Call centers have access to large volumes of information including customer data, workforce management, and performance metrics. Among the various metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that one can track in a call center, KPIs such as login time, received calls, hold time, after-call wait time, scheduled breaks, sales performance, transfer rate, and operational cost can provide valuable insight into customer behaviour.
Call center managers have a key role in enabling their team to successfully track these KPIs, record data, and generate reports. But, with numerous reports and systems mixed-up together, getting accurate and consistent reporting becomes an enormous problem for the call center managers. Managers often lose sight of what’s important amidst all their priorities and the sheer volume of this data can blindside them.
Too Many or Too Few KPIs:
Even though time-consuming, managing and tracking KPIs is a crucial exercise. Prioritizing the right KPIs enables monitoring results and drives specific behaviors that lead to the desired outcomes. Furthermore, narrowing priorities enables managers to focus their team’s energy on specific work that will improve the company’s overall performance and drive results.
The key to understanding how to identify and prioritize the team’s efforts in the right direction is in understanding the fundamentals of productivity. The big rock theory by Dr. Stephen R. Covey explains this well.
Finding Your Big Rock:
The Big Rock Theory is a productivity concept popularized by author Dr. Stephen R. Covey. In his book First things First. simply put, the Big Rock is your priorities – the things that really matter and are critical to your organization. You can identify your big rocks by using the SMART Goals (Simple, Meaningful, Actionable, Realistic, and Trackable) framework to help provide clarity and set expectations to get the desired results.
To find the big rock and identify priorities or KPIs, here’s a few questions that managers need to ask themselves:
- Is the KPI relevant to the team, client, or business goals?
- Do the employees have any control over the performance metrics?
- Is the KPI easy to measure?
- Does the KPI establish a specific and easy-to-understand performance goal?
- Can the set goals using this KPI be met in a reasonable amount of time?
- Is the KPI necessary for regulatory compliance standards?
Trindent works with financial services clients in identifying relevant KPIs that align with the organization’s goals. In Addition, we design systems and dashboards to track these KPIs by providing a holistic overview across an organization’s various programs and keeping the managers and staff informed and accountable for achieving results. Learn more about our results.
The author of this blog Falastine Kilani is a Senior Consultant at Trindent Consulting.