Human Performance Management and Development In Contact Centers – The Total Quality Approach
By Jeannie Quek

In most social science research, the quality of performance measurement is assessed through technology. Today, to supplement technology measurement, the Human Performance Management and Development concept is view as a useful process to help an organization achieve performance optimization. In today’s market place, the business community, faced with intense and increasing competition now recognizes that quality is an important factor to be considered.

Given the broad and apparently increasing utilization of the Human Performance and Development, and Total Quality methodology, it is inevitable that Human Performance Management and Development plays a vital role in contact centers to ensure that service level, set objectives, and targets are achieved.
Human Performance Management and Development - The Quality Approach in contact centers evolves around the four-quadrant of human aspect of total quality to PLAN, ORGANISE, ASSESS and CONTROL and ASSURE. Utilizing this approach, the respective areas to be considered are Operations Process Development, Learning and Development, Call Quality Assessment and Monitoring and Continuous Process Improvement.

Operations Process Development fits in the PLAN quadrant. This is a process to design, map out and document the necessary processes which are required to be in place in contact centers. The outputs of this process include a documented Operations Manual, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Work Instructions. This will provide an organized and structured guideline in which contact centers should operate.

In the ORGANISE quadrant is Learning and Development, which requires the contact center professionals to be adequately trained in the necessary technical knowledge (i.e. on products or services offered) and soft skills (i.e. teleskills, customer service, problem solving and stress management) to perform their tasks. In addition, as part of their training and personal development program, a career development plan should also be in place for the contact center professionals.

Call Quality Assessment and Monitoring plays the role in the ASSESS and CONTROL quadrant. To measure the performance of the contact center professionals, calls are being assessed and monitored based on a set of call quality standards and criteria. The results of the call quality measurements can be further enhanced by the usage of call quality monitoring system and solutions.

In order to ASSURE continuous improvement in contact centers, continuous process improvement plans must be developed. The results tabulated from the call quality measurements can be used to develop continuous process improvement plans. Quality initiatives such as QCC (Quality Control Circles) and QAT (Quality Action Team) can be carried out to identify areas for further improvement and implement action plans.

Last updated - 30 April 2004