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A place I worked for brought in outside people to help the department operate better. Nothing resulted and I recall a member of that team said he couldn't recall workers getting along as well as the members of my department.
Has your place ever brought in efficiency experts? What resulted?
This reminds me of the Bobs in the movie "Office Space." The Bobs were impressed with the main character Peter who turned into a total slacker at work as the movie's plot progressed. The movie is worth seeing if you are unfamiliar with it.
Not so long ago such outside people brought in to recommend changes within a company were so-called "consultants."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal
Therein lies the problem. Variance is the enemy to efficiency. Believe it or not, call center work can be constructed around an efficient process. For instance, you know all those options you get when you call...press 1 for x, press 2 for y. Having calls properly routed, then assigned to proper experts with the right computer systems, and yes, watching a clock for call duration can all be a part of process design.
In a previous job as a management analyst (no efficiency experts involved) I evaluated, purchased, installed and trained people on several systems that increased efficiency and while no one was laid off, made it possible to handle the drastic increases in work load without hiring more people. The telephone system for the call center (utility customer service) not only routed calls, but had a large digital display which at all times showed the number of calls waiting, average wait time, and number of hang-ups. The supervisor also had data on time spent on each call by every employee plus the averages, time with phone off the hook without a call, and other data for performance evaluation. Those employees with the best performance were offered the opportunity to work from home.
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They brought in consultants at one place where I worked. A few months later everyone who had similar job titles to someone else got laid off, as did a couple of guys who'd had medical problems within the past year or so. The thing was that not everyone with similar job titles actually did the same things, so there were problems after the layoffs with some people having to take on several jobs at once. The company is now out of business (sold to someone who closed it).
It means management can't even do their own jobs, in my opinion. In a shop I worked in they clamped down on OT and made everyone take comp time instead, then brought in the experts who said the lack of OT meant we were overstaffed, so they cut staff. People got overworked and the good people left.
Really what I think it amounts to is a CYA for management, in case it goes wrong they absolve themselves of the decision because they were just following the experts. If it goes well they take credit for hiring the experts.
A place I worked for brought in outside people to help the department operate better. Nothing resulted and I recall a member of that team said he couldn't recall workers getting along as well as the members of my department.
Has your place ever brought in efficiency experts? What resulted?
One place, a "tiger team" came by to help troubleshoot stuff that none one in our team wasn't trained to do.
Otherwise, as far as "efficiency experts" goes, cue up them numerous clips from Office Space!
EDIT: ninja-ed! Look no further than the first 30 posts for Bob & Bob clips!
And getting a customer who has all the info need in front of them, supplies helpful answers and understands what is being discussed, quick call.
OR a customer who has to go search for a document
Or a customer that barely speaks English
Or a customer that is on a bad connection where everything needs to be repeated 4x
Or a customer that just wants to be mad and doesn't listen
Or a customer that needs everything explained because they just don't understand
Variables. They exist. Trying to machinize human behavior. Variables. Unless the accepted range time/outcome for the call is wide, it's pointless.
You're missing the overall point. A call center can analyze data and learn that 90% of all calls involve 10 common complaints. If they maximize the efficiency of this 90%, then they will be able to have some flexibility in the 10% of the outlier cases you mention above. There will still be a measurable improvement in efficiency.
They brought in consultants at one place where I worked. A few months later everyone who had similar job titles to someone else got laid off, as did a couple of guys who'd had medical problems within the past year or so. The thing was that not everyone with similar job titles actually did the same things, so there were problems after the layoffs with some people having to take on several jobs at once. The company is now out of business (sold to someone who closed it).
Sounds almost like what happened at a couple of my previous employers. Only difference was the "efficiency experts" were internal higher-ups. It's like they focus on job titles, assuming anybody with the same job title does the same thing, but that's often not the case. So people get chosen for R.I.F. based mostly on job title, with lower-tier employees with lesser time in a given title most vulnerable, generally. And, both companies eventually went out of business.
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