Are Your Call Center Supervisors Up to the Task? Apr 29, 2008 9:44 AM
, By Penny Reynolds
JobZone
Search and post jobs for the Multichannel Merchant. Including jobs for brand & agency marketers, e-commerce, catalog marketers, ops & fulfillment, direct marketing and more.
A survey recently conducted by The Call Center School shows
that more than 80% of supervisors and team managers in call centers today were
moved into that position from frontline agent.
While this promotion from within ensures that supervisors understand the
call-handling process, care should be taken that the right agents are placed
into supervisory positions. Just because someone is a great performer on the
phones doesn’t mean they’ll be a good supervisor. Many good performers have a
need for individual achievement and recognition – a trait that serves them well
on the phones, but not necessarily one that makes them a good supervisor or
manager. It’s important that the same careful screening used to identify the best
candidates for the frontlines is also used to determine which employees will
make the best leaders.
It’s also critical that your new supervisors and team managers receive the
necessary training as they move into this new leadership role. Studies show
that while most new supervisors receive training through human resources on
general supervisory and leadership skills, only about 20% of these supervisors
receive any call-center specific supervisory training. While general supervisory
classes in time management, diversity, and how to do a performance review are
necessary and useful, new call center supervisors will also need some
specialized knowledge and skills to be successful in this new role.
It is important to note that supervisory knowledge and skills typically fall
into two categories – people management and call center operations. Here is a list
of things that call center supervisors need to know, and be able to do, in ten
different call center areas:
People management
1. Recruiting and hiring: Supervisors in some centers are more involved in this
process than in other centers. But even with a specialized team of recruiters
and staff to do screening, the supervisor will at one point get involved in at
least the interview process. It’s important to have the necessary interviewing
skills to ask the right questions and read responses to find the best match for
the job.
Can your supervisors…
--Identify the most critical job selection criteria for open positions?
--Outline the beginning-to-end recruiting and screening process for your center?
--Describe the most effective interview questions to identify the best
candidates?
2. Retention strategies: Turnover is running rampant in many centers today. Many
organizations have developed a retention strategy for addressing compensation
issues and improving hiring protocols. However, satisfactory compensation and
job fit do not guarantee job longevity. In far too many instances, employee
turnover can be directly attributed to supervisor/employee relationships. Each
supervisor must understand what the key drivers are to team and individual
satisfaction and strive to meet them.
Can your supervisors…
--Identify the turnover rate and resulting cost for their team?
--Pinpoint the main reasons their team members leave?
--Develop an individual retention strategy for each team member?
3. Defining performance standards: Defining realistic goals and expectations
and measuring their attainment are critical to every call center’s success.
These goals should be defined with corporate and business unit objectives in
mind and then be defined down to the individual behaviors that you want to see
demonstrated by the frontline staff.
Can your supervisors…
--Outline the steps of an overall performance management model?
--Translate corporate and call center goals into individual requirements?
--Incorporate standards and definitions into an appropriate scoring and review
process?
4. Diagnosing performance problems: Once goals and standards of performance
have been defined, supervisors must be well versed in comparing actual
performance to the goals to identify performance gaps and diagnose the root
cause of performance issues unique to the call center environment.
Can your supervisors…
--Perform a “gap analysis” to identify the most critical performance problems?
--Diagnose the root cause of an individual’s performance problem?
--Identify the most appropriate supervisory strategy to improve performance?
5. Coaching and counseling: One of the most fundamental skills needed by
frontline supervisors is the ability to coach and motivate employees. There are
many things about working in a call center that make it unique and coaching
skills that work in another environment may need to be fine-tuned to be successfully
applied to call center issues.
Can your supervisors…
--Blend listening and feedback for the most effective coaching session?
--Pinpoint scenarios where performance counseling is needed?
--Employ a system of consequences to shape employee performance?
6. Motivational techniques: There are six main types of strategies for keeping
staff motivated and happy on the job. All supervisors should understand basic
motivational theory and how to select the motivational techniques that are best
suited for their unique staff.Understanding which techniques work best in the unique world of call
centers is critical to performance success.
Can your supervisors…
--Determine the top motivators for each team member?
--Outline basic principles of providing recognition and rewards?
--Plan for ways to have fun in the center?
7. Building and managing teams: Most call center organizations are built around
a team concept. In many centers these teams are no more than a group of people
that happen to report to the same person, while in other centers, the team is
an empowered, cohesive unit where each team member takes responsibility for the
productivity and success of the group. Supervisors should know how to create
and build a successful team, beginning with team charters and assignments.
Can your supervisors…
--Organize a team matrix to outline member responsibilities and roles?
--Organize and hold effective team meetings?
--Create programs that motivate the team as a whole, as well as individuals?
Call center operations
8. Staffing and scheduling: Given that call center staff are at the mercy of
incoming customer calls, the issue of staffing and scheduling staff is one that
every supervisor will likely have to address. While each supervisor doesn’t
have to be able to forecast workload and create staff schedules, every
supervisory or management person should understand the basic concepts of call
center staffing and the tradeoffs with cost, service, and productivity.
Can your supervisors…
--Outline the basic forecasting and scheduling process in your call center?
--Describe the concept of the “power of one” to all team members?
--Identify the impact of schedule exceptions on call center service and
productivity?
9. Key performance indicators: Managing in today’s call center means managing
by the numbers. There is a vast array of numbers available from today’s call
center systems and the savvy manager will understand how to assimilate the
statistics to isolate performance trends and exceptions. Call center
supervisors should understand what these measures are and how their team
affects the overall call center’s performance success.
Can your supervisors…
--Calculate numbers associated with schedule adherence and staff shrinkage?
--Identify the impact of staff changes on service level and occupancy?
--Outline the top ten measures of performance for the team and for individuals?
10. Call center technology: While most supervisors don’t need to be able to
trouble-shoot problems or program the ACD, it is important for this group to
have a basic understanding of the technologies at work in their contact center.
Each should understand the basic concepts of call routing and delivery and how
each technology is used to support the customer interaction.
Can your supervisors…
--Describe the technology path a call takes on its way to the agent desktop?
--Identify the reports available that supervisors need to see daily.
--Outline your center’s technologies that support service and workforce
efficiency.
Benjamin Franklin perhaps said it best, “An investment in knowledge pays the biggest
dividends.” Implementing a comprehensive supervisory/management training
curriculum for your frontline supervisors that focuses on the unique operations
and issues in the call center will pay for itself many times over. A
well-informed, highly skilled management team will produce measurable results
in terms of increased call center operational efficiency, improved service to
customers, happier staff, and decreased staff turnover.
Penny Reynolds is a founding partner of
The Call Center School, a Nashville, TN-based consulting and education company.
Are Your Call Center Supervisors Up to the Task?
