Category: Call Center
The Termination Meeting**
How to Fire With Compassion and Class: Employment Termination for Non-Performance - The Termination Meeting**
by Susan M. Heathfield [About Human Resources: Vol. 8 No. 135 - ISSN: 1533-3698 November 13, 2007.]
These are the steps to use when you schedule and conduct an employment termination meeting.
1. Schedule a meeting that includes the employee, the employee’s supervisor and either a Human Resources representative, or in some cases, the supervisor’s manager. I recommend these meetings are held mid-afternoon on a Tuesday or Wednesday so that the employee has the ability to start a job search immediately.
2. Be straight forward. Tell the employee her job is terminated. Tell the employee the reason for the employment termination. Be civil, concise, and compassionate.
3. Respect the person’s dignity. Allow her to speak if she wants to and ask any questions she may have. You may even engage in some discussion about what went wrong in the employment relationship. Example, perhaps the person was not a good “fit” for the position from the beginning. Perhaps the employee’s work style is too slow for the pace of the company. Perhaps the employee had become so bored, she wanted to be fired. At no point, however, allow the person to think you might be “talked out of” the decision to terminate her employment.
4. The employee may try to “get even”, to lash out and make you wrong. Don’t become angry, argue with the employee, or try to settle the score. Recognize going in to the meeting that you are likely very disappointed, too. You had an expensive investment in this employee’s success, both personally and financially. You will have to recruit and train the employee’s replacement. Make sure your emotions are under control so you can remain compassionate and respectful.
5. You can assess by the way the meeting has gone whether discussion or advice to the departing employee would be helpful. I find that I can help by discussing the kind of job the employee might succeed in, how to locate job searching resources, school attendance ideas, and the employee’s strengths. I have consistent feedback from former employees that this brief discussion helped them clarify their direction and helped them move on. You build the employee’s self-esteem, and help them begin the process of job searching.
6. Collect all company property or determine its location.
7. Give the employee a choice about who among the meeting attendees will walk her out of the building. Give the employee a choice about whether she wants to remove personal belongings from her work station now or after hours.
**Please Note (from the Author): I make every effort to offer you common-sense, ethical management advice, but I am not an attorney and this article is not to be construed as legal advice. Employment laws and regulations vary from state to state and country to country. When in doubt, always seek legal counsel.¼/p>
Microsoft Philippines to Relaunch Service for OFWs Next Year
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 11:44pm (Mla time) 11/25/200
| MANILA, Philippines–Microsoft Philippines is scheduled to re-launch a major mobile phone service that aims to provide a cost-effective communications platform for overseas Filipino workers, a top local executive said.Microsoft Philippines managing director Rafael Rollan said that the service, dubbed “One Follow Me,” will be introduced again next year following pilot tests in two countries, namely Spain and Italy.
One Follow Me http://www.onefollowme.com/Default.aspx is a service developed to allow overseas Filipino workers to communicate and even remit funds to their families using a Microsoft-enabled phone connected to the Internet. The service includes mobile applications, for mobile instant messaging, surfing, and making voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone calls. There are now close to 300 users of One Follow Me in the two countries, Rollan said. Asked why the pilot tests were conducted overseas, the Microsoft Philippines executive said this was due to the high concentration of OFWs who can afford to buy the device. Microsoft Philippines has explained that One Follow Me uses a Windows-powered mobile phone to access the Internet and conduct single or multiple fund transfers. Money is credited to their families’ accounts and can be withdrawn using automated teller machines. Microsoft Philippines has indicated that the device runs on a Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. It is not yet clear if the newer version of Windows Mobile operating system will be used. The device connects to the Internet using existing mobile networks or through wi-fi hotspots. The software company has announced a partnership with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. to enable OFWs to use a Windows-powered handheld device to remit or transfer funds overseas to their families in the Philippines.In an interview, Mae Rivera-Moreno, Microsoft public relations and community affairs manager, said that Microsoft Philippines is negotiating with more banks. Microsoft Philippines cited internal company research earlier that revealed that overseas Filipino workers spend an average of $50 to $250a month in overseas calls. Microsoft developed One Follow Me using the Microsoft Live Communications Server. |
Expert Advice for Night Shift Agents
This is a beautiful advice by DONNA FLUSS - Principal, DMG Consulting LLC. She is the founder and President of DMG Consulting LLC, a firm specializing in customer-focused business strategy, operations and technology services. Here’s an expert advice from her article: Ask the CRM Expert. Here is the question and the answer to the query on night shift difficulties.
I recently started as a trainee in a call center, and it’s my first customer service position. I am working the night shift in the call center and have found this schedule to be difficult. Do you have any tips for call center agents who work the night shift?
CRM Expert’s Advice:
We actually asked this question to call center agents who worked our 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. shift — and they said that the trick was to get into a routine, just as if it were a normal day. This involved establishing working hours, sleeping hours and “everything else” hours. At the end of their shift, quite a number of our 12 a.m. to 8 a.m.’ers (or 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.’ers) went home and made breakfast for their families, then went to sleep. While it took some time when they started working those hours to “flip” their internal clock, they were fine as long as they maintained their structured schedule. When they switched back to a “normal” schedule, they took a few weeks to adjust again before becoming accustomed to the daytime hours.
Another trick to working a late shift is to keep busy. Our call center agents always asked us for extra work or training to fill off-peak hours, when it got quiet. Variations on this approach have become a “best practice” in many call centers.
Hope you learned something here. Be back for more tips soon!
*CRM - Customer Relationship Management (Wikipedia)