by Cynthia Currie, President of Flame On Solutions; Email cynthiacurrie@telus.net
The
“Call”
is out for leaders who can make it happen!
It is an organization’s leaders that translate vision and purpose into
reality.
In today’s complex world, the stakes
are high, events shift and change an organization’s landscape rapidly. Intense competition and volatility, new technologies, soaring
customer expectations and a diverse workforce are impacting organizations
everywhere. In an effort to
survive, many organizations are refocusing their efforts on the voice of the
customer, turning up the heat on performance and challenging traditional
organizational systems and core processes.
Major changes are necessary and more change demands more leadership.
In today’s business climate, everyone is faced with achieving more
with less. Good enough is no longer
good enough to be successful. You
as a leader, are challenged to create a high achieving climate, to take charge,
set ambitious goals, obtain higher levels of performance from agents and to
create a work environment geared to high achievement through alignment of action
and people. Alignment involves comprehension and consistency between words and
actions. Leadership is action, not
a position or title.
In order to turn great ideas into great accomplishments; you must be
able to build commitment and support. Leaders provide focus, involve others and
build commitment by providing a sense of ownership.
Building commitment for the vision includes building trust that results
in positive employee morale, team spirit, improved output and sense of
direction.
What is your organization’s vision statement?
Do you, as the leader of your Call Center talk about your
organization’s vision? Visions paint a picture of the desired future, they
describe a challenging result and express what you and others will create. Is
your Call Center mission and goals linked with the vision, values and strategies
of the organization? Are you able to interpret and communicate in concrete terms
the strategic plan so that each individual and team in your area of
responsibility has a common and shared understanding of how they contribute by what they
accomplish to the goals and purpose of the Call Center and organization’s
competitive strategy?
The relationship between leadership, communication skills and
sensitivity to people are co-dependent. Everything
we do depends on the successful transfer of meaning from one to another.
Communication plays a pivotal role in individual, team, and organization
performance. To be a successful
leader, you must interact with people in a way that enables you to be very
influential, trusted and credible. If you’re going to provide effective
leadership to others, you need to coach them with passion.
Coaching, feedback and role modelling are important aspects of your role
which assist in agent professional growth and self-esteem.
You need to appeal to their needs, values and emotions
People are motivated in being part of a higher cause or purpose that
helps them feel they are making a difference.
Motivation and inspiration energize people by satisfying human needs for
achievements, a sense of belonging, recognition, and a feeling of control over
one’s life. Leaders stress the
value and importance of work their Reps are performing and involve people to
decide how to achieve the Call Center’s and organization’s vision.
Involvement provides Reps a sense of control.
Support, recognize and reward behaviors you endorse which focus Reps on
the company’s desired direction and role model. Departmental regulations and
procedures are fine, but company culture provides a stronger set of guidelines
for encouraging agents to behave the way you think they should.
Leverage organization and agent events and activities to reinforce
attitudes and behavior you want to promote.
Recognition and rewarding success gives agents a sense of accomplishment and also makes them feel like they belong to an organization that cares about them.
As a leader, do you clearly articulate roles, goals and expectations?
Do you give feedback in a direct and constructive manner?
The people around you define your Call Center –
Who they are
How they act and
What they are capable of doing.
If rep behavior is based on a set of shared beliefs, you can always
count on people to do the right thing in any customer interaction.
Employees deserve to know what is expected of them, when it is expected
and how well it is expected. What
you do and expect from your people will have a significant effect on the success
or the department and the organization
There is a relationship between employee satisfaction, customer
satisfaction and profitability. These
metrics should form part of your organizations key performance indicators and
should be part of an on-going survey and measurement process. Achieving results
is about stretching limits, challenging others to stretch theirs and building
bridges to success.
Ø
What’s
your competition doing?
Ø
What
do your customers expect from you?
Ø
If
your organization outsourced your Call Centre line(s) of business, would you
expect more?
Ø
What
is your Call Center mission and the key strategic goals and actions for
achieving and measuring it?
Ø
Are
your Reps motivated and inspired to achieve the organization’s vision and Call
Center mission?
Ø
What
are the key issues or needs facing your Reps?
Ø
How
will you answer these needs with both your mission statement and key strategies?
Ø Are your creating challenging opportunities to develop future leaders for your Call Centre and organization?
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If you want to know more about Cynthia Currie ( click here )
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