This article, written by John Seddon, was first published in Contact. Seddon details why the call centre industry earned the sobriquet ‘sweat shop’ in its inception. Whilst many industry commentators and call centre managers claim that these days are over and that, in a more enlightened era, people are well trained and well cared for, Seddon asks whether this is a defensible position. The article describes how:
- better thinking about demand,
- better thinking about managing people,
- a better way of motivating people,
- a better way of thinking about information technology,
and
- designing call centre operations against customer demand,
will not only improve service and reduce costs, but transform morale.