Issue 33, March 2007
In-Depth Leadership Courses Added Before IARE
Annual Conference
Maximize the value of the IARE
Annual Conference! Join your colleagues for an additional full day of
learning and networking with a focus on leadership. Appropriate for all
levels, this full-day course also offers the flexibility to enroll for
the entire day of learning and networking or, just register for the
morning or afternoon session.
The morning session will begin
with
continental breakfast and then Tania Lewandowski of Hyatt Hotels will
present
"Leading With Emotional Intelligence." This four-hour session
will focus on the
best kept secret of leadership, utilizing Emotional
Intelligence.
After boxed
lunches and networking with colleagues, the afternoon session will
feature Rose Lawyer of HRD Solutions presenting "Leading Your Team
Through Change." In these days of constant adjustment, many
leaders can lose focus on how to manage the change process. They also
struggle to maintain results before, during and after the transition.
This session offers a "how to" for leaders to weather the storm.
Registration for the full-day
session is only $289 for IARE Members. For either the morning or
afternoon session, IARE Members can register for only $149.
For details and to register for
this special pre-conference course, please visit:
http://www.iare.com/Conference/2007/precon.html.
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IARE's Annual
Conference Sessions Address Top Issues Including Work/Life Balance and
Innovation
The 22nd Annual
Conference and Exhibition, April 28 - May 2, in Tampa, Florida, promises
multiple opportunities for networking and education sessions that
address the issues we face in our ever-changing contact center
environment. Be sure to attend some of these important sessions:
-
"7
Ways To Become 1 Great Thinker"
–
Learn the importance, value and
rewards of thinking smarter and being creative. Understand that
change is what it’s all about … in these fast-change, competitive
times EVERYONE must think better, faster, smarter, broader, deeper
and higher.
-
"Big Ideas,
Creativity & Innovation"
–
Powerful techniques that you can take back to your
organization to help you capture the imagination of your colleagues,
grow and nurture creativity to its full potential and recognize its
powerful payback.
-
"Bringing Out
the Best in People"
–
This session provides the
foundation of applied behavior analysis and motivational tips geared
toward positively reinforcing individual performance.
-
"Life is What
Happens When You're Waiting on the Bus: Creating Work/Life
Balance"
–
Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little,
when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance,
stress
–
and its harmful effects — is the result.
-
"Skills
Based Routing and Multi-skill Scheduling" Discussion Group
--
Over the years, the technology supporting SBR and
multi-skill scheduling has evolved, as has our understanding of
the ins and outs of creating efficient SBR strategies. We will
discuss best practices and lessons learned.
-
"Coaching: The
Missing Link to Improving Agent Effectiveness"
–
You’ve developed a training program, implemented
a quality monitoring program, now it’s time for you to focus on the
missing link to agent effectiveness, a coaching program.
-
"Activity Based
Compensation (ABC)"
–
ABC as discussed in this session is far more robust than
traditional agent incentives and ongoing agent bonuses
–
it is a completely unique way of motivating all types of call center
agents –
not just sales agents -- to improve both quality and productivity.
-
"Leveraging Home
Agents"
–
Home agent solutions enable companies to deliver
a higher level of care to their callers, increasing revenue and
brand loyalty. In this highly interactive session, you will learn
how leading companies are capitalizing on this growing and vital new
call center trend and get real-world feedback on the effectiveness
of home agents.
-
"Selling is
Everyone's Business: What it Takes to Create a Great Sales
Person or Service Provider"
–
In this session we will cover the art of training and coaching
your team members.
You can't afford to
miss the IARE Annual Conference and Exhibition! For details and to
register today, please visit:
http://www.iare.com/Conference/2007/main.html.
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Home-Based Agent Programs Offer New Alternatives
Submitted by:
Connie
Smith, Envision, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
Contact
centers are looking for alternative methods of servicing customers that
offer flexible work schedules, a decrease in operating costs and the
ability to attract and retain top-performing employees. Many travel
reservation centers have found a solution with home-based agent
programs. Today, there are an estimated 112,000 home-based agents in
the US, and this number is predicted to triple by 2010. Which travel
reservation centers are utilizing at-home agents? Virgin Atlantic,
Hertz, Holland America Cruise Lines, WestJet, Alaska, Horizon, JetBlue,
Hilton and Choice Hotels just to name a few.
While the
concept of at-home agent programs has attracted interest recently, it is
not a new concept to airlines such as WestJet or JetBlue. Both have
been conducting remote agent programs successfully for over 7 years.
While WestJet has a small percentage of their agents working remotely
with a plan to expand, the majority of JetBlue’s total agent pool works
remotely.
Before you
start packing your agents up and sending them home you need to develop a
strategic plan. The Gartner Group, a leading research analyst firm,
reports that 60% of companies attempting to build a home-based agent
program will fail. Failures are attributed to a lack of planning,
policy & procedures, infrastructure, communications, training and
selecting the wrong type of agents to send home.
Successful
at-home programs require effective recruitment, communication and
infrastructure. The most successful at-home agents are those that are
self motivated and directed with good problem-solving, technical and
communication skills. Other attributes include demonstrated loyalty and
industry knowledge. Generally speaking, successful at-home agents are
experienced and confident.
Successful
companies need to connect with agents on a regular basis to improve
communication, camaraderie and to deliver training. Ideas for keeping
these home-bodies engaged include monthly office briefings, Click2Coach®
informational video clips and coaching packages, home visits, Web
conferencing, inviting them to corporate events, utilizing Instant
Messenger, dedicated intranet sites where agents can interact with one
another via chat rooms, blogs and also easy access to job aids and other
corporate tools.
Corporate
security has become a hot topic for contact centers and should be
considered when developing an at-home program. To help keep sensitive
customer information secure, companies have put VPNs in place. In
addition, you may want to require at-home workers to have shredders in
their home offices to shred notes and sensitive data that they may
collect by hand during calls. Most at-home policies do not allow
computer peripherals like printers in the home office. Better yet, look
to technology to mask sensitive data within their computer systems.
For more
information about how other companies are implementing home-based agent
programs, visit
www.envisioninc.com/blog.
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Nominate a
Colleague for an IARE Excellence Award
The
IARE Excellence Awards are presented each year to those who have
exceeded expectations in the areas of job performance, team development,
customer service, and even community service. Past award winners have
often been represented by the individual who always rises to the
occasion when needed, placing their personal time second to the needs of
the call center. However, they have also been the ones who work quietly
behind the scenes to ensure a successful operation and without whom the
enterprise would suffer. Past winners have been long-term industry
veterans, as well as fresh-out-of-school "rookies." If a member of your
team can be defined using terms like outstanding, extraordinary,
selfless, dedicated and an excellent example for others, then they fit the
mold for the IARE Excellence Awards. The categories for the awards are:
Manager Excellence
Award...for
those who manage a department or a function at a strategic level
Supervisor
Excellence Award...for
those who have direct responsibility for a team of employees
Staff Excellence
Award...for
those in an administrative or support role
Representative
Excellence Award...for
those who deal directly with the customer in a sales or service capacity
IARE
Spirit Award... for those who have served on an IARE
Committee and displayed the highest level of IARE support and spirit
Employees must be
nominated via the On-Line Nomination
Form. A center may submit no more than one nomination within each
category. The supervisor for each award winner will be notified in
late-March, so the company can make arrangements for each winner to
attend IARE's Annual Conference.
Award recipients
are invited to receive their awards in person with a complimentary
registration to attend the IARE Annual Conference held during the year
they are nominated. They are also given an award trophy and a prize
check for $200.
Nomination deadline extended to March 14, 2007!
For details and to submit your nomination, please visit:
http://www.iare.com/awards.html.
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"Remote Agents" Webinar a
Success, Variable Scheduling Event on March 28th
Representatives from 15
companies participated in a valuable webinar on Remote Agents on
February 7th. This webinar, which featured representatives from Choice
Hotels and Hilton Hotels, discussed lessons learned from companies who
have implemented Remote Agents.
IARE will offer another webinar
focusing on Variable Staffing on March 28th. Representatives from The
Hertz Corporation and Carlson Hospitality Worldwide will describe their
tactics for variable staffing. The session will also feature an
interactive Q & A session with the presenters.
Gather your team and plan to
join this important session on March 28th. For details and to register
for the webinar, please visit:
http://www.iare.com/webinar/2007/variablescheduling.html.
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Interested in an IARE
Leadership Position?
We recognize that IARE exists
because of the dedication of our volunteer leaders. Are you interested
in networking with other top industry executives, while advancing your
professional association? IARE is always seeking volunteers to serve on
our Committees and our Board. For more information, please visit the
links below:
Click here for information
and to volunteer for an IARE Committee
Click here for information
about joining IARE's Board of Directors
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