LEADER DEVELOPMENT

Industry Content Supporter:
Marc Carriere
Managing Director
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marccarriere/

Being on the front line as a call center operator can be challenging, considering the rejection they can face in a sales environment, or dealing with irate customers while providing customer service throughout their day. Add to this little to no authentic coaching or support, and all for a low hourly rate, and it's not surprising that many call centers experience low staff retention rates, leading to a lot of hiring and training new staff every month.

During my 35 years of recruiting and training numerous call operators, I've identified specific Red Flags that signal potential issues with new hires during induction training and their initial weeks of employment. When you see these Red Flags flapping, you need to take action as early as possible to get new hires on the right path, or at the very least be aware you may have a problem child on your hands that you should speak with your manager about and decide if they are a good fit for the team or not.

Having said this, let me say that you need to consider these behaviors as warning signs. If you see one behavior from a new hire just once, that doesn't necessarily mean a Red Flag is being raised.

However, suppose you often see the same behaviors. In that case, especially when other negative behaviors also show themselves, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you'll have a problem with your new hire when they finish training and hit the floor.

Here are 10 Red Flags (in no particular order) you need to watch out for:

1. Being late for training, shift times, or coming back late from breaks.

Your new hire may struggle to arrive on time for specific reasons, rather than showing a lack of concern or poor organizational skills. If you notice them arriving late for a few days, and this is the only issue you're observing, consider pulling them aside during a break to inquire about their punctuality problem.

They might just be struggling with the bus schedule or connections. You could help by connecting them with someone in the center who can offer a ride to work. And, with breaks – it always amazes me how many people come back late from the first break on the first day of training with the same flimsy excuse! When this occurs, I typically pause the group and inform everyone that arriving late for work—whether for training, their shift, or returning from breaks—is not acceptable. I point out that being late without a good reason is disruptive to the group and disrespectful to everyone there. And, it's their responsibility to be back in their chair before the break ends.

If they need to do something during their break, whether family or work-related, that may cause them to be late, they need to mention this to their Team Leader or Trainer so they are aware of the possibility.

2. Not taking their training seriously by not following instructions or paying attention.

You often observe individuals constantly texting or enjoying conversations with neighbors, leading you to question their seriousness about work. Sometimes, you see this behavior in new hires who have worked for another company in the same industry. Many can think they know it all, and don't have to pay too much attention because they already get it. In those cases, you should remind them that it's what they learn after they think they know it all, and that counts!

3. Lying or overly embellishing

No one enjoys lying, or at least, overstating the truth. If you catch someone in a lie or embellish the facts excessively, it indicates they could bend the truth or be dishonest while working. Any hint of lying is a good reason to keep a close eye on them and monitor their calls in the early stages of their employment, and if you catch them out again, you should consider immediately letting them go.

4. Negativity or complaining

This is an immediate red flag if you see any unwarranted negativity or bad mouthing a former employer or job. Negativity has no place in your team and has the potential to infect everyone, so you need to keep a look out for any signs of unwarranted negativity and deal with it immediately. If they continue with this behavior, you need to move them on quickly before they hurt the team's morale.

5. Not asking any questions

Typically, new team members who are engaged with their jobs and want to do well will ask many questions about the company, product, and how to do their jobs. Even those new hires who are engaged and have worked with another company in the same industry will ask many questions. If they don't, you have to wonder why?

6. Not listening

It's easy for new hires to get overwhelmed during training and the first few weeks of their jobs, directly affecting their listening skills. But if they don't listen during training, will they be able to hear when they are working?

7.  Only focused on pay and benefits

You should immediately be wary when a new hire only talks about their pay and staff benefits in the early stages.  You don't want people on the team who are only interested in the money.  You work with people who can be passionate about the job and the company.

8.  Poor communication skills

The ability to communicate is crucial for any call center job. Candidates should have been screened to ensure they can speak well during the interview. However, it is a bad sign if they are poor at returning emails, missing scheduled phone calls, or unclear when communicating with customers and team members.

9.  Inability to follow directions

If a new hire continuously misses steps or disregards your directions, you must oversee them and correct them very early.  If the gs don't improve quickly, you should move on.

10. Unprofessional appearance

When a new hire shows up disheveled, dressed unprofessionally, or reeking of alcohol, you need to immediately reassess their ability to be a professional in the workplace.  If they can't pull it together when they just got a new job, they probably won't be able to do so in the long term.  Call in Managers and Team Leaders must look for these common red flags during induction training and in the first few weeks of a new hire's employment.  If any of these behaviors come up, they must be straightened out immediately before they cause damage to the team.

If a person isn't a suitable match for the team or the call center, it's wise to address this promptly—even if that means letting them go—rather than risk hiring someone who doesn't align with the team's core values.

Industry Content Supporter:
Marc Carriere
Managing Director
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marccarriere/

People want to work for those who are ethical. With a leader they trust, people tend to be more satisfied and committed to them, and more willing to be open and vulnerable in a good way. They know their leader will treat them right and do what’s best for the team and the company if their leader acts with integrity.

Of course, everyone values integrity, but when you ask most people what integrity actually means, many can have a hard time telling you, much explaining how they show their integrity.

Over the many years I’ve been running call centers around the world and consulting with organizations, coaching Call Center Managers and Team Leaders, one of the things I’ve found is that when people believe you have integrity, they associate that trait with kindness and having good intentions as opposed to selfish motives.

When a leader is competent, it shows they can act on their character. They are considered a valuable employee and seen as more effective leaders. The first way to develop and display integrity is fairly obvious… be honest and treat people well. Don’t exaggerate success and be quick to praise the contributions of your team members and peers.

Secondly, treat everyone fairly regardless of their position within the organization, and hold yourself accountable not just to your manager, but also to your team members and other Team Leaders. Think about doing a self-audit. Think about those you admire and what you admire about them. Think about their attributes that you emulate and how successful you are at emulating those attributes. If you’re lacking in an area, try to figure out why.

Find out how others view you. It's one thing to think about how we’re perceived, but quite another to know, right? So, talk to your boss, team members, other team leaders, and people outside the company about what you do well and can do better.

And, don’t be afraid to be vulnerable with your team. If you make a mistake, say so and do all you can to fix it. Your team doesn’t expect you to be perfect, and you can alienate them if you don’t admit to your screw ups when things go wrong.

Industry Content Supporter:
Marc Carriere
Managing Director
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marccarriere/

Team Leaders are the backbone of any call center! Yet typically, one of the better operators is made a Team Leader and thrown into the deep end with little or no understanding of their role, much less comprehensive training or ongoing support. As a result, we often turn a terrific team member into a stressed and underachieving Team Leader and get frustrated with the results. Then, after a few months or weeks, we replace them and usually lose a good telemarketer, too!

The best way to overcome the frustration and stress of getting caught in this revolving door of constantly replacing Team Leaders is to follow the 7 Pillars for creating outstanding Team Leaders who coach, nurture and lead winning teams that continuously meet (or even exceed) their monthly targets and KPIs. Having owned a call center myself and worked all over the world for 35 years running marketing departments and call centers, consulting with businesses, and mentoring their call center managers and team leaders, I’m well aware of the difficulties of developing exceptional team leaders who coach, nurture, and lead winning teams.

Over the years, I’ve learned that to create truly amazing Team Leaders, you need to develop an effective training process incorporating these 7 Pillars. This will ensure that they clearly understand their role and acquire the practical skills necessary to consistently lead their teams to achieve their targets and KPIs.

The 1st Pillar is Getting The Right Person.

All Team Leaders ARE NOT the same and there are common traits, characteristics and practices that set successful Team Leaders apart. The key to selecting the right Team Leader is understanding these traits, characteristics and practices, so you can look for them in prospective candidates when recruiting from outside or promoting from within. Obviously, you want the right person from the start; even if you need to help them learn some of the skills they’ll need to be successful … because it’s always easier and quicker coaching someone who has the right essential traits and characteristics to begin with.

The 2nd Pillar is Effective Time Management.

The number one reason most Team Leaders give for not providing their team members with on-the-job training or coaching is that they don’t have the time with all the different administration and human resources tasks they have to do every day. Some have a point when you consider everything they do daily and weekly. If this is the case in your center, you should consider which tasks can be handled by an administrator or someone in HR rather than your Team Leader. After all, a Team Leader’s number one priority should be reaching their team’s goals each week. So, you must ensure they have the time and energy to provide effective leadership and coaching. If Team Leaders aren’t overburdened with too many tasks, then you’re dealing with an excuse, and that’s an easy fix.

To ensure they’re using their time effectively, have them complete a weekly schedule for the coming week, give you a copy, and pin it at their workspace. Review their schedule to ensure they’re focused on the coaching tasks you want, and make any necessary amendments.

You also want to hold them accountable, so check in throughout the week to ensure they’re completing their coaching tasks as scheduled. By combining these essential elements, Team Leaders will have the time to help their team members perform better, as they will finally be getting the coaching they need!

Pillar 3 is having a Coachable Call Structure.

Team members need an easy-to-understand Call Structure that sets out the key steps in the proper sequence they need to follow to achieve positive outcomes, whether handling customer service calls, booking appointments, or making sales. An effective call structure crystallizes the steps for handling or making a call. When done correctly, it is easy to learn and easy to coach! Just imagine how more quickly you’d improve the overall performance of your Call Center team if you had a call structure for your team to follow that Team Leaders could use to coach team members to follow.

The 4th Pillar is Call Monitoring and Calibrated Scoring.

To be effective coaches, Team Leaders need to clearly understand the challenges team members face when making or handling calls. The best way to understand where coaching is required is to listen to team members’ calls and score each area of the call structure in those calls. It is imperative that Scoring Guidelines are created and calibrated with all Team Leaders to ensure consistent call scoring across the call center. The best way to ensure that the coring Guidelines are calibrated correctly is to gather all your team leaders in a room, listen to a few recorded calls together, and have each independently score each call.

Then, compare and discuss their scores to ensure everyone understands the appropriate scoring levels for each call component and that they aren’t too strict or forgiving in the scores they give.

This way, team members will generally have the identical scores for the different parts of your call structure. Moving them from team to team will be really helpful, as it ensures consistency in their call scoring.

Pillar 5 is Corrective and Nurturing Feedback

Providing positive and corrective call performance feedback is critical when coaching team members to ensure they protect your brand and are well trained to be friendly, helpful, give accurate information, and follow call handling processes effectively. Team Leaders need to be trained to provide nurturing and corrective feedback on calls they’ve scored to ensure team members understand where they need to improve and are open to being coached.

Aside from providing corrective feedback, Team Leaders should also be coached to identify what was great about the call they scored. That way, when providing corrective feedback, along with call deficiencies, they can highlight positive aspects of a call to reinforce those actions with team members so that they will occur again. Providing feedback in this way will be seen by team members as an instructive and motivational experience they can look forward to.

The 6th Pillar is Team Member Skills Audits

Team Leaders must conduct a Skills Audit of each team member every quarter to ensure a timely and clear understanding of their coaching and training needs. However, these audits can be conducted more frequently, mainly if there are chronic underperformers or when new team members join.

Skills Audits cover all sections of a Call Structure and other areas such as Product Knowledge, Systems Knowledge, and Administration. Team Leaders should also add notes to each section to remind them of the coaching and training requirements, which will help them when they develop Coaching Plans for team members. After completing an audit, please discuss with your team leaders which team members need coaching or training and decide how best to deliver any required training or coaching.

If many team members need help in a specific area, it may be better to have a group training session. That’s where keeping notes on each audit section can be helpful.

Pillar 7 is Team Coaching Plans

Coaching Plans keep Team Leaders focused on improving each team member’s areas of need. They are simple plans that outline which areas need work, what coaching is required, when it will be delivered, and who will deliver it. This pulls everything together into a road map that Team Leaders can follow, focusing on the specific areas of coaching needed for each team member.

Of course, some team members are good operators who won’t need a lot of coaching, but they can still improve in some areas. And, you’d be amazed at how many outstanding operators want their Team Leader to listen to their calls and work with them because they feel they may fall short.