Tag: Tips

Leaders Talk: Placing a Right Person in the Right Place to Optimization Workforce

September 24, 2021 – In this Leaders Talk, the Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed “Workforce Optimization in Contact Center.” We invited three speakers who are professionals in the Asia Pacific contact center industry. 

One of the speakers is Mark Harington, Vice President Solutions, APAC at NICE Ltd. Mark said that the industry has now come to a better. He said that we need to engaged workforce. Because today’s workforce they don’t do receptionist anymore because they answer the questions so hard. Compare it to chatbots and any other websites that can’t answer some of the questions, the receptionist is still better. And that is why you need to keep them more engaged in work and make their life easier, faster, better, and engaged.

About workforce optimization strategy in contact center, Mark shared his perspective. He calls that strategy a thick layer on the boiled egg. The thick layers are what our company decides on how to talk to our customers. Every company decides differently because some companies want to keep their customers happy and want their customers to love them. Some companies just don’t care about their customers and do the basic stuff only.

Mark also shared a summary of today’s discussion. He said that the way to deal with the shifts and markets, as the old man said that make sure you have the right person in the right places. Customers have to meet the right people who can answer their questions. Make sure you are there to answer what they need to answer. And if you can get to them before they even come to you, then that is great. That is the simplest way to organize your workforce.

He said that you can choose another option. You can go through technology, but you have to think about which vendor has the right experience in your domain. Who can understands your organization much better, what is the amount of changes management you change to adapt the staff.  Then, all of these things are what allow you to have the right development. Spend more time asking about change management, what will happen in three months or six months, how have you done this before, what are the challenges in getting technology to another technology. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: Get Out from Comfort Zone and Know Your People

August 27, 2021 – Interactive discussion initiated by Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC), Leaders Talk: A Leader’s Roadmap to Contact Center Success, which invited three professional speakers in the Asia Pacific contact center.

One of the speakers, who was invited to this discussion is Ts. Saravanan Belusami. He is CEO of VADS Indonesia. Saravanan explained that the contact center faces many transformations. It strengthens us to be more agile in accepting change. If we talk about working from home, there is always the question of whether this is possible or not. Then the pandemic happened and made us agree that this is possible, and we can’t deny it anymore. 

To face this change, he is talking from the perspective of a leader. He always looks from two angles, such as internal factors and external factors. The internal factor here, he sees how the role of the leader manages the organization from a perspective that requires their involvement as a leader, not only looking at your well-being.

Then external factors, such as from clients. In the BPO industry, they are very important. We have to be able to merge them in a situation like this. Also, how you can convince them and make your company a trusted BPO for them. 

Saravanan has a different perspective from other speakers. He said that the only important element that we cannot deny in dealing with this particular situation is communication. When referring to what is going on in technology that Raymond said before, technology can easily be bought and incorporated into organizational structures. But what matters now is communication, how we can translate something using the right delivery for our people during work from home. 

Therefore, this is where the role of a leader is so important to bring them to have a substantial understanding and make it happen, not only from the internal stakeholder perspective but also from they are external. 

According to the discussion about transformation and digitalization, Saravanan also shares some tips that we need in the contact center industry. First what we need to do and find out is we must get out of our comfort zone. As a leader, we have to know what is going on out there then, you can translate it into the internal organization. You should also encourage and ensure that they agree to and accept these changes. As a leader, you need to lead your teams by example or demonstrate, such as how you conduct meetings, how you allow them to advance, and many more. 

The second tips are you need to know your people, such as their strengths and weaknesses. You need to ensure that you are preparing to anticipate what is happening out there will not happen to your team. You must get yourself to prepare and have a proper development plan for your team. The last, Saravanan said the last thing that the role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas but, “To create an environment in which great ideas can happen,” said Saravanan. (ANF) 

Leaders Talk: Improve Yourself and Follow the Changes

August 27, 2021 – Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) present Leaders Talk discussion with the theme “A Leader’s Roadmap to Contact Center Success.” CC-APAC invited professional speakers to the Asia Pacific contact center.

One of the speakers is Raymond Devadass, Chairman of CCAM Malaysia, Founder & CEO Day Three. Raymond explained that today’s gameplay is play for a change. In the contact center industry, change is nothing new. They accept and experience many changes, just like the internet. We’re turning mobile because all millennials are now using their phones to reach out on social media and other things like that. Then the contact center industry has also gone through and followed this change very quickly and rapidly.

He also agrees with other speakers that it is a dynamic process that moves very quickly and adapts. And he thinks the organization has a great roadmap to say, “Okay, we will embrace machine learning for two years or AI for three years.” 

Raymond thinks as leaders that are the most important thing to keep abreast of what’s going on with the different technologies. How does it apply to your business? Not just to take a new technology and imitate it. They should see that implement technology works for the contact center and make a better customer experience.

Raymond also shared some tips in this digital era in contact center. Today, technology has grown so fast. There will be more sophisticated tools that will emerge over time and will change the industry moving forward. Therefore, as a leader, we must learn and adapt quickly to these changes. We must not be out of date or allow ourselves to become obsolete. He had heard the expression, “Machines will not make us obsolete. But our complacency will make us obsolete.”

As a leader, we must learn how to co-exist with technology. If you don’t improve yourself, don’t upgrade or re-skill yourself, then you will become obsolete. Therefore, the leader roadmap in this era is not only to implement some technological advances but also to improve our knowledge. We must always follow the flow or various changes that appear then we do not become obsolete. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: The Questions That Leaders Must Answer Before Create Roadmap in Contact Center

August 27, 2021 – In this Leaders Talk, the Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed “A Leader’s Roadmap to Contact Center Success.” We invited three speakers who are professionals in the Asia Pacific contact center industry. 

One of the speakers is Byron J. Fernandez, Former Chairman of CCAM Malaysia Group CIO, Country Director Teledirect Malaysia. Byron said that in the beginning, especially people from the BPO industry disagreed and said, “No” if do work from home. At first, they were worried about how can we know they were working or not, how the data was secure, and other issues. But when the pandemic hit, they had no choice. In Malaysia, because the technology is sufficient, they finally decided to transition more than 95% of organizations to work from home. 

The next discussion is talking about technology in the contact center. Byron said that technology is not important in the past. But in this current situation, technology is important and very useful. Some of the advanced tools we use can monitor the screen of a particular agent. In addition, there are also very interesting technologies, such as using facial recognition. With this technology, we can see people’s facial features, whether they are smiling, whether they are happy or not based on what they are doing. Also, the company can make it possible for agents to work from home in the long term and with good results.

At the end of the discussion, Byron gives his opinion about how to create a roadmap in the next five years. He thinks five years is a very long timeline. We never know whether there will be another pandemic in the next five years or not. Therefore, it is better to plan work in 18 months. What is your 12 to 18-month plan? Then make a roadmap by seeing what problems you face today. Then, what has changed and what will develop in the next 12 months.

That is where you must start thinking about where you invest. Do we invest in change management ratios? Do we invest in online tools to monitor people’s well-being? Do we invest more in insight and big data analytics to see where people are spending their time and what they do? Or invest in HR to see employee engagement? Those are the questions that leaders must answer that they can give excellent employee experience.

Byron thinks that the roadmap for the next 12 to 18 months is to figure out how we bring normality to our workforce. Therefore, we can provide our workforce with an employee experience that will make them want to stay. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: 3E as a Key for Leader in Contact Center

June 25, 2021 – The first Leaders Talk organized by Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed “Role of Leader in Contact Center Change.” We invited four speakers, who are professionals from contact centers in the Asia Pacific region.

One of the speakers is Kenneth Chong, Chairman of CCAS Singapore & Amazon Web Services Head of Sales of Amazon Connect (ASEAN). Kenneth said that one of the challenges now is workforce because we are in a limited condition as the COVID-19 pandemic is still going on.

In this pandemic situation, the leaders start building management of a virtual workforce. Kenneth said that their team or other team had not met each other in the last 18 months. How we work as a virtual team, we have seen this skill as different. The way we communicate over a video call is no longer involves physical touch. Kenneth states that make sure business still running and well-managed.

Kenneth also shared that contact centers in Singapore have evolved, such as training or engagement in these conditions has also become online. All the training sessions for agents are delivered online. Therefore, it takes different skills when operating or managing a team in person compared to a virtual team. The level of communication or empathy can be different.

Kenneth gave three tips for leaders in the contact center. The first is empathy. Be empathetic to your people and staff. The second is, engage. All critical engagement is vital during this period because your team may not be just in front of you, but they may be virtually anywhere. It is how you stay connected with the key members right now through virtual chat or other means to communicate.

The last key is empowerment. In the team, earning trust and empowering is probably the next area you will be looking for. Leaders are operated to move up the chains, so they can be the next successor. You need to empower someone around you to train them out, and then you can move for a new adventure. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: Tips from Chapman Lam How Leaders Face the Changes in Contact Center

June 25, 2021 – In this Leaders Talk, the Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed “Role of Leader in Contact Center Change.” We invited four speakers who are professionals in the Asia Pacific contact center industry. 

One of the speakers is Chapman Lam, Former Chairman of HKCCA Hong Kong. Chapman said that the contact center now faces changes every year. From omnichannel, workforce, and care more about customer value. Also, people and technology management are needed to be utilized optimally.

For example, Chapman also shares the changes that happened in the Hong Kong contact center insurance industry. He said optimizing applications and other technologies are the recent projects to make better customer service. In Hong Kong, his insurance company operation is 20% handled by their live agents. Therefore, his channel optimization mission is fulfilled. He moved more towards how to enable the chatbot to enhance that structural processing. The customer can get many instant responses, such as for claim approval or a chatbot answer instantly.

Further discussion about what is the leader’s key roles or what they must do. Chapman said that the contact center is full of talented people. As a leader, we need to push them to take advantage of another role in the organization. It’s not about age or educational background. If they have the passion for making a new customer experience through different channels, they are the best candidates. Let them know that we are supporting them. The more bravely to take on new challenges and push them to take advantage of another role in the organization, the more they can deliver a benefit to their company.

This contact center operation has many university graduates who may not be graduated from the top-tier university. Still, Chapman thinks this industry is one of the best environments for them to grow. Academic will be beneficial, but the staff has many opportunities to demonstrate other qualities to the top management.

Chapman also shared some tips for a leader to face all the changes in the contact center. He is concern more on “why” to move forward in a few directions. You should walk the talk. Whether you are genuine or not, we need leaders’ credibility and motivation to lead the people. It would be best if you drove your staff more towards the purpose of the company. Then, be creative, innovative, inspire your team, and make sure they know the purpose. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: How to Be a Strong Leaders in Contact Center

July 23, 2021 – Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) present Leaders Talk discussion by the theme “Millennial Leaders in Contact Center”. CC-APAC invited professional speakers to the Asia Pacific contact center.

One of the speakers is Lily Shen, Senior Vice President of HSBC Global Contact Center Shared Operation, China Region. Lily began the discussion with her explanation about the working style of millennial leaders. Lily Shen said that about 70% of employees in her company are young employees. She also explained that the working style of millennials, in general, is quite adequate, attractive, and dynamic.

In addition, Lily also shared what she and her team focus on for millennials. The focus consist of nine future skills: curiosity, creativity, connectivity, customer engagement, human development, communication impact, transformation change, resilience, and growth.

Lily also shared three tips about how to become a strong leader in contact center. If millennials decide to progress in the contact center, they must know it is a very challenging but meaningful business. It is emotional, needs a lot of connectivity, and the human touch is precious in business. Contact center has a crucial role in all kind of business, especially in this covid situation. Therefore, the first tip to be a strong leader is to add or link the purpose of contact center with the individual, then they will find a way to learn and also to grow.

The second tip, Lily knows that millennials focus more on instant return. We can challenge them to understand the efficient looking, especially the future trend of digital interaction that is linked with the human touch. This challenge makes them know how far they can understand that they focus and how far they can progress their careers.

Last but not least, do not just learn from the senior. Millennial leaders must build their own leadership style and branding. Be yourself and show respect to people. Lily also shared that diversity is a strength and a core value in contact center. The customers are diversified and we are all diversified, so build your own leadership style and then it would be great. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: Create a Better Workplace for The Future with Millennial Leaders

July 23, 2021 – The second Leaders Talk organized by Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed “Millennial Leaders in Contact Center.” We invited four speakers, who are professionals from the Asia Pacific contact center.

One of the speakers is Joyce Poon, Vice President of CNCCA (China), Vice Chairlady of HKCCA (Hong Kong) & CEO of Equity Global Consultants Ltd.

Joyce said millennials are tech-savvy and are actively attached to the digital world, such as social media and gaming. Not only that, but they are also independent with a strong entrepreneurial mindset. Millennials show concern about the work environment with friendly teams, learning & development opportunities, and work-life balance.

She said that we should empower the millennials to be future-fit by building up their soft skills, such as empathy, collaboration, coaching, persuasion, creativity, adaptability, and more. We should offer learning opportunities for hard skills, such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, UX design, and even video production. They can be role models and leadership brands for contact centers.

Joyce also gave some tips for millennial leaders who are struggling in this pandemic situation. She said millennial leaders are very agile and resilient, and there are many opportunities for them to be involved in digital transformation. They can be the key enabler for digital success, and millennials can make a better work environment for future generations.

She wants to challenge millennial leaders to move from a “know-it-all” culture to a “learn-it-all” culture and nurture their “Growth Mindset.” As the Chinese proverb says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  We need to nurture the culture in contact centers.

For millennials, you must take a chance, and Joyce hopes we can strive together to create a better workplace and a better experience for the next generation. She said that she feels grateful because we can do it together for the generation coming behind us. The last message to millennial leaders is: “you gain the upper hand and good luck in getting ready for a brighter future,” said Joyce. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: How to Deal with Millennial Leaders in Your Company

July 23, 2021 – Interactive discussion initiated by Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC), Leaders Talk: Millennial Leaders in Contact Center which invited four professional speakers in the Asia Pacific contact center.

One of the speakers, who is invited in this discussion, is Sarun Vejsupaporn. He is the President of Thai Contact Center Trade Association and the CEO of NICE Call Company. The company is engaged in telemarketing and healthcare industry.

He also shared stories about millennials in Thailand who are so brave and talk a lot.  He also has the key success to develop millennial leaders which are attitude, training, and incentives. With a good attitude, millennials will be easier to be trained so that they have good skills, then practice what they have thought. If they pass on the training, they will get what they want, such as incentives.

Sarun gave some tips about what you should do, if you have a lot of millennial leaders in the company.  First, treat them as friends regardless of what they have been achieved. Do not tell them that you are his or her boss, they will not listen to you. If you consider them as brothers or sisters, they will listen to you. The second tip is you should listen to them first before you tell them to do a job or do something. Do not give them orders, but it is better to give them the targets.

Third, let millennial leaders find their ways to achieve their own goals. Do not tell them, immediately, what they have to do. The fourth tip is support what they ask for and read some of their recommendations.

Next tip, give them more authority to supervise their team because that is what they want as a leader. They want to have the authority to control and get their team moving forward. The sixth one, give them reward or appreciation as soon as possible when they have done a great job or got success in achieving something.

One more tip from Sarun, millennial leaders are fast and aggressive. Therefore, you should keep them exciting, like a horse which will run faster when they feel ignitable. Then the last one is, if they are not the right one, do not try to change them because it will waste your time. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: Tips from Gratiano Yeung for Millennials to Get Out of Their Comfort Zone

July 23, 2021 – In this Leaders Talk, the Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed about “Millennial Leaders in Contact Center”. We invited four speakers who are professionals in the Asia Pacific contact center industry.  

One of the speakers is Gratiano Yeung, Chief Customer Officer of Thai Insurtech Roojai.com, from Thailand. In Thailand, Gratiano said millennials have courage to speak up and accept challenges. Every month, her company holds monthly meetings for their agent/staff with managers to discuss about their working conditions. The goal is to make all employees feel heard by giving them the opportunity to speak. Roojai.com also provides training and certification to improve their employees’ skills.

Further discussions about the right time to assign an agent contact center to another department. Gratiano said that 2 years is enough time for an agent to be assigned to another department. During this time, they can learn various knowledge from contact center teams and other departments. Before getting the assignment, they must go through the interview process first. “If they apply for those positions, they still need to go through a proper interview by the department head,” Gratiano said.

Gratiano shared some tips and gave motivation for millennials. She talked about her concerns. First, she thinks people in general prefer to stay in their comfort zone, so Gratiano thinks we need to challenge ourselves. Just like her, she challenged herself to leave her home country to a foreign country and built start-up business from the scratch. 

It does not mean that you must leave your country for a change, but she thinks it is always good to ask yourself, what you can do for make things better. The second is digital transformation in the contact center. She thinks, as a leader we also need to be humble to learn and equip ourselves very well.

Gratiano believes that these days, a lot of contact center still use on premises solution or still have legacy system. Roojai.com has been decided to give up the heritance system from their parent company then started their own solution contact center. It allows us to have more flexibility. The key is do not be afraid to make changes. We must try to think outside the box and always challenge ourselves. Gratiano said it is going to make a difference, so go ahead. (ANF)