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Module 2: Call Center Management
Guidelines for assessing staff performance
Cultivating a productive work environment and practicing good conflict resolution skills can contribute to the success of a call center in meeting its goals. However, to accurately assess the effectiveness of the skills that are employed and practices that are followed, it's important to establish some accountability measures to evaluate the outcomes.
Following are some guidelines for assessing staff performance that can help call center managers identify areas for improvement, improve productivity, and/or serve as reinforcement for what may already be working.
- Define procedures clearly
- Set acceptable levels of performance
- Perform quality assurance checks
- Conduct assessments
- Guide for conducting assessments
Define procedures clearly
In the process of developing or defining procedures for a call center, it is often beneficial to involve the individuals who will be using them. Employees who are a part of the process are more likely to understand the purpose of, and support, the implemented procedures. The process of defining procedures begins with examining and analyzing current workflow, policies, and practices. When developing procedures, it is sometimes helpful to compare your call center's procedures and performance with those of similar organizations. This practice is often called benchmarking. Many times benchmarking assists in identifying techniques, methods or processes that experience and research have proven to be reliable and yielded some "best practices." The procedures outlined as a result of your review should identify what must be done and specify how it is supposed to be done. Procedures should be thoroughly explained when training employees, and access to documented procedure guidelines should be provided to each employee as a reference tool. Well-delineated procedures promote consistent, high-quality service and enable performance expectations to be communicated to call center staff more effectively.
Set acceptable levels of performance
Before an organization can assess if employees are meeting performance expectations, acceptable levels of performance must first be defined, especially for a call center. When determining what constitutes acceptable levels of performance, call center managers must ensure that the call center's assessment of productivity is aligned with the goals of the organization. In order for the mission, vision, and values of the organization to be reflected in its daily activities, the standards of acceptable levels of performance in the call center must be consistent with those of the organization. Also, standards should be specific, realistic, and measurable. After acceptable levels of performance have been determined, this information should be clearly communicated to the employees. In order for call center employees to be productive and meet goals, it is essential for the call center manager to communicate to employees what is expected of them and what they will be evaluated on.
Perform quality assurance checks
To ensure both that procedures are being followed and performance is at acceptable levels, it is imperative that quality assurance checks be performed regularly. Monitoring phone calls, reading random samples of outgoing correspondence, reviewing employee documentation, and analyzing statistics are all ways of performing quality assurance checks. The most apparent quality assurance check is simply listening to what your customers have to say. Often they will express their opinions or make suggestions without being asked, but it can be very beneficial to periodically request feedback from those you serve. Surveys often provide valuable information.
Conduct assessments
In addition to quality assurance checks, periodic assessments are vital to determining how well procedures are being followed and whether acceptable performance standards are being met. Upon completion of training, an initial assessment of an employee's knowledge should be made. Written tests, oral reviews, role-playing, and observation of work performance are all means of assessing an employee's knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge. Periodic knowledge retention assessments are also a critical component in maintaining acceptable performance standards. Timely evaluations of employees and providing feedback concerning performance are both significant elements of the assessment process. Behavior, use of resources, and error rates may be included in the assessment of employee performance. Comparing an employee's present skill set to the skills required by his/her position is termed "gap assessment." Letting employees know what skills they have that meet or exceed those required by their position, and what skills they need to improve or develop for their position, enables you to assist them with planning their training.
Guide for conducting assessments
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