Decoding Excuses Used by Supervisors Who Don’t Hold Employees Accountable!

By Denise Scotti-Smith

1. “Relative to other employees, his/ her poor performance isn’t so bad!”

• When the supervisor invokes this “theory of relativity”, it’s a pretty good sign that other employees have worse performance problems that need to be addressed!

2. “I’ve told the employee the correct way a million times but he/she won’t listen”.

• This is evidence that the supervisor isn’t being taken seriously by employees and isn’t communicating the importance of correcting the behavior effectively.

• When questioned further, it’s often revealed that the supervisor didn’t tell the employee anything, but instead left a note in a common area for all employees to read, for the sake of diluting accountability.

3. “Why bother with disciplinary action? I’ll never be able to fire the person because they are (over 40, with a disability or perceived disability, ill, a minority, or some other reason).

• This is a fallacy often perpetuated by ineffective supervisors to cover up their own incompetence.

• This is toxic because it builds resentment toward the groups the supervisor alludes to and can create animosity toward the employee and the organization by their coworkers.

4. “Upper management won’t back me when I address poor work performance!”

• Further investigation often reveals that there was a legitimate reason that the organization didn’t support a specific supervisor’s decision in the past.

For example, maybe the supervisor’s actions were seen as discriminatory. The supervisor inappropriately generalizes to all situations to evade personal responsibility, in part because they don’t have the confidence or they have a bruised ego.

The Meaning Behind the Excuses:

If we understand why supervisors evade their responsibility to address poor performance, we can prevent the effects of a toxic work environment by increasing the supervisor’s leadership skills or finding a position that better suits them.

I’ve found the following themes and training points to be helpful in correcting the underlying assumptions they may be exposing in their excuses.

1. Sometimes supervisors think that high expectations contribute to low morale. In reality, it’s unreasonable expectations that contribute to low morale! High and reasonable expectations can increase morale and create a positive and stimulating work environment.

2. Some supervisor’s hate delivering bad news and believe that they are “getting someone in trouble” when the address poor performance. Addressing performance is actually an act of “training” and holding people accountable for work standards that contributes to the organization’s goals.

• Fostering a culture of continuous feedback prevents training from being perceived as punitive.

• If a supervisor holds employees accountable for what they have been trained and re-trained on, in performance evaluations or disciplinary actions, then that is what I refer to as “clear conscious managing”.

3. There is no law that prevents a supervisor from holding their employees accountable and providing corrective action, even if they are in a “protected class”.

• In every state of the union, the burden of proof is on the employer to prove that adverse actions aren’t taken on employees because of unlawful reasons.

• There are many laws and precedence that affect an employer’s decisions including those that have to do with contract law, harassment, and wage and hour law. Some employees are under contract with strict guidelines that govern the disciplinary process for employees. The laws still do not prevent an employer from taking corrective action for misconduct.

• If a supervisor has documentation to prove that the employee knows what is expected of them, not only is the supervisor legally allowed to provide corrective actions, it is imperative that they do so in the appropriate form (re-training, verbal or written warning, etc.) to maintain a positive work environment.

• An employer may inadvertently revoke their discretion in the disciplinary process by creating a verbal or written contract that obligates them to take certain actions before disciplinary action.

A classic example of an employer revoking their rights and creating a contract with employees is when the Employee Policy and Procedure Manual specifies steps that will be taken before taking disciplinary action and / or prescribes specific penalties for breaking specific rules. Failing to follow through on such “promises” gives the illusion that a discriminatory practice has taken place, even if that is not the intent.

4. There are many reasons to document training and disciplinary actions and most of them have nothing to do with firing an employee!

• A record of prior trainings can prevent a supervisor from disciplining employees for information they were unaware of.

• Documentation allows supervisors to keep track of the time frame so that employees are held accountable for information that has been reinforced in a reasonable time and so that supervisors can provide refresher training as needed.

• Documentation and lack thereof may expose patterns of possible favoritism and discrimination that should be addressed because it can have a deleterious effect on the work environment and may subject the organization to litigation risks.

• Documentation allows agreement from the employee on what it is they are to be held accountable for and can promote a perception of fairness in the supervisor and employee relationship.

5. Sometimes a supervisor doesn’t address poor performance because they are afraid their employees will retaliate by exposing their own poor performance!

• Supervisors need to know that they lose their authority and ability to lead when they don’t maintain the same work ethic that they are supposed to hold employees accountable for.

• When on the defense, employees will “sing like canaries” and point out any offenses the supervisor is guilty of despite how much the supervisor has been letting the employee get away with poor work quality.

• A supervisor may be afraid that they are perpetuating an illusion of discrimination because they haven’t been consistent holding everyone accountable.

When a supervisor uses an excuse to justify inaction when presented with poor work performance, there probably is some underlying assumption lurking below the surface that cannot be ignored!

Ongoing internal audits, employee satisfaction surveys and exit interviews are great tools for identifying trends and patterns.

In an effort to minimize legal exposure and prevent actual or perceived discrimination, a supervisor should always have corrective actions reviewed by an objective party, such as the HR department who can look for patterns.

Once the underlying reasons supervisors hesitate to address poor performance are identified the reasons can be incorporated into leadership development programs or used to determine that the supervisor is not in an appropriate leadership position. This knowledge can prevent the deleterious effects of toxic ineffective supervisors!

Copyright Denise Scotti-Smith 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Denise Scotti-Smith, MS, PHR, is the Founder and President of “Mission Accomplished” Consulting LLC. As a Certified Executive & Leadership Coach, she provides coaching, consulting and training to non-profit and for-profit businesses. With more than 15 years of leadership experience, she specializes in strategic planning, leadership & employee development, organizational development, change management, operations management, employee relations, and HR law. For more information, go to http://www.missionllc.org.

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Four Common Enterprise Communication Problems

By Joseph Cruise

Conversation is the quintessence of any company. If you and your personnel are not interacting as often as possible, you’re probably not doing your tasks as well as you could.

Firstly, if your personnel don’t know what you require out of them, they may find it less demanding to cut corners in their tasks. Conversely, some might come to resent you when you ask them to do things that they don’t know are a piece of their work scope.

It’s also plausible that we now have gaps in understanding between employees which are almost certainly preventing them from working together as they should. You will have employees that might be doing overlapping work, modifying each other’s jobs, or failing their very own jobs. Just a few normal conversation troubles that develop in the workplace are listed below:

Insufficient or Inadequate Questions. Always encourage your people to ask loads of questions if they’re not clear on the necessities of a job.

Be sure you maintain an atmosphere where they’ll realize “there’s no such thing as a stupid question.” We’ve all heard that phrase before, but it’s essential in maintain a balanced and sufficiently staffed workforce.

Lack of Instruction. It’s extremely important to make certain that you’re not forcing your new employees to simply take care of themselves. Don’t assume that they’ll discover everything as they go along, particularly if they’ve got a complex job description.

Knowledge and education can only go so far. It’s important to make certain that they identify how your organization operates. This brings us to a closely related predicament…

Job Description Ambiguity. Make certain your employees know exactly what’s expected of them.

How frequently have you had a staff member refuse to do a certain endeavor, having the explanation “that’s not my job”? More importantly, you as management should be aware of what your individual member’s are required to do on a daily basis.

Poorly Written Memos and Emails. Once you send any type of written message around the workplace, double check that it’s written with sufficient detail that your people know what you’re referring to.

If you happen to find yourself asking, “Didn’t you get the memo?” You could find that your workers read it but didn’t really grasp what you meant.

Learn to spot these 4 communication problems and eradicate them, and you’ll be on your way to improving relationships on the job while even increasing your office’s productivity.

Conversation doesn’t need to be challenging. The CPIM certification can help you generate 13% more than you’re currently making now. Get CPIM practice questions or CPIM study material to proceed economically through training now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Cruise

Leverage the Benefits of a Cutting-Edge Call Center

By Lydia Quinn

Especially in today’s challenging global marketplace, the value of a strategically operated and highly professional call center cannot be underestimated.

Organizations that successfully leverage call center advantages are able to not only streamline their costs and infrastructure, but also boost performance and productivity.

Customer-Centric Solutions

It is critical that companies recognize that they are in one of the most influential positions in terms of conveying corporate image and defining their brand and reputation.

Successfully handling inbound customer care and billing, for example, requires dedicated quality-centric call center solutions and top-notch tech support. The average customer expresses extreme frustration and disappointment when forced to interact with an ineffective one.

They may have trouble resolving a billing dispute, solving a technical glitch, or overcoming impersonal obstacles in order to speak to someone who can effectively respond to a complaint. In that situation, it becomes the frontline representative of the company, and how it reacts is oftentimes the difference between losing or gaining a loyal customer and greater market share.

Advanced Technology

With the rise in demand for them that can exceed customer expectations, some leading providers within the call center industry have responded accordingly. It is now possible to partner with one that consistently demonstrates extraordinary levels of reliable service supported by cutting edge technology.

The best companies within this new breed of centers are equipped with VoIP telephony, cloud computing capability, advanced tech support, and highly skilled and trained customer service representatives.

They can take on vital responsibilities such as helping companies that want to allow customers to make payment arrangements, for example, while they also generate value-adding metrics through customized reporting and analytics.

Outsourcing as a Strategic Partnership

Some well-equipped call centers offer real-time collaboration, while providing expert Business Process Management (BPM) to help guide their clients in making more informed decisions.

By shifting away from the old-fashioned idea of what a call center has to offer, for instance, today’s corporations can reduce overhead, overcome cultural and geographical obstacles, improve process mapping procedures, and leverage the centers as their own ambassadors of image, brand, and customer service.

They no longer have to be a decentralized force that can cause potential brand liability, but rather they can become a proactive partner in achieving end-user customer experience enhancement.

With the proper BPM in place as a contact center advisory team, organizations receive multiple layers of benefit in terms of customer service capacity – without the added expense or administrative responsibility.

While the structural models, skills, and communication technologies of industry-leading ones have continued to improve, what can be accomplished by leveraging the power of those have exponentially expanded.

So companies considering a change in how they manage their needs – or those thinking of enlisting the help of a professional call center for the first time – now have excellent options when they consider new modern providers of dedicated quality-centric call center solutions that offer unique service delivery models driven across a technology platform that embodies the latest in unified communication, VoIP Telephony, Cloud Computing, Business Process Management, Real Time Collaboration, Reporting, and Analytics.

For more information about dedicated quality-centric call center solutions, contact Covation, Inc. Or click here now: http://www.covation.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lydia_Quinn

What Is Call Resolution?

By Sarah Shore

First call resolution is one of the most important metrics for a customer service department.

It refers to whether a caller’s problem or query is dealt with on the first phone call made by them.

The first call resolution metric is often monitored by a customer service department to see if improvements need to be made or how improvements need to be made. The first call resolution metric that most call centres monitor is possibly the most important because it is so closely related to customer satisfaction.

A problem that is dealt with straight away will cause a higher level of customer satisfaction than one that takes further action to complete. It is not just the caller however who benefits from a high first call resolution, but the organisation itself does too.

In large call centres literally hundreds of thousands of pounds can be saved every year if the first call resolution metric is improved, even slightly.

Furthermore, a customer who has their query answered or their problem solved during the first call is also much less likely to defect to a competitor. There is no doubt that it is in everyone’s best interests to have a very high first call resolution.

It is useful for customer service departments to have this metric available to them as it provides a useful benchmark to measure success.

If you can increase your first call resolution figure you will by default be making improvements to the overall efficiency of the call centre and improving customer satisfaction.

First call resolution is often referred to as FCR. It is the percentage of customer calls that are resolved on the very first call they make. It is a metric that holds a great deal of depth because every part of the organisation needs to be involved to improve it.

For example coaching and training to call centre staff is vital, good communication around the call centre is important, the IT software used to run the telephony and computer system needs to be in perfect running order and that is before you even get onto the processes involved in being able to resolve the call.

For example does something need re-sending to resolve it? Does information need to be located in order to resolve the call?

In a customer service department, everyone needs to pull together to help improve the first call resolution figure but research has shown that it directly correlated to customer satisfaction and the overall success of a call centre.

To monitor this figure there are a few choices available. Firstly you could employ an independent research firm to track the metric continuously.

While this would provide a thorough and effective analysis, it may also cost a considerable amount. Instead you could have it automatically calculated for you as part of your IVR software package. IVR stands for interactive voice response and it is the type of software used by call centres all over the world.

IVR software provides a host of features and therefore benefits to a call centre.

As well as relaying automatic messages, it can provide call forwarding, dialogue management and of course interaction between caller and the call centre without a live operative being present.

Anyone who has telephoned a call centre will likely have gone through IVR software.

Providing details like your name and telephone number of simply pressing buttons to direct you to the correct department are all IVR software features. As well as these features, some good IVR software systems also provide data monitoring.

This data can include first call resolution.

Having this high level of technology available however will not only be able to monitor the first call resolution, it will also be able to improve it.

IVR software greatly improves customer satisfaction by increasing call handling figures and improving the overall functionality of the customer service department. A call centre without IVR software in place will not be functioning as well as competitors who do have it.

Call centres need a high first call resolution to ensure overall success. Using good IVR software will not only improve the levels of first call resolution but it will also ensure this metric can be monitored. Many voice services are provided by an IVR system enabled by the VoiceXML language it is programmed with.

Sarah Shore writes articles for Vicorp, a provider of automatic voice services. Vicorp also provide VoiceXML, an advanced form of voice recognition. This type of IVR can increase the likelihood of first call resolution – meaning customers do not need to call back to solve the same issue.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Shore

Do Customer Service Support Systems Work?

By Deborah C Campbell

Setting up an effective sales program can help a business, especially in the hotel and airline reservation industries, in greatly improving their profitability.  

Although there are some so-called experts saying that it is an unnecessary expense, it is a wise investment to set up a live answering service.

It can vastly improve a company’s capacity to handle orders from customers, and ensure that no calls are lost because an agent wasn’t able to take in the call.

An effective order-taking system is very good plan for a firm to earn more, and still deliver excellent service to their customers.

There are plenty of order processing firms who can actually do the job, and there is no doubt that they can deliver an even better service compared to firms that preferred the in-house variety. They are the best in this type of job.

With the holidays coming near, it sure makes perfect sense that there are plenty of people who would be making travel plans before hand.

This is certainly a business opportunity that must not be missed, particularly for those in the airline and hotel business. It would be expected that these businesses would be receiving tons of calls from customers seeking to make reservations and save themselves the hassle of having no rooms to stay in whatever place they plan to go to. And the numbers are not a joke.

In one day, it won’t be surprising if they receive calls that would number to hundreds or even thousands.

Surely, this kind of spike would convince a hotel and airline reservation company to set up a live answering service. Such a customer service support network ensures that everything would work smoothly.

And this does not just apply to that industry. For example, flower shops might want to set up an order taking system so they can efficiently handle orders that were done on the phone.

Given the various occasions where flowers would be needed, it is only natural that flower shops would want to be able to get those orders.

Getting those calls taken for order processing allows these enterprises greater chances of making a profit. An outsourced order processing network would be ideal for these shops.

It is affordable and very efficient. What is important is that they hire a reliable contact center to help them in their operations. It won’t make any sense to hire a sloppy agent who could not handle the calls coming in.

There are many kinds of firms these days that offer such a service. Now, the question here is whether these outfits can actually deliver. The bad news here is that not all of these can actually get the job done. At worst, there are scammers out there that are hired by unsuspecting firms. They either deliver bad service or run off with the money all together.

This is a very unfortunate arrangement. At least it can be avoided if the firm would be careful with who they would hire. Asking questions, doing a thorough background check, and consulting peers in the business are just some of the things that they can do to find the right contact center to work with. It may be troublesome, but it’s a sure way to success.

Deborah Campbell is Customer Service Expert and a professional inbound telemarketing Consultant. To know more about inbound telemarketing service, visit http://www.callboxconnect.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deborah_C_Campbell

Call Centers and Other BPO Organizations

by Cedric P Loiselle

Business process outsourcing has come a long way. The differentiation of BPO services today is extensive.

The industry has gone flexible as well. Both small and large businesses can make use of available BPO services.

You may only have heard of inbound call centers, but there are actually more types of BPO companies, most of which you may not be familiar with.

Call Centers

Call centers are organizations composed of employees that make calls to and answer calls from customers.

There are several reasons why companies obtain call center services. Have you received a call from an agent who introduced a new product? Have you received a call from an agent who verified information you submitted on an insurance website?

Have you dialed your internet service provider’s customer support hotline to complain about internet connection problems? Chances are you have answered yes to at least one of these three questions.

There are two types of call centers: outbound and inbound.

1. Outbound call centers – These call centers focus on telemarketing and telesales.

These companies introduce products and services to customers. Marketing over the phone is preferred to face-to-face marketing, which is expensive. However, consumers receiving random calls may get irritated.

2. Inbound call centers – These companies respond to customers who call to ask questions, and express complaints.

These call centers have a crucial job of keeping consumer satisfaction within an acceptable range. Bad customer service begets business setback. Hence, inbound agents have set protocol in responding to customers professionally.

There are also customer care centers that handle neither outbound nor inbound calls. Some are involved with data verification and update. This is important for banks or insurance firms, for instance, which need to contact clients for personal data verification purposes.

While call centers are the most popular among BPO industries, there are other BPO services too, like:

1. Transcription

Various companies need people to transcribe audio files to words. Popular examples in this industry are medical and legal transcription, which are often outsourced to BPO firms specializing in such services.

2. Search Engine Optimization

Companies today are competing to get decent amount of traffic on the web. To get more traffic, a website should be on the first page of search results.

There are several ways to get there, but the economical way is search engine optimization, a complex process that involves content generation and link building. SEO takes a lot of time that companies outsource the job to firms that can handle it efficiently.

3. Data Entry

Companies have to deal with a lot of data on a daily basis. Without help from data entry agencies, they are bound to meet a disastrous pile of work. BPO firms that specialize in data entry can help companies in managing large volumes of data.

The result is improved business efficiency. Data management is a supplementary task that does not generate profit but cannot be disregarded.

There are a lot more business process outsourcing services. Outsourced tasks vary in scale. There are simple office tasks that are farmed out to virtual assistants, for instance. Indeed, BPO is a multifaceted industry.

For more information about inbound call centers visit our website http://www.courteouscom.com/inbound-telemarketing-services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cedric_P_Loiselle

Teleselling Mistakes: 5 Things to Avoid When Making a Sales Call

By Ralph Guzman

Most organizations today are aware that telesales is an essential part of a company’s overall sales and marketing effort.

Sales agents know that using the telephone is a good way to find new customers, get in touch with old ones, reduce the cost of sales and expand the business.

Still, despite a large amount of time and money invested in training to earn the essential skills, some telesales agents make a few mistakes when talking to customers over the phone. These are the following:

1.) Sending Unnecessary Literature. Most sales agents make the mistake of calling to get information to simply send the brochures of whatever they are selling. What most of them do not understand is when they do not get to know their potential customers and understand what they need for the moment; those brochures are useless and costly.

A good way for sales agents to fight this bad habit is to listen to the contact person because from the conversation alone, they could already assess what the company may need or what other services they could provide that would prove to be beneficial.

2.) Lousy Listening. Maybe this time they did not actually send unnecessary literature, but it still is pointless when they do not make the most out of the conversations with their contact person.

Sales agents also make the mistake of taking for granted some information that could be beneficial with closing the deal in the future. To counter this, sales agents should assert themselves and ask questions to ensure that they understand things correctly.

3.) Inadequate Questioning. Are you sure you are asking the right question? There may be times when questioning can be entirely pointless, especially when the questions presented to the customers are futile.

Sales agents should also keep in mind that too much asking only brings them to no good. Keep the questions straightforward closed and to the bare essentials only.

4.) Poor Preparation. Before making a sales call, telesales agents should definitely do their research first. Another good way to avoid the first three mistakes is by getting to know their potential customers in advance. By utilizing the internet, it’s possible for sales agents to know who to look for, what to offer or even if they should make the call in the first place.

5.) Opening Statements that Build Resistance, Not Interest. For some sales agents, they still find it impossible to even get the information they wish even if they did their research and asked the right questions at the right time.

So, what went wrong? The first few seconds of the phone call is crucial because this is where they give out their opening statements. These statements, if not properly constructed, can build resistance instead of interest. A good way to catch the attention of the customer is to present your opening statement in such a way that it is precise, straight to the point and in line with their needs.

To learn more about Telesales Excellence Skills click this link.

Guthrie-Jensen is the leading Management Training and Consultancy firm in the Philippines and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. The organization has also conducted various training programs and seminars in Asia (i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong), Europe, and North America.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ralph_Guzman

Way to Measure Customer Satisfaction in a Call Center

By Shane Reid Co-Author: Morris Jane

Nowadays, a call center is not meant just to attend phone calls. It is a fully fledged business that can help you to generate revenue by satisfying your customers.

It provides a company with fresh ideas and helps to generate new customers and achieve business goals successfully.

It works 24×7 hours and live response is accessible within few seconds. Customer service representatives help to resolve problems of customer immediately and keep customers connected to your.

As companies are becoming larger and larger day by day, it is unfortunate that the contact people who are in the customer service business often know less and less about what is actually going on with the business.

Most of the call centers even pressure calling agents to limit the time spent on calls up to 30 seconds. Actually, if any customer service representatives spent more time on a call then it is probably the worst measurement of effectiveness for call center.

Another way to calculate the effectiveness is based on the level of customer satisfaction during the call. First of all the customers must be surveyed about the results of their interaction with the call center personnel and this must occur fairly quickly following the contact.

A feedback should be instant and immediate after the call. If 9 out of 10 customers are fully satisfied with your service then it is assumed to be satisfied while score equal or less than 3 means an unhappy customer.

Nowadays organizations are putting more and more stress to improve the quality of customer services. For this reason they always close in on Quality Evaluation of the Agents by live call monitoring, Call Recording, and Daily Agent Feedback.

Employee satisfaction is as necessary as clients’ happiness with results. Otherwise, their performance would logically affect the overall customer satisfaction. For employee satisfaction you should ensure that your employees are satisfied with the working environment and the operating procedures.

Morris Jane is associated with Vcare Call Center and working as a Sr. Marketing Manager. Vcare is a leading business outsourcing company offering high-quality, cost-effective call center services and software development services to all sized businesses across the Globe. We help clients achieve higher customer satisfaction and increase revenue growth.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shane_Reid

Using Team Building Seminars to Improve Workplace Performance

By Vanessa Urban

A team is defined as a number of people associated in a type of activity such as work who each put forth effort to achieve a common goal.

To be efficient, teams must possess the “three C’s” of coordination, communication, and cooperation.

Unfortunately, both internal and external influences create inadequacy in these areas, resulting in substandard performance. Team building seminars address these issues, getting the group back on track and working toward organizational profitability.

Teams come together voluntarily, are assigned, or arise out of circumstances. For example, a sports team consists of individuals interested in the same athletic activity. A partnership in business or marriage is a team of two people.

Several people charged with developing a new product collaborate on this task as a team. A group of people in the same place, such as managers within an organization, may be considered a team.

The most effective type of workplace team takes what is deemed a “community approach.” Each member of the group looks to the others for support and the group shares, assists, and collaborates regarding a common goal.

Teams are important because they help to initiate change, making suggestions to those at the highest level of the organization. They are also natural problem solving mechanisms because the communication within the team allows members to address issues in their early stages and resolve them more quickly.

Each person brings certain talents to the team and combines these with talents of others to work toward a common goal. When a team is not functioning at its peak, members may feel that their talents are discredited or ignored. The team as a whole may feel out of sync with the organization and dissent may arise within the gathering.

Left unaddressed, these issues can lead to severe problems within the organization, eventually affecting workplace productivity.

When a team loses its common purpose, goals, and mutual accountability, it becomes nothing more than a group. A seminar focused on team building is one way to get team members back in sync with each other.

Whether the issue is blocked communication channels, fear, stress, lack of focus, or competing goals, a facilitator can help a team work through its issues and get back on the road to success.

Sessions are often tailored for the size and type of group involved because this personalized approach has the most effective results.

People learn best by doing, so an experienced-based program is recommended. Even if team members are new to working with each other, they will learn important skills. By developing these and implementing recommended techniques in the workplace, the team blossoms.

Teams take many forms and involve people from many different backgrounds and, sometimes, levels within the organization. These aspects make each team a unique entity. Team building seminars are available for every industry and level within an organization.

Some are project-focused, while others deal more with general development and enhancement. After participating in the session, the individuals will be prepared to work as a team, making a more positive impact on the organization.

If you are looking for ways to help build teamwork and improve performance, team building seminars are a great start! The Xpeerience Group specializes not only in team building seminars, but also other activities that will show your staff how to have a good time and come together as a true unit. For more information, visit XPeerienceGroup.com today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vanessa_Urban

The Necessity of Call Center Schedules for Evading Emergency

By Marry Miller

Call center operations receive an optimum functionality when the performance of the customer calling representatives is duly dependable on the style of working.

Yes, we are speaking about the importance of the call center schedules that are commonly verbalized when the frequency of the call volumes fluctuate. It has become a very important aspect that needs to be monitored in the inbound call centers.

The scheduling of the activities gets very crucial in the period when the holidays seasons arrives and subsequently the number of employees are comparatively lesser when high call volumes dominate the business operations.

A schedule gets better in the holiday season and the calling finds it easier to handle the targets. But once the holidays are gone, the business hours are experienced with a great volume of calls and it becomes a great trouble to meet the deadlines within the stipulated time-frame.

In addition, it is often seen in the inbound contact centres of India face high attrition rate and this is also a prime reason why the targets of the contact centers could not be accomplished.

Contact center scheduling can be a great help to overcome these tough situations and bring operational balance in the team. All the major contact center operations can be brought back into the track without any compromises by the managers. Let us see how the scheduling can help these customer services to function in better in outbound and inbound contact center.

Initially the main duty needs to be carried by the call managers is to find out the coarse estimate of the call volumes during the seasons where the holidays are more.

Most of the customers have a notion that the calling agents may not be available and they might skip the idea of calling. But actually, there is someone assigned for a customer service department for assisting the customers at any time. Until and unless there is an emergency the customer won’t take your assistance.

Simply cut down the multiple phone numbers and make a single phone available and add better functionality to reduce call volumes and add better service. The scheduling can be effectively controlled if the managers can plan out the work timings of the agents as per their convenience and further allow them to decide their own timings at certain period.

There can be great variety of calling processes in an inbound call center and things can be better if a discussion and suggestion session can be developed in short term periods.

The use of the software monitors the incoming call volumes at the call center call also is a great step to make call scheduling efficient. Apart from analyzing the call volumes in the holiday season, it can also review the analytic of the telemarketing project sells products or services.

The implementation of predictive scheduling in outbound call center should never be ignored at the same time.

A well acclaimed call center expert, Marry Miller, is widely associated with developing some of the most industry specific research on the recent trends of the call center industry that have been widely appreciated by the renowned Inbound Call Center, Call Centres and Outbound Call Center of the globe. Her talent in this industry has helped many small and big entrepreneurs to start their business in a very reliable methodology.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marry_Miller

How To Resolve Disputes In The Workplace

By Mary McGee

Working with others can be an enjoyable experience but unfortunately this can also prove to be a breeding ground for misunderstanding and disputes.

Normally disputes are the result of miscommunication or hear-say and can be resolved quickly or without mediation.

Sadly, sometimes this isn’t the case and workplace disputes can have an extremely detrimental effect on the productivity as well as mental and physical well being of employees. So how can you resolve disputes in the workplace?

The first top tip for resolving dispute is to ‘be the bigger man’. It’s often easy to fall foul of gossip and tittle tattle but rising above this and choosing not to engage in this kind of behaviour is the first step in resolving disputes.

Opting not to fuel the fire and instead focusing your attention on work and other matters allows you to put petty workplace arguments into perspective and set the bar for employee behaviour.

Sometimes opting not to engage simply isn’t enough to either prevent disputes beginning in the first place or escalating. In instances where you feel like a dispute has got out of hand, is preying heavily on your mind or affecting your attendance at work, it’s time to escalate the issue and speak to a member of management or a more senior team leader.

It’s tough to stay motivated at work when a rolling dispute is affecting your productivity and this should be the concern of any manager.

Attempt to speak in confidence to your manager and have the problem resolved discreetly or brought to a head by a member of management.

In some situations, bringing in a member of management is not always possible or suitable. Luckily, this is the perfect opportunity for an HR expert to act as a mediator between the two parties and resolve the dispute.

Human resources consultants will be trained in managing disputes that have become a grievance as well as handling any subsequent disciplinary matters within the margins of employment law.

Raising an issue with your human resources department is confidential and discrete and can be a great way of resolving a grievance in the workplace.

Have you experienced a dispute in the workplace? Take steps to resolve the dispute by using the aforementioned tips. Taking control of your experience in the workplace ensures for a more productive, enjoyable and rewarding experience on a personal level as well as creating a better environment for your colleagues.

Mary McGee is an HR expert.

Customer Service – One Critical Step to Get Employees on Board!

By Meridith Powell

My work as a business coach and sales and service speaker has me traveling quite a bit. I often have to run errands and take care of family business while on the road.

This past week, in between speaking engagements in South Carolina, I needed to pick-up a graduation card for my nephew. Luckily for me, I easily found a CVS pharmacy and pulled right into parking lot and headed in to make a purchase.

As I selected the card and headed to the counter I noticed a long line and one poor service person handling it all. Now I know she was a “poor” service person because of the irritated look on her face and the story she shared with each and every customer in line. Here is what she said: “I am sorry for the long line, CVS says they want to improve customer service but they keep cutting our staff. They are so greedy.”

So now let’s think about this.

Ten customers standing in line, each waiting our turn and listening over and over again that CVS is understaffed and greedy. What kind of impression does that make, and what kind of brand is CVS creating? I dare say not the one they want.

Now imagine how much CVS, and other corporations, are spending on marketing, advertising, sales training, and big customer initiatives.

Big money is being spent, big decisions are being made, and big initiatives are being undertaken in the name of improving the customer experience and increasing revenues; all while overlooking the most critical factor in the customer experience. The element that is going to decide whether the customer service experience improves or falls flat.

That element is the employee.

Oh, I don’t mean that employees don’t know, that employees are not sent to training, and that employees are not required to perform these new tasks. I mean that they are not involved, not engaged and not on board. Therefore they are not “really” improving customer service.

So why if we are spending all that money, engaging all the experts, and implementing the right programs are we still getting employees who act like our CVS customer service rep? Because we miss the one critical step that ensures we get our employees on board.

The one critical step?

Get your employees involved right from the start. You can tell your employees what they need to do, but you need to ask them how to do it. Employees support what they help create. If you want your employees to truly implement your customer service strategy then you need to give them a voice in the process. Get them on board early, help them understand why customer service is important and then include their ideas in the strategy.

Getting them involved, giving them a voice gets them motivated, engaged and a reason to take ownership. In addition, they live this day-in and day-out they have great ideas!

All the money in the world, all the best experts and all the latest ideas and techniques will never do as much to help you improve customer service as taking the one critical step you need to get your employees on board. Customer service begins on the front lines of your company, and taking this one critical step will make sure your front line staff has the same goal in mind as your top Executives.

Meridith Elliott Powell
Certified coach, speaker, and business development expert
http://www.motionfirstnow.com

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