Where does voice add value? That’s the question MED contact centre manager Andrew Wagg is constantly asking in order to improve efficiency and increase productivity. He says it’s a lesson all contact centre managers need to take on board if they want the profession to be taken seriously at executive level.
Profit and loss might not seem like an equation that a government contact centre providing information and support to NZ citizens should be too concerned with. But Wagg says that being competitive by managing costs and improving financial outcomes is critical when, as every centre knows, “outsourcing is always at the door”.
Also important in a tight labour market is staff retention. Wagg has taken to heart the exit interviews in which the former employee says they didn’t find the role challenging. In order to reward ambitious agents Wagg has given responsibility for the service level agreement the centre has with its 22 government stakeholders to the three lead advisors that head up each section within centre.
He’s also using an Open Source program Plone to create a knowledge store that has input from every member of the team. This means that whenever an advisor comes across new information, they write it into a document and send it to their lead advisor for approval, who then posts it on the main database for all to access.
Wagg calls it the “wikipedia model” and says it cuts down on the number of emails that are sent, ensures ‘buy in’ from all staff, and creates a more efficient flow of information.