More than halfway through Frank Norris' best-known novel, McTeague, the protagonist for whom the novel is named receives a letter from City Hall. The letter informs him that he is no longer permitted to practice dentistry because he doesn't have a diploma from a dental college.
This letter is devastating, but it is not a complete surprise to the reader. McTeague is a dentist because his mother wanted him to have a career with higher status than that of his miner father. Yet, McTeague's training -- as an apprentice -- ultimately deprives him of his livelihood.
McTeague doesn't even know what a diploma is, let alone why he needs one. He is unaware that in the novel's timeframe, the early 20th century, the apprenticeship model of training doesn't apply to dentistry as it did to coal mining.
In the early 21st century, training in a call center isn't much different from the apprenticeship model. Agents often receive training on the job from more experienced agents. Most call center agents and managers also don't carry around certificates to show they're good at what they do. They don't need to.
As McTeague's wife puts it, "If you know your profession, isn't that enough?" To McTeague, and at many call centers, a diploma or certificate is "just a piece of paper."
But McTeague isn't aware that neither tenure nor manual dexterity is sufficient for him to be a dentist. His skill at pulling teeth or filling cavities doesn't qualify him for dentistry the same way skill with excavating gold qualifies him to work in a mine.
Despite his 12 years of practice, his career as a dentist, and the status it represents, depends on the "piece of paper." McTeague requires a diploma to prove that his training began not on the job, but in an accredited dental college. To the outside world, the "piece of paper" confers status upon his livelihood; it marks the distinction between a profession and a trade.
If certification suddenly became a corporate requirement for operating a call center, a lot of call centers would have to close. And if individual certification were a condition of employment, a lot of agents and managers would be out of work.
But if certification is the key to transforming work in a call center from a trade to a profession, then the best choice is to aim to certify your existing staff, your entire operation or both.
Is Certification Necessary?
As with dentistry, the availability of certification in call centers is the effect, rather than the cause, of a profession's rising status.
Michael Bruno, managing principal with Memphis, TN-based call center recruitment firm Dialogue Partners, says that "a career in call centers is much more highly thought of than five years ago."
But he doesn't observe that companies are seeking certified call center managers, at least not yet. "Certification has not been listed as a requirement for management positions," says Bruno. "Perhaps as it matures and more hiring executives understand what it means, I think there will be more demand."
In a call center, unlike McTeague's experience as a dentist, a certificate isn't necessary for remaining in business. Nor does a certificate for a call center agent, manager or executive carry the same weight as a license for a lawyer or a stockbroker. So why is certification valuable?
First, the presence of tangible goals encourages people and organizations to improve. By paving the way to continuous performance improvement for individuals and organizations, certification brings the entire call center profession to a new level.
"From an individual point of view, as you get certified from the front line, you learn the value of being customer-focused," says Ron Muns, founder and CEO of Colorado Springs, CO-based Help Desk Institute (HDI), which certifies agents and managers who provide technical support to external customers, employees or both.
Adds Muns: "You're learning that different approaches to call handling work better than others. That causes people to behave differently."
Second, certification is a way to boost a call center's reputation. "Support organizations find certification valuable in that it provides greater confidence among customers," says Muns.
Certification does have its obstacles. "Fear of failure is one inhibitor," says Muns. HDI is addressing this issue by offering self-evaluations on-line. Self-evaluations are usually available from the Web sites of other certification providers as well.
Muns says cost can be an obstacle, too. Yet the two call centers we profile in this article consider certification worthwhile investments.
You may recognize Reynolds and Reynolds' technical assistance centers, which we profiled in case studies in our August 2001 issue. The case study in this article describes Reynolds' experience with operational certification, which the company considers a prerequisite to certifying individuals.
Chase Home Finance, by contrast, chose to certify a top manager with the eventual goal of introducing certification to others within the same division.
This article focuses on centers that completed organizational or managerial certification. There are also organizations that certify agents. You can read more about these and other outfits from our previous coverage of certification services during the past two years by visiting our Web site, www.callcentermagazine.com.
Managers from both centers we describe recognize that certification doesn't end with one test. Call centers have to adjust all the time to the changing needs of customers and the changing priorities of their companies.
By providing a structure in which call centers identify and act on the areas in which they have opportunities to grow, certification maps out a course toward higher standards. With certification, enhancing the professionalism of your call center need not be comparable to pulling teeth.
A Customer Support Audit Yields Positive Returns
In Norris' novel, McTeague is shocked to discover that after 12 years in his trade, City Hall is barring him from his work because he lacks written confirmation of his competence.
McTeague makes no effort to discover where this sudden pronouncement comes from. Defending himself, his wife warns, would only invite more scrutiny. As the saying goes, you can't fight City Hall.
Many Americans share similar sentiments this month as they hurry to complete their tax returns on time. The one thing they want to avoid, other than having to pay taxes, is an audit. For many, an audit signals that the Internal Revenue Service wants to find out what they did wrong on their returns.
Unlike an inspection of McTeague's dental practice, or an inquiry into one's tax returns, an audit is a good thing in the context of customer support. That's because audits provide direction not on what call centers are doing wrong, but on what they can do better.
