Development and Training Programme: Contact Centre Supervisor July 2011
Contact Details Name: Registered office address: Fifth Quadrant Pty Ltd Northpoint Level 11, 100 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Australian Company Number: 088 072 940 Australian Business Number: 53 088 072 940 Name and title of key contact: Julie-Anne Hazlett Telephone: +61 2 9927 3325 Mobile: +61 407 665 757 Facsimile: +61 2 9927 3327 Email: jhazlett@fifthquadrant.com.au P a g e 2
Table of Contents 1. Overview... 4 2. Contact Centre Supervisor... 5 3. Our Trainers... 11 4. About Fifth Quadrant... 13 P a g e 3
1. Overview Fifth Quadrant provides customised training and development programmes to the Service Sector in Asia Pacific. Based on 15 years of research, consulting, publishing and training in the services sector, Fifth Quadrant has developed a unique series of training and development programmes for people working in the services sector, from executives to front-line staff. Our Service Leaders Executive Development Programme includes the following courses: 1. Developing an Enterprise Wide Service Strategy 2. Service Leadership Development Fifth Quadrant partners with the world s leading contact centre training provider, The Call Centre School, to deliver the specialist role and front-line training programmes. Our Service Leaders Specialist Development Programme includes the following courses: 1. Contact Centre Supervision 2. Workforce Management 3. Quality Monitoring and Assurance 4. Operations and Business Management Our Service Leaders Front-line Development Programme includes the following courses: 1. Frontline Fundamentals 2. Sales Training P a g e 4
2. Contact Centre Supervisor Fundamentals of Contact Centre Supervisor is designed specifically for the contact centre supervisor or lead agent. Students will learn proven approaches for selecting the right staff, monitoring and measuring performance, making use of contact centre reports, diagnosing performance problems, developing performance plans, coaching for improved performance, and implementing retention programmes. Students will leave with a detailed plan to improve motivation and morale, increase staff productivity and impact overall contact centre performance. Did you know that investing in the development of your frontline supervisors and managers generally provides the biggest return on training dollars? Many contact centre supervisors are placed in the job because they were good on the phones, yet do not receive the proper training to make them effective in their new role. While most companies provide company-specific training on disciplinary procedures and the performance review process, there is often little instruction on how to be an effective leader in today s complex, fast-paced contact centre environment. Fifth Quadrant classes on people management and contact centre operations provide practical, howto information on managing more effectively and making the most of valuable staffing resources. Your supervisors will come away from class with a wealth of new ideas for improving the performance of their contact centre teams. Core Modules 1. Contact Centre Supervisor: Essentials Skills and Competencies Outline the top ten competencies for contact centre leaders 2. Setting the Standards: Defining Performance Goals and Objectives Apply a proven performance management model for defining frontline standards 3. Don t know, Can t, Won t Model: Diagnosing and Treating Performance Problems Identify the root cause of performance problems and apply the right treatment 4. Fundamentals of Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Employee Performance Learn fundamental principles of coaching and identify most common coaching mistakes 5. Motivation Marvels: 100 Ways to Improve Motivation and Morale Identify six different categories of motivation and hear over 100 proven ideas 6. Teamwork Template: Techniques for Building and Managing Teams Identify ways to organise, build, manage and motivate in a team environment 7. Finders Keepers: Proven Strategies for Staff Retention Identify why staff leave and learn supervisory strategies for improving retention 8. Contact Centre Time Management: Budgeting a Supervisors Day Make the most of time to accomplish essential supervisory tasks 9. Introduction to WFM: Understanding Contact Centre Staffing and Scheduling Learn about staff planning and identify the supervisor s and agent s role in the process 10. Key Performance Indicators: Managing a Contact Centre by the Numbers Learn about the top performance measures and how to report them effectively P a g e 5
Elective Modules 1. Sales Coaching for Supervisors: Techniques for Maximising Sales Learn the specialised techniques for coaching to maximise sales efforts Core Module Details 1. Contact Centre Supervisor: Essential Skills and Competencies Being a successful supervisor in a contact centre requires a unique set of knowledge and skills. Training and experience in another area of the business as a supervisor might equip one with some of the needed competencies, but there are some unique requirements and responsibilities in managing in the world of contact centres. This session will focus on the challenges and most common issues in today s centre and how supervisors can equip themselves with the needed skills and knowledge to improve the effectiveness of team members, increase morale and motivation, and create a team environment that maximises employee satisfaction, performance, and retention. Identify the most desirable attributes for today s contact centre supervisor. Outline the top ten leadership traits and why they re important in the contact centre. Describe the most critical knowledge and skill areas for supervisors. Identify the most common mistakes supervisors make in managing contact centre teams. 2. Setting the Standards: Defining Performance Goals and Objectives As a general rule, you can expect what you inspect. It s critical that each employee understands his/her role and responsibilities and what performance will be expected. One of the toughest tasks is defining the desired performance in terms of measurable behaviours. For example, it s not enough to tell staff they need to portray a positive corporate image when communicating with customers. Contact Centre Management must define every single performance expectation down to specific behaviours that can be identified and measured objectively. This session discusses how to set smart performance goals and develop a balanced system of measures to ensure that positive and negative behaviours are being recognised appropriately. Define the components of a performance management model and why such a model is needed. Describe how to set individual performance objectives that are in line with enterprise and contact centre goals. Define the five SMART guidelines for defining performance goals and objectives. Practice defining competencies and specific expectations for a specified agent role. Identify poorly defined performance objectives and describe how to fix them. P a g e 6
3. Don t Know, Can t, Won t Model: Diagnosing and Treating Performance Problems An employee who has been on the phones for three months keeps transferring difficult calls to a supervisor. This person must need some more training on handling this type of contact, so you schedule them to sit in on a refresher training class. Problem solved? Probably not! There are many different reasons employees don t perform, and lack of training is a common (and expensive!) misdiagnosis. In this session, you ll learn the six basic reasons contact centre employees don t perform and symptoms of each one. You ll be able to better diagnose performance problems and prescribe a more effective treatment for each problem. Anyone that supervises employees can benefit from this session! Define performance gaps what you have versus what you want. Identify the six reasons why contact centre employees don t perform. Practice diagnosing performance problems and identifying proper courses of treatment. Describe why training isn t necessarily the right solution. Identify the steps in setting up and conducting a performance review. 4. Fundamentals of Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Employee Performance Contact Centre Supervisors have multiple opportunities in a variety of settings and situations to communicate with staff about their performance. In this session, you ll learn about recommended practices for doing side-by-side coaching for improved performance, including tips on providing both positive and negative feedback. You ll also learn about techniques to use in counselling and formal review sessions. Perfect for Contact Centre Supervisors or Team Leaders, this session outlines the step-by-step approach to coach problem employees as well as reward good performers. The session also provides several useful tools to use in planning and conducting a coaching or counselling session. Identify the differences between monitoring/coaching and coaching/counselling and when to use each. Describe best practices to use in side-by-side coaching. Identify tips on presenting both positive and negative feedback. Outline the steps of applying various feedback methods and when to use each. Identify the steps of a positive discipline plan. 5. Motivation Marvels: 100 Proven Practices to Improve Motivation and Morale If your frontline staff members aren t happy, your customers won t be happy. With customer satisfaction depending on the quality of the agent/customer transaction, it s critical to keep your staff for the long term and motivate them to perform well. This session introduces several different motivational theories and presents ideas and case studies about what s working well in other contact centres to keep the staff motivated and happy. You ll hear about some creative contests and games you can use, as well as pick up some ideas on how to reward individuals and teams for meeting performance goals. P a g e 7
Identify supervisory strategies for providing guidance and support. Outline the principles of an effective reward and recognition system. Identify the important factors in implementing a new motivational program or contest. Describe the implications of using individual versus team rewards. Identify new ideas to implement in your own centre for improved performance and retention. 6. Teamwork Template: Techniques for Building and Managing Teams Most contact centres are built around a team concept. In many centres these teams are no more than a group of people that happen to report to the same person, while in other centres, the team is an empowered, cohesive unit where each team member takes responsibility for the productivity and success of the group. In this class, supervisors and team managers will learn how to create and build a successful team, beginning with team charters and assignments. Team development will be discussed, including how to motivate team members to take on expanded roles and responsibilities. Write a team charter to identify the team s purpose and objectives. Organise a team matrix to outline member responsibilities and roles. Identify new skills that will be needed to be successful as a team member or leader. Describe ways to motivate individuals and the team as a whole. Identify most effective communication techniques to ensure cohesiveness and productivity. 7. Finders Keepers: Proven Strategies for Staff Retention Ask contact centre professionals what their top concerns are and staff turnover will likely be at the top of the list. Most would agree that a Contact Centre Manager s biggest challenge these days may be getting and keeping good employees. This session takes a look at the turnover problem that exists in today s centres. We will discuss the main reasons employees leave (as well as the reasons why they stay) and which of these are actually under management s control. Through a case study exercise, see how to calculate the true cost of turnover in a typical contact centre and receive a free spreadsheet for calculating the costs of turnover in your own centre. Finally, you ll hear ideas and tips for how to improve motivation and morale to reduce employee attrition. Calculate the hard and soft costs of turnover to the business. Identify the main reasons employees leave and why they stay. Identify specific actions supervisors can take to improve morale and retention for their teams. Describe the key elements of an effective retention program and motivation program. Outline strategies for improving morale and retention within a work team. P a g e 8
8. Contact Centre Time Management: Budgeting a Supervisors Day Attention, Supervisors! Could you use more hours in a day? At the end of the week, are you more likely to feel a sense of accomplishment or frustration at all the things that didn t get crossed off your to-do list? This session can help you organise the time you do have to get the most out of your day. Being an effective leader means knowing the essential tasks that are most important to your company s goals, the contact centre s objectives, and what your team members need to accomplish. You ll learn the essentials of good time management and set some guidelines for prioritising the tasks with the biggest payback for your efforts. Describe the importance of time management and what can be gained by managing your day more effectively. Assess where you spend your time and track activities and bad habits that waste your time. Eliminate time-wasters and common distractions in the contact centre. Prioritise tasks and increase productivity with goal-directed activities. Apply best practices of time management for email and desktop activities. 9. Introduction to WFM: Understanding Contact Centre Staffing and Scheduling Workforce Management is the process of getting the just right number of staff in place every hour to maximise service and minimise cost and it s one of the most important planning and management functions in the contact centre. In this session, you ll learn the implications of getting the numbers wrong, as well as the step-by-step process of effectively forecasting calls, calculating staff requirements, creating staff schedules, and tracking daily service and performance. You ll hear about the critical trade-offs between staffing, service, and cost and how each of these trade-offs affects the final staff headcount. Attendees will also learn the impact that each and every person can make in terms of achieving service goals for the day. Define workforce management and its implications on cost and service. Describe why contact centre staffing is such a unique kind of problem. Outline the step-by-step process of forecasting calls, calculating staff, and creating schedules. Identify the impact that every single individual has on meeting service goals and balancing workload. Outline ways to improve attendance and schedule adherence. 10. Key Performance Indicators: Managing a Contact Centre by the Numbers There are many truths told in the vast array of statistics available today in the contact centre and the successful Manager or Supervisor will be the one that understands how to manage by the numbers and not be overwhelmed by them. This session provides a useful set of formulas and calculations for understanding the math associated with today s most common key performance indicators (KPIs). Attendees will learn about the most common measures of performance and how to calculate and analyse them. The session will present the top ten KPIs and de-mystify the math behind the numbers. P a g e 9
Identify the most critical KPIs for contact centre and agent performance and how to calculate them. Calculate the service, cost, and productivity implications of staffing decisions. Define the critical KPIs to reflect quality of service as well as service efficiency. Identify the most common math mistakes made in contact centres today. Describe how to perform a correlation analysis to ensure the correct KPIs are in place to support business goals. 1. Sales Coaching for Supervisors: Techniques for Maximising Sales Most sales training programs have a very short-term effect on performance because new skills and capabilities are not consistently applied and reinforced. Training for frontline staff should ideally be accompanied by ongoing sales coaching in order to achieve consistent sales results. However, while many contact centre supervisors are equipped to coach a basic customer service call, they re missing some skills for coaching and fine-tuning sales behaviours on a call. This session will provide the needed skills and techniques to help supervisors guide and direct behaviours to maximise sales success. Define sales goals and desirable call behaviours. Identify motivation factors and factors in getting agent buy-in for the sales process. Describe ways to establish and support a selling mindset for calls. Identify gaps in all four stages of a sales call and ways to direct change. Describe strategies for reinforcing successful sales behaviours. P a g e 10
3. Our Trainers Dr Catriona Wallace Director Dr Wallace is the Managing Director of callcentres.net. Dr Wallace is Adjunct Faculty at the Australian Graduate School of Management, in the field of Organisational Behaviour, where she lectured on the Executive MBA Programme for 10 years. Catriona has published numerous research reports and articles related to the service industry and is the author of "The Complete Guide to Call and Contact Centre Management". Julie-Anne Hazlett Head of Contact Centre Training Julie-Anne has been providing training and consulting services to the service sector around the world for more than 12 years. She has worked with organisations varying in size from 10 to 26,000 seats focusing primarily in the area of service strategy improvement through Workforce Optimisation. Julie-Anne is recognised as one of the industry s leading trainers in supervisory and workforce management training. Julie-Anne has a BA (Hons) in International Business Studies and German. She also has a Diploma from the University of Cambridge in Teaching English as Second Language and worked for several years as an English language teacher in Germany. William Dieu Senior Trainer William Dieu has a Bachelor s Degree in Economics and a Master s Degree in Marketing. William s role at callcentres.net since 2001 is to manage Asia- Pacific contact centre projects. William is an expert on contact centre operations and is an accredited trainer in this field. Ronene Cauchi Senior Trainer Ronene has worked in the contact centre industry for over 15 years with the last 11 of those being in Workforce Planning. Ronene has extensive experience Workforce Planning in both front and back office environments with organisations including Westpac and Telstra. Ronene is an accredited trainer across many specialised Contact Centre areas. P a g e 11
Susan Kealy Trainer Susan holds a Master s degree in Organisational Psychology, BA (Hons) in Spanish and Geography, and a Diploma in Psychology. Susan is specialised in the field of Human Resource Development and is an experienced trainer. Her qualifications in psychology give her a unique understanding of the dynamics of information flow and learning, while her background in teaching has trained her to incorporate practical hands-on learning techniques into her classes. Melissa Quirk Project Coordinator Melissa works as Project Co-ordinator for consulting, training and research programmes, as well as acting as Personal Assistant to Dr Catriona Wallace. Melissa is currently studying a Bachelor in Social Science. P a g e 12
4. About Fifth Quadrant Fifth Quadrant is a Service Strategy and Research Consultancy and Fifth Quadrant callcentres.net is our online publishing and social media division. We are changing the way organisations think about Service Strategy and are dedicated to ensuring that Service has on-going presence at the Boardroom table. Working across Voice, Face-to-Face, Online, Correspondence and Social Media service channels, Fifth Quadrant delivers an unrivalled level of knowledge, subject matter expertise and proprietary methodologies to ensure organisations have highly effective Service Strategies. Fifth Quadrant has five core divisions: Consulting Services Service Research Analyst Services Training Online Publishing & Social Media P a g e 13