Finance Co Call Center - Essay Example

Lecturer’s Submitted: Case Study Report on Finance Co Call Center Finance Co Call Center (FCCC) is a customer care center in the U.K that deals with customer inquiries and financial products such as share dealing, insurance products, mortgage services and investment banking among others. The call center offers the above services to Financeco, a financial institution. Finance Co Call Centerhas been in the market for eight years and elevating its growth rate of above 15% per year. It is located in Glasgow in Scotland and has a total of 1750 staff. Female employees make up 82% of the total staff, which shows that women are more attentive and patient in listening to customers and answering their questions. Marie Forsythe is the Operations Director of FCCC. Her function in the company is to ensure smooth running of tasks to achieve set objectives. Forsythe refurbished the call center by purchasing new office facilities and building extra offices. These changes were implemented to increase employees’ performance in work, but the progress has remained stagnated. Forsythe decided to carry out a survey on how to improve the performance of each employees thus contributing to overall output and improving the living standards of all parties. Introduction The key issues in the company include organizational change, workforce diversity, motivation, leadership, communications systems and social structures. Organizational change is an important issue in FCCC because of the rearrangement of workforce from the previous setting. The construction of new offices in different floors and new office facilities change employees work stationsby creating an open work station with desks that have wide computer screens. Teamwork is another key issue in FCCC because different teams work in different floors. This arrangement exists because of the new offices that divide different departments into different offices. Communication with other teams in different departments occurs through the telephones thus limiting personal contact or direct communication. Motivation in the call center is through recreational facilities, rewards, bonuses, healthcare benefits and a shopping center. Employees have a recreational facility where they relax during office breaks by listening to music and chatting. The company has a local gym that is designed to meet the needs of employees through exercise. Exercise is essential for the mental health of call center workers that perform under pressure. Workforce diversity is an importance issue in Finance Co Call Center because it improves socialization between male and female employees. The company has more female employees than male employees, which shows that female employees are inclined to customer care jobs in sharp contrast to men. The workforce consists of youths and young adults that work together to achieve a shared goal of career progression and improving their living standards. Problems facing Finance Co Call Center Autocratic leadership and management are evident in the call center. This is a style of leadership that does not include subordinates in decision-making, creativity and personal leadership. Supervisors in the company take the roles of the management team. They give orders, allocate work and monitor employees physically. These leaders select team leaders among teams in different departments. The employees cannot choose their own leaders, which means that they did not consent to the appointment of their leaders. Team leaders cannot make important decisions or call employee meetings. Taking such leadership roles are above the pay grade and position of team leaders. Employees might request for a short break in dire circumstances but the team leader has to consult the supervisor of the department before taking any action. These organizations policies undermine the creativity, dedication and leadership skills of team leaders and their followers. Poor inter-departmental communication increased after different offices were created for different organizational operations. Employees in Finance Co Call Center cannot communicate to employees in other departments through speech and facial expression, but reroute customer calls intended for different departments. This form of communication creates misunderstandings and lack of cohesion in the company. Another problem facing Finance Co Call Center is poor working conditions. The call center has a computer system that checks for available employee to answer a customer’s call, which puts pressure on employees because of numerous calls within a short period of time. Answering calls within a shirt interval does not allow employees to take notes about customers’ demands, which implies that the service delivery is low in quality. Finance Co Call Center also schedules shifts for other employees during the night hours. This is a problem to all employees because they share their work stations with different colleagues thus eliminating the chances of workstation personalization. Employees complain of promotions to only management team and few employees. Giving rewards to one employee and the rest to the supervisor do not motivate the teams in the company. Recommendations Marie Forsythe, the Operations Director FCCC should propose a democratic form of leadership whereby all employees are allowed to participate in decision-making and voicing their concerns. Companies that allow employees to contribute in the overall creativity enjoy higher returns and customer satisfaction (Bakan et al. 588). The company should also allow employees to interact socially and professionally by creating a communication link between departments and different teams. Effective communication in an organization consists of clear and simple to understand messages and positive behavior when conveying the message to the audience (Oconnorand Flin 113). Marie Forsythe should allow employees to personalize their work stations then set aside their personal belongings for other employees in the next shift. Employees spend 80% of their time in their work stations, which make their job areas their second homes. Forsythe should encourage confidence and dedication among employees by mentoring and giving them breaks. Mentoring and coaching is essential to understand the cultural context of each employee’s and their values. These factors contribute to the overall personal and professional objectives set by the employees. Teaching employees how to develop an effective emotional intelligence will help them handle work related stress and solve personal problems at home (Goffeeand Jones par 7). The company should appreciate and reward employees’ efforts in achieving desired results. Improving and facilitating the education of employees not only increases profits but also improves their living standards. Companies build teams in their departments to foster diversity and elevate the progress of slow performers (Hughes et al. 12). Action Plan for Finance Co Call Center An action plan is a set of activities that are carried out in an organization to solve problems and achieve set objectives. The first step into the action plan of FCCC is to schedule team meetings presented by team leaders of different in the conference room. The results of the meetings should be presented to the director of operations for enactment. Companies allocate resources for team meetings that allow innovation and cohesion among employees to achieve desired results (Jago 317). The next step in FCCC’s action plan is to schedule social events and conventions inside and outside the company to foster interpersonal relationships between employees. Social events include end-of-year, birthday and promotion parties. Good relationships in a company lead to effective communication because of respect, dedication and openness (Hollander 44). The company should set aside trips and vacations for teams that out-perform the others. According to Purdue University, company gifts encourage positive competition among groups and improve performance in completing a task within the stipulated time (par 10). Coaching and mentoring sessions should be administered to FCCC employees by professionals. This will improve the competence and confidence of employees in their work stations. Coaching and mentoring is performed to improve the skills of employees and understand their values, aspirations and set goals (Gallie et al. 4). Conclusion Finance Co Call Center requires the director of operations to identify and solve problems. Examples of problems include poor communication, bad leadership and poor working conditions. The company should encourage socialization during parties, promote employees to better careers, mentor and coach them, include them in decision-making and offer rewards. Works Cited Bakan, Suseno, Pinnington, Alex and Money, Allan. “The Influence of Financial Participation and Participation in Decision- making on Employee Job Attitudes”,International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15, 3(2004): 587-616. Gallie, Duncan, Zhou Ying and Felstead Alan. “Teamwork, Productive Potential and Employee Welfare.”Business Journal(2009) 84: 1-34. Goffee, Rob and Jones, Gareth.Interview. “What it takes to be an Authentic Leader.”2006:1-6. Jago, Allan.Leadership: Perspectives in Theory and Research. Management Science, 28, 3(2006):315–336. Hollander, Ethan. “Leadership, Followership, Self, and Others.” The Leadership Quarterly, 1 (2007): 43–54. Hughes, John et al. “Some Real Problems with Virtual Teamwork.”Sociology Journal. 2(2003): 1-16. Oconnor, Paul and FlinRhona. “Crew Resource Management Training for Offshore Oil Production Teams.”Safety Science Journal 41 (2003): 111–129. Purdue University.The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.Purdue U, Jan. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. Read More