Go BackWhy should a Contact Centre invest in Blended Learning?
Comment by Phil Dodds, Group Sales Director, GBS Corporate Training.
Increased competition is forcing businesses in markets, such as finance, telecoms and retail, to improve the level of service they offer, just to retain their customers. The best way to do that is to equip your agents with the knowledge and the skills they need to keep the customer happy. The right training programme can add significant value to your contact centre's workforce, and helps address key issues such as customer service, legislative compliance, technical knowledge and assertiveness.
What are the benefits of Blended Leaning?
Blended Learning integrates the two most effective forms of training - e-learning technology and classroom teaching - to provide critical support before, during and after the training day. This unique approach ensures that agents learn the right knowledge and skills through an effective session with a professional trainer. This knowledge is further re-enforced through e-learning material for the 6-12 months after the initial training, through videos, quizzes or additional reading materials.
1 - Flexible enough to fit your business
Whether there are 10 or 1,000 employees that need training, making a single approach equally effective for all of them is a challenge, simply because individuals all react differently to each method of training. The best way to reach the most people is to offer a combination of learning experiences, ensuring the training suits the staff, the material, the business and the corporate objectives. Blended Learning programmes designed in partnership with an individual business ensure that the approach is tailored specifically to each department's needs. This high level of personalisation means the training is more effective from the outset because of its relevance to every individual.
One of the challenges of training in the modern contact centre environment is when to actually fit the programme into the working day. Blended Learning courses can be integrated directly into an agent's daily schedule - through workforce management solutions - so that they do not need to leave their desks. This ensures that each agent receives the specific knowledge and skills that is relevant to them, whilst maximising productivity in the contact centre.
2 - Maximum information retention
One of the major benefits that a Blended Learning programme offers is that it allows an organisation to set out a highly detailed portfolio of skills and knowledge for its employees to learn. One-off sessions are restricted by time, so often have to cut down on content to ensure retention of information. Blended Learning courses use a proven structure to ensure each employee retains the maximum amount of knowledge. Pre-classroom preparation material allows trainees to submit information on their needs and to familiarise themselves with the course fundamentals before the training day.
Next, classroom sessions provide the trainee with the opportunity to use the most interactive of any training method - a teacher - to build upon the initial ideas established pre-course. For the final stage of the process, post-classroom e-learning material, such as refresher documents or regular tests, builds upon the themes that were covered in the classroom and ensures the long-term development of staff whilst spreading new knowledge throughout the organisation. Research shows that once the process is complete, the trainee's retention of the skills and knowledge set out at the beginning of the course can reach around 90 per cent.
3 - A Cost effective solution
Every year, UK businesses lose up to 20 per cent of total training spend because of absenteeism at training courses. Much of this loss can be recouped by bringing those who missed the classroom session back into the programme. Blended Learning course licences can be extended throughout the enterprise so that every employee has an understanding of new and key issues. This ensures that the workforce has access to a continuous training resource, which can be updated depending on the rate of an employee's knowledge development. Regular tests every few months not only ensure that employees retain their knowledge, but also help to identify the return on investment from training expenditure, and where to focus future funds.
Key differentiators when selecting a Blended Learning training provider
GBS Corporate Training provides innovative, effective and value-for-money training solutions for its clients. It offers a broad portfolio of corporate training services including in-house programmes, public courses, full account management, support for international customers, managed training services, as well as course design and preparation material.
GBS specialist training programmes for contact centres focus on four key areas: customer service, legislative compliance, technical knowledge and assertiveness. The courses are designed specifically to fit in with the productivity pressures in today's contact centre environment, and ensure that agents are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need, whilst minimising time spent away from desks.
Expertise in classroom and e-learning techniques
Through Blended Learning, GBS Corporate Training aims to redesign the way that companies throughout the UK deliver training and fulfil their business needs - in a cost-efficient and effective manner. Blended Learning incorporates a distinct mix of training techniques, so it is essential the training provider your organisation chooses has expertise in each.
For 40 years GBS Corporate Training has developed and enhanced the skills and knowledge of its clients through the design, development and delivery of classroom training solutions. Experience of managing training programmes for clients within sectors as diverse as Financial Services, Manufacturing, Electronics, Pharmaceutical and Contact Centre has given GBS Corporate Training unique skills, experience and insight - which is used to its clients' benefit. During 2006, the company has enhanced awareness of key diversity issues in the workplace in line with EU-Derivative Legislation for organisations such as The Commission for Racial Equality, The London Borough of Hackney Council and The Disability Rights Commission.
GBS Corporate Training has expert professional trainers who are specialists in their respective fields, and are able to offer additional and alternative explanations on complex ideas. This level of expertise provides the basis for an incredibly effective training programme for an organisation's employees, ensuring each and every member of the workforce gains a comprehensive knowledge of the issues at hand.
GBS Corporate Training also offers the highest quality e-learning solutions as part of the Blended Learning package. In 2005, GBS partnered with a leading provider of learning technology and corporate network video solutions, providing the ability to achieve a rapid turnaround time on video-based training material for today's business-to-employee learning and communications needs. For example, the e-learning training solution was rolled out to some 1,000 employees in First Data's Basildon contact centre, to ensure job proficiency and full compliance with new FSA regulations.
For more information contact GBS Corporate Training:
Patricia Davies
GBS Corporate Training
Tel: 01252 862400
patricia.davies@gbscorporate.com
Louise Sambells
IBA, PR for GBS Corporate Training
Tel: 01780 721433
lsambells@iba-europe.com
