Professionalism, versatility, commitment and openness in communication are key competences that significantly affect the effectiveness of employees, but do not always go hand in hand. The role of HR and skillful blending are invaluable in this matter.
A Competence Bank in a Call Center
A call center is a place where dozens of competences of employees are accumulated against the background of the entire organizational structure of the company. On the one hand, they are closely related to individual processes and projects in the call center, while on the other hand, they relate primarily to the team’s knowledge and communication skills in direct contact with the client, which builds a competitive advantage on the market.
According to the report “Employers’ expectations towards university graduates”, carried out by the Careers Office of the University of Silesia, the most important of the hard competences are product knowledge (49%), industry orientation (75%), knowledge of foreign languages (59%) and the ability to operate equipment computer and office equipment (51%). When it comes to soft, behavioral competences, employers appreciate the creativity of the team, skilful management of both themselves during and during the project, communication skills, multitasking, responsibility and analytical thinking. In the call center industry, there is a focus on technical skills, i.e. efficient use of programs dedicated to customer service and specific knowledge, e.g. in the field of services offered. Moreover, competences are extremely important,
- Customer Orientation – a chance for 100% customer satisfaction, which has a positive effect on the overall customer experience
- Communicativeness – openness and reliability in the exchange of information with the client, responding to his needs
- Flexibility – compromise and efficiency in offering solutions for the client
- Professionalism – skillful problem solving
- Result Orientation – implementation of both qualitative and quantitative assumptions of the result plans
HR Activities – Blending of Competences
The task of the competency model in the call center should definitely take into account the specificity of the tasks of the employed people. HR activities in the company are aimed at, develop employees, learn about their capabilities and give them new challenges, and join them in teams whose members will complement each other in terms of competences and influence, for example, the value of the sales results of the entire project. Blending competences brings results thanks to intensified meetings with employees, workshops, individual conversations both at the beginning of their career path and during the course of the principle that every competency is measurable. This means that at different stages of employment, an employee may present a different level.
Cyclical competency research in the call center and their precise definition allows you to build a strong team whose employees have clearly defined positions, tasks and goals. In addition, thanks to the definition of competencies, it is easy to create a consultant profile and design new workplaces, based on the current results and paying attention to the variability of individual competences at different levels in the project. In addition, it is a great help in launching a new recruitment process and selecting suitable candidates for work or creating a service and product training program to increase efficiency.
It is worth remembering that the concept of company competency does not only mean the proper competences of employees. It is also a series of relationships, interrelationships at various levels of management and influences between employees of a given project, e.g. for a consultant, open communication and product knowledge are key, and for a project manager, task planning, efficient management and analysis of activities. The HR department focuses on building a coherent system, the task of which is to develop the competences of all employees who have an impact on the project, support them in the implementation of tasks, and draw conclusions.
Blending competences in a call center is a permanent process. It has a huge impact on the entire organization, all operations taking place in the company and the way it is managed. It is planning and continuous control of the effectiveness of activities and the introduction of possible changes to improve processes, therefore, in order to gain a competitive advantage in the industry, its successive implementation is a priority.