. To implement the suggested change in Qustion1, Apply the Intervention Strategy (Chapter 7: The three detailed Phases-7 Stages) to show how this Strategy can implement the proposed change. You suppose to select the tools and techniques proposed in these seven stages of the strategy- where applicable to the case study, but not all of them. In addition, you suppose to use any diagram explained in Chapter 6: Mapping as required.to support your implementation.

The Transformation of UAE Etisalat Call Center Case study

Introduction

In December 2014 Hamad, Head of Etisalat decided that the traditional model both he and his peers were using to run the UAE Telecomm giants contact centers were no longer providing incremental improvement. As Hamad reports, I knew from listening to customer demand that the issues were coming from other parts of the business but I didnt have a method or approach to influence change in other parts of the business.

This is a common problem for call center managers, mainly because they all run their operations in the same way. Typically, management have four main points of focus:

1. PCA percentage of calls answered, or the reverse equation, percentage of calls abandoned.

2. TCHT Total call-handling time, typically made up of talk time and after call work.

3. CSI Customer service index scores.

4. People management.

These measures and foci are ubiquitous in the industry and are used to control all facets of the business. For example if operating costs start to increase, then the manager simply adjusts the TCHT downwards. The assumption being that if more calls can be handled in less time then there will be an opportunity to reduce headcount and hence reduce costs.

If PCA starts to suffer, again the answer is to adjust the TCHT. More calls handled in less time means more availability. If there is a problem with the CSI scores, managers will typically ask the adviser to be extra nice or give them a script like after this call youll get a text about the service you received today, I trust you were happy with our service and youll take that into account when you get the text. In some cases managers even coach a focus on topical conversations, for example linked to where the customer lives, in order to build rapport and improve CSI scores.

The problem with these methods is the unintended consequences of their execution. TCHT is an arbitrary number, which is simply the output from dividing the number of expected calls by the number of available hours. This provides the manager with the time that must be hit if the center is to handle all calls. Typically this number is dished out as a target and advisers managed against the number. Those failing to hit their TCHT will be reprimanded. CSI can be, and is, manipulated by what advisers promise to customers and often it ends in a complaint.

As Hamad said I was fed up with the industry standard operating model, I knew it didnt work and simply caused problems for us in different parts of the business. I had been round this circle numerous times; I wanted to do something differently. I also knew that measuring total call handling time was driving the wrong behaviors but simply removing TCHT as a measure also made no difference.

Understanding the Problem

Hamad decided that the starting place was to do Check. Check is a term invented by John Seddon, head of consulting firm Vanguard. Vanguards Systems Thinking model allows managers to study the contact Centre from the perspective of the customer and understand the negative consequences associated with targets, incentives and badly designed processes and policies.

Hamad disclosed that, looking at my business from a different perspective was both an enlightening and painful experience. It made me see that some of the assumptions we use to run contact centers are completely flawed.

The high-level output of Check provided data in a number of areas:

1. The number of calls handled in one stop from the customers perspective.

2. The number of calls passed on to other areas.

3. The number of calls passed back to the customer with no resolution.

4. The number of calls where a commitment was made to further action, called Set Up For

Resolution.

5. The volume of calls deemed Value demand; a call related to the organizations purpose and typically a revenue generating call.

6. The volume of Failure demand calls; calls caused by a failure of the organization to do the right thing for the customer.

The results were not pretty but also not un-common in the industry.

75% of all calls into Good life were failure demand calls.

Only 33% of the calls were sorted there and then.

17% of calls were passed to another department.

4% were passed back to the customer without resolution.

46% were set up for resolution (known as SUFR).

As we did more digging, we found more problems, especially in the SUFR category. Many of the customers in this category assumed that their query had been closed when it had not. Typically an adviser would fill in a form to have a request fulfilled for a customer but as there were frequently long delays in resolution, the customer would repeatedly call back to chase progress (failure demand calls). To understand this further Hamad and his team started to study individual customer journeys.