CALL CENTRE SKILLS

The level of knowledge and skills found in contact centres varies widely; for example, the skills required in telephone number enquiries are very different to those required in conducting a medical examination or counselling an emotional person. Also, the use of ‘first-contact resolution’ discourages the transfer of the customer to another adviser and results in the need to answer a greater range of calls. Screen prompts and lists of Frequently Asked Questions are helpful but not all customers fit into the standard framework.

Furthermore, the scope of the job may be wider in some areas than in others, requiring multi-skilling, eg local government call centres experience a wide range of queries and requests such as anti-social behaviour calls, refuse, highways, pest control, noise pollution, corporate complaints, Council Tax, Social Services referrals, and Housing and Housing Repairs. In effect, the levels of skills and competencies depend upon the business model. The skills used in contact centres are also difficult to describe because in many respects they are hidden:

Quality service requires that workers rely on inner arsenals of affective and interpersonal skills, capabilities which cannot be successfully codified, standardized or dissected into discrete components and set forth in a company handbook.

These ‘inner arsenals’ progress from being slow, explicit knowledge to quick, intuitive tacit knowledge that is not clear to observe. When NHS Direct call operators first begin they are very slow and methodical, reading the question then asking the question and then typing in the details. Gradually, the skills become intuitive, allowing the operator to listen more closely to the caller and follow a suitable protocol that is clinically safe. This can be critically important as the following remarks illustrate:

I use critical thinking. . . it is problem solving but all about not being robotic. Mental health calls is an example. ‘Can you give me the telephone number for Mind?’ ‘Why do you want that?’ You could actually put it on the health information queue, but why do they want the number? ‘Actually, I am sat on Cli on Bridge and I am just about to jump!’ Different call!

There is no clear agreement about the level of skills required in call centres. Employers and industry representatives present the industry as knowledge-intensive and requiring skilled employees with good interpersonal skills. On the other hand, many academics emphasize the repetition, routine and lack of control experienced by the agents.

Yet it would appear that the picture is more complicated than a skilled/ deskilled argument. The skills of contact centre advisers are not always acknowledged  because interactive service work is different to that of white collar work such as banking. Moreover, although a public perception exists that jobs in call centres are relatively easy, in reality they need a mixture of abilities, attitudes, characteristics and skills.