What would happen if you applied some of the best and most modern practices for improving leadership performance in a sector that has traditionally shunned this kind of investment?
That was the question being asked by executives at TD Bank’s Retail Card Services, who oversee the call centers through their Merchant Solutions and Customer Service operation.
TD Retail Card Services was facing challenges typical for the call center industry: high attrition resulting in persistently high costs related to recruitment and hiring. High turnover also contributed to lower performance metrics: first-call resolution, average handle time, and average speed of answer. This in turn was impacting net promoter scores and customer retention rates.
To address those trends, TD wanted to invest in its call center leaders, but was initially unsure what kind of investment would produce the best results.
TD Retail Card Services had tried traditional leadership development, but it was not consistent across call centers, and little was done to reinforce best practices. It seemed obvious traditional leadership development was not going to work.
The answer was a new solution, custom-fit for call centers.
Looking for a new strategy to promote retention, TD wanted to provide its managers with the skills to engage and motivate employees in the hope that it would reduce attrition.
Call center managers are typically promoted up through the ranks of agents. Call centers generally ask managers to focus more on performance metrics, and less on the tone and style of their leadership. If they do receive any leadership development, it is typically brief and lacking any follow-up.
Working closely with Thomas Frosina, Head of Card Operations for TD Bank, ALULA built a Performance-Based Leadership (PBL®) solution that focused on leadership capabilities and the power of creating a rewarding working environment. A feedback model was used to coach managers and to impart coaching skills.
In all, managers received 16 hours of training in the core elements of the solution, and four hours of coaching each month to sustain the new skills that had been acquired.
Better managers lead to better overall retention.
TD Bank had wanted to improve retention, in the hopes that it would boost the overall performance of its call centers. The PBL solution implemented in partnership with ALULA did that and more.
- In the year following the solution, attrition dropped by more than 70%.
- In large part, the improvement in retention was a reflection of the fact that engagement survey scores went from 3.6/5 to 4.35/5, a 20% overall boost.
- Not surprisingly, with less turnover and better management oversight, key call center metrics soared:
- Agents logged 15% fewer minutes per call, and fewer calls per client file.
- Average handle time was significantly decreased.
As a direct result of introducing PBL to its managers, TD Bank saw an unprecedented improvement in retention, engagement, and performance, which in turn significantly reduced recruitment and training costs.
Does your organization have engagement and retention challenges? Are your managers desperate for some leading-edge leadership development?
No matter how you cut it, the solution to both issues starts with better leadership.
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