Training

Our experts’ advice on how to get the most from your people


Good training leads to contented staff who will keep your customers happy -- and can ease attrition.  Here are practical ideas that you can use

Why ‘feedback’ normally doesn't work

WHEN employees receive "feedback" it's often when something has gone wrong.   In that feedback session, how does the manager begin?   The other way of looking at this is for me to ask you to read this: "I'd like to see you in my office at 3pm".  What would be your initial reaction?
More than 90 per cent of people will respond with: "Uh, oh, now what I have done wrong?"  Is this so surprising?   Based upon our experiences at school, home and our childhood memories, "feedback" is not something we usually relish.
Most feedback comes in the form of "constructive criticism".  It begins negatively and continues: "This is what you got wrong, and here's what I'd like you to do about it!"  Sound familiar?  Can you see now why "feedback" often achieves nothing? When someone has, effectively, been given a "ticking off", are they more or less likely to want to perform for that person?
Do any of us come into work thinking: "Today, I'm going to do a bad day's work"?  It's a simple fact that we always respond positively to praise, to compliments, to a "pat on the back" when we did something well.  That's all a reward is.  It doesn't have to be monetary, material, stick or carrot. 
If you doubt how difficult it sometimes can be to give effective feedback, try the following: I want you to think of someone you don't get along with, someone difficult who "winds you up".  Imagine they walk into the room right now, and write down just three, genuine, heartfelt compliments you can pay them.  If you try this exercise, you'll see, it's not quite as easy as it looks to be a great manager.  It has to come from the heart.  At least 50 per cent of "managing" is managing people; about the single most challenging but important thing there is at work.


A feedback session can be turned from a dreaded critique into an opportunity for connection and positive plans

 

When employees "buy-in" to feedback, that is, when they accept and understand what is needed from them, and when this is given in combination with positive reinforcement of areas that they are excelling in, the results are startling.
The Coaching Wheel (see diagram) achieves outstanding development for supervisory feedback in precisely this way.  For your trainers/supervisors, just three statements and three questions will gain more "buy-in" from your agents than any "constructive criticism" will ever do.
Here is how it works:

1 Prepares the staff member (remember the weight of previous negative "feedback" experience.  He/she needs to know exactly what is "on the menu", i.e., nothing threatening).

2 There is a very good reason for the word "what" in this question, as opposed to "How do you think things are going?".   When asked "How...", the agent is already expecting the worst.  The answer may well be surprising by being in the negative: "Well, listening to that call, my opening wasn't very good...".   This is the pre-emptive strike, as they want to beat your trainer or supervisor to the bad news.   When "what" is used, it focuses the individual on the positive.  They may well still answer in the negative, even though they have been asked them to sing their own praises.  If this occurs, it’s best to smile and say: "OK, that's fine, and maybe we can come to that later.  But for the moment, I want to know what you think has been going well."

3 This is the chance to give what we all need like the sun on our backs: praise!  As Michael le Boef says: "You always get more of what you reward."  Using analytical words such as "observed" keeps personality out of the frame.  Employees are not interested in phrases such as: "I think, “I feel” or “I suspect".  These are subjective and they are looking for their supervisor to be wholly and only objective.

4 As we move into the formative phase, we never use words like "improve".   Again, specific words like "what" will help the individual focus more clearly, and "develop" recognises the need for change, but shows that, while maybe more work needs to be done, there is a base on which to build.

5 Here, the clinical use of the word "observed" takes personality out of the equation, and using the word "could", rather than "will" or "want", suggests that things are open to interpretation and uses a softer style.

6 Last, but importantly, it is the job of the trainer/supervisor to help the individual improve. Employees need to feel as if they are being led from the front, rather than being pushed uphill. The task of development is the responsibility of all parties, and it can be a good idea to have some extra ideas for resources ready to share.


This Coaching Wheel is used to great effect among our clients both small and large. Its benefits are greater buy-in from staff, it's easy to remember -- statement, question, statement, question, statement, question -- and after about seven goes it begins to flow like magic.  Try it in your call centre and see how a feedback session can be turned from a dreaded critique into an opportunity for connection and positive plans.

Henri Jaume is a senior trainer and customer relationship manager at BPA Corporate Facilitation
Contact: info@bpaworldwide.com


Make training messages live and breathe

WE ALL know that taking people away from the phones can hit service levels – so it’s vital that training has impact and brings value to the business.   Here are some tips to make sure your training messages remain and translate into a change of behaviour which brings personal and business benefits.

Market training effectively Make sure people understand the reasons behind the training. Wrapping a marketing campaign around training can really help with the retention of the messages if they are followed up effectively afterwards.
Reynolds Catering Supplies, a family business which has grown to become one of the UK's leading independent distributors of fresh produce, needed a programme for its growing B2B inbound sales and customer services teams.  We developed for Reynolds a programme called “Let's Get Fresh” to ensure the messages were highly memorable while sound skills practice training enabled the development of key customer facing skills.
Darren Maloney, customer services manager, said: "It was important to us that we undertook training that was relevant for our people and our business, and that it was delivered in a way which people would enjoy and benefit from."
And Verne Wooden, call centre manager, said: “…Let's Get Fresh has a fun participative approach, which has brought a consistency and a professional focus to both departments."

Include the bigger picture Win peoples' hearts and minds by helping them to understand, on a day-to-day basis, what they do for your business and your customers.  Elevate call handling from average handling times, wrap up times, the recording of the call in the system, and help people to see the part they can play in making a customer’s day.

People learn by doing and good skills training has to include well timed practice, which includes the opportunity for meaningful discussion and feedback.  Telephone coaching equipment, such as Phonecoach products, is invaluable in practice or in coaching live calls.  While people may enter the training room dreading the thought of role-play, this is where learning accelerates.  It’s because people are making their own sense of the theory and its relevance to their role.  To get the best from role play:

 

 

Support the learning with coaching It's the practice that builds the skill and if the coaching teams and the training messages are aligned, then there is a real change in the behaviours which can bring about business success.   A delegate on a recent programme was explaining how he was building skill in archery.  To hit the target, every time, he explained it's important to learn what works, which when you're learning isn't necessarily what feels right.  Having someone evaluate your approach with you can really elevate hitting the target.

Develop clear best practice Make sure all your people have a clear understanding of the approaches, call structures, practices, skills and knowledge which will deliver the focus that the business requires. As business needs change, your approach will need to flex.  Does your best practice reflect the conversations that your people need to have with your customers to deliver your marketing strategies?  Dialogue development workshops with representatives from agents, coaches, managers and marketers can develop clear best practice using call maps, which can then be trained into your teams.

Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce Make sure training sessions include learning reviews and action plans.  Review those one-to-one when people are back on the floor, either with team leaders, coaches, peer-to-peer coaches or buddies.   Repeat the messages with emails, posters, competitions and games.  Bite-sized sessions run in team meetings or when the time is right can build momentum and really embed the learning

Gain, retain, grow This is a great model for developing a customer base, and it equally applies to attracting and retaining the right people within a business. It's also a good way to consider training.  What insights, practices and behaviours must your people gain in order to be effective?
What mechanisms will you have in place to remind, reinforce and enable people to retain their learning?  How will you enable people to grow their skills and career through well chosen and relevant training as part of their individual development plan?
And, finally, remember a training course is the beginning not the end.

Diane Banister, MD, Intelligent Dialogue
www.intelligentdialogue.co.uk
www.phonecoach.com


People, not kit, will delight your customers

PICTURE the scene: you have just invested heavily in a brand new, state-of-the-art system designed to help you handle more calls and deliver a higher standard of customer service by boosting first call resolution.
Fantastic!  It's all there: advanced skills-based routing, business value routing, integrated multi-media control, productivity tools, presence and collaboration and more reports than you can shake a stick at.   Everything you ever thought you needed to really up the ante and knock the spots off your competition.
Is that it?  Is technology the panacea?  We all know it isn't.
It doesn't matter how sophisticated the technology is if your agents provide a poor telephone service.  Inadequate levels of service and professionalism on the telephone can make hard won customers walk away. 
Your agents must demonstrate confidence and professionalism in all their customer interactions and, working in a dynamic environment, they must be able to react to changes quickly yet calmly.  Many call centres spend lots of time and money on product training, yet fail to spend in the key area of call handling techniques.
Whether your customers are happy, sad, angry or frustrated, agents need to understand, create empathy and build a relationship with them. Ensuring agents understand and demonstrate control of the process and structure of call handling, without seeming pushy, requires a high level of behavioural skill.  Developing questioning techniques and effective listening skills helps agents to understand your customers, situation, needs and, most importantly, their expectations.
Meeting a customer's expectations may not just involve your front line call handlers.  Therefore, the ability to influence other departments to ensure these expectations are met may be crucial
Furthermore, by delivering good service, agents’ morale will soar as they identify the positive impact they have.  Handling unnecessarily protracted or difficult enquiries leads to poor motivation or morale, which will increase attrition and raise costs. 
How do you determine what training is needed by which agents and what is the best way to deliver this training?  Some of these tips might steer you in the right direction:

Get advice Many organisations offer professional services to help analyse your agents and operations to determine what training is required and which agents need it.  They can also help you to develop tailored training programmes.

Check out your best performing agent You may have the perfect agent sitting right under your nose!  By identifying your best agents and having strategies to transfer their skills to their colleagues, you will enhance the consistency of service delivery.  You can be confident that whichever agent answers a call, the service provided will be as good as it can be. 

Ensure change is managed Most of us are a little resistant to change and some people just can't handle it at all.  Therefore, whenever you make any changes make sure you explain why to everyone affected.  Ensure agents understand the advantages -- not just to the business, but to them and their customers. 

Kathryn Evans is solutions marketing manager at Siemens Enterprise Communications
Contact: kathryn.evans@siemens.com


Everyone is different, so that’s how we train them

WE SPEND £2,000-£4,000 on the initial training of each new recruit.  Inevitably all call centres experience attrition so, particularly in the early stages, training can be essential to find out who may or may not be suited to working on the phone.  This can be more difficult than some would imagine because individuals often develop skills at different rates.
What works well for us is to begin with a general induction course that includes an introduction to our history, culture and brand values and the company's aims and objectives.
Groups are usually no more than five -- any larger means it is trickier to monitor individual progress.  From the outset we explain what all the departments are and where they will fit within the business, giving them a sense of being part of a larger team or family.  Pretty much from day one, we let starters listen in to calls, so they can understand what the role entails.


Unlike some call centres with rigid training programmes…we will adapt training according to the individual


This is supplemented by classroom training that covers areas such as customer care, role-playing and technology.   Regardless of whether an individual already has a call centre or customer service background, we feel it is beneficial to mix complete beginners with the more experienced, as they can learn from each other.
Unlike some call centres with rigid training programmes that run for a set period, we will adapt training according to the individual.  For instance, if an individual shows an outstanding aptitude then they will progress more quickly.
We operate skills levels that go from one to four, dependent on the complexity of the campaign.  There are no fixed controls on how long it takes to rise through the levels, because this is dependent on many factors such as the number of hours that an agent works or natural ability.  Conversely, others may pick up skills much more slowly.  But once they have, they may be more conscientious or display other valuable soft skills such as empathy or the ability to listen.  The training is all about identifying the potential and allowing the right encouragement and time to blossom.
After the induction period, each individual is given a personal training programme that is continually assessed by the training manager in conjunction with team leaders and the QC department.   In the early stages we regularly listen in to calls or make dummy test calls to evaluate how an individual copes with certain situations and if necessary will can supplement their training to fill in any skills gaps.
Once the basics are established it is necessary to constantly update and enhance an agent's knowledge.  In particular, for dedicated campaigns where in-depth product knowledge is required we run specialist courses and design bespoke training manuals.
For example, we are currently handling a customer service line for one of the UK's leading shirt manufacturers, so it was necessary to train staff in a broad range of topics from “various types of cottons” to “washing and maintenance of garments”.
The feedback on training from staff is very positive.  Many have commented on the lack of personal attention in other call centres where they have worked.  We believe that if you invest time in the individual, then you can develop their full potential.  A testament to this is that more than 80 per cent of our management team were recruited from within.

Ruth Watts, training officer, Converso Contact Centres
www.converso.co.uk


Lead from the front…you can’t afford not to

FOR the past decade, companies in every market have been at pains to emphasise their commitment to customer service.  They have spent large sums on CRM systems in a bid to drive up customer retention and increase customer value.
Yet investment in customer-facing staff has hardly changed.  While most agents enjoy a good induction process, many companies spend no more than £150 a year to provide on going agent training.  It is any wonder that staff attrition is among the highest in any sector?
ContactBabel reports that attrition is now at 23 per cent – the worst for four years – and that 43 per cent of call centres report a problem with staff turnover.
The cost of call centre staff attrition is significant.  With average new agent salaries breaking the £14,000 mark for the first time in 2006, recruitment costs are increasing.  Furthermore, as the report comments, low retention rates hit customer satisfaction levels and first call resolution rates, as well as being a very significant cost.  In addition, only 13 per cent of departing staff go to a competitor’s call, creating an industry wide drain of skills.

People first Acceptance of high staff attrition is ridiculous.  A good agent is highly productive and motivated, successfully meeting customer needs and adding value through cross-selling and up-selling.  But it takes a good six months for these individuals to become truly effective. With tenure rates dropping, organisations are rarely retaining their most valuable and efficient staff.
Instead they are enduring a constant, expensive cycle of recruitment.  Too often top agents are promoted to team leaders without the right training or skills for the role, reducing job satisfaction and undermining team morale, leading to further staff churn.
Of course, the industry recognises that training has a role to play in reducing staff attrition.  Yet, whilst many are investing in government funded qualifications such as NVQs, in too many cases the training policies are ad hoc.  Furthermore, organisations are struggling with the complexities of government funding which restricts training to the under 25s or those with less than Level 2 qualifications, making it difficult to deliver consistent, centre-wide training policies.
In addition, while standard call centre qualifications -- such as NVQs -- provide a good opportunity to demonstrate commitment to staff development there are limitations associated with generic standards.  These courses do not reflect the attitudes and policies of each organisation; indeed, staff may actually have to undertake different ways of working to match the external qualification requirements.

Breaking the chain However, timely, relevant and high quality staff training is essential if you are to meet your vision of customer service delivery.  Well trained staff are not only be better motivated and committed but support the customer intelligent organisation, fulfilling their own potential and transforming the quality of service delivery.
This can only be achieved if training evolves from today’s tactical approach towards one that is embedded within corporate processes.  A coherent training strategy has to be driven by a board level directive to ensure messages truly reflect the corporate vision of customer service.
And to achieve this vision, organisations need to understand current levels of customer intelligence; namely how well messages are communicated, problems solved and customer issues addressed.  Only a board level review to determine gaps in understanding and delivery can effectively assess the extent to which brand values are being communicated to the customer. 

David Allenstein, Managing Director, Best Practice Training & Development
Contact: david.allenstein@bestpractice.uk.com


We help them if they want to leave

WHILE research shows an increase in staff turnover, it’s important to look at the job of a call centre agent and how it fits in with people's career expectations.
In general, the job is repetitive and monotonous.   So, should you really be encouraging people to stay for more than a year or two?  Unlike lots of employers, we understand that working as an agent is not necessarily a long-term career path for many people.  However we aim to provide a stimulating and rewarding environment to ensure that staff give of their best, however long they decide to stay.
We are in the insurance industry.  With a turnover of £26m, more than 300 call centre agents handle around 1.5m calls a month.  Our training programme is designed to be flexible enough to retain and develop staff for one-two years and then provide them with the skills and choices to move their career forward in whatever direction they want.  This way everyone benefits.


The aim is to help them choose what they want to do in life, whether in terms of a career, hobby or alternative interest.

What our training department has put in place is a training and development programme that helps us retain staff beyond a minimum 12-month period.  Internally branded as Leapfrog, it is designed to evaluate the needs of every individual.
It’s in two stages.  Stage one begins on the day a new recruit starts when they are being assessed.  It focuses on workplace training that covers an employee's current role, strengths and areas for improvement, and all is delivered through an individual training plan.
So far so similar to many other call centres.
Things change when staff reach their 12-month anniversary, when they are invited to move onto stage two.  This looks at where the employee wants to be with their career and personal development.   Are they satisfied with their achievements or do they want more from their working lives?   Working with local government bodies, we supply careers advisers to all who want assistance and provide a budget for any external training the individual wants, work-related or not.
Provided they have given us 12 months of hard work and loyalty, the reward is something a little bit different that could significantly change their career paths.  The aim is to help them choose what they want to do in life, whether in terms of a career, hobby or alternative interest.  Stage two helps us keep employees for a period of time suitable for the business but, more importantly, it avoids the one-year burn-out traditionally experienced in this industry.
By thinking a bit differently we've succeeded in not only building longer term relationships with our staff, but also providing them with the opportunity to develop themselves and their careers.  This benefits the business by creating a motivated, responsive workforce that care about their jobs.  The proof of the pudding is that in 2007 we were voted top in the UK for providing a Fair Deal to Staff in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies To Work For 2007.

Sally Harrison, quality and compliance manager, Call Connection.

 

 

How we train for the ‘learning journey’

EACH month, Affinion International hires 20-30 people for its call centre in Portsmouth.  With a dedicated new recruits team, and a group of in-house trainers headed by Fiona Johnston, HR Manager, these new starters take part in a series of classroom-based exercises, practical workshops and simulations.
The key, says Affinion, is ensuring that new recruits are absorbing the information being delivered, tests are in place to test understanding and additional training is given if necessary.
After completing their induction, new starters graduate to what Affinion calls the “academy”.   Here they are introduced to the “live” call centre environment where they consolidate the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom.   During their time in the academy team members will begin taking customer interactions, receiving learning from the academy trainers.
Finally, once both the academy trainers and the individual sign off that they are ready to go live, they join their teams.
It is at this stage that on-going development and appraisal system begins.   All call centre staff receive regular coaching, one-to-one and development support each month, aimed at improving their telephone interactions, product knowledge and ability to handle difficult calls.
Employees meet their team leaders on an individual basis to discuss expectations, questions about products and a review of monthly targets.   At these meetings they can also choose training courses that they feel would be right for them.
It is part of what Andrew Mutch, head of client services, calls the “learning journey” and is the basis of the company's appraisal system.
The “learning journey”, he explained, analyses employees’ skills and behaviours at regular intervals throughout their career.  As skills and knowledge increase team members progress from a starting point of “developing in the role”, through “at level” to “above level”.  All job roles have been mapped and clear indicators underpin the requirements at each of the levels.   These capability profiles are used for recruitment, assessment centres and development planning centres as well as the annual appraisal system.
This was the route taken by Barbara Budd, contact centre manager.  She said: “I started working part-time in the evenings to earn some extra money and to try something new.  I soon realised that I could make this into more of a career opportunity and I enquired about the potential to try other roles and apply for management positions.  After a few years I was successful and I've kept progressing ever since.
“Those that have recently joined us can look at my experience and those of my colleagues and know that the ‘learning journey’ can take them to a similar position.”
The “learning journey” is the cornerstone of the company’s “Amazing Customer Experience” programme, a value system that underlines every action. 
Ms Budd said: “ACE is about engaging staff, agreeing company values and making them the foundation of every conversation we have.   If employees are given ownership of their company culture and feel in control of their futures, they will be more motivated and loyal.  That contentment makes for an amazing customer experience and that's what we aim to offer with every phone call.”

  • Affinion International has 400 staff at its call centre in Portsmouth, which is open round-the-clock all year.  The company’s services – provided to customers of banks, credit card providers and other large companies – include card and identity fraud protection, computer and internet security, travel discounts and a concierge service.  Worldwide, Affinion has about 3,500 staff and nearly 80m customers.
Barbara Budd, contact centre manager Fiona Johnson, HR manager