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Improving Front-line Performance
Motivation, Measurement and Discipline of Front-line Customer Service Employees
An Extract from Improving Front-line Performance, a new research report published by the Ascent Group, Inc.
Measuring performance is fundamental to management control in any organization. The measurement process is the primary data collection vehicle for management, yet few organizations have a program in place for identifying, installing, and utilizing performance measures. As a result, many managers operate with a haphazard collection of uncoordinated and often irrelevant performance measures. In this situation, wasteful utilization of resources can go undetected for long periods of time, objectives may not be achieved, and actions to correct deficiencies often attack symptoms instead of problems. To correct this, managers must recognize that measuring performance is a basic need of an organization and a fundamental responsibility of management.
Most performance measurement efforts focus on doing things well, assuming that the department or organization is already providing the right products, services, and support to its customers. Often, performance measurement focuses exclusively on group activities and not the products or services that they provide. In a good system, the focus should be on a set of measures that answer the following questions:
- Are we providing the correct services to our clients?
- Are we providing those services in the best possible way?
Many organizations have not recently inventoried the products and services that they provide. Many have not discussed them with their customers or the departments and functions that rely upon them. Consequently, there is often a great need to go back and review the functions of the department in order to ensure that the right products and services are being provided.
Only after products and services have been determined should objectives be identified for the delivery of those services. Objectives are general statements about directions the company or department intends to take, usually without any specific targets or dates. Objectives should consider:
- What are we trying to accomplish with our products or services?
- Where are we going in the future?
Goals can then be established to support the mission and objectives of the organization. The goals defined should be strategic, tactical, and operational, depending on the level of management that is being supported. They may include definition of quantity, quality, timeliness, resource utilization, or customer satisfaction. Performance measures are specific standards that allow the calibration of performance.
Performance measures should be selected to support goals, objectives, and critical success factors. They are used to evaluate how well the delivery system is performing and to ensure that the correct products and services are provided.
The people who perform the work should be involved in identifying performance measures. Given clear objectives, employees will have a good understanding of what constitutes an effective level of service. Identify a small group of employees directly involved in providing the service. This group should represent a cross-section of the functions involved in providing the services. Not only are good indicators established, but also involvement produces a feeling of ownership or "buy-in" to the measures. People tend to support what they create.
The overall goal of a performance reporting system is to provide information on departmental resources and products and services that will encourage management intervention and result in improved efficiency and effectiveness. Positive and negative feedback can be a powerful tool for improving performance, accomplished through correctly administered performance measures.
Without a good performance measurement system, it is difficult to demonstrate the success of departmental alternatives or strategies. Measurement data can tell the group not only whether the objective was achieved, but also which strategy worked best. As organizations change, missions, end products, activities, critical success factors, and performance measures should be reassessed and realigned to ensure appropriateness.
Benchmark Study of Front-line Performance
The Ascent Group conducted research in early 2007 to better understand performance management programs for front-line customer service employees. This research was conducted in concert with additional research into the recruitment, hiring, and training of front-line employees. Forty-eight companies participated in our research.
The main objective of the study was to identify “best practices” for front-line customer service performance management. In particular, focus was given to understanding how best-in-class customer service organizations measure and manage their front-line, customer-facing employees. Secondary objectives included understanding:
- What are they key customer service metrics in place?
- What are the key attributes of a successful customer-facing employee?
- How are customer service standards established?
- What awards (monetary or other-wise) are in place to reward desired customer service behaviors and attitudes?
- How is discipline handled?
- Determining employee satisfaction
- Measuring customer satisfaction with front-line employees
- Techniques for helping employees deal with stress
- Motivational techniques
Participants were also asked to share management tactics and strategies, as well as identify any improvement in performance. The study also asked companies to include considerations, successes, and plans moving forward. The result of this effort is captured in our report, Improving Front-line Performance.
Study Findings
Nearly 70 percent of participants routinely measure customer satisfaction through external surveys. Another 10 percent rely on call quality monitoring to gauge customer satisfaction with service. Less frequently, participants track first call resolution or analyze customer complaints, as a measure of customer satisfaction.
Surprisingly, 8 percent of companies participating in our survey do not measure customer satisfaction.
Participants listed call or contact quality as the most frequently tracked customer service metric for front-line customer service employees. Handle time (transaction time) still figures prominently in the list of key metrics for many companies, as does total calls handled (productivity) and schedule adherence.
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