New Hire Training

[opsgal]

Hello:
Hope someone can give suggestions to a problem our contact center is experiencing in training new hires. We hire 20 new hires a class and do not have a "live training" system for the trainees to practice what they've learned. The structure looks somewhat like this:

1/2 day in classroom training, 1/2 day with a coach on the floor trying to demonstrate what was learned in the morning. It takes 12 weeks of training with this process. Causes inconsistencies throughout our 200 seat center and takes the coach off the phones for coaching, thus impacting our service levels. The conclusion of this is that it is extremely expensive to train this way.

It will take 1 year to get a training system. In the meantime, we are ramping up another 100 agents this year.

Any suggestions on how to bring consistency when 20 coaches are trying to demonstrate a learned skill when they do not have control over the skillset being delivered?

[Makwena]

Hi there !

After the classroom training , do the Agents breakway and do product role plays and present back to the rest of the team ?

Are you battling with product or systems ?

Regards

Makwena

Johannesburg, South Africa

[mgriffin01]

Can you provide any additional detail on the structure of your training program? What materials/resources are being used in training? What is the ratio of trainer(s) to students? To what type of software and technology do you have access in the classroom? Do you have a 'nesting' environment following training? Do you have training performance standards? What are your training survey results indicating?

If you can provide answers to some of the above I wil try to lend a hand.

[Michcall]

1) Are you giving training to the coaches with standards they need to follow? We found that on-floor training problems had less to do with the skillset of the new employee than with the different ideas of the coaches. Some train as it should be done, others as they would like it to be done, and others with all the shortcuts they develop over time. Also, some coaches use it as an excuse to not be productive and spend more time than necessary chatting. Not all good agents are good coaches. Coaches should be chosen by the supervisor or training staff and provided direction on how to balance coaching with productivity as well as on consistent practices for call handling that need to be reinforced with the trainees.

2) Rotate your trainees among different coaches throughout the training cycle to expose them to different styles. By allowing them to see a cross-section of agents, you can ask in the classroom what they observed and reinforce appropriate behaviors.

3) Try a graduated approach. Early in training, keep the trainees in class for a few days to give them the basics and run role plays with your trainers to reinforce basic concepts. Even if your center is system-dependent (looking up account info, tracing orders, etc.) you can develop scenarios that the trainees can work through without actually having a system (have cards with account info printed---the agent would have to identify they need to look in the system, and then pull a card to get the callers account info).

Next, send the trainees on the floor (doubled up to minimize impact on service level) just to listen and observe. Give them specific items to watch for and have the trainer walking the floor for questions. Coaches should be told to do their normal job and provide minimal coaching at this point.

Next stage: coach talks to callers while trainees navigate the system during the call. By listening to the coach speak, but not having that pressure themselves, they are more easily able to concentrate on learning the system. (The next stage would be the reverse of this----talking while the coach types. You would need to determine if both are necessary and which would be more beneficial. We used both and the trainees found value in not having to handle the entire transaction, allowing them to concentrate on the various portions of the contact).

Next stage: Talking & typing with a coach for one-on-one training. All other stages can be doubled up.

Last stage: Nesting.....taking live calls in a production environment with trainers, supervisors, or team leaders providing oversight to answer questions and smooth out call handling skillls.

Each stage need not last long---2-3 days in each stage unless your system or product is significantly complex. In between you should be soliciting feedback from the trainees in the classroom on what they observed to correct those behaviors that you don't want perpetuated.