Call centres are big business, and in South African today, one of the main objectives for outsourced call centres is to obtain offshore business.

This business is currently being outsourced to India, which has become the world’s call centre Mecca. Mandy Todd, an independent call centre consultant for Avocado Vision says that currently South Africa does not enjoy a fair share of the international call centre market due to a number of reasons, the primary one being labour issues. Added to that is the fact that South Africa’s telecommunication costs are the highest in the world, and previously our VOIP facilities were not up to scratch, which has since improved.

Todd says that South Africa’s labour problems in the call centre arena stem from our education and skills challenges. In comparison, even though unemployment is high in India, the workers all have a certain level of education and skill. An international delegation visited South Africa a few years back to undertake an analysis of how South Africa could compete as a global player in the call centre market. Coupled with statistics from a survey undertaken by the Department of Labour, figures indicate that 20% of the South African workforce is skilled, with the other 80% semi –skilled or unskilled. In the USA, these statistics are reversed. Seventy percent of the US labour market is skilled, with only 30% falling into the semi-skilled and unskilled category.

The international delegation also found that the South African middle management sector has a big skills gap when it comes to the  management required for call centres. In international markets, call centres form the hub of a business, so it goes without saying that international companies will not outsource this vital component of their business to unskilled people.

Furthermore, South Africans often battle to understand the culture of the international business market. “Because English is not a first language for many South African employees, they may also experience problems in correctly interpreting written communications,” comments Todd.

Call centres are a highly controlled environment from a labour point of view. Everything is closely measured - from how many calls an operator takes, to how many calls they drop and how long they spend on each call. “It is a highly stressful environment because the operators have to deal with clients who are rude and dissatisfied and outright angry on a regular basis. This is coupled with the pressure they feel from having their performance measured so closely all the time. They also have to be up-to-date and able to operate the latest communication technology,” says Todd.

Due to all these dynamics, a very different set of management skills are required in a call centre environment. These skills revolve around motivating teams, understanding team dynamics and cultural diversity. Call centre managers also need to be equipped to deal with the stress of the employees and assist in diffusing and alleviating this stress.

In addition, call centre managers need to coach people for excellence, they need to understand call centre metrics, how to use these systems and procedures to the advantage of the call centre, as well as cost management and how to get more for less. Correct staffing is also paramount for a successful call centre operation, and managers, aside from staffing correctly, will also need to understand and implement cost saving areas with regards to staff and creating better working mechanisms.

Todd suggests that call centres should look at a different staff payment model. “They should pay staff based on performance instead of a flat rate, and in that way motivate a better level of performance and incentivise the staff,” she says. Call centre management is a people oriented role. In South Africa, managers are traditionally 80% task oriented and 20% people oriented. Internationally managers operate the other way around with 80% of their focus on the people that they manage. This indicates that the people component is definitely missing from the South African call centre management arena, which often results in unhappy labour and therefore high staff turnovers.

From all this, it is evident that training for middle management of the call centre industry is a vital component that is sadly lacking in South Africa. Todd recommends a dynamic middle management curriculum, a course that will result in a recognised qualification. To address this clear gap in the market, Avocado Vision, which was established in 1996 by interpersonal communications specialist, Juliet Newton, to specifically address the need for businesses to manage the ‘people connections’ interface, has developed a call centre management and discipline curriculum that provides a comprehensive training intervention for the middle management of call centre industry.

Among other things, this course includes a people component, possibly the most important skill for call centre managers. This section provides managers with the tools for effectively measuring staff performance and developing a compensation and recognition model. Motivating teams, being a good, inspirational leader, coaching and mentoring as well as handling of conflict and conflict resolution also forms part of this curriculum.

Call centre managers need a thorough understanding of the processes of the business. In a call centre environment, processes need to be well defined and followed to the letter in order to achieve success. This section of the course teaches managers how to establish and implement effective processes, the process workflow, supporting documentation and on-desk material for staff. It also provides managers with the skills to control, audit and improve on existing processes and teach them how to undertake a root cause analysis to find out where processes are failing.

Performance is key in any business, and call centres managers need to have an intimate understanding of the drivers of staff satisfaction, proper resource utilisation, the cost of poor quality work and the design and implementation of a quality staff programme. Lastly, the course looks at workforce management and equips call centre managers with the correct tools for staffing and scheduling on which each and every call centre is heavily reliant.

There are many training institutions that deal with bits and pieces of what is required for call centre training. “Leadership courses abound, as do those on people skills, but there is no comprehensive curriculum directed at the call centre market specifically,” says Todd, who goes on to say that the problem with most leadership and coaching courses is that delegates walk away unable to apply what they have learnt in the workplace. “That is because the knowledge is gained in isolation,” says Todd.

If South Africa wants to be a true global player in the international call centre market, it has never been more crucial for local call centres to reassess their operating mechanisms and staff training. “South Africa as a country needs to be able to operate in that international space, which will result in wealth and job creation,” Todd concludes.