Great post from Call Center Cafe: 7 essential steps for effective employee training.

From the post – Top 7: Focus on Individual Staff Needs, Create a “Desire to Learn”, Make Learning “Fun”, Develop an Evaluation Plan, Help Employees Apply Learning to the Job, Choose the “Right” Training Method, Follow up and Evaluation.

We would add, as stated in our previous post, that making sure the agent understands their mission is also a critical part of effective training.  Effectively communicating the expectations of the job can go a long way to ensuring the work product of the workforce.

To that end, CallMe! utilizes online training that helps give call center agents the basic tool box for succeeding in their job.  Industry specific training and testing is available via our online testing and assessment process. Also, our HR staff is available to help our clients implement effective on-site training tools and programs.

For more advice on hiring and training employees, check out our online resources.

Related articles that may be of interest:

• Leadership Training Everywhere – But Not a Drop to Drink (i2i-align.com)
• 8 Ways to Develop Your Employees (ismckenzie.com)
• Paving the Way to Success in Business Using Online Training (marketingonlineinternet.com)
• How To Benefit From A Learning Service (slideshare.net)

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Recent law changes are going to make it much more clear how much your credit card really costs.  The intended purpose of these changes was to give consumers a clearer view of the costs of maintaining a credit card balance over time.  The good part of the change is that the information consumers should have will be much easier to find.  The bad part, according to David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report, is that,

Jaws will drop.  I don’t doubt for a nanosecond that it’s going to give a lot of people a sinking feeling in their stomachs.

At the same time, the banks are taking steps to recover from the painful realities of the last few years.  Interest rates are rising, it is much more difficult to get a card, spending limits are dropping, and annual fees are making a comeback.  Banks are generally looking to remove the riskier consumers from their rosters.  Andy Rowe, an executive vice president with Bank of America‘s card business says, “what we want is a deeper relationship with our customers,” indicating decreased lending levels for some time to come.

So, the question is, how do these changes impact the call center industry?  First, the banks are seeking to limit credit losses which will in turn limit collections activities. Additionally, as the banks seek a “deeper relationship” with their customers, we can expect fewer credit card offers in the mail and fewer telemarketing calls on the phones.  Banks that wish to decrease risk will seek to lend to customers with other pre-existing relationships with the bank (i.e. checking accounts, mortgages, etc.).  These activities, while not likely to have an immediate impact on the call center industry, will have long term effects.  Call center companies need to focus on leveraging relationships to expand market share of potentially decreasing pools of business from each client.  Additionally, steps that can increase the cost effectiveness of the call centers should remain top of focus. Since labor is generally by far the largest cost in the call center industry, steps to increase workforce optimization should be examined as well.

Related articles that may be of interest

• Mixed Blessing: Credit Card Reform May Shock Some (abcnews.go.com)
• New Credit Card Rules: What You Need to Know (abcnews.go.com)
• Payday Loans: How they rate against alternatives (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Your Money: A Card Fee Still Hides in the Luggage (nytimes.com)

Article today in the New York Times about the government crackdown on proper classification of employees. Why would an employer purposely classify an employee as a contractor, or what would be the possible benefits? The Times says:

Companies that pass off employees as independent contractors avoid paying Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance taxes for those workers. Companies do not withhold income taxes from contractors’ paychecks, and several studies have indicated that, on average, misclassified independent workers do not report 30 percent of their income.

These short term benefits can be tempting, but the penalties can be stiff,

California’s attorney general, Jerry Brown, is seeking $4.3 million from a construction firm he accused of misclassifying employees. Last April, he won a $13 million judgment when a court ruled that two companies had misclassified 300 janitors, cheated the state out of payroll taxes and not paid minimum wage and overtime.

And, the Obama administration has decided to aggressively pursue this issue,

The Obama administration plans to expand investigations by hiring 100 more enforcement personnel. The I.R.S. has begun auditing 6,000 companies to see whether they are in compliance with the law.

Call center employees, working in a call center, at a desk, making calls, under supervision are almost surely employees and not independant contractors.  That being said, certain situations may be more difficult to determine.  The IRS has a 20-question test to determine classification that is worth reviewing if there are any questions.

Bottom line, make sure you consult with a knowledgeable employment lawyer or HR professional in order to mitigate risk for the company and give the employees the benefits of employment they deserve.

Related articles that may be of interest

• U.S. Cracks Down on ‘Contractors’ as a Tax Dodge (nytimes.com)
• IRS, states crack down on independent worker abuse (sfgate.com)
• IRS, states crack down on independent worker abuse (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• IRS, States Crack Down on Independent Worker Abuse (abcnews.go.com)