Call centres are notorious for their turnover: the number of people who walk in and out the door is high. This situation can, however, be remedied if call centre agents are invested in and nurtured.
As part of its strategy to change the face of contact centres and customer service through its business process outsourcing (BPO) offering, Bytes People Solutions has embarked on an online learning intervention with its own contact centre staff. Thus far, a portion of the company’s contact centre employees has completed a total of 130 online courses.
“The contact centre of today needs to support an increasingly complex multi-channel environment, delivering the right kind of service to many different types of customers,” says Dr Madelise Grobler, MD of Bytes People Solutions.
“Our BPO offering is designed to provide a service to customers requiring specialised know-how relating to specific business processes. To ensure that we practise what we preach when it comes to people development, especially in an area where it is difficult for employees to find the time to attend instructor-led training, Bytes People Solutions enables staff to develop their skills and enhance their careers through self-paced, online learning interventions.”
Grobler says that the strategic role that a contact centre plays within the business environment is starting to be more widely recognised.
“Agents who traditionally focused on a single mode of contact are now being tasked with managing both incoming and outgoing communication, with a view to optimising performance and maximising productivity. To empower agents to be the best they can be, upskilling is essential.”
This is particularly important in the contact centre, where agents typically use their positions as stepping-stones to other positions within the organisation. Contact centres frequently experience high attrition rates; but this environment can be a productive space for agents wanting to develop and grow their skills while they seek a more advanced role.
Bytes People Solutions assists with this process, providing development opportunities through its Career Development Platform and Career Campus to employees who demonstrate a commitment to furthering their careers. The training on offer enables these employees to apply the knowledge they have received within a real-world working environment.
Of the 130 courses completed by the Bytes People Solutions agents, 58 were specific to customer service and customer experience training. A further 55 focused on developing leadership skills and acumen. The balance of the courses comprised life skills, marketing, business writing, human resources, information technology, web design and business analysis training.
These courses were launched via the Bytes Learning Portal hosted and managed by Bytes People Solutions.
“The wide variety of online training courses chosen by the participants demonstrates how eager our people are to upskill themselves and how diverse their career interests are,” says Grobler.
“We encourage other companies to think differently about their contact centre agents and empower them to use their time as contact centre employees to better themselves. Engaged and committed employees ensure happy clients and ultimately excellent business performance.”
Bytes People Solutions takes a ‘people first’ approach when it comes to employees, and offers its team members meaningful career path development opportunities.