Radical retraining of staff was clearly necessary, but there was a need to avoid the mistakes of the past in the way training sessions were structured.
Several approaches were considered. One solution was that management could improve 'quality control' of the worker's performance with customers. Management would inform the workers their phone conversations would be recorded and screened so this would not seem like a 'gotcha' method of enforcement. Screening would theoretically act as an incentive to improve performance, and problem employees would have personal meetings with supervisor to improve their demeanor with customers. However, there was concern that this would merely result in even lower morale amongst the workers. I pointed out that it was necessary, in customer service, to seem enthusiastic and caring, and the sense of being watched in a punitive way might prevent egregious errors from happening, but would not result in the type of responsive customer service we were seeking.
Instead, the company reviewed its training procedures, which were deemed insufficiently interactive. The training had been fairly stilted and limited, it was decided, as employees were taught from a company handbook. They were instructed to follow a script, which resulted in them seeming brusque rather than caring. Greater flexibility on the part of the representatives was necessary. Employees needed to learn to trouble-shoot possible problems in a more individualized fashion. A new program...
This program was successful because the company accepted responsibility for some of the errors it had previously committed in training employees. The focus of the retraining was not on apportioning blame for past mistakes. It was future-focused, and stressed improving the workplace for everyone, and reducing stress for both customers and service representatives alike.
Management had to think more creatively, and employees had to learn to think more creatively themselves when dealing with customers. "The distinguishing characteristic of workers who will retain their jobs will be the ability to 'add value' to the production process. This translates into being able to identify and solve problems at every level relative to the job function" (Paul 1995). The new approach taken by management resulted in a workforce better able to add value in the critical role they fulfilled for the company.
Reference
Paul, Richard. Critical Thinking: How to Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World
Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1995.
Excerpt retrieved March 25, 2010 at http://www.criticalthinking.org/articles/accelerating-change.cfm
Schafersman, Steven. (1991). An introduction to critical thinking. Free Inquiry.
Retrieved March 25, 2010 at http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html
