ASU Officials met with Management on Thursday 10th of November to discuss the implementation of KPI’s and targets in the contact centre. The ASU also asked questions generally about organisational change and the future for the customer contact centre.
KPI’s and Targets – How are they set?
World Vision indicated to the ASU that KPI’s were changed in the lead up to Christmas in light of a recent advertising campaign. World Vision anticipated that the campaign would result in greater supporter volumes this quarter. However, World Vision also acknowledged that it can be hard to estimate in advance the impact of an advertising campaign. They admit therefore that there is a lot of guess work in setting targets.
Targets will be reviewed each quarter. In the last week or two, client numbers have improved. However it looks like targets may have to be reduced into next quarter.
What if you don’t meet the targets?
Currently only 40% of employees are meeting targets. Management has assured the ASU that failure to meet targets should not in itself result in performance management. Team leaders should not simply be directing employees to meet targets “or else”. They should be talking to employees about the content of telephone conversations and providing training and assistance. Where an employee is having trouble meeting targets, the content of phone conversations should always be the main focus.
What about employees working on client retention?
Currently employees tend to convince about 28 – 32% of clients to stay with World Vision after they have called to cancel their sponsorship. The ASU has been made to understand that World Vision expects a number of things to be said and bases to be covered during a retention conversation. World Vision has indicated to the ASU that provided employees express these things, they will not be concerned about the employees’ actual rate of retention.
Organisational Change in the Business and Contact Centre
The ASU has been told that at this time there has been no conversation about reducing the number of employees in the Contact Centre. However, we can expect operations in the contact centre to be reviewed just as we have seen in other parts of the business.
If a program of redundancies was proposed, targeted reductions would occur in the following order,
- Labor Hire Employees – ie employees of Big Fish
- Employees on fixed term contracts
- and lastly… Permanent EmployeesFurther, if and when possible, an employee should be offered a redeployment to another part of the business before being made redundant.
The ASU has a wealth of experience in supporting employees through organisational change. Should you have any further queries or concerns don’t hesitate to contact ASU Organiser for World Vision, Andy Lewis on 0409 778 890.