Contact Center Pipeline September 2024 | Page 25

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 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 .
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 ...
AGENT RETENTION
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 .
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 .
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