BUSM 1162 Managing People-Key Issues in Call Centres

Organization of call centre workforce into teams doesn’t necessarily mean there is teamwork in the running of the call centre activities. To what extend does this affect people management and what are the key issues in maximizing the benefit(s) of teamwork to employees and the organization. Discuss.

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Individualized work

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Largely routine work

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Technological and Managerial regulation

Example

Majority of call centre setups especially the advanced ones have teams whose individuals perform certain work. In a bank’s call centre setup for example certain agents among the entire workforce could be dealing with those customers with problems with their account balance, each of the agent deals with his/her client right from the start to the end. The agents reads the client the actual balance as at the time of inquiry, why is the balance that way and if the balance indeed has a problem the agent initiate corrective procedures to correct the anomaly.

Source:(Levin, 2005)

Example

Call centre operations are largely repetitive and follows certain already established procedures. In a example of a Banks call centre setup when a client calls to inquire if a certain cheque has been paid first the officer/agent is required to first confirm the identity of the caller by asking name and other relevant personal information for identification. After confirming the identity of the client the agent will proceed to check the said cheque through the cheque number or date or amount as long as the outcome is conclusive.

Source: (Isabella, n.d.)

Example

Latest and advanced call centres have sophisticated ICT solutions that direct the clients when they call the call centre for assistance. The ICT solutions usually insists on self service where you press certain keys and the client sort him/herself out even though the client really wanted to speak to the agent either because he/she need a certain explanation on why the problem happen and what he/she can do to avoid the same in future.

Source: (Waruszynski, 2005)

Explanation

From our example above it’s clear that the agent in question is solving the client’s problem without collaboration or input of his/her colleagues at the centre.  Thus although the centre is organized into a teams, say a team that handles balance queries, the individual members of the ‘teams’ do not work together to handle clients challenges rather they work on their own until the customer is satisfied or calls back again and probably gets a new agent on the line.

This poses a problem to people management in that when a single agent handles a problem wholesomely chances of making erroneous judgement are high. And this is not to mean the agent is incompetent but rather it’s a question of checks and balances. The key issue here in maximizing the benefits of team work to the employee and the organization is to ensure that customer handling is distributed well without inconveniencing the client, say one agent can receive the complain and document all the necessary information and another agent follows through to rectify the problem and inform the client latter of the steps taken with reason(s).

Explanation

In this case what the agent is required to do is only follow certain procedure for a given problem and nothing outside the documented manual. This shows lack of team although the call centre is setup in form of teams. The agents rarely consult because the manual is clear on what to be done. There will be no individual or teams input on the way a certain issues should be handled even when from the tone of the client the agents feels it is necessary for something different to be done in order to accommodate the client and promote clients loyalty to the company.

This is a challenge in people management because not all the challenges fall within the manual and it’s challenging to document every other possible outcome in problem solving. There is need for room for deliberations where teamwork comes in handy.

The key issue in maximizing the benefits of teamwork to all parties is to allow a window for consultations among the agents in order for the agent to deliver proper service to the client and boost his/her performance as well us helping the company attract and retain clients.  

Explanation

With the technological advanced the teams in the call centre setups gradually continue to minimize teamwork as the ICT solutions take over. The agents may be reduced to only overseeing the technology and ensuring it is performing as expected. The role of teamwork is replaced with technology and managerial regulations. Thus the agents will have little to do in terms of affecting the outcome of certain complain lodged by the client.

In terms of people management the ICT solution and managerial regulations again falls short of promoting teamwork within the teams in the call centre. The process of resolving client’s problem is premeditated and the teams at the centre have little influence over the outcome.   

Link

In summary, the call centre setup the client handling should be more of a collaborative work rather than Individualized work where one agent handles the entire process of a client handling. In our next topic we are going to look at how routine work affects teamwork.

Link

It’s imperative that the call centre agent have a chance to deliberate on how a certain issue can be handled given the circumstances under which a certain problem arose. It’s challenging for script to envisage all the scenarios that are likely to come up. In our next topic we shall look on effects of technological and managerial regulations on teamwork.

Link

As much as the ICT solutions lessen the work to be done in doesn’t encourage sharing of notes and deliberations among the agents in a call centre set up. The agent’s major work revolves around overseeing the technological advancement and implementing managerial regulations.