On a research trip to the USA, Call Centre Academy MD Candy Kotze-Hayes was looking for a differentiator that would translate into the SA arena.
The US Postal Services provided this with its Incubation Room. The opportunity to implement this came with the CCA joining the MB Worksoft stable. The Incubation Room has been operational for a few months and the demands made on it have resulted in accelerated plans to increase its capacity.
"Our corporate clients love it because they know their staff are exposed to `live` training. Our students queue up to use it as it is the most convincing means of proving and refining their hands-on skills, and we have found it invaluable in training, assessing, troubleshooting and maintaining a consistent standard," says Kotze-Hayes.
The Incubation Room provides a controlled "live" call centre environment with the safety net of continuous supervisor observation, assessment and immediate correction. The CCA Incubation Room is equipped with all the essential telephony and IT technology. This includes the telephone, headset, computer connected to a local area network with customer care software, e-mail and the usual desktop systems. It has additional call monitoring, recording and playback equipment and the supervision process provides for objective, recorded and measurable evaluation of the trainee.
At CCA the realities of schooling that is ill-equipped to provide basic computer literacy or refined communication skills are factored into the Incubation Room`s skills set. "Although we insist on a minimum qualification of matric, we can`t turn away people who are not computer literate. We have additional modules on typing and basic desktop packages and give hands-on supervision in using the mouse and keyboard," comments Kotze-Hayes.
After the business and soft skills training provided in the classroom, students are periodically "incubated".
The main focus is on behavioural skills, the student needs to deal with the client in a positive and assertive manner. The use of voice, the correct vocabulary and the ability to listen and get complete information are all practised. An understanding of the interdependence between the call centre and sales, marketing and product development help the student to understand and better practise essential information gathering.
A significant factor in the call centre agent`s working day is in the use of technology. "The Incubation Room assists in overcoming the fears and conceptual blocks that are so prevalent in relation to dealing with the Internet, e-mail and the on-line software for recording or extracting information," says Kotze-Hayes. "They must bridge that barrier before they go out to their jobs. Confidence is gained under supervision."
This is a protected nurturing environment and the trainee agent has the assurance that there is someone listening to him or her. Trainee supervisors and agents learn about systematic coaching and performance measurement.
Kotze-Hayes believes that there is a quality assurance role that should be providing feedback into training. "The Americans use the Incubation Room as part of the operational set-up. All agents are coached for a couple of hours a week. Assessment results are immediately fed into individual training programmes. There is a constructive approach and considerable pride is taken in maintaining high standards. Their conditions are more ideal, but the principles associated with a continuous improvement cycle are just as applicable in SA. It is the well-trained agent who is motivated and adds value to the business. We have seen how the Incubation Room`s intensive, properly supervised training with the built-in feedback loop puts many agents` feet firmly on the road to a more immediate and productive role in the workplace."
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