CALL CENTERS (CENTRES) - Faculty of Industrial Engineering and ...

ack. Providian’s goal was to build a back office support system (BOSS) that could track and
make accessible up-to-date customer transactions and comments to service staff on demand. The
solution came from a combination of in-house software designs combined with existing technologies
from back-end service provider Metavante and a fraud detection application from RiskWise.
The resulting BOSS platform combines the proprietary application with an Oracle database.
The project was completed in 2004. In the first year of the BOSS automation improvements,
the number of new accounts handled swelled by 450% as staffing fell by 27%.
Keywords: Financial institutions, Call centers, Systems design, Awards & honors, Information
technology, Corporate profiles
31. Cordray, Kevin. High retention rates bring customer benefits at SITEL Direct, Human Resource
Management International Digest, 13 (4), 2005, 23–25.
Abstract. This paper explains SITEL Direct’s approach to staff retention and how successful
strategies to empower, encourage and promote employees provide business benefits to its
clients and their customers. It highlights the main benefits available to agents working in SI-
TEL’s bureau and fulfillment programs: varied work, flexible hours, good training and personal
development opportunities, and the chance to work in one of England’s prettiest towns. The paper
emphasizes the importance of having a settled team. It shows that SITEL has established a
monthly retention target of 95% for its bureau agents, but in 2004, there was an average monthly
retention rate of 97.2% in quarter one, 95.9% in quarter two and 94.3% in quarter three. Fulfillment
has achieved even higher retention rates. With a similar target of 95% monthly retention,
the program in 2004 achieved an average monthly retention rate of 100% in quarter one, 97.2%
in quarter two and 97.8% in quarter three. High staff turnover need not, in all cases, characterize
the call-centre industry. The agents working in SITEL’s bureau and fulfillment programs are
critical to the success of a client’s campaign, as they are the first people that consumers interact
with either directly or indirectly.
Keywords: Case studies, Human resource management, Employee turnover, Call centers, Customer
relations, Telecommunications industry
(Appears also in Section IV.)
32. Gollan, Paul J. Silent voices: Representation at the Eurotunnel call centre, Personnel Review,
34 (4), 2005, 423–450.
Abstract. This research aims to examine nonunion and union representative arrangements at
the Eurotunnel call center and assesses their effectiveness in representing the needs of employees.
The research examines these issues over a five-year period using a series of employee surveys,
interviews and focus groups. This period has also allowed a review of consultation arrangements
before and after union recognition and an examination of the outcomes from such arrangements.
The evidence suggests that the nonunion voice structures at Eurotunnel are used as devices
for information and communications rather than true consultation mechanisms or bargaining
agents. However, the challenge for the trade union at the Eurotunnel call center is that what
can be regarded as a success in some aspects has not resulted in a change in attitudes towards
unions by a majority of Eurotunnel employees. This could be seen as one of the major challenges
for union-employer partnership arrangements.
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