I like this quote:
“We trained hard, ...but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn late in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.”
I’ve seen managers who have used a reorganization strategy to attack problems such as a low first contact resolution. However, before you go there, explore how far comprehensive targeted training will take you in increasing this important metric.
Our studies show that successful organizations engage in extensive new-hire training followed by a period of time in which the new employees receive special mentoring (one company calls the area of increased supervision “The Nest”). Best-practice companies also cross-train employees so they are prepared to handle as many calls as possible and support the training with an efficient system of skill-based routing.
If you do find reorganization is necessary to increase first contact resolution, manage the change well so that the confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization are minimized.
By the way, the words in the quote predate customer contact management by approximately 2,200 years; they were uttered by Petronius Arbiter in 210 BC. I guess that was before the science of change management, too.
