In need of a “pop up” management team ready to deploy on an annual basis, for only a few months?
George Ahmed
Senior Contact Centre Operational Lead - Delivering exceptional business results through effective colleague engagement strategies
The Result:
A stabilised management structure negating the need to undertake an annual selection and recruitment process in order to second up to 25 front line colleagues into management roles on a temporary basis. Visible and a clearly defined career path for colleagues to progress from front line into management roles whilst limiting impact on the operational P&L minimising any increase in management overhead costs. Positively impacting colleague attrition as a result of improved working environment fostered by a cohesive management team.?
The Challenge:
A contact centre operation with a base colleague population of 150 permanent contractual FTE required between October - May, and a requirement to annually recruit a further 350 FTE, incrementally from May, on fixed term contracts, in order to support a September peak demand.
Sourcing 25 additional Team Managers to lead, support and manage up to 350 additional FTE, that were both knowledgeable in the product as well as capable / competent in management practices became the challenge.?
The Solution:
The operational challenge
When an operation with a permanent colleague population of 150 FTE, “ramps” up to 500 FTE on an annual basis, it is logical not to “carry” a management structure that supports the higher headcount on a permanent basis. On a 1:15 ratio and assuming 500 FTE are all full-time colleagues, this scale of operation required up to 34 Team Managers and 4 Operations Managers at peak, vs 10 Team Managers and 1 Operations Manager outside of peak. It was recognised that maintaining a permanent management structure to support the higher head count would not be cost effective given that the ratio would drop to 1:5 outside of peak and also lead to an increased risk of a demotivated management team due to lack of day to day challenging activities.?
Where did the additional Team Managers required historically come from?
Upon inception of the operation, the strategy deployed involved an annual recruitment campaign which included internally seconding front line colleagues into team management roles for the period of the “resource ramp”, seconding Team Managers into Operations Manager roles, whilst also recruiting some external Team Managers for a temporary period. Any colleagues seconded internally received an increment in their salary reflective of the increased responsibility for the duration of the secondment.?
What were the challenges that resulted from this approach??
Firstly, the time and bandwidth required from the recruitment team and the recruiting managers to select and put in place an additional 25 TM's on an annual basis was significant. Right from the time required to pre-screen, conduct assessment centres and conduct interviews. Not to mention the time required for HR to undertake the contract admin and payroll admin in order to implement the uplift in pay for the duration of the secondments.
Secondly, I will ask the question, but in the rhetorical sense, given we all already know the answer. Does a good and highly skilled front line colleague make a strong and capable manager? Well, the answer, in my humble opinion is, they can do, however, it is incumbent on the business to support these colleagues in order to develop and grow their management capabilities. By this I do not mean simply putting them through a few days training on “coaching” or conducting 121’s. Management capability and competence develops over a period of time, with exposure to different management or people related scenarios, and I believe it is fair to say, learning from mistakes plays a huge part in management development. So, whilst a good front line colleague can make a good manager, this certainly does not happen overnight and without a significant amount of investment to build on their skills.
Thirdly, although all colleagues that applied for a secondment role were fully aware of the duration and time frame during which they would not be directly taking calls and instead exposed to increased responsibilities, this knowledge did not adequately mitigate against the psychological impact of feeling “demoted” once the secondment came to an end. Combined with the reduction in take home pay, although also expected, had a significant impact on the motivation of these colleague’s post “ramp”. It is fair to say that some may have started to live to their additional means.
Fourthly, because essentially a "new" management team was recruited annually to support the increased headcount, the managers never “formed” as a team and appeared to operate in a “storming” state for the duration of the peak period, leading to managers largely working against each other rather than working together towards a common goal.?
What were the consequences of the above approach?
In my humble opinion, the most important management role in any contact centre, is that of the Team Manager. They are the closest to the colleagues that are speaking to customers, they are the first “port of call” for colleagues in the instance that they experience any issues either inside or outside of work. They are responsible for the competence, capability and well being of their direct reports who in turn are responsible for delivering to customer needs and expectations. Team Managers are critical in creating the right environment for colleagues to want to come into work and responsible for executing tasks or activities that drive engagement. The collective behaviours and actions of this management population have a huge influence in defining the culture of the business.
Typically, in a BPO environment, the front line colleague is the revenue generating role with all other roles serving as overhead, making the front line colleague, in my opinion, the most important role in any business. To this end, I am personally a great believer in putting colleagues first through a well executed and truly embedded strategic people agenda, a concept that is well captured in the following well known quotes:?
“We look after our people so that they can look after our customers” – Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive, Tesco
“Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your business” – Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group
Placing good agents into management roles with limited opportunity to build upon their management capabilities resulted in:?
In addition, managers recruited externally were unable to provide front line colleagues with product support either to assist with a customer query or to manage an escalated call.
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Given that the Team Manager can be considered to be the most important management role for the reasons described above, the overall consequence to the operation resulted in higher than typical attrition levels from front line colleagues. This included a combination of contracts terminated without adequate support having been implemented prior to instigating disciplinary processes as well as colleague resignations due to lack of management support.
Whilst it is important to recognise the consequences of a seconded approach to increase management resources required to support the increased headcount for the “ramp” in order to appropriately solution and mitigate these issues, it is equally important to recognise that the colleagues seconded were doing their best with the skills that they possessed. To re-iterate, it is incumbent on the business to ensure individuals are placed into appropriate roles reflective of their current skills and capabilities. In instances where this is not the case, it is the businesses responsibility to adequately support colleagues to deliver against the role requirements.?
So how were all these challenges addressed??
The answer in this case was to implement a new management structure, in the way of introducing a Deputy Manager role, formally recognised in the management structure as a junior / entry level management position with the intention of “growing internal talent”.
During the off peak period between October – May, the Deputy Team Manager’s would "act" as front line colleagues for 80% of their time, with 20% allocated to management development activities including but not limited to:
The benefits of this hybrid role allowed for the junior managers to continue to perform revenue generating activities during the off peak period and maintain their product knowledge, whilst also allowing for their management capabilities to be developed prior to the commencement of peak recruitment activities. Introduction of this new role into the operational structure also allowed for a clearly defined career path to be visible for all colleagues with an unpinned principle of "growing internal talent" negating the need for external management recruitment, a message that led to increased levels of motivation and engagement for those aspiring to progress.
Given that the roles where permanent, recruitment into these positions was only required once, mitigating the need for management recruitment activity to be undertaken annually, unless attrition back fill was required. In addition, the permanent nature of this structure allowed for the managers to bond and “form” as a team as time elapsed. ?
It is important to re-iterate that management capability and competence develops over a period of time through trial and error and exposure to different management or people related scenarios. Therefore, initially placing 25 front line colleagues into management roles had its challenges, that could only be mitigated to a certain degree by wrapping as much experienced managers around the structure as possible. However, as time elapses, and managers gain experience, capability and competence grows.
Given that salary is directly linked to skill and competency requirements of any given role, a skills based pay model was also introduced along side the career path defined for the Deputy Managers. This involved undertaking training, application of the skills acquired and then to be accredited through observations in order to be "signed off" to progress within the pay scale of their respective roles.?
2 key principles underpinned this new structure:?
“To create an environment where every colleague wants to come to work”
“To train managers to the point that they can leave, but to create an environment where they choose not to”
The career path
The Conclusion
Seconding good agents into management roles has its place in any operation and serves a purpose, however it is important to recognise that it is incumbent on the business to appropriately support colleagues placed in these positions in order for them to succeed.
For an operation that undertook an annual resource ramp of 350 additional FTE, the secondment approach did not serve the operation well as a result of 25 TM’s, out of a total TM population of 35, being newly appointed. Given that the Team Manager can be considered to be the most important management layer in any contact centre, this led to a number of challenges, as described, with an overall consequence of high levels of colleague attrition.
The implementation of a permanent and cost effective Deputy Manager structure embracing the concept of “growing internal talent” allowed, over time, for a cohesive team to bond and “form”, and furthermore, allowed newly promoted good front line colleagues to grow management competence.
I am a great believer in the concept that, if we can treat people right, despite what is happening in their lives, colleagues will come in to work for the most part, if they can, because:
It is the Team Managers that make all of the above happen!
“If its right for our people, then its right for our business” – George Ahmed