Brad Cleveland lists 12 traits that best managed call centres have in common. These are traits like “they produce high levels of value,” “they have a supporting culture,” “they know that their people are the key to success,” etc. Definitely all desirable traits.
However, it reminds me of a discussion on “core competences” back in the 1990s. The reasoning – very much like the contact centre traits – was deemed a tautology as successful companies have core competences and how do you become successful? Right! Have core competences. And on the circle goes.
So, what do you do if you want to get these aspirational traits (or competencies) to become a reality in your company? This was the question I addressed in my PhD many moons ago. Typically the answer to this question had been “silence.” However, there are three principles to take to heart:
- Performance starts with YOU, your leadership Point-of-View, what you expect from people, what people can expect from you, and particularly on how you will set an inspiring example in terms of character, competence and values;
- Then you roll this performance out and involve the immediate people you are working with and create the high performance business team you need, to lead and set the example for the rest of the company and organisation; and then
- As this is rolled out into the entire company or organisation performance will become truly “Maxilliant.”
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