Individual call centre operators were recently recognised for their achievement in this growing industry at the TeleElite Achiever of the Year award ceremony. The event was sponsored and initiated by Effective Corporate Performance Consultants (ECP). MD Marian Jackson says there was a need for recognition of the work operators do in this field which is now seeing its growth fuelled by customer relationship management. "ECP as a supplier decided to provide awards instead of waiting for the industry to do so," she says.
Operators were judged on three taped calls, which were evaluated according to industry criteria. "Each sector has its own criteria and we applied these," Jackson says. A voice assessment was made on the taped calls and a panel decision made on the overall impression.
Derashnee Naicker of First Direct walked away with first prize, a trip for two to the Middle East. Other winners were drawn from the call centres of Sanlam, Hollard, Standard Bank and Daimler/Chrysler. Only one award went to a male operator, which is indicative, Jackson says, of the operator demographics. "I would estimate that 70% of [call centre] employees are still female, although that is changing." She says this is at least partly due to the fact that women tend to have more empathy with customers over the phone.
Phil Green, guest speaker at the award ceremony and call centre consultant, says the 5 000 to 6 000 call centre seats in SA will probably grow to as much as 30 000 in the future. "These people are your front line contact with the most important people, your customers," he says.
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