Team being 'managed' Ainu

[fedupofdrama]

I'm starting off with quite a bit of background to give context!

I'm a manager for a well known organisation
The company has changed massively over the last 5 years that I have worked there

In the last 10-15 years there has also been a few mergers and take overs which lead us to today's incarnation of the organisation

In the past the area I work in was very office based think admin roles working faxes post general queries and as the industry evolved it became more 'contact centre' but my boss is keen to say 'were not a call centre' even though for all intents and purposes that's what we are!!

Many staff are used to how it 'used' to be where they pretty much handled their own workload and were never managed. Now we simply need them to answer the calls be nice to customers and resolve queries and issues but this seems to much for them and they would rather swan around going for a cig break chatting to friends and generally ignoring the customers

Ive started to manage behaviours such as failure to hit KPIs and poor customer service and the backlash im getting from the team is unreal! I give prior warning before KPI management to offer opportunities to improve and when it comes to customer service surely bad service and I mean blatantly rude and ignorant to our paying customers should not be tolerated?

in regards to the 'management' I've been doing it's informal arrangements to provide more audits and coaching and asking them to also provide evidence of achieving KPIs and good service but like I said upthread the pushback is making me think am I wrong?

My manager is supportive of pushing customer service when we talk about it and in meetings etc but in practice turns a blind eye to behaviours that impact the service we provide

Am I working in the wrong place or am I BU thinking that our customers should have a better service

Sorry it's so long

That's really hard when you're pushing against an ingrained culture. For me, I can't bear doing things badly and i love to work with people who do things well so I'd find that massively miserable to work in.

I've had to manage someone who consistently underperformed and resisted all performance management and support. She stopped talking to me. Literally. It was like working with a 5 year old. In the end they got rid but you can't do that with a whole team!

In your position I'd be looking around. If you aren't tied to the job, brutally, I'd let it be someone else's problem.

Thanks @Liz38
I'm gutted because we have a fantastic brand and our product is great but if we can't get the basics right what's the point

I honestly feel for our customers because half the staff treat them (aka their JOB) as something they can hardly tolerate

Another thing- my peers in my role let poor customer service and failure to hit KPIs slide and as there is no consistency across the teams even following the 'softest' management approach seems like the hard line to my staff

maybe I shouldn't care so much but I can't help it

Presumably, the jobs of those in customer service are dependant upon there being customers in the first place. If the customers are pissed off by the attitudes of the staff when they contact them, then they will vote with their wallets and not use you again. Thus, sales and jobs are lost.

I have a fair amount of disposable income and can choose where to spend it. If a firm is polite, and solves my problem, then I will use them again, and I tend to have a fair amount of brand loyalty when I find something I like.

Places like Lakeland, Lands End, Pure, Toast and Brakeburn get my recurring custom as they are pleasant, resolve issues when they arise and the product is good. If it is somewhere that is shoddy to deal with, no matter how good the product, I won't use them again.

Your contact centre staff are often the measure by which your company is judged - get that wrong, and the reputation of the company will suffer.

@scaryteacher my point exactly!! This is what I'm saying and how I feel!! We will just start loosing customers at an alarming rate quite soon...

My issue is that the staff don't care enough and respond badly to being managed- maybe pp is right I should leave and go somewhere with the same culture as my own

Point out the above to your team; that heir jobs are directly related to the service they are providing. Making that point by letting people go because they lose the company money might be the answer.

I used to work at a Unitary authority dealing with Community Charge and then Council Tax. We had to deal with the public face to face, or on the phone. My aim was for whoever I was dealing with to leave with the feeling that their query had been acknowledged and would be dealt with. I used to give them my name and extension number so that they had a point of contact to deal with if necessary.

The companies I listed above are all ones I buy from, and despite the fact I live abroad, they have unfailingly provided me with excellent customer service. Brakeburn sent me a new top when one was missing from my order, no quibble, it arrived three days later; Pure expedited the repair of a cashmere top for me so that it could be posted to my Mum in UK and I could collect it when I was back visiting her, and nothing was too much trouble. Lakeland and Lands End I have been using for decades and spend far too much money with both companies, as they are reliable and courteous.

In the current market, I would think having repeat custom is a good thing, and excellent customer service is one of the keys to achieving that.

It sounds like you have the wrong people in these customer-facing roles, probably because they were inherited. Not everyone is cut out for customer service. Maybe the roles could be re-jigged i.e. people who are good at the people stuff do that, and people who are good at the back office stuff do that.

I don't entirely blame the staff tbh. If this is not the job they originally got, or applied for, maybe they're pissed off about the change too. Were they originally hired for their people skills?

It also sounds like you don't have much back up from higher management and you're up against an entrenched culture. Maybe this is not a fit for you.

I think you need external consultants who specialise in change and customer service training. They'd be able to help you shift your team's behaviour.