Call centres in the financial services sector
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Call centres in the financial services sector – just putting you on hold . . .
UniBank
UniBank was founded in the West Midlands during the late nineteenth century and by 1990 had become a traditional national high-street bank with branches in most UK towns and cities. Its main business is in personal banking and financial services for individual customers and small businesses. It has subsidiary business units which handle personal insurance, mortgages and share-dealing, but these are managed separately from the high-street banking concern.
The development of UniCall
By the mid 1990s all traditional banks were feeling the pressure of fierce competition in financial services, intensified by the arrival of new entrants such as supermarkets and other well-known brands. With an eye to the growing commercial success of direct line banking organisations, UniBank decided to enter the telephone banking sector, and has recently been able to improve shareholder value by switching a significant proportion of its general account management and enquiry activity to a dedicated call centre, named UniCall. This resulted in the closure of many smaller, unprofitable branches and the consequent need for redundancies. UniBank attempted to redeploy existing employees where possible, but also needed to recruit new staff to work in the national call centre. True to its origins, and mindful of the relatively high unemployment rates in the West Midlands, UniBank decided to locate UniCall just outside Birmingham. However, none of this was achieved easily, since the press and public expressed concern and dismay at the closure of so many small local branches, and there was strong trade union resistance to the job losses. Thus is it true to say that currently staff morale is low, that there is considerable anxiety and discontent with the new arrangements, and that the staff at UniCall itself are beginning to feel somewhat exposed as the debate about branch closures rages in the media.
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The work at UniCall
At present UniCall employs 150 staff and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on a 4-shift system. The majority of staff work on the daytime shifts. Staff work at sets of 4 desks, wear headsets with microphones to take the calls and operate terminals with access to all the required account and product information. Supervisors are responsible for each shift and there are two call centre managers and a deputy manager, one of whom is always either available at the centre or can be contacted by mobile phone. Pay scales are standardised; there is a starting rate of £15 000 which applies to newly recruited staff during their 6 months probationary period, after which they are placed at the bottom of a 4-point scale which rises by increments to £20 000. Employees proceed up the scale by annual increments until they reach the top point, after which further increases are dependent on promotion to supervisory or managerial work. Supervisory grades start at £22 000 and rise similarly to £27 500. There is no performance management system in place, and as yet the idea of an appraisal system has not been developed. UniCall is located in pleasant, airy open-plan offices which are nicely decorated and have good basic facilities including a snack and sandwich service, a rest room, a separate smoking room, and a kitchenette for the preparation of hot drinks and snacks; thus the ‘hygiene’ factors are fairly good.
Problems with UniCall
The history of UniCall has been mixed. After a patchy first 6 months, it seems to be picking up business very rapidly as customers begin to see the advantages of this service. While this is encouraging, it has led to a new range of problems. The existing number of UniCall staff is now clearly inadequate for the growing demands for the telephone banking service. Recruitment is under way but this is likely to place existing induction and initial training programmes under strain. Complaints are beginning to be heard from customers who are being ‘put on hold’ for anything from 30 seconds to 5 minutes during busy periods (especially early in the evenings and at weekends).
There are also problems associated with the use of the computer system itself; these centre on the apparent inability of some staff to extract accurate information about relatively simple enquiries, or the length of time that such interrogations take. Monitoring systems which measure the number and duration of different types of call add weight to these complaints, with enquiries relating to standing orders and direct debit arrangements appearing to take up to 50 per cent longer than they should according to the authors of the software. There have been customer complaints about rudeness, staff’s apparent inflexibility when dealing with complex account problems and the fact that different operators seem to give different answers to the same questions. There are additional knock-on effects for customers who prefer to visit their local branch. Here the problem seems to be that branch staff themselves have to telephone the call centre in order to deal with certain very simple transactions such as opening new accounts, and that they too are often kept ‘on hold’ to the annoyance of clients and their own considerable frustration.
The call centre staff are also beginning to complain about aspects of the work. UniBank carried out a staff survey 6 months after the start of the operation and again after a further 3 months and the findings of the second survey reflect the increased pressures by revealing a higher degree of discontent than that noted in the first survey. Workers say that they often feel very isolated from their colleagues, which leads to a certain unhealthy rivalry both within and between shifts. Many feel that they are ‘like battery hens’, working in an intensive manner, with little control over the number and type of calls which they receive 2728and limited opportunity to recover from one call before receiving the next. They are also under constant surveillance, with calls being monitored both to determine the productivity of the operators, and to check the accuracy of the information given and general quality of their work. This causes some resentment, and it appears that the operators often find informal ways to control the number of calls they receive and the time between calls. Some groups have worked out a method by which calls can be redirected to one of their number, thus allowing them all to appear busy while only one is actively taking calls. This way they take it in turns to give themselves an informal break from calls while still giving the appearance of working. On occasion this technique has been used to ‘soak’ new or unpopular members of staff, who find themselves the victims of such redirection, not realising that they are the only person on their team who is actually busy and appears to have a backlog. Supervisors are aware that this is happening, but find it very difficult to detect.
Some of the redeployed staff remain unhappy with the type of service they are being asked to give and find it too impersonal. On the other hand, some of the new recruits, especially in the younger age groups, believe that they work better and more effectively than other staff, and are beginning to feel that the standardised pay structure does not recognise or reward their individual skills and efficiency. Some are concerned about their employability and want formal recognition for their skills which would be transferable to other similar employers, of which there is an increasing number in the region. Indeed, UniCall has already lost a number of its staff to other local call centres which have a more varied clientele and better career prospects.
UniCall and UniLine, the future strategy
UniBank remains aware of the way in which the banking and personal finance sector is likely to develop and management recently decided to expand the service at UniCall to include the provision of mortgages and insurance, thus providing more of an integrated ‘one-stop shop’ service. Furthermore, work has already started on the development of an online banking system, ‘UniLine’, in parallel with the telephone service. UniBank has been somewhat late in its realisation of the importance of online banking, and thus finds itself at something of a disadvantage here. The new operation, UniLine, is located in the same set of buildings as UniCall, and urgently needs both programming staff and others with knowledge of banking and financial services who can help both to develop and run the initial trials of UniLine. It is also clear that if the local labour market is unable to supply this type of expertise at a competitive rate, then UniBank will have to consider alternative approaches.
UniBank and unions
UniBank recognises the UNIFI trade union. Membership increased at the start of the branch closure programme, but has been affected by redundancies and is starting to decline. Membership was always low at UniCall, where the workforce is relatively transitory and predominantly female (10–12 members on average). In addition, workers at UniCall felt that the union was concentrating too hard on resisting the branch closure programme to take an interest in the call centre, particularly since the call centre was partly responsible for job losses at the branches. However, there have been rumours about the possibility of 2829further job losses, this time at UniCall. This is because competitors in the banking and financial services industry continue to outsource work abroad, and because UniLine is likely to take over more of UniCall’s business and this is causing UNIFI to start recruiting more steadily at UniCall.
1.Identify and assess the key HRM issues at UniCall.
2.Recommend and justify HRM interventions that would improve business performance.
Also,
1) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
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SAMPLE ANSWER
HRM issues at UniCall
The rapidly changing business landscape implies that there are presently a lot of many human resource management (HRM) issues that would continue evolving for several years to come. HR practitioners who face various challenges utilize their leadership skills as well as expertise in averting issues which may stem from those challenges (Stone & Deadrick 2015). In this paper, the main human resource management issues at UniCall are identified and assessed exhaustively. Moreover, a number of human resource management interventions that would improve business performance at this company are recommended and justified.
HRM issues at UniCall
Inadequate number of staffs: at the moment, the number of employees at UniCall is clearly insufficient for the increasing demands for the telephone banking service. Even though recruitment is underway, it may place existing induction as well as training programmes under strain. Thanks to insufficient staffs, complaints are starting to be heard from clients who are being put on hold for even up to 5 minutes in busy times particularly at weekends and early in the evenings.
Rude employees and employees giving inconsistent responses to customers: it is worth mentioning that there have been complaints coming from customers with regard to rudeness of UniCall staffs. In addition, another HRM issue is employees’ clear inflexibility whenever they deal with complicated account problems and the fact that dissimilar operators appear to give dissimilar responses to the same questions. Branch staffs not conversant with simple transactions: in local UniCall branches, the staffs there have to telephone the call centre so as to deal with some very simple transactions for instance opening new accounts. They are also kept on hold to the annoyance of customers as well as their own frustration.
Employees at UniCall discontented with work: a staff survey revealed that UniCall employees have increased pressures and there is an increased degree of displeasure. Workers at UniCall reported that they usually feel isolated from their co-workers, which results in a certain unhealthy rivalry both between and within shifts. A lot of them feel as though they are battery hens since they work intensively with little control over the number as well as type of calls that they receive. They also usually have limited opportunity of recovering from one call prior to receiving the next call. Furthermore, employees at UniCall are under continuous surveillance and this causes some resentment amongst UniCall staffs.
UniCall’s employees uncertain about their employment: there have rumours at UniCall with regard to the likelihood of further job losses. This is because UniCall’s rivals in the financial and banking services industry continue outsourcing work overseas and because UniLine may take over more of UniCall’s business. Lack of performance appraisal system: at the moment, UniCall has not implemented any performance management system. As yet the idea of an employee appraisal performance system has not been developed. Pay begins at £15,000 and rises by increments to £20,000. The pay for supervisors begins from £22,000 and rises by increments to £27,500.
HRM interventions that would improve business performance
Recruit more employees: a major HRM issue at UniCall is certainly inadequate number of workers since the company is understaffed. This problem could be effectively resolved through hiring more staffs to reduce pressures on the existing staffs. The goal of human resource management is basically to develop and maintain a sufficient supply of skilled personnel who are adequately motivated to work effectively and offer outstanding service (Armstrong 2010). By hiring more workers, the existing ones would be less strained.
Increase employee morale and motivation: many employees at UniCall are discontented with work and their morale is low. Managing employees is a challenging and crucial task for any manager. Workers are often motivated by a range of factors which could be affected by management. Perceiving they are fairly treated, receiving effective supervision, feeling appreciated and valued, getting feedback, having opportunities for professional development, and understanding their job priorities can all help employees at UniCall to perform better (Maugans 2015). In addition, developing and maintaining an effective, equitable and fair human resource management system can help in motivating employees and increase their level of job satisfaction as well as efficiency, which could lead to improved service quality. According to Marler (2012), a vital part of a long-term strategy is to create a management and organizational structure for human resource management that is executed by employees and managers at all levels. A HR partnership between individual employees, HR professionals, supervisors, and senior managers is what really makes a human resource management system work (Allen, Ericksen & Collins 2013).
Properly train new hires and re-train existing staffs who are incompetent: training is usually carried out in order to upgrade the skill of a person or to add a new skill, which could consequently bring the change desired by the company (Maugans 2015). At UniCall, some employees cannot even deal with some very easy transactions for instance opening new accounts. This problem could be resolved by re-training employees at local branches so that they are conversant with such simple transactions and would not need to call UniCall. Training staffs at UniCall will help in fostering growth and development, will build self-confidence and commitment of staffs, and would produce a measurable change in employee performance.
References
Allen, M, Ericksen, J, & Collins, C 2013, ‘Human Resource Management, Employee Exchange Relationships, and Performance in Small Businesses’, Human Resource Management, 52, 2, pp. 153-173, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 August 2015.
Armstrong, M 2010, Armstrong’s Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, London: Kogan Page, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 14 August 2015.
Marler, JH 2012, Strategic Human Resource Management in Context: A Historical and Global Perspective. Academy Of Management Perspectives, 26(2), 6-11.
Maugans, C 2015, ’21st Century Human Resources: Employee Advocate, Business Partner, or Both?’, Cornell HR Review, pp. 1-4, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 August 2015.
Stone, D, & Deadrick, D 2015, ‘Challenges and opportunities affecting the future of human resource management’, Human Resource Management Review, 25, 2, pp. 139-145, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 August 2015.
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