Let the good times roll: Redefining 'call center' work

MANILA, Philippines - Working at a call center for over six years now has proven to be worth the extra effort, contrary to common perception.

While being at the front line of customer service may be more financially rewarding than working outside the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry, some misperceptions tend to make potential employees call center shy.

Twenty six-year-old Marc Espinosa, admits he was drawn to the BPO industry because salary packages are typically higher. “I’ve been in the call center industry for six years now,” shares the young agent who works at CustomerContactChannels (C3). “I started in the BPO industry in 2006 when it was still relatively young. The company I worked for was already quite established and had multiple sites in Manila. I was already a supervisor then, but I felt that the pay I was getting wasn’t really worth the workload I was putting in,” he shares.

But working for his current company, shares Espinosa, paints an entirely different picture. For one, the company walks the talk when it comes to the culture and core values it proudly promotes: open and honest communication, accountability, and recognition of its people. “The culture is different in C3,” says Espinosa. “It fosters happiness, encourages employees to realize their full career potential, and C3 makes work fun.”

Rules of engagement

Since people tend to spend more waking hours working than doing anything else, work happiness plays a huge part in overall happiness. This is exactly the principle behind C3’s unique and empowering culture.

“In an average call center, what the management team normally looks for are the wrong things being done. But what we do in C3 is highlight the good things,” says Director of Operations Kevin Urrutia regarding one of C3’s internal programs dubbed “MAD4C3”.

“MAD4C3 basically means ‘making a difference’,” Urrutia explains.

Some may deem this approach to agent engagement quite unconventional, but it actually gets the job done. Espinosa shares that working for C3 has made him more at ease with working at a call center. “It’s not always serious stuff at work. At C3, you can meet your targets and have fun at the same time. I enjoy doing my job not because I have to, but because I actually like what I’m doing. It’s a great environment that encourages us to be professional and have fun at the same time. It’s a more relaxing atmosphere, which actually motivates people to deliver better results,” he says.

Espinosa adds that it really matters that management encourages open communication at all levels. “Anytime we have a concern or issue we would like to address, or have an idea that could make us do our jobs better, our management is always willing to listen. That’s important to me,” he says.

Where smiles lead to profits

No matter what size a customer contact center business you work for, the same holds true: people are more productive when they have more positive emotions.

In an industry where the average monthly attrition (employee turnover) rate stands at 10 to 15 percent, C3’s is quite low. “Ours is at three to four percent (three percent to four percent) attrition. That’s a very big difference. The bottom line is if you show your people you care, they are better employees on the phones when they talk to customers,” Urrutia asserts.

Once an agent himself before climbing up the proverbial corporate ladder, Urrutia says that he knows what it’s like to be an unhappy agent. “When I worked as an agent 11 years ago, I wasn’t happy and motivated. At that time, nobody talked to me about my performance, I didn’t know what my goals were, there were no incentives in place, and I didn’t even know the boss of the company. I had no open line to talk to any of my managers,” he shares.

Having been exposed to the different aspects of the call center industry, C3’s management team—comprised of BPO industry veterans—knew that if they were to set up the company, they had to do things differently. “We wanted to take out all the negative industry practices,” shares Urrutia.

Today, the call center industry has completely evolved. The C3’s training methodology and how they track the performance of the employees are all well in place. At the end of the day, it becomes a profession of skill or will.