Devoted to the call center industry, the agents on the phones, and their managers

A question was raised, “How important is the quality assurance department's involvement in training and recruitment?”  I say, “It is critical to tie up the QA department’s processes to both Training and Recruitment.”  The output that the QA team brings to the business is valuable.  It can make or break a company’s stability.

Let’s look at a call center set-up.  You hire and train x number of agents, they take in calls and the QA team listens and deploys a trend report.  This is a normal scenario in most call centers but very traditional.  This is the reason why agents perceive the team to be part of the “police force”.  But, by creating benchmarks and delivering calls and reports to other departments, then this is where the excitement starts.

If you involve your QA personnel even during the recruitment stage, then this can help in hiring the correct agents based on the profile the client has set.  I’ve been involved in call simulation exercises that helped in determining successful applicants.  This is a preventive measure to hire quality agents.

During training, this should continue during call simulation exercises or even assessments to gauge whether the agent is ready to be deployed to the production floor.

As you get collect more data, this will be a measurement of what has transpired which can lead to business process improvement for both the company and the client.

I will continue to write specific examples in the coming weeks but I would love to share your own experiences.  What worked and what didn't.