Tello Lets Anyone Rate Customer Service On-The-Go
Tello, a real-time customer service rating system, has emerged from beta and launched a fully social version of the service, which now lets you share Tello ratings with your friends on Facebook and Twitter and directly engage with businesses to resolve issues. Tello is free and available on the iPhone, iPad, Android (via m.tello.com) and online at www.tello.com. Tello lets mobile consumers give businesses feedback by rating their customer service experiences on-the-go in just seconds. You can also browse Tello ratings to help you make informed choices about businesses that provide the best service. Tello makes it convenient to offer customer service feedback and now includes a “Request Reply” feature that lets a business know you have rated an employee and would like them to contact you to resolve any issues.
US Department of State Expands Use of RightAnswers to Enhance Knowledge Management Capabilities
RightAnswers, Inc., a provider of knowledge management, self-service, and knowledge base development, announced that the US Department of State has selected the RightAnswers Unified Knowledge Suite to improve service desk efficiency and enhance levels of support to its end-users. In an effort to improve its IT support operations, the State Department expanded its use of RightAnswers by leveraging the Self-Service portal and Enterprise Gateway tools. Through the RightAnswers Enterprise Gateway -- a component of the Unified Knowledge Suite -- the State Department is able to drive adoption by exposing more users to the benefits of the Suite. This is accomplished by providing a bridge between the State Department's enterprise search system(s), the RightAnswers Self-Service portal, and the organization's service desk system.
Managers Critical to Successful M&A, but Underleveraged
Companies are underutilizing frontline managers in key phases of the integration process in corporate transactions, according to a recent study by Towers Watson. This creates a more difficult transition for employees, with consequences like turnover of key talent, disengagement and reduced productivity, indifferent or even hostile customer service, and greater incidence of errors or waste.
The Towers Watson study, involving more than 700 managers worldwide, examined the role managers at all levels play in the change process in an acquisition, merger or other corporate transaction. It found that companies generally are not doing a good enough job of engaging and mobilizing frontline managers, despite widespread acknowledgement that they are a particularly crucial element in bringing employees successfully through a transaction. When managers are insufficiently prepared and equipped to help employees, this can lead to ambiguity and confusion, resulting in disengagement and needless loss in productivity.
Despite clear evidence of the impact of a strong employee-manager relationship in keeping employees engaged and productive, the study shows that during a transaction, frontline managers are not heavily involved in integration planning. Only 17% of these respondents indicated they were a member of any integration team, and only 25% indicated they had any formal communication role with their employee group. Just about four out of 10 (39%) said they were not involved in any of the integration activities tested in the study. Further --and perhaps most significantly -- roughly three-quarters of all respondents indicated that employee engagement was not even measured as part of the integration process.
In fact, the research shows that the leading reason employees leave a company during or after a transaction is that they were uncomfortable with the new organizational culture.
According to the study, only a third or fewer frontline managers had access to various informational and support tools from their companies. While access was greater at more senior levels of management, just 56% of the senior-most respondent group indicated they had access to change management workshops, which was the most prevalent support tactic among the array the study tested.
Towers Watson says there are five steps to success for companies going through a transaction:
- Make key talent selections early. Senior leadership should identify which frontline managers they want to lead in the new organization as quickly as possible, so these individuals can join the process early.
- Onboard the new management team quickly. Ensure managers understand their roles in the new environment, and that they are engaged and understand the transaction rationale. Give management the opportunity to “kick the tires” on the integration details.
- Arm and mobilize management. Equip managers with the tools and support needed to effectively communicate about the transaction: FAQs, messaging, decision-making flowcharts, organizational plans, toolkits and training. They will be the first point of contact for employees.
- Ensure management is effectively communicating. Ensure there is consistency in messaging across the organization, that the processes are clear, and that the lines of communication between managers and employees are open.
- Establish rewards and recognition. Reinforce the value of contribution to integration success through a set of customized incentives aligned to key integration targets and metrics.
More...
IT Hiring Is on the Uptick According to 2011 IT Salary Survey
The 2011 Salary Survey, just released by Janco Associates and eJobDescription.com, is good news for IT job seekers. The survey shows that hiring is picking up in some sectors of the IT job market, salaries have stopped falling, and for selected positions there has been an increase in compensation - especially for CIOs. Even though many fear a second dip in the economy, CIOs in larger enterprises have been give the 'yellow light' to look ahead and fill positions that were left unfilled last year. The same is not the case for mid-sized companies. They are much more cautious and concerned that the recovery will not be strong enough to support increased IT spending. In follow-up interviews of the participants we found that CIOs are starting their 2011 planning processes with the assumptions that the economy will improve in the first part of next year. If that holds true them hiring and compensation should pick up.
The most striking observations of the survey are:
- Some recovery has occurred in compensation and hiring of IT Professionals. The total mean compensation for all IT Professionals has increased modestly by 0.35% to $77,873 from $77,604. This puts overall compensation back at the levels they were at in January 2008.
- Middle manager and non-line IT executives continue to feel a salary crunch.
- Mid-sized enterprises are now starting to hire staff workers with salaries in this sector increasing the most -- Mean compensation is up by 1.44% from $61,047 to $61,924.
- Layoffs seem to have tapered off.
- On shore outsourcing has peaked and companies are looking to bring IT operations back into their direct control and reduce operating costs.
- Cost reduction is still the rule of the day; however we have seen an increase in the number of "part-timers" and contractors who are focused on particular critical projects.
- Companies are continuing to reduce the benefits provided to IT professionals. Though benefits such as health care are available, IT professionals are now paying a greater portion of that cost.
- Flexible hours and work schedules are becoming more available as the recovery begins to take hold and is viewed as a low cost high value benefit by both employers and employees.
- CIOs compensation has increased over the last 12 months. The mean compensation for CIOs in large enterprises is now $184,681 (an increase of 1.73%) and $163,106 (an increase of 0.49%) in mid-sized enterprises.
- CIO demand is almost non-existent as companies who were not pleased with their existing CIO have already replace them and incumbents in those positions are reluctant to move with the current economic conditions.
More...
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2010 Service and Support Metrics Survey Results
Budgets are stagnating. Support volume is increasing. The complexity of support transactions is up. And, curiously, customers are happier. Does something have to give in this equation? Yes -- support is taking longer than it used to, compared with last year's survey. The centerpiece of the SupportIndustry.com 2010 Service and Support Metrics Survey, our review of support metrics, shows a clear trend that productivity metrics are beginning to slow down under the weight of cost and resource burdens.
View the full results of the survey.
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| The Impact of Workshifting
Working optimally is as simple as ensuring a task is done in the right place by the right resource at the right time. While this may be a bit of an obvious statement, actualizing it is certainly easier said than done, particularly as "work" has become more a state of being rather than a place and time for many people. As companies look to do more with their available time and resources, workshifting -- moving work to a more optimal place -- is becoming critical to business performance. Software and services companies should help their customers take advantage of this critical workplace trend.
Full Article...
Building Trust Before Social Skepticism Sets In
If people are becoming wary of other individuals on social media, what does this level of skepticism mean for businesses? It should drive home the idea of authenticity -- that your business acts as a peer with your customers, that you speak honestly, and that you maintain a real two-way conversation.
Full Article...
Making Change Happen, and Making It Stick
Few organizations have escaped the need for major change in the past decade, as new technologies and global crises have reshaped entire industries. Change is, at its core, a people process, and people are creatures of habit, hardwired to resist adopting new mind-sets, practices, and behaviors. To achieve and sustain transformational change, companies must embed these mind-sets, practices, and behaviors at every level, and that is very hard to do -- but it has never been more important. A successful business transformation effort must capture the hearts and minds of people who need to operate differently to deliver the desired results. The good news is that it can be done.
Full Article...
10 Things To Ask Your Boss For Instead Of A Raise
The economy may be thawing, but companies are still reticent to offer promotions or significant raises this year. However, employees can round out their employment packages and boost the value of their jobs by negotiating for nontraditional perks that ultimately benefit both parties.
Full Article...
Being the Boss
Striking the right balance between good management and good leadership is a daunting but necessary challenge for anyone endeavoring to be a good boss. In Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, Harvard Business School professor Linda A. Hill and former executive Kent Lineback discuss the steps to take and the roadblocks to avoid in order to meet that challenge. Read the Q&A with Hill, plus a book excerpt.
Full Article...
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 Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader
by Linda Hill and Kent Lineback
You never dreamed being the boss would be so hard. You're caught in a web of conflicting expectations from subordinates, your supervisor, peers, and customers.
You're not alone. As Linda Hill and Kent Lineback reveal in Being the Boss, becoming an effective manager is a painful, difficult journey. It's trial and error, endless effort, and slowly acquired personal insight. Many managers never complete the journey. At best, they just learn to get by. At worst, they become terrible bosses.
For more information, or to order your copy...
More books can
be found in the RecognizeServiceExcellence.com Required Reading
section: http://www.recognizeserviceexcellence.com
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| Free Research on the Service and Support Industry
Are you looking for the latest research available (for free!) on the service and support industry? Then check out the research section of SupportIndustry.com. Some of the current offerings available to members are:
- Research Insight: Average Speed to Answer, Wait Time and Handle Time
- 2010 Service and Leadership Trends in Customer Support
- Research Insight: Effectively Measuring Customer Loyalty
- Research Insight: Cost Per Contact (Phone & E-Mail)
- Research Insight: First Contact Resolution
- 2009 Service and Support Metrics Survey
All of these reports can be accessed by clicking here...
White Paper: Best Practices for Coaching Your Support Team to Handle Anything
This white paper provides a step-by-step game plan for solving your support agents' worst nightmares, based on the author's experience in successfully "turning around" support performance, as well as current research in the psychology of how we communicate with people. In the process, you will learn how specific, procedural skills -- both for how your agents respond to customers, and how you coach your team -- can change everything about how your interact with customers, in a way that will impact both your support metrics and your bottom line.
Get the full white paper here!
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