and their direct supervisor as part of periodic performance conversations.
Promoting career advancement opportunities internal to the call center is deliberate. For internal mobility, the call center works to market the call center as a profession. A deliberate plan was created to educate call center team members on call center best practices. It was important to understand where gaps in call center knowledge existed at each job level. The educational curriculum included a clearly defined value proposition for the call center as a service delivery channel.
The investment in developing call center professionals was made through:
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creation of learning situations that provide insight regarding how to be successful in various call center roles
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support of industry-based professional certifications
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participation in networking activities, workshops, conferences and seminars
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building a professional call center library
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subscribing to contact center publications
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engaging in industry discussion blogs and forums.
One easy to execute example deployed in the call center is the book club program. A cross-section of team members, including the call center leader, meet to present and discuss a book¡¦s common theme and how it relates to the call center¡¦s mission. Another example is the "Coach Approach" quality program. In this program inclusion is the key. It requires the frontline employee, supervisor and service quality auditor to collaborate together to ensure the highest level of service. All three groups are educated to have a common understanding of what a quality customer experience is. All three have clear accountabilities in the process.
4. Career advancement opportunities within the enterprise are linked to the call center
Programs were deployed for career mobility external to the call center but within the enterprise. These programs benefit the delivery of service while preparing team members for career advancement. Not every employee hired into the call center will desire a long-term attachment to the call center. Accepting this reality was the first step in achieving a balance between the call center¡¦s budget investment to develop the employee and helping the employee achieve upward mobility within the enterprise. For this program to be successful, eligibility requirements were set for employee participation. Requirements include; length of service (12 months minimum), and meeting or exceeding the call center¡¦s high-performance expectations. The end result is that the enterprise keeps well-trained and enterprise-savvy talent while the employee contributes value to the center.
An example of a career path program that fortifies the enterprise is "Walk in My Shoes." This is a program that allows call center technical support analysts to learn more about the role of field support. Taking part in this learning exercise strengthens call center analyst knowledge of the support model and prepares them for a next step career opportunity. Joe Shirley, technical support analyst, states, "I did have the chance to go to employee workstations and fix issues. It''s nice to refresh my face-to-face skills. I think it makes for a better phone-based tech if you can remind yourself that you are talking to a real person on the other end. It was cool to see an actual soup-to-nuts Vista upgrade too."
Another example utilized to prepare team members for the present and the future is a language skills development program utilized by the company¡¦s India call center. Investing in developing language skills to deliver excellent service is a primary goal of the call center. The byproduct of this development is a better-prepared workforce for the enterprise in the long term. "Last year the India call center facilitated upward mobility opportunities for 18 of its experienced high-performing team members. The call center is proud of its contribution to the enterprise as it produced the highest number of talent to fill enterprise vacancies," stated Deepak Lal, AVP India Call Center.
The Business Results
The success of the program has made a tremendous contribution to lowering attrition. Attrition has shifted in the India call center from 51 percent annualized in 2007, to less than 20 percent currently. Similar attrition results occurred in the U.S. call centers from 25 percent annualized in 2007, to just under 10 percent currently . Clearly another benefit is the level of engagement of the entire call center team. In addition to the significant results in lower attrition, the talent development efforts have led to contributions in improved customer satisfaction as well as first call resolution.
