Call centre staff are on the frontlines when it comes to customer service. They need to be motivated and able to stay positive no matter what. Raelene Rorke of Avocado Vision shares some insights from colleagues with experience in training in these environments.

It’s hard to believe I have been out of school for nearly 4 years! I recently had a mini high school reunion where it was so nice to see what everybody is getting up to. Most of my peers are starting their honors year, others are not that far yet, others are well... let’s say “in-between” jobs.

I couldn’t believe the number of my peers that have entered the call centre business. I remember us often having chit-chat sessions where we spoke about possible career paths, jobs and adventures that we would embark on as we reached our ultimate career achievements.

One thing that we failed to explore and to anticipate was the inevitable transition stage - the mental, emotional and even physical adjustment of going from our school environment to a full-time employment situation. The different route to travel to work, the different dress code to consider, the different (more serious, more highly-strung) people we would have to encounter and get on with (not to mention impress).

Fours years later, and it seems that we all managed just fine. But, what were the difficulties? What made some people’s transition phase easier? Surely it had to do with the new environment that we were entering; surely it had to do with our colleagues and, most importantly, the person that we had to report to who had the power to influence our environment: our management.

I have just started at Avocado Vision, an amazing training and development company, and find myself surrounded by tons of excellent work ethic, pools of experience and an infinite amount of things to learn and absorb. I recently picked the brain of Sego Putuka, one of Avo’s Client Account managers. Sego’s previous position was as a Call Centre Executive at a huge organization; there is no doubt that she has dealt with all kinds of transition issues.

I was right: it seemed that the majority of her team members were X’ers, the “just-out-of-school, wet-behind-the-ears,want-to-work-but-need-something-good-to-keep-‘em-coming-to-work” generation. Not only do these fresh brains have to be taught the work, they have to be taught to be good at it (after all they are in the frontline of the company), and then they come with an extra compulsory condition of always keeping them passionate and engaged, or they leave. Managers have to find ways to shape up or they will have droves of young team members shipping out!

Sego shared a lot of practical guidance on simple but very effective methods and exercises that will help managers to keep call centre agents valued, passionate and taking responsibility for their personal growth.

Being Valued
• Visits from the top brass: There is nothing better than working hard and getting the deserved recognition for it. Sego encourages the ‘big’ boys (or girls) to make regular visits to the call centre. Agents need to be reassured of their contribution to the entire value chain and this physical visit and appreciation from top management, directors and shareholders will do wonders.
• Asking for their input: having regular operation meetings around existing processes and finding out from the agents how they think these processes can be improved. They, after all, have to use these processes on a daily basis - who better to ask?
• Communicating the big picture: Keeping your team in the loop about the bigger picture for their department and for the company and ensure this gets them thinking about their own bigger picture.
• Indulgent team-building experiences: Self-indulgent team building activities that are fun, valuable and not just another team-build but a session they will never forget will help employees shed any doubts about how valuable they are to the company.

Staying Passionate
• Keep your finger on the “passion pulse” of your team: This is a top tip for managers. It is so easy for you to be so busy that that you miss it when your people are losing their initial “fire”. You realize it when it is too late and your team is already packing their bags to leave. A good manager can not let it to get to this stage. Sego says having regular one-on-one sessions with your members is a great opportunity to see where their stress levels are sitting, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and to discuss, face to face, how their immediate environment can be improved and in turn maintain passion and engagement.
• Your actual work does not have to be the source of all passion; you can draw passion from many other places. When you speak about your company policies and your manager’s style, do you speak passionately about this? Do like the way they do things in the workplace? “Celebrate team success with a bang!” says Sego. You as the manager need to put a great deal of passion behind processes and policies.
• “Allow your team members the freedom to come up with funky ideas,” insists Sego. Don’t limit and put boundaries on what they can and cannot suggest.

Self-Growth
• The importance of zoning out and allocating just enough time to relax before getting right back into it cannot be underestimated. A chill room is the answer according to Sego; this could include PC games, a comfortable couch and an environment to chat and relax in (offloading, to on-load).
• Positive thinking is imperative. Especially when in contact with customers who, as we all know, can be difficult and demand service, solutions and answers. The only thing they want to hear is how you are going to fix the problem. Your frame of mind when answering their questions needs to be in the best possible place. You need to already be thinking positive. In Sego’s experience sharing and putting up positive quotes is the way to go. Let them be easily accessible - look up and there is a word of inspiration to get you through the next mean customer you might have to deal with.
• “The power of stress balls cannot be under estimated,” says Sego.
• An in-house library with a mixture of funny and business books is a must. Sego stresses that getting relevant books is important; your team are human, fun-loving people before they are employees.

Managing people is a full-time, ongoing process. Remember, you are managing feelings, opinions, attitudes, the consequences of people’s experiences, family background and conditioned thinking.

How much more difficult is it when these very different, open-minded, opinionated beings are placed in the same room, with the same goal (good service, productivity, producing excellent work)? This indeed does make call centre management a unique craft that involves the management and satisfaction of individual needs. This will help build strong, productive individuals that will, without a doubt, accomplish company tasks and expectations, and in the process achieve your team goals and bench-marks.

It’s clear: there are never enough management books and crash courses that will prepare you for the management of the “human factor” in the work place.

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