Software
company ICL aims to save £10m over the next two years by changing work
practices and culture in its IT support centres across Europe.
The company has implemented a successful change management programme in its
UK call centres over the past 18 months that has cut staff turnover by 30 per
cent. It plans to roll out the programme across Europe next year.
An employee advisory group was set up to examine the way staff handle calls.
It found that more problems would be solved and staff would have more job
satisfaction if the customer query was handled entirely by the first point of
contact at the call centre.
In response, ICL changed the way its 2,000 IT call centre staff worked. It
provided technical training that enabled staff to deal with problems better.
Steve Parry, business development and strategy manager for ICL, said the
increase in employee satisfaction and productivity will lead to significant
savings.
He said, "Call centres have traditionally been set up on mass
production principles. But to change the culture, we must change the way work
is done."
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HR had to review job descriptions, appraisals and remuneration once work
practices had changed.
Remuneration methods were altered to reward staff for the quality of service
provided, and their appraisals changed by measuring the way staff deal with
customers rather than the total number of calls.
