Current training provision
At an operational level, all contact centre Customer Advisors receive standardised and mandatory induction training delivered face to face. Training on the contact centre's business process systems takes place on a simulated system and, increasingly, this will be done at the workstation. Other mandatory training (eg on compliance requirements) is provided face to face, via Multimedia PCs (MMPCs), the internet and the intranet. The deployment of technology applications for the business processing in the contact centres also requires ongoing training as new applications are introduced and upgrading occur.
Each individual agent has a learning plan and objectives (agreed by the individual and their line manager), and undergoes quarterly performance reviews. Performance is also monitored on an ongoing basis through team leaders who may also provide coaching, and through the call quality team who monitor calls through the 'callmark' process. At present, the data from training needs through to training records, performance reviews and ongoing monitoring is dispersed and much of it is treated manually. A new Performance and Learning Management System (PLMS) is currently in development and should start to be rolled out in 2004, with full roll out expected to take 2-3 years across the organisation. This new PLMS aims to address this issue. All training takes place on site. Trainers include former contact centre Customer Advisors on secondment as well as specific professionals from the University.
Training for the contact centre is planned annually by the contact centre management, with a specific corporate department dedicated to scheduling the training of contact centre Customer Advisors. Some training is linked to national qualifications standards. For example, the e-learning module piloted as part of the ICCA project will constitute one part of a programme leading to an NVQ level 2 qualification.
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