Implementing a new or improved quality monitoring program

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Module 5 - Tips for implementing your own quality monitoring program

The Call Center Learning Center is excited to announce its 2004 series on Quality Monitoring. This series will pull from our most recent benchmarking findings and the Quality Monitoring Toolkit to illustrate best practices in quality monitoring. Module 1 introduced the series and provided some highlights from the 2004 report. Module 2 examined the essentials of quality monitoring - who is doing it, how often and using what method. Module 3 discussed the categories participants used to evaluate their agents and how to design your quality monitoring scorecard. Module 4 looked at improvement initiatives and the biggest changes centers are making to their programs. This module concludes the series with tips for implementing or improving your own quality monitoring program.

Managing the implementation
   
Whether you are implementing a brand new monitoring program or simply reorganizing an old one, educating your agents is important because it makes the transition easier for all those involved. Always remember that agents are involved in the process, even though their role may be passive compared to the behind the scenes work you and your team are doing. By including the following five elements in your implementation, you can help ensure agents are educated and aware of the new monitoring process.

1.  Clear definitions

The first key element in implementing a successful monitoring program is to provide clear definitions of the monitoring process to your agents. Each element of the process should be concisely defined and explained. This includes identifying:

• New procedures
  
• New technology
  
• New tools
  
• Organizational impacts
  
• Changes in job roles (i.e., peer monitoring or mentoring)

While many of these items may be explained partially through discussions, handouts or informal conversation, the ideal way to address each of them is to provide agents a visual and verbal description.

For example, you may do this through email, overheads, manuals or newsletters. Whatever method you choose, it is most important to take the time to carefully outline and describe the new circumstances and expectations. Don’t gloss over important information or leave out details that impact agents. The goal here is to keep your agents informed and involved – and in the long run, it will make your job easier and improve their perception of the program.

2.  Educational and training opportunities

Training and education should be available to all agents, especially when you are implementing a new monitoring program. Training is a critical part of quality monitoring and the overall call center improvement cycle.

Training gives agents an opportunity to practice skills, learn new systems, establish goals for themselves and ask questions. Education gives agents the tools to understand why they are doing what they are doing and how it will benefit them and the call center.

Opportunities that should be in place include (but are not limited to):

• Education and training for new systems, tools and procedures

• New training programs for performance improvement

• Workshops and team meetings

Encouraging your agents to take part in these activities is a win-win situation. Your agents gain more ownership over the new process and their goals, and your call center sees improvement through better-trained and educated agents.

3.  Information about the new process

Provide information that explains how monitoring will affect your agents on a personal level. This gives agents understanding about how their evaluations will affect their job roles and potential for growth, and it keeps them included in the information loop. Some examples of how agents may be affected by monitoring include:

• New expectations for job performance
  
• Performance tracking
  
• Training for performance improvement
  
• Mentoring
  
• Peer monitoring

Agents are directly affected by and involved in all of the above. The monitoring cycle becomes crystal clear to them when they see the improvement of their own monitoring scores translated into the ability to help others in the call center and better serve customers.

4.  New performance measures

In order to enforce new performance measures, they must be clearly defined and implemented as goals for the entire call center. Your job is to ensure new performance measures and expectations for performance are communicated to agents and instilled as a call center requirement. In order to do this, you must:

• Provide clear definitions
  
• Encourage Q&A sessions so that no uncertainty exists
  
• Create and maintain a communications channel
  
• Make these new measures “official”

Leave no stone unturned when implementing new performance measures. Take into account that different agents respond best to different types of communication. You may wish to impart these new measures through a variety of methods (email, posters, meetings, newsletters, workshops). Make sure that all agents are aware of the new measures. Don’t unintentionally leave behind members of your own team!

5.  Methods for educating agents

Throughout the implementation process, utilize a variety of methods to keep your agents educated about what is taking place. Some people can absorb information simply by hearing it, while others grasp information after seeing it. Your role is to allow both types of learners the opportunity to gain the information the way they need to gain it.

Discussion or Q&A sessions naturally encourage interactivity. This gives everyone the opportunity to speak up and voice an opinion or ask for clarification.

Written communication is equally valuable for two reasons:

1. It puts the new standards in formalized terms and serves as notification that the changes are now requirements.
   
2. It gives agents a reference and a clear description of what is happening, what is now expected and how it will affect them personally.

According to benchmarking studies, the most effective methods for verbally communicating with and educating your agents are:

• Team (large or small) meetings
  
• Upper management presentations
  
• Workshops
  
• Group demonstrations
  
• Training events
  
  

How to involve your agents in the implementation

Do agents have negative perceptions of quality monitoring? The answer to this question is very important, because it can ultimately decide the success or failure of your quality monitoring program.

What do agents say?

Benchmarking research over recent years indicates that the majority of agents feel quality monitoring is generally okay, and they accept it as a necessary part of the call center. Only about 7% of agents view quality monitoring as intrusive and unnecessary and openly oppose it.

This research indicates that agents’ opinions of quality monitoring are generally positive or, at the very least, neutral. Your job is to ensure your quality monitoring program is not only beneficial to the organization, but beneficial to agents as well.

How to combat negative perceptions

Some managers and supervisors find themselves fighting a faceless enemy when implementing quality monitoring because of negative perceptions held by agents. You can overcome these perceptions to create a positive quality monitoring environment with the help of agent motivation and change management principles.

1.  Agent Motivation

According to the new "Motivating call center agents" toolkit, recognition and direct contact and feedback from supervisors are a desired job factors that agents highly value. In addition, agents consider the "positive leadership skills" and the one-on-one relationship with their supervisors to be the most motivating job factor for them on the job, well above incentive programs.

In your communication with agents about the new program, be sure to address these motivating job factors. Stress that the program will allow you to give better feedback to them and help them improve their job performance. Suggested actions include:

• If you are experiencing resistance from certain agents, sit down with them one-one-one to focus on their concerns

• Provide feedback promptly (within 24 hours)

• Implement team discussions and reviews on a weekly or monthly basis

• Maintain regularly scheduled reviews

2.  Managing change

Change management will be an important factor in your success when implementing a quality monitoring program. Be sure to share with employees why the change is taking place, the risk of not changing and what the new program will mean to them personally. Whether you are implementing a brand new monitoring program or simply reorganizing an old one, educating your agents is important because it makes the transition easier for all those involved. Always remember that agents are involved in the process, even though their role may be passive compared to the behind the scenes work you and your team are doing.

There are several actions you can take to minimize resistance to the new program. Among the most successful are:

• Implement a quality monitoring process that uses the full Quality Monitoring Lifecycle presented in Module 1 of this series. Involve the agents in the implementation or improvement of the monitoring process

• When hiring new agents, introduce the program as part of the work process for improving and not as punitive mechanism or simply an evaluation tool

The most critical times for you to focus your efforts are:

• when implementing a new quality monitoring program

• when hiring new agents

• when agent perception is already poor

Buy the complete 2004 Call Center Benchmarking report for $189 - The new 2004 edition of the report includes a special new section on outsourcing and highlights of the biggest changes in call center management and most important changes planned in the future.

Quality Monitoring Toolkit - The Quality Monitoring Toolkit is the most comprehensive guide available for quality monitoring. Whether you are just starting a new program for monitoring contacts or need to overhaul your current call monitoring process, this toolkit provides definitive guidelines and templates for both phone and multi-media contact monitoring. Using research data from more than 400 call centers, the toolkit includes benchmarking results that will make your quality monitoring program a success. The toolkit includes:

• Methods for quality monitoring
• Benefits of quality monitoring
• Perception and legality
• The complete Quality Monitoring Lifecycle
• Survey criteria
• Scorecard content - with a sample based on best practices research
• Implementation and improvement guidelines

Motivating Call Center Agents Toolkit - A comprehensive guide specifically designed to increase productivity and motivate agents.  Discover what truly motivates your agents to do their best work with easy-to-follow steps that guide you through the principles of motivation and how to overcome the agent-manager disconnect. Interactive assessments are included that allow you to find the root cause of low agent productivity and reduce your turnover rate. 

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