aligning attitudes, aptitudes and aspirations, benchmarking metrics for the development of contact...

Aligning Attitudes, Aptitudes and Aspirations

Benchmarking metrics for the development of Contact Centre

Agents

Today’s discussion

Will hopefully spark debate on the attraction, development and retention of contact centre staff

Based on benchmarking research commissioned by the Production Management Institute in 2013

Will focus on the “”People “in that People/Performance equation

Client brief

• Identify best practices in contact centre training and development

• Identify learning needs and create learning objectives

• Gather market intelligence to inform and support this process

• Results used to update and revise current contact centre development programmes to ensure an innovative and best practices approach

Research modeling in a nutshell

Learner aspirations and industry aligned training needs Best practice training methodology Desired skills and competencies (Employer) Performance measures Culminating in a Skills Matrix core to integrating findings and

assessing perceptions and skills gaps• Based on best practices and measurement norms • Professional bodies, industry institutes/associations,

recommendations and certification criteria as well as SAQA requirements

• Core findings from the study

Benchmarking/Best practices research model

Best practices survey to clients/employers and a sample of best practice call centres, locally and abroad

• Recruitment Criteria/Core competencies required (see Appendix A: Competency Matrix)• Attitudinal• Behavioural• Technical skills• Sales, service, emergency care, debtors

• Preferred/Utilised Training Methodology• Experiential• Theoretical• Simulated• Specific training for sales, service,

emergency care, debtors• Other

• Desired Results Areas/performance measures• Engagement indices• Customer Satisfaction indices• Retention/other• Reward systems• Other

Literature Search

Competency standards, SAQA, Industry bodies in SA, UK and USA, other

Best practice training methodology Key results areas/performance measures

GAPS Analysis

Learner Model

Questionnaire/Survey to a selected number of candidates and “graduates.”

• Aspirations• Point of entry, prior

learning• Learning needs (see

matrix)• Learning needs met

(graduates only)

Focus groups at simulation centre (2)

• Aspirations• Expectations• Learning priorities

Findings used to work with client project team/stakeholders to brainstorm and develop new training programme

Research Model and Process PMI Contact Centre Training

Research Process

Literature review

Local and global benchmarking (BPO managers and HRD personnel)

Learners and contact centre agents

GAPS Analysis

• Literature review and electronically administered quantitative study

Research sampling

The Global Benchmarking Study

– In terms of the quantitative study, over 15000 contact centre professionals and managers were contacted worldwide.

– Returns have yielded a 90% confidence level with a 9.4 point confidence interval.

– (We can be 90% confident that between 80,66% to 99,4% of respondents from all contact centres in the population would answer the same way.)

– Returns should preferably have been higher

Research sampling

The Learner Study

– Paper based survey of a representative sample of potential participants/learners to ascertain learning needs and learner aspirations and objectives (150)

– Proportionately representative of learners entering the contact centre environment and agents already on the job

– Undergoing training by PMI in the classroom and simulator

Survey administration

The Learner Study

– Facilitated by PMI facilitators post simulation training.

The Contact Centre Benchmarking Study

– Use of the CCMG database and assistance!– A customized research website was developed for the project,– Allowing user friendly completion of the research instrument. – Personal invitations were then sent via e-mail to potential

respondents inviting them to complete the study. – This e-mail contained the hyperlink to the research website.– Numerous follow up requests

The literature review

Some of our Sources (used both to design and validate)– AMEC – Industry Associations and Professional Bodies in the USA,

Canada, Europe, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa– Academic research papers/dissertations from the USA, South

Africa, Britain, India and Canada– Case studies from local and global consultancies/research

facilities– Global benchmarking initiatives in the public domain

undertaken in the private and public sector– SAQA

Learnings from the literature review

Workplace competencies defined as “skills, capabilities, knowledge, learning, co-ordination, organisation and relationships” (Sanchez, 2004)

Competencies do not deteriorate but are enhanced if they are applied and shared (Prahalad and Hamel)

“Help people to develop the best customer service or sales mindset, understand how their role fits in the bigger picture and build the call handling skills they require.”

What are the implications, therefore for the competency profile and training methods to be applied?

Learnings from the literature review

Fundamental competencies

– Business acumen– Change resilience/adaptability– Stress tolerance– Problem analysis and problem solving– Organising skills– Communication

• Written and verbal• Interpersonal

– Multi-tasking– Call management– Technical literacy– Time management– Using call centre technology– Diversity management– Team orientation– Customer service orientation– Negotiation skills (outbound)– High energy levels (outbound)

Learnings from the study

Defining the competency profile

– Drawing from both the literature review and core findings from the study we have compiled a skills matrix for use in the research process and for ongoing use:

• To assess employer skills requirements

• To assess training needs

• To measure overall competence/outcomes – pre and post training

• To develop curriculae and ensure industry and learner aligned training methodology

Moving onto research findings

Employers, BPO managers and Human Resource Development professionals

– High disclosure levels– Open ended/qualitative comment focussed and collaborative– Strong opinions and sound experience

Demographic profile of respondents

Effective training methods

Attitudinal and behavioural indicators

Flexing the matrix

Drilling deeper

Key results areas

Desired results areas

Quality control measures (agent engagement) in order of precedence

– Accessibility of information– Communication skills– Process Adherence– Access of written information– Performance management tools and processes– Data entry capability

Desired results areas

Customer satisfaction measures

– First call resolution – Satisfaction with call outcome (Credibility)– Ease of contact (Accessibility)– Agent knowledge (Technical knowledge and

competence)– Agent manner, ownership and approach (Willingness,

Attitude, Communication)– Ease of resolution (Responsiveness)

Performance measures

Strategic

– Customer satisfaction – Staff engagement and employee satisfaction– Resolution rates

Performance measures

Tactical

– Customer satisfaction– Agent call handling capacity– First call resolution– Quality/error rates– Call duration– Net promoter score– Agent schedule adherence– Agent utilisation rate– Cost to serve– IVR call stats

The Learner/Agent Study

Sampling: 150 learners/trainees Administration: Paper based and electronic

Analysis: To research model and establishing deviation across the following demographic variables– Age– Gender– Learner/employment status

Quantitative and qualitative methodology

What did we look for?

Aspirations

Skills preferences and needs

Perceived benefits

Perceived challenges

Deviation established by gender, age and employment status

Let’s look at some findings

Current employment status

Reason for undergoing training

Concerns

Perceived challenges

Systems failure, knowledge and changes High call volumes Deadlines and targets Lack of career progression Product knowledge/adapting to new products Noise factor/working environment Dealing with conflict

– Interpersonal conflict– Intra-group– Customers

Hoped for benefits/competencies

Build trust and relationships Enhance confidence and self-management competence Self-development EQ and people skills Discipline Management and leadership skills Communication and interpersonal skills Cross cultural understanding/diversity training Business acumen

Hoped for benefits in career progression

Career Development– Line management– Cross-disciplinary

• Marketing• Sales• Public relations/communication• Training and facilitation• IT

Entrepreneurial– Freelance/flexible working conditions– Own contact centre

An overview of learner ranked matrix based skilling needs

Management aspirations

A snapshot on demographic variance

Deviations tracked by age, gender, motivation for attending course and employment status (tabular representation)

Quick pointers– Deviation by age exhibits variance by specific skill (eg older

trainees require more “systems” training– Deviation by motivation exhibits a 0-2% variance only.– Interestingly in terms of gender males exhibit a strong

preference for management/team leader training while females exhibit lower needs on “soft skills.”

– An interesting statistic, variance on employment/not employed is marginal in terms of skilling need

Between the actual and the aspiration

Level One Competency Employer/Industry Rating

Industry Ranking

Learner Rating Learner Ranking % deviation

Clarity of speech 93.93 1 Literacy 80.07 2 91.3 2 -11.23

Demeanour 77.24 3 92.2 1 -14.96 Typing Skills 72.14 4 88.4 3 -16.26 Numeracy/arithmetic skills 64.87 5 82.7 4 -17.83 Basic administration skills 61.25 6

Deportment/grooming 54.36 7 79.1 5 -24.74

Level Two Competency

Employer/Industry Rating

Industry Ranking


Product and Service knowledge 93.57 1 94.8 1 -1.23 Telephony and Systems 86.43 2 87.4 5 -0.97 Computer Systems & Programmes 80.8 3 84.6 4 -3.8 How to source information 76.81 4 87.1 3 -10.29 Goal setting 73.25 5 82.4 6 -9.15 Record keeping 72.89 6 89.5 2 -16.61 Electronic communication 63.83 7 68.7 8 -4.87 Working with scripts 63.27 8 82.1 7 -18.83

Variance between employer and agent perceptions

Level Three Competency Employer/Industry Rating

Industry Ranking


Customer Service 95.07 1 96.6 1 -1.53 Providing product/service information 90.96 2 94.1 3 -3.14 Problem solving 86.59 3 94.1 3 -7.51 Company knowledge and understanding 86.44 4 94.5 2 -8.06 Conflict resolution 84.29 5 89.6 4 -5.31 Feedback and reporting 73.91 6 88.3 7 -14.39 Business acumen 62.87 7 87 6 -24.13 Working with databases 62.36 8 88.6 5 -26.24

Level Four Competency Employer/Industry Rating

Industry Ranking


Quality management 85.21 1 86.4 1 -1.19 Performance Management 76.84 2 85 4 -8.16 Team collaboration 72.16 3 86.1 2 -13.94 Decision making 68.13 4 85.1 3 -16.97 Marketing 53.69 5 77.8 5 -24.11

Those career aspirations

Level Five Competency Employer/Industry Rating

Industry Ranking


Team leadership: Coaching 75 1 88 4 -13 Team leadership:Motivation 75 1 87.8 5 -12.8 Team leadership: Organising 74.29 2 88.8 1 -14.51 Team leadership: Group dynamics 73.91 2 85.7 7 -11.79 Team leadership: Planning 73.54 3 88.5 3 -14.96 Team leadership:Managing performance 73.2 4 87.4 6 -14.2 Sales skills 61.5 5 88.6 2 -27.1

Attitudinal and behavioural indicators

Employer priorities

The developmental edge

Moving forward by:

– Aligning learner aspirations with employer expectations– Applying sound assessment and measurement practices

when planning, delivering and developing skills – Focusing on key results areas (contact centre strategy

and management) when compiling modules– Equipping candidate agents with behavioural skills and

strengths– Taking cognisance of technical trends and delivery

platforms in planning sustainable courses

Training methodologies

Widely quoted statistics estimate that people remember 20% of what they hear and 30% of what they see. Combine seeing and hearing and it rises to 50%. Get people ‘doing’ and retention of information shoots up to 70% and beyond.

Also we need to take account of those “learning styles” before developing methodology which takes all of these into account

– Activist (learns through “doing”/hands-on– Pragmatist (learns when they see how it applies practically)– Theorist (needs to know the bigger picture, structured training)– Reflector (needs to assimilate learnings)

So which techniques should be used?

Best practices dictate a combination of methodologies

– Classroom, experiential, hands on and simulated

– Training which sensitises the learner, embeds knowledge and skills, and sustains the application of these

– Training which delivers on contact centre strategic and performance management processes

The best practices development model built from the research

Aspiration + Actual = Performance

Thank you for your time and attention

Over to Lynne who will tell you

How PMI is using this knowledge

How PMI will continue to benchmark practices and processes core to the development of both the industry and the people who operate therein