Service Line Call Centre (A hypothetical call centre)

Service Line Call Centre (A hypothetical call centre)

ServiceLine provides call centre services to a range of retail and service organisations dealing with domestic and commercial enquiries on their behalf.

One specific team within ServiceLine is currently made up of 1 Team Manager and 18 call service agents (all of whom are aged between 21 and 32). The team are struggling with some of their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). In particular, the ability to maintain an 80% Service Target which requires 80% of customer calls to be answered within 30 seconds. In January 2021, only 64% of calls were answered in that time, this level of performance is an ongoing issue. This 80% Service Target is part of the agreed contract with ServiceLine’s clients and failure to meet this results in a reduction in the monthly invoice to that company. ServiceLine also has a ‘First Call’ directive, that 90% of customer queries should be resolved in the first call to an agent. This is difficult to meet as some issues to be addressed properly, require investigation and follow-up which has led many agents to ‘quick fixes’ which do not address the customer’s underlying issue which later re-emerges.

ServiceLine has a comprehensive performance management system in place. The documentation describes a ‘performance cycle’ across defined points during a year, namely: planning at the outset of the financial year; interim review; and end year review. Guidance to managers highlights that objectives set at the beginning of the year should be aligned to ServiceLine’s Corporate Plan and be outcome/results-focused and ‘SMART’. The performance appraisal system adopted by ServiceLine is based on a number of metrics recorded by their call system (e.g. average time for a call to be answered, call duration etc.) alongside a scale rating (1-5) by the Team Manager against a competency framework aligned to the organisation’s stated values. Team Managers are required to base these ratings on their observations of the agent in the call centre alongside listening to a sample of recorded calls. Managers are also encouraged to engage and communicate with their team between the defined review points.

A recent employee survey shows employees’ have a good understanding of strategic organizational objectives and their contribution to these but highlighted a lack of regular communication and feedback between Team Managers and Call Service Agents. Some call centres have ‘floor walking’ supervisors to help staff with queries or deal with abusive customers but ServiceLine do not. The Team Manger for the specific team discussed in this case is very aloof with the agents. He does not engage with them in small talk or ask about their lives outside of work. He eats his lunch at his desk rather than in the staff room. He is quite a nervous man and becomes easily stressed and can be angry. However, he is very hard working, detail focused and observant. His attention to detail can be problematic as he will ‘pick holes’ in the work of the agents if it does not meet his standards, even if ServiceLine standards are being met and he likes tasks to be completed either exactly as set out in the company operating protocols or if not available, in the protocols he has developed.

ServiceLine operates a forced distribution of performance ratings across the organization. A key feature of the PMS is the ‘Consistency Exercise’, which sets the distribution of performance ratings, and consequent pay awards. The recent survey shows that only 43% of respondents agreed that they are paid fairly for the work they do. It also asked staff the extent to which they felt ‘The level of stress I experience at work is manageable’. 78% of staff across ServiceLine disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement.  Staff will often report that the job is ‘difficult’ or ‘stressful’. Within the team described in this case, absenteeism is currently averaging 4 days per agent in any given month. An increase in absences has a direct impact on the Service Target as there are fewer employees servicing phone calls increasing the workload on the agents on shift.

Call centres are recognised to be challenging workplaces. With calls monitored and tracked, agents are expected to keep up the same momentum throughout their shifts. Agents have little control over when to take call as the systems is set to automatically route calls to an agent once they become free. In recognition of these issues, ServiceLine have a microsite on their staff intranet on Mental Health & Wellbeing which includes guidance on talking about stress and what to do if they feel they are suffering from stress. They have a confidential counselling helpline for staff provided by an external provider and every month a health theme such as lunch-time yoga or a ‘Get your Steps’ challenge.

There is a feeling among the Call Service Agents that their work is routine and can be boring. There is a lack of employment security as if a client is lost, the team members working on that contract are either redeployed if a vacancy exists or made redundant. There is also an absence of opportunities for advancement. Many of the agents report that working for ServiceLine is ‘not sustainable’ in the long term with many using the employment as a ‘stepping-stone’.

A final area of contention is the allocation of ‘Offline’, where agents take time off the phone calls to help Team Managers with other tasks and projects. Staff report that there is a lot of favouritism around the allocation of ‘Offline’ work and that some Team Managers will punish staff by keeping them on phone calls. This includes refusing to cover shifts at some notice, staying late or as punishment for being absent.

Question: Using the Input-Process-Output (IPO) Model of Team Performance to analyse the case and propose applied and practical recommendations for how it could be addressed.