Assignment No.

01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

Continuous and more frequent monitoring system and chances of identifying the causes of complaints. If the call monitoring performed effectively it is the best way of evaluating employees and identifying root cause of customer complaints, with regard to the call center performance. Along with this benefit monitoring can contribute towards provision of information for key management decisions, customer relationship improvement initiatives, targeted training with the identification of training needs exactly and quality improvements of processes efficiently and effectively. Effective complaint management ensures the customer satisfaction, retaining and attracting new customers successfully in a competitive market. Arguments for, Most of the complaints of Topinhar indicates that they only deal with a disembodied voice and, or their problem is not resolved quickly. This indicates that there is a long waiting time with the automated answering machine; this may be because of short of staff. Lack of knowledge and skills of the call officers to deal with various types and levels of the problems leads to search for facts while the customer is waiting on the line. Monitoring the length of call waiting times will help in identifying whether the call center is understaffed to deal with the number and frequency of calls they are getting. By monitoring the rate of problem resolution, may be how many in each ten calling customers get fulfilled their ultimate purpose of calling the call center could be assessed. The behavior pattern of employees could be identified, such as whether the call officers are demotivated, tired, neglecting the queries, answering in an irresponsible manner or ignorance of certain parts of the inquiry. Monitoring will help Topinhar to identify the weaknesses which causes the complaint of customer and improve customer service strengths. Benefits It improves the overall quality of the services of the organization. As the employees are aware that they will be monitored at any time, they always perform well in order to boost their reputation and best assessment in their performance appraisal. It also helps in the over all development of the employees. Management can identify the highflyers and the training needs could be identified for the average or poor performers. Customer expectations and perceptions of quality could be identified and organization strategies could be directed towards achieving or delivering optimum customer satisfaction. The effectiveness of the customer service strategies, the extent to which the independent departments need to share the processes, the extent of knowledge sharing needed to satisfy and delight the customer along with reducing the complaints could be identified. Arguments against, In fact only based on the call monitoring the causes of the customer complaints cant be identified completely. The causes like technical deficiency, call officers capacity and call officer behavioral influences in customer satisfaction could be identified. However, the other possible causes of complaints such as the knowledge level of customer, the services available and provided by the other service providers where the customers will be comparing Topinhar performance with the available options in the market, the sophisticated level of customer specification and expectation and switching

Assignment No.01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

tendency of customers and costs from Topinhar to some other insurance company etc cannot be identified by call monitoring. In precise the call monitoring can help us in identifying the internal weaknesses that causes the complaints but not the external influences on customers those triggers the complaints. Drawbacks, Frequent monitoring is resulting in a decline in the quality and customer service, along with an increase in their stress levels. Also the call officers were feeling more stressed and less satisfied with their jobs, and even leaves the job. The knowledge that they can be monitored any moment is a major factor in causing stress. It is evidenced by the staff turnover in Topinhar in recent past. It creates a feeling of social isolation because of the feeling that they will be monitored anytime everybody will be focusing on their calls much without being socializing with each other. Where the second most commonly identified motivating factor in call centers for call officers is relationships on the job with coworkers and peers. There might be causes of the complaints pertaining to Topinhars competitor strengths, where the customers might compare competitor performance and demanding more services from Topinhar, expecting that Topinhar should give them the best. Only by call monitoring this cannot be identified. Thus, call quality monitoring is an essential part of the call centers and cannot be done away with. It has to be carried out on a positive note. The organizational objectives of a call center such as Improving productivity with less operating expenses, retaining customers, generating revenue, delighting customer by providing outstanding customer experience, increasing use of self service system and improving the perception of the call center can be achieved by an effective call monitoring program, which identifies the customer expectation to certain extent & the internal weaknesses of the processes and staff. As the drawbacks outweighed by the benefits of the call monitoring it is clear that the call monitoring will contribute towards identifying the causes of customer complaints if it is implemented effectively with the following components in place, Components to be in a successful call monitoring program Representativeness of the calls monitored should be reasonable. Since monitoring uses a sample number of calls to be observed and based on which the whole population is studied , calls must be monitored across all hours of the day, different days of the week, start of the shift, peak hours, end of duty. Objectivity of the study or monitoring must be constructive. Monitoring to be effective it has to be customer centric and work backwards in deciding on the improvements. Address the issues of customer first. The feedback should be timely and focus on specific changeable behaviors, rather than wider outcomes. Discriminations between competencies should be taken in to consideration. In monitoring there should be distinctions between different skill levels. Effective and ineffective behaviors with regard to

Assignment No.01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

the particular problem of customer should be assessed. As a result the strength and weakness of the process and the employee will be identified. The rating should be reliable with consistent standards irrespective of working hours and favorite subordinates. It has to be valid and accurate, ie the extent to which the monitoring contributes towards assessing the customer satisfaction and identifying problem has to be assessed and it must confirm that it serves the ultimate purpose, where in Topinhars case it is identifying causes of customer complaints. Above all the purpose and objective of the monitoring system has to be well communicated and explained to the employees in a way that it creates a collective motive to resolve the customer complaint rather than giving a feel of being spied. The best monitoring program typically has simplicity, fairness and consistency. In Topinhar the method of monitoring is remote real time method, in which the supervisors will be in a different place from the call officers and listen to the conversation. The ways in which certain aspects of the organization and its practices impedes the optimum performance of the call officers. Less responsibility on the job performed, but have to have extensive knowledge of organizations products and policies and corrective measures. Where there is less responsibility relies with one person the ownership of the process could not be created. Since there is less accountability there will be less motivation in performing well. Basically the service employees have the greatest job satisfaction when they believe they can give customers what they expect. Increasing workload causes pressure and psychosocial stress, which leads to less concentration on work, fatigue and creates customer dissatisfaction. Increase in workload leads to impairment of performance such as longer customer call waiting time, pending tasks and finally loss of customer to the competitor. In Topinhar there is a 24 hours shift and three groups of people working on a days all 3 shifts. Since most of the customers are from Thailand majority of the inquiries are during Thai working hours. Even though more people work during day time work is increasing. The greater number of unhappy customers that the agents may receive in their 8-hour working period is considered stressful to them. The reason for this might be the agents may get tired of taking calls of thinking that the next customer might also have the same scenario with their previous customers. The organizational systems are not up to date, as a result the calls need to be re routed, where the customer dissatisfaction arises. Some times to resolve matters call officers might need to contact other employees in the other divisions, especially when a new product launched they need to make further inquiries to increase their knowledge to answer customer questions. This leads in delays and to situations which demands more coordination. Even one link of the call route fails to provide the correct routing and solution the whole process will get scrambled and causes incompletion of task. As a result the motivation level created by satisfaction of task completion decreased and impedes performance. Customer complaints are defined as indication of that the service does not meet the customer expectation. Increased number of complaints demoralize the employee performance.

Assignment No.01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

Change over time of shifts is only 15 minutes during which only the important information could be shared. There are less chances for discussing about difficulties encountered, level of sophistication of the customers etc. Lack of performance will be caused by reinventing the wheel. Sharing desks leads to little chance to establish or control personal space, this leads to less feel of ownership of the workplace and organizing things which leads to lack of motivation and lower performance level. Topinhar has the fortnightly roster, where people working 10 days straight and then having 4 days roster days off. Continuously the staff are working for 10 days creates tiredness and monotonous and large proportion felt bored because they did the same thing all day every day and did not often have the real sense of the outcomes of their calls with customers which causes monotonous and fatigue.. The call officers are unhappy because they did not get much chance to make friends with their co workers, since they were on phone call all day. But one of the real motivators in call centers are relationships on the job with co-workers and peers. The need for mixing up and socialization remains unfilled the workers will be demoralized and it hampers the performance. As a result of call monitoring, decline in job satisfaction with the feeling of mistrust, where the employee feels that the supervisor or manager does not have faith on him and less autonomy and as a result the productivity impedes by demoralization. The first most motivating factor identified amongst call center employees is positive leadership skills of supervisors. Stress levels and job dissatisfaction increase when workers feel they have no control over their jobs and when there is a lack of trust in the work environment. Changes could be introduced to overcome the current problems of performance of the call officers. To overcome the problem of feeling less responsibility, Topinhar have to make the call officers own the job. Make teams which are focal points for certain divisions of the product category and direct calls and queries. To make the teams effective people from different parts of the organization could be put together in to teams. They dont have to sit together but the knowledge sharing and learning from peers culture can be established. Being part of a team helps them work harder with their team members toward a mutual goal. This concept is fundamentally different from performing or competing solely as individuals, which generally fosters a sense of competitiveness, as well as a reluctance to assist their co-workers. To improve customer satisfaction through improved accessibility of information all departments must come together to harness collective knowledge, creativity and initiative to provide outstanding service. Customer service excellence is no longer just the responsibility of the front-line staff of the call center, and must receive commitment at all levels within Topinhar. In order to be truly customercentric, an enterprise must integrate its entire range of business functions around satisfying the needs of the citizens while containing costs, leveraging technology and embracing a customer-service culture. Becoming customer-centric requires an organization to focus on processes that are customer friendly, staff that are dedicated to excellence in service delivery and customer communication. Topinhar must manage the customer complaints efficiently by applying some of the best approaches in handling customer complaints, which includes train and empower call officers to resolve the problem in first contact, make easy for customers to complain through extensive use of hot lines, enter
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Assignment No.01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

complaint data in fully automated and integrated information system and analyze and use data to identify the root cause of dissatisfaction, consider complaints as feedback and opportunities to improve, record, analyze and report complaint data to the top management, manager should develop recommendations to improve core processes and implement those recommendations. To deal with the increased workload and pressure, more number of call officers and call lines could be employed. Also the existing call officers can be given training and develop their answering capability and knowledge about various products and policies. The organization database can be established and updated frequently, which provides details on line which helps in efficient answering of customer queries. In this training the lesson of diplomacy and patience in answering questions could be focused. The updated information can be made available in an intranet portal and e learning facilities could be promoted amongst all the call officers. This e learning platform can promote set of behaviors, which aimed at ensuring the customer is looked after well and satisfied. In order to promote knowledgeable, consistent and responsive approach to delivery of customer service within the organization, Topinhar should develop a comprehensive customer service training program which is mandatory for existing employees and requirement for the future call officers. Minimalist behavior of people should not be encouraged. These people thinks that they should do no more that is absolutely necessary to keep their job. In a call center, where everyone has a certain amount of calls to be handled, this behavior creates more work to peers. At the time of recruitment and selection the attitude of the candidate should be examined to ensure that he or she is willing contribute his or her efforts in to a team performance and ready to knowledge sharing, work sharing, assisting in need and to learn and accept responsibilities. Screening potential call center employees requires finesse and psychological insight. You want to hire people who will build an instant rapport with customers. One smart move is to administer personality tests, such as the Myers-Briggs inventory, which will give you insight into your applicant's strengths and weaknesses. Myers-Briggs tests four axes of personality: introversion/extroversion, intuitive/sensing, feeling/thinking, and perceptive/judging. Employee replacement with relief call officers while the employees are on leave makes less pressure on the present ones. Handling stress properly will help bringing improvement and stress can be addressed immediately in order not to make the situation worst. Facilities like fitness clinic, yoga, sporting room, entertainment room, and massages can help agents overcome stress. To avoid stress the following tips might help, * Smile and be happy. * Dont take the bad comments personal. * Dont involve in an argument. * Try to fix the problem of the customers. * Understand the root of the issue To deal with the problem of increased number of customer complaints the process of handling calls could be reviewed and can apply BPR techniques to process improvements in order to eliminate the component which are non value adding to the customers. Continuously measure and improve work processes by implementing innovative ideas, applying appropriate technology, training staff to be helpful and knowledgeable and encouraging teamwork. The gaps in the provision of services could be identified through staff interviews in the areas such as corporate culture, decentralized customer service, inconsistent service standards and process
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Assignment No.01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

documentation, staffing levels and training and information technology. Corporate principles of Topinhar could be modified in order to support excellent customer service, with principles such as we will be fair and honest; we will be courteous and helpful; we will be flexible and use common sense judgment; and we will use feedback to improve service etc. In a customer driven, competitive, dynamic and complex market with many influencing factors the services are expected be better, quicker and effective as well as economical. Topinhar should achieve the optimum level of customer satisfaction, but not in the expense of their employees. The management has to realize that the organization cannot make the customers happy as long as their employees remain unhappy. When channeling through basic points before the customer gets useful information, the customer might get annoyed. Call officers should be instructed to provide on the spot focused answer for the question and after the customer selects the policy or product, a pamphlet or information leaflet or even a briefing could be given before he enters in to the deal. Supervisors with good interpersonal skills, competent communication skills, professional, sound knowledge of policies, procedures, call officer duties, consistent behavior, quality of patient and helpful in training and act as a mentor and model the behavior can be developed or employed to improve the motivating job factor in Topinhar. Loyalty and productivity are concepts that cannot be purchased through mere incentive provision. It has to be earned through the identified values of strong leadership and a peoplefriendly culture. Vitality program aiming enhancement of the personal well-being and effectiveness of the call officers, through advice on exercise, nutrition and mental resilience, counseling and maintaining a improved work life balance will lead to improvement in performance. Topinhar can have socialization programs in place and create friends circle, cliques. Sense of belonging and mutual caring, fun and sense of family can be promoted, which will result in a greater motivational acceleration. Performance management and measurement systems could be adopted to enhance call officers performance and customer satisfaction. A set of well defined service standards should be developed and communicated to employees at all levels. The development of service standards brings consistency and reliability in delivery of services across the organization, the customer experience, and customer interaction. The standards could include the telephone will be answered in XX number of rings, the acknowledgement messages of the voicemail messages will be sent to customers within XX number of hours, greeting the customer when answering the calls, if the customer is upset apologize etc. Measure the performance against the standards and identify areas for improvement in order to improve service delivery and accountability of tasks and continuous quality improvements, as per Kaizen theory.Connect the incentive programs to customer satisfaction and team performance, which will help in fostering cooperation and coordination between employees and develop a one family norm amongst the staff. Call monitoring can be implemented with the cooperation of the employees in order to reduce the resistance to change. By the monitoring program can under stand the current state of customer service and how it is delivered. Since the call monitoring is one of the major factor creates dissatisfaction and hampers the employee performance, the changes or modifications need to be adopted in order to make it successful is stated in detail.

Assignment No.01- OB

Ms.Thanujah Muhunthan

Strategies to conduct a successful quality monitoring implementation in Topinhar, Explain the vision and reasons behind this monitoring system including benefits to customers and to Topinhar and to employees to the staff to minimize the resistance of change. There should be staff buy-in of the process, i.e the call monitoring program has to be well communicated and accepted by the call officers. To enable this the management should communicate the disadvantages of the increased number of customer complaints and dissatisfaction and convince the staff with emphasizing the benefits and positive outcomes of the call monitoring program in order to make them actively participate and support the process. The top management commitment has to be there. Initiate tasks to empower call officers in participate in the implementing process. Explain to the call officers that the call monitoring is not to catch the employees but to help improve customer service and to meet overall performance. By making them participate they can assist in identifying the causes of the customer complaints. Review the customer service goals and embed those in to the quality monitoring program and look for ways for improving the services valued by the customers and adds value to the organizational service. Create team culture and introduce team based recognition and reward programs. Make sure the telephony and IT sub-teams know their roles and responsibilities in carrying out their tasks. Inform them about the call monitoring implementation and create detailed project plans for each sub teams. By this the unforeseen complexities which cause customer complaints could be prevented. Educate the call officers and sub teams specific quality improvement goals and on purpose of the monitoring program. Introduce self evaluations and involve call officers in evaluation criteria. Appoint few call officers to system review sub team to represent agent feed back on what could be improved with regard to call monitoring program, where the kaizen theory of continuous improvement of the system itself can be in place in order to eliminate customer complaints. Benchmark the process with the best performer in the industry. Conclusion Topinhar have to review the plan of implementation of the call monitoring program along with the above suggested changes within the organization in order to escalate the performance which leads to customer satisfaction and reduces complaints. They have to have customer complaints to certain extent, which demands the innovation and continuous improvement in processes and keeps the organization in line with the market with better competitive edge.