For contact centers to succeed in delivering incredible customer experiences (CXs), it is critical that they map out the employee journey, from recruitment to promotion, with a keen focus on the continuity of what is most important.
For example, when they recruit and train new hires, the duties and responsibilities should align with what was advertised: and what the applicants were screened for and ultimately what they will be measured on and developed towards.
In Part 1, published in the August issue, I recounted an example that I had witnessed of how a contact center for a well-known brand sadly got this wrong.
Here, in Part 2, let’s see how we can rebuild the employee journey to show how they could have had onboarding and training go right. (All the following examples are real. They are approaches I have either implemented in my own contact centers, or helped clients do, all with incredible outcomes.)
Let’s begin exactly as I did in Part 1...
It was a rainy Monday morning and the new contact center hires all piled into the training room. There was a visible glow to their enthusiasm that even their soggy shoes couldn’t dampen.
BEFORE Week One. Before the new hires started, they received a welcome call from their trainer and leader. This was followed by a package that had a card from their team, a welcome letter from the department executive, some swag, a cheat sheet with key names, contacts, floor maps, and local food and parking options, etc.
...let’s see how we can rebuild the employee journey to show how they [the center] could have had onboarding and training go right.
The new hires received the full training curriculum, so they knew what to expect from start to end of training. IT reached out to ensure their systems and hardware would be set up before they began. Meanwhile, HR reached out to start the HR administration onboarding.
Week One. The first day the new hires were met at reception by their trainer and leader. They were given a tour of the facility, met some of their future team, and saw where they would be sitting (which was decorated by their team welcoming them).
They were so excited by this employee-focused company and felt validated in their choice to work there. They also had an overview of the company purpose, values, the contact center mission, and objectives as well as watched a video welcome from the CEO.
The new hires learned how their roles and department contribute to the company’s success and what was most important in their roles to drive great CX: a continuation of what they felt from the posting and interview process.
For the rest of the week, the new hires were taught the company’s service philosophy and what good performance looks like at the company. They were educated on how they will be measured and recognized (including the [quality assurance] QA program, voice of customer [VOC] survey, and what to expect from coaching) and given some foundational systems and product training.
The new hires’ glow only brightened as their excitement grew...
Week Two. The new hires started to learn the top types of scenarios they would encounter on the job. They did so by listening to calls, shadowing the center’s top performers, and reviewing the customer journey that was adjacent to their part in it (e.g., learning the IVR map or how the app works prior to clicking to call or chat with the contact center).
The new hires learned how their roles and department contribute to the company’s success and what was most important in their role to drive great CX...
The new hires also met other teams that are part of some of the cross-functional journeys to understand their shared goals and to be able to see the end-to-end experience for the customer.
The bulk of learning was hands-on, facilitated with complementary self-serve modules that had some gamification built-in to keep them engaging (which they could also access all throughout training if they wanted to retake any of them). There were two facilitators so that one could help out those who may be struggling and help them at their pace to catch up and rejoin the main learning stream if they could.
Week Three. The new hires started to apply the learning of the top types of scenarios they would encounter through role playing, simulators, and a training environment that was always synced with production (meaning it always reflected what actual agents used).
They were also put into an integrated nesting approach, buddied with seasoned agents to apply those skills on some live calls thanks to accurate routing. Each of these calls were measured against QA criteria and coached to at the end of each day.
Week Four. The new hires returned to the class environment to discuss what they learned on the phones and clear up details. Awards were given for top QA scores and top VOC scores, handed out by the department senior leadership.
They continue to work on remaining scenarios with a particular focus on how to deal with calls you weren’t expecting, where your support resources are, what tools to use, and who to go to for help, etc. They used the same approach as in previous weeks and integrated with some on phone time to apply what they learned.
Each of these new hires (now candidate agents) were assessed by the training team by looking at test scores, QA, VOC, and at leader and buddy/mentor feedback for their readiness for the last nesting stage. Any candidate who was making progress but needed more time, remained with one of the two facilitators another week, to focus on shoring up any identified gaps.
Nesting up to four weeks (Weeks Five-Eight). Progressive nesting begins where agents are on the phones, supported by one of the trainers, a QA rep, their leader, and a senior successful agent. They have step goals which increase each week, slowly moving to the regular goals expected by a fully trained agent.
Each week there’s an assessment discussion to see who might be ready to move out of nesting, which can happen at any time from the first to last week of nesting.
Any candidate agents who remained behind for one more week of training join this group in the second week. The approach allows for flexibility to adapt to each agent’s pace and style. Because it’s supported by training and several operations teams, increased QA and coaching can be applied as needed.
Employees are engaged, produce more, care more about the customers, company, and each other and as a result, they also refer more great talent.
Once all the candidate agents have completed nesting, there is a graduation ceremony for all who passed in this cohort, attended by all of the leadership and training teams. Each candidate has been assessed against the values most important aspects of the role which is not only shared with leadership to assist in their transition, but awards are given out against these same criteria.
The Outcomes
These full-fledged agents feel supported, prepared, accomplished, and excited. They are able to handle real issues faster, with fewer errors, higher productivity, and higher customer satisfaction rates. As a result, they only continue to feel gratified by their work and validated that they came to work for the right company.
The continuity of what’s most important continues. It’s reflected in how the QA form is designed, what leaders focus on during coaching, which occurs weekly on average (a little more or less often as determined by the agent’s competence and confidence).
The scorecard and incentives all reflect what’s most important and increased responsibility and promotions are predicated on consistent delivery of what’s most important. There are no conflicts anywhere from posting to promotion.
Employees are engaged, produce more, care more about the customers, company, and each other and as a result, they also refer more great talent.
The thinking at this stage is typically something like this:
“I love my job. I am seen, heard, valued, and invested in.”
“I thought I was going to get the training, tools, and support to feel confident and prepared and my expectations were only exceeded.”
“I really feel my skills and personality are leveraged here and I can see the difference I make.”
“I care about this job and want to continue to grow.”
Isn’t that the outcomes we should all be seeking, and realizing, in our contact centers?