Call Centre Maintains That Ring Of Confidence
The Age
Saturday February 21, 2004
Family assistance or employment support services are all part of a day's work at the Moreland call centre. Carolyn Rance reports.
When the media reported last month on a Commonwealth proposal to offer jobs training to disability pension recipients, Centrelink phones ran hot with calls from worried pensioners.
Many of the 4500 workers at the nation's biggest single-purpose call centre spent the next few days explaining that it was to be a trial program and not the government's intention to force people into the scheme.
Being ready for the unexpected is something that staff at the 27 networked centres across the country are used to. Media speculation and off-the-cuff comments by politicians, as well as policy changes, can all spark concerns among their customer base.
Even when calls are routine, coming from people inquiring about their eligibility for benefits, payment dates and reconciliation notices, tact and an empathetic approach are needed.
``We are trained to understand the type of people we are helping and the sadness or helplessness some of them may be feeling," says Carol Brasher, who has worked at the Moreland call centre for the past five years.
A former personnel consultant, she previously worked in customer service roles with the Health Insurance Commission and Interflora.
At Centrelink, she divides her time between taking calls, supporting and assisting newer workers, carrying out call quality checks and helping team leaders assess training needs.
Stan Neely, manager of the centre, says because Centrelink work is complex, covering a wide range of services, most call centre staff specialise in just one or two areas. The 220 at Moreland provide information and advice on the Commonwealth's family assistance and employment support services. Some customer service operators work in just one of the areas but experienced staff, such as Ms Brasher, take calls from both queues.
Mr Neely says his workers need to be able to retrieve and explain complicated information: ``They also need good keyboard skills to record information about each customer contact as it is taking place. We try to get the work done while the customer is on the phone so the person goes away confident their issue has been dealt with.
``When we are recruiting, we look for people who can build rapport with customers and give them confidence."
Many employees come from the private sector. They often remain in government work for the long-term.
``Many of the people who leave our call centres go on to other jobs at Centrelink," Mr Neely says. ``The rest of the organisation thinks we're a great place to get people from. They think our people are really customer-focused.
``Centrelink is very career-focused and people can move into face-to-face customer service roles or administrative work or to Canberra and policy and procedural areas."
Each month of scheduled work at the Moreland call centre includes time for coaching and training. Certificate IV in Customer Contact is delivered on-site for people who want to gain a formal qualification and increased levels of performance-linked pay.
Ms Brasher is one of many of the Moreland staff whose working hours fit in with family commitments. She starts early each day so that she is home when her children return from school.
``We're not always able to accommodate everything a person wants, but we can usually come to a compromise that suits everyone," she says.
Carly Burton, whose work is similar to Ms Brasher's, says another attraction is the level of support provided to workers. New employees are given five weeks of training and are supported as they move to independent work.
While Ms Burton says frustrating or aggressive customers are rare, she feels able to cope with those who are and knows that she can refer them on to social workers if their circumstances are particularly difficult.
Mr Neely says the Centrelink network is an active participant of the nation's call centre industry. It benchmarks its performance internationally to make sure it is working in accordance with international best practice in the public and private sectors and its customer satisfaction surveys regularly show levels of 85 to 90 per cent.
In 2003, Ms Burton and her Moreland colleague, team leader Lucy Compagnino, were finalists in the Australian Teleservices Association Victorian awards.
Mr Neely says as well as providing full and part-time jobs and flexible hours where possible, management tries to foster a pleasant work environment.
Each month has a theme - February's encourages people to drink more water - and events with a fund-raising or social focus are held every few weeks.
But it is often events beyond the centre's control that add variety. With an election due this year, staff know they must be ready for the unexpected.
© 2004 The Age