Herald Business Section Letters

Call Centre training too narrowly focussed

Your business comment on the risk to future employment in call centres rightly highlights the need to focus on added-value services. However, to achieve this there needs to be a major investment in training and education of call centre staff.

In UNISON's experience training is too narrowly focussed, leaving staff with inadequate knowledge of all the services provided by the organisation. Management skills in this sector are also in need of substantial improvement.

Managers are skilled in the technical performance of their call centre often at the expense of good people skills. This is a major contributor to the very high turnover levels which undermine the effectiveness of the industry.

Dave Watson
Scottish Organiser
UNISON House
14 West Campbell Street
Glasgow G2 6RX