Integrating with TechnologyInbound Customer Service

Systems Integration Training

James Richard DoolingM O F 1 5 0 8 A ∞ H u m a n R e s o u r c e s M a n a g e m e n t

D r . M a j a Z e l i h i c

March 9, 2015

Compendium:• What is Customer Service?

Who are our customers and what do they need?How do we rely on technology at work?Automating certain tasks is good for everyone.

• The Increasing Role & Capabilities of Technology in SocietyUnderstanding social mediaHow do define artificial intelligence?What are the drawbacks of technology?

• The Increasing Role & Capabilities of Technology in BusinessNew business technologyHow do we rely on technology at work?What are the limitations of technology?

• Handling Customer CallsHow are calls screened and routed?What jobs are currently automated?The Human Touch

Compendium.02:

• The Automation AlternativeTechnology influences metrics and performanceThe Seven-Minute ModelIntroducing: The Dialer

• The Changing Role of TechnologyThe future of inbound customer serviceHumans benefit from automationSmaller workforces mean more specialization.

• The Changing Role of Recruiting & StaffingSourcing better candidatesUsing exclusivity to drive recruiting Fewer positions means greater demand.

• The Changing Role of Human Resources ManagementFewer workers means better oversightImproving management as an alternative to outsourcingThe Dialer’s ultimate impact

What is Customer Service?

In working to develop a clear and effective training program for telephone-based customer service-related employees, HR must conduct an array of assessments which will be used to determine:∞ Company labor needs (past, current & future)∞ Job details, requirements & beneficial skills∞ Applicant vetting parameters∞ Performance metrics∞ Learning & teaching practices∞ Organizational culture conceptualization

The needs assessment component of successful training programs strive to include both Person & Task analyses (Youssef-Morgan & Stark, 2014).

∞ Telephone-based customer service agents represent a unique set of skills with regard to empathy, professionalism, patience, rapport building and a mellow personality combined with the ability to quickly and accurately navigate records and data while working to keep customers satisfied. These workers are the voice of the firm and have a direct impact on business.

Who are our customers & what do they need?∞ Understanding the desired character traits of the candidate for a position and having a clear picture of the job responsibilities for which you will be developing a training program are key to successful training (Badawy, 2007).

∞ The training of telephone-based customer service agents would benefit from interactive and conversational learning exercises.

∞ The heavy use of computer terminals and earphone headsets should be recreated in the classroom environment.

How do we rely on technology

at work?∞ The training of change and changes in the workplace can often be met with great resistance (Murray & Lynn, 1997). In a two-pronged training campaign such as this where both new-hires and current employees are facing training periods due to new technological roll-outs, the materials should be constructed in such a way as to speak to both new and veteran company information systems users.

∞ Understanding the job of the telephone-based customer service agent will require a full complement of new computer interface screenshots to be used as orientating handout materials. Keys and legends are invaluable in this regard. Slides of these screenshots will also be used for classroom presentations and could serve as group activity focal points in the earliest days of training. This helps orient new users to the experience of the shared task.

Automating certain tasks is good for everyone.Training must be used to promote the positive implications of automation. The changing sets of tasks could prove difficult to teach effectively without the trainers first each mastering the new technology personally.

“What does the new system do?”“How will it make my job harder?

“Why does it work

that way now?”

“Do we need to know

that?”

The Increasing Role & Capabilities

of Technology in SocietyThe Need for Automation

∞ Machines save time

∞ Machines make fewer errors

∞ Machines can work 24/7

∞ Machines do not require training, incentives, motivation, time management monitoring, or any other HR resources

The Need for Humans∞ Customers prefer human contact.

∞ Humans can solve problems and find the answers to questions.

∞ Humans can make decisions based on empathy and unique circumstances.

∞ Humans can listen to customers

Understanding Social Media∞ Finding ways for trainees to relate to the use of modern technology in their daily lives.

∞ How has technology changed during the trainees’ lifetime?

∞ What is the future of technology in the workplace?

How Do We Define A.I.To first understand Artificial Intelligence, we must determine the needs a non-human “consciousness” serves and the fundamental goals it might attain where humans can not.

Secondly, we must decide what separates humanity from all other life. Do reason and logic a human make? Creativity? Emotion?Compassion, empathy and a desire to learn, teach or understand? How do emotions serve business? The customer service agent?

Which of these traits can we program into a machine and which of these traits can we afford to sacrifice in order to achieve a perfect, capable and trustworthy technology?

The Short Evolution of Robotics350 B.C.Archytas’

Pigeon

1495 A.D.

DaVinci’sArmoredKnight

1801Joseph Jacquard’sAutomated Loom

1940Isaac Asimov’sThree Laws of

Robotics

1966Stanford Research

Institute’s (SRI)“Shakey”

2011IBM’s Watson

What are the drawbacks to modern technology?Why Machines?• Training involves not only imparting

functional knowledge, but the transfer of organizational information:– Goals– Mission statement– Identity & branding– Corporate culture (Youssef-Morgan & Stark,

2014)

• Integrating the new functionality of the updated systems with new standards will work to thwart fears of change and pushback. Veteran workers will not feel forced to live up to old metrics using new technology; this breeds disdain.

• All workers will begin on equal footing.

Why Not Man?• Call times are calculated from the

moment the phone is answered. Computerized routing has been an industry practice for two decades.

• Imagine modern hold-time with humans still in charge of transferring calls to the proper department.

• Human workers spend unnecessary time handling simple information requests that can be handled via automation (Murray & Lynn, 1997).

• What does this new “free time” mean to phone workers? How will performance be monitored?

• HR’s evolving understanding of metrics and performance appraisals. Influencing job satisfaction reports and productivity.

Introducing New Technology

∞ Introducing “the Dialer”

∞ Specifics of the system; new responsibilities

∞ Increased capabilities and an innovative learning process; how workers can teach the Dialer

∞ How trainees/retrained veterans might perceive the Dialer; mention revamped metrics

∞ Overcoming perceived threats to job security and the future; HR’s move from recruiting/staffing to training and performance monitoring/reward

Without Everyone

Freaking Out

Technology @

WORKSPECIFIC – Learn the DialerMEASURABLE – Periodic ExamsATTAINABLE – 6 Weeks Paid TrainingREALISTIC – Training not WeedingTIMELY – Hands-on Experiences

∞ SMART objectives are a critical component of well-developed training exercises (Youssef-Morgan & Stark, 2014). Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

∞ Based on needs assessments, the SMART training objectives for ‘Integrating with Technology’ are clearly defined for trainers and will be strictly focused on for the first-half of Training Day 1.

∞ Development of these objectives provides a roadmap for trainees and trainer alike.

∞ Introduce HR SMART Council volunteer opportunities!

Developing SMART objectives?SPECIFIC – _____________________MEASURABLE – __________________ATTAINABLE – ___________________REALISTIC – ____________________TIMELY – ______________________

How are calls screened & routed?

∞ Explaining how the Dialer will function ∞ The Dialer’s ever-increasing workload ∞ Time-saving customer account access ∞ Customizable interface preferences

CustomerServiceGatekeepersThe Dialer

Can it be self-serviced?

Who takes the call?

Does it require escalation?

Exploring Automation in the Workforce

Veteran workers will demonstrate more resistance to the Dialer than

new-hires.

• What other industries have benefitted from automation?

• Where are workers happier working alongside machines?

• How can training exercises work to assuage fears?

• What does this training course provide that workers couldn’t learn on their own?

Automation increases worker productivity on

more important matters by freeing up time

otherwise spent on trivial tasks.

The Key to Success: The Human Touch

∞ What kind of tasks cannot be automated?

∞ How do people respond to machines in business settings?

∞ What are the advantages of live operators?

∞ Is there public resistance?

∞ Is the Dialer the future?

Machines Building MachinesThe implementation of the Dialer will significantly reduce the company’s labor and man-hour requirements. With more than 60-percent of current call volumes expected to migrate to the Dialer queues, the need for human operators will be bypassed in all but the most challenging of customer situations. However, as an integral component of this automation migration, human employees need to continue to feel valued, challenged and satisfied with both the company and the workload.

The Automation Alternative∞ What are HR considerations?

Does less hiring mean less recruiting? Or, does it mean more time for more focused and/or specialized recruiting?

Do fewer new-hires alter the need or requirements for training objective development? How do needs assessment parameters change with fewer employees needing to be trained?

How important is change management?

HR responsibilities may ease up with automation and fewer workers, but what does that say for the future of HR?

The Changing Role of

Technology

Fewer open positions means greater demand from candidates; quality of candidates increases.

Providing job-specific training is an investment in the employee; this represents a real and quantifiable cost to the company.

Performance management becomes easier to monitor, define and adjust with better technology.

Training effectiveness is easier to determine and regulate with smaller, more specialized groups of worker populations.

Evaluating both the short- and long-term effects of training will be partially integrated into the Dialer’s capabilities. The system is designed to provide management with real-time red flags which allow for immediate management intervention for the purposes rectifying and noting incongruent worker behavior. This behavior will become routine for front-line management and will in turn teach the Dialer’s learning engines how to respond to similar circumstances in the future. The Dialer also monitors call compliance.

The Changing Role

of Recruiting &

Staffing

Why are Staffing & Recruiting priorities shifting toward a Learning and Development-based model? Who benefits from employee training?

HR’s responsibilities are divided into a number of areas. Recruiting and staffing are traditionally among the most labor-intensive and time-consuming duties assumed by the department (Vanderbroeck, 1992). Attracting qualified talent has become an increasingly important aspect of recruiting. The current employment market is difficult for young people, recent graduates and older applicants looking to make a career change. Recruiting on college campuses remains one option; recruiting those people who are dissatisfied with their current job, but who have not yet begun to look for other work are one target demographic.

The Changing Role of Human Resources

How does HR begin to shift its priorities from staffing and recruiting to focus on increased training and development projects?

Where does HR begin to look for high-value applicants? Does social media continue to play a role in recruiting?

How does the application encourage/discourage possible candidates?

Do our vetting practices need re-examination in light of the Dialer’s implementation?

What kind of experience and educational background should the firm pursue?

RECRUIT!HIRE!

TRAIN!EX-

TERMINATE!!!

References and Source MaterialBadawy, M.K. (2007). Managing human resources. Research Technology Management,

50(4), pgs. 56-74.Bielenberg, C. (1992). Winning the customer service war. Managing Service Quality,

3(1), pgs. 411-416.Murray, M.A. & Lynn, M.P. (1997). Business process re-engineering/information system

development to improve customer service quality. Business Process Management Journal, 3(1), pgs. 9-19.

Vanderbroeck, P. (1992). Long-term human resource development in multinational

organizations. Sloan Management Review, 34(1), pgs. 95-102.Youssef-Morgan, C.M. & Stark. E. (2014). Strategic human resource

management: Concepts, controversies, and evidence-based applications. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.