In this assignment, you apply the knowledge you have gained from this module of human resource
planning: identifying learning needs and designing learning programmes.
LEARNING PROGRAM FRAMEWORK FOR PCSS CALL CENTRE
Professional Call Support Service Centre (PCSS Centre) is a call centre located in Alexandria,
Egypt, employing a total of 250 employees. Being Egypt’s second-largest city, Alexandria is rich
in resources necessary for the call centre to flourish; including availability of highly qualified
personnel with appropriate skills, as well as adequate business opportunities from the high
number of organisations in the city. The call centre operates every day of the week for 24 hours
each day and this ensures that client needs are effectively addressed.
The call centre is expected to be among the most professional service centres in the city,
providing high quality services and the best value for clients. In order to achieve this objective, a
learning programme has been designed to ensure that the 36 newly appointed supervisors acquire
the necessary skills to promote efficiency at the call centre. The month-long training is designed
in such a way that most of the training is conducted within the actual work environment.
Supervisors will be trained for six days a week, with a break given on Sundays. To enhance the
effectiveness of this programme and enhance the learning process, the training will be highly
interactive, to ensure that the supervisors participate as much as possible as opposed to
conducting trainer-led sessions only.
This document consists of the framework of a learning program, which supervisors will go
through during the first month following their recruitment.
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LEARNING PROGRAM FRAMEWORK FOR PROFESSIONAL CALL SUPPORT SERVICE CENTRE
Main objective: Training for PCSS Centre supervisors
Expected outcome: To equip supervisors with necessary skills to manage the call centre activities and hence ensure quality service provision for
clients
Period of training: One month
LEARNING PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK
Objective Training issues Expected outcomes Strategies and
methods
Methods
justification
Scheduled
training
period
- To promote
effective
technology use to
promote
efficiency
Telephone and computer technology
– telephony equipment, interactive
voice response, speech recognition
software, automatic call distribution,
cloud computing
Perfect understanding
of how equipment,
telephony technology
and software in the
call centre operate
This training is
expected to be practical
and will be guided by a
telephone service
engineer
Supervisors will test
and make use of all
equipment and
technology available at
the call centre
Understanding
technology to be
used at the call
centre will ensure
supervisors are
familiar with their
work environment
and can handle any
form of mishap
Day 1 – 2
- To equip
supervisors with
professional
customer care
skills
Understanding customer needs
Talking to customers – language of
communication, tone and voice
control, empathy e.t.c.
Guiding customers to get the right
information
Directing customers to the most
appropriate help desk
Satisfied clients and
good services as a
result of
understanding and
helpful call centre
employees
This will include
lectures on customer
service as well as
practical examples.
Supervisors will receive
staged as well as real
calls to test their
customer care skills
A theoretical class
is necessary for
supervisors to
acquire the required
knowledge
Practical lessons
will ensure they can
effectively handle
clients and pass on
the skills to front
Day 3 –
Theory class
Day 4 –
Practical
class
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office staff
- To instill phone
etiquette and work
ethics
Phone etiquette, including how to
pick calls, respond to calls and talk to
customers
Professionalism in communication
Official language of communication
Satisfied clients and
professional handling
of telephone
conversations
Team work, combined
with interactive
sessions with trainers
will be used to identify
the best practices when
talking to clients on
phone
Supervisors will
make suggestions
on best etiquette and
ethics and this will
ensure that they will
be more committed
to promoting the set
standards
Day 5 – 6
Day 7 – Sunday
- To equip
supervisors with
adequate skills to
deal with difficult
clients
Dealing with difficult clients for
front line staff
Responding to difficult clients
Use of professional language
Dealing with issues while making the
customer feel important
Supervisors to guide
customer service staff
to ensure that they
can handle difficult
clients; by providing
them with skills and
proper language to
use to enhance
customer experience
Real world settings
with difficult or rude
customers will be used,
and supervisors will be
required to make
suggestions on how
best to handle such
clients.
The use of real-
world examples and
involvement of
supervisors ensures
that that realistic
solutions can be
made
Day 8 – 9
- To train
supervisors on
how to transform
staff into service
sellers
How to sell PCSS Centre to potential
clients
Encourage repeat clients
Attract potential and
retain existing clients
through quality and
professional service
Combined interactive
practical and theory
training to include
general office etiquette
and training on
courtesy and customer
care language.
Interactive learning
ensures
participation from
participants and
hence promotes
efficiency in
learning
Day 10 –
Theory class
(Morning
hours)
Practical
class
(Afternoon)
- To provide
supervisors with
skills on how to
develop a
motivated team
Reduce staff turnover
Combat absenteeism
High staff retention
and effective
customer service
Supervisor-led
discussions on best
ways to motivate staff.
To be done in teams
and best suggestions
discussed together with
trainers. These will be
compared with
Allowing
supervisors to
suggest best ways of
motivating staff will
promote practical
solutions as the
supervisors are
responsible for
Day 11 –
Team
discussions
Day 12 – 13
Discussion
of best
practices
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professional standards
and best methods
selected
motivating
employees
based on
discussions
and
professional
standards
Day 14 – Sunday
- To promote
skills on how to
maintain high
employee
performance
What leads to poor performance?
How to approach employees with
poor performance records
How to promote performance
Staff motivation
High employee
performance and
hence quality work
delivered to clients
Increased customer
loyalty
Half day training on
best practices to
promote employee
performance followed
by team discussions on
how best to enhance
performance
Survey to be done on
employees to determine
what motivates them
and what their
expectations are
Theory class will
ensure managers
acquire effective
skills in maintaining
employee
performance
The survey will give
supervisors a better
understanding of
what employees
really desire at their
work places
Day 15 –
Theory class
(Morning
hours)
Practical
class
(Afternoon)
Day 14 – 15
- survey and
results
discussion
- To instil
knowledge on
delegation
Why delegate?
When to delegate
What jobs must be done by the
supervisor and what can be delegated?
Reduced supervisor
burn out through
delegation and
enhanced efficiency
as work is performed
faster in team settings
With guidance of
trainer, supervisors to
identify critical
activities within the call
centre; determine what
can be delegated and
what may not be
delegated
A practical lesson
will ensure that
supervisors delegate
appropriately by
creating a gap
between what can
be delegated and
what needs to be
strictly done by
them
Day 16
- To equip
supervisors with
interview and staff
selection skills
Selecting best candidates based on
skills and capabilities
Best institutions to get skilled
candidates
Identifying needs of the call centre
Interview skills to get best candidates
Ensure that PCSS
Centre achieves best
possible standards in
terms of service
provision and client
satisfaction
Theory classes on best
human resource
management practices
Identification of best
skill sets for the call
centre to be identified
Combining theory
with practice
ensures that what is
learned is well
implemented. This
will ensure that the
supervisors can
Day 17 –
Half day
theory class;
Identification
of best skills
Day 18 – 19
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in teams
Conduct dummy
interviews in teams and
selection of
‘candidates’
identify best skills
for the centre and
conduct interviews
that ensure the best
candidates are
selected
– Dummy
interviews
and selection
of
‘candidates’
- To promote
continuous
learning and
development
through
performance
management
Staff monitoring
Coaching
Mentoring and training
High employee skill
set and experience
Quality service and
more clients
Practical performance
management plans to
be set up by managers –
Identify skill sets of the
newly employed
employees, assess their
capabilities and
possible ways of
improving performance
at PCSS Centre
As a hands-on
undertaking,
development of
performance plans
by the supervisors
will test their
understanding of the
training and also set
pace for
performance
management at the
call centre
Day 20 –
Theory
training (half
day) on
performance
management
Day 21 – Sunday
Objective 9
cont’…
Day 22 – 23-
Identification
of PCSS
Centre skills
set
Day 24 – 25
Development
of
performance
management
plan
- To evaluate
skills acquired by
supervisors
following the
training conducted
Have adequate skills been
assimilated by supervisors
Can supervisors pass on the acquired
knowledge to subordinates?
Skills taught over the
month well
understood and
stimulated
Evaluation based on
skills taught –
Evaluation test
Team-based practical
These methods will
ensure that all skills
taught have been
well understood by
supervisors
Day 26 –
Evaluation
tests on
various
topics
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Ability of supervisors
to undertake the role
of effectively
managing the call
centre
evaluations where best
team will be selected
Perform 2-day training
for front office staff on
basic customer service
skills, telephone
etiquette and handling
difficult clients
Practical execution
through the 2-day
training will ensure
taught skills are
utilised
Day 27 – 28 –
Team
evaluation on
different
subjects
(practical
sessions)
Day 28 – Sunday
Objective 10 cont’
…
Day 29 – 30
– Training
for front
office staff
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References
Chomal, N, & Baruah, P 2014, ‘Performance Linked Reward and Job Satisfaction: Banking
Sector’, SCMS Journal Of Indian Management, 11, 4, pp. 53-60, Business Source Complete,
EBSCOhost, viewed 18 June 2015.
