THE NEED FOR LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT | Call Center

Supporting learning and development is important for a number of reasons:

• The industry is increasingly competitive and any centre (commercial/ public/not-for-profit) that does not support learning will find itself trailing behind more enlightened organizations.
  
  
• Call centres employ approximately 1 to 2 per cent of the working population in many countries and consequently are an important part of their economies. In some regions as much as 4 per cent of the population are employed in call centres.
  
  
• There is a significant local, regional and national economic imperative to ensure that the contact centre industry is successful and this can only be achieved through well trained, skilful and knowledgeable staff.
  
  
• The call centre industry has become a major part of economies worldwide and if they are not functioning effectively the impact will be felt widely across each economy.
  
  
• Call centres are frequently at the centre of organizational restructuring. Without educated and knowledgeable staff all efforts in other parts of the organization will be severally hampered without a well functioning call centre.
  
  
• Learning and development provide a key competitive advantage for organizations.
  
  
• There is insufficient information about the nature of learning and development with which to make an informed assessment and evaluation.
  
  
• A holistic picture is needed regarding learning and development.
  
  
• Inbound calls are increasingly viewed as an opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell. The competencies for selling are sometimes quite different to handling regular inbound calls.
  
  
• Call centres need further information with which to benchmark themselves and identify best practice in learning and development.
  
  
• Training helps retain and motivate employees.