What’s life like in our call centres? Chris Peregrine takes a look behind the scenes

Mention the term call centre and people will have an image of stressed-out staff on poor pay trying their best against the odds. We have all probably been “bothered” at some time or another by unwelcomed called from people who are only doing their jobs. But are people’s perceptions fair? Is there more to that career path than would appear on the surface? Some within the industry – one which is worth £400 million a year to the Welsh Economy – have only positive thoughts about it. Jonathon Savage comes into that bracket.

At the age of 26 he is a system operations manager at the Swansea office of Conduit, which provides customer service solutions for the likes of Vodafone and Sky. He took the indirect route to get there. After completing a sports equipment design degree at the University of Glamorgan, Jonathon headed in the direct of customer service, working in a hotel and a restaurant. Then he switched to Conduit. His customer manner and the initiative he showed brought promotion to the Vodafone customer service department, where he eventually became team leader, and now his current job at the Orchard Street base.

As a system operations manager he is responsible for overseeing and managing team leaders and team coaches, who prepare the call centre staff for their live phone work. Another key role is motivating the staff within the team to meet and exceed sales and customer satisfaction targets.

They are also responsible for defining targets, which can often involve conveying tricky information involving new processes to teams. Then there is the task on internally communicating figures achieved by both the team and the wider management team. “Dealing with different types of people on a daily basis is immensely satisfying, and we all have a great working relationship as well as a good social relationship outside of working hours.” He said. Conduit says many attributes go into making a good system operations manager.

“First and foremost the role requires extremely good listening skills.” Said a company spokesman. “Managing a team involves not only instructing them in new policies and procedures but also listening to feedback from staff on daily processes and then reporting these comments to the senior management team. If a team feels supported by their system operations manager they are more likely to be responsive and productive. People of all ages, backgrounds and personalities work in call centres due to the flexible nature of the work.

Therefore having a laid back attitude and the ability to consider many different opinions and viewpoints is essential. Bags of enthusiasm are essential in order to motivate your team and encourage them to hit challenging targets. Also, maintaining a ‘can-do’ attitude is a must.” The company is keen to stress the earning potential that exists. Basic salaries vary from £18,000 to £30,000, with potential annual performance-related bonuses of £5,000 on top. But it is another figure that illustrates the worth of the industry to Wales. SANDRA Busby is managing director of the Welsh Contact Centre Forum, the umbrella organisation representing the call centre industry.

She said: “The contact centre industry in Wales is a vibrant sector contributing £400 million to our economy every year, employing 28,000 people and many of our members are actively recruiting. “Contact Centres in Wales are highly technical, well run, extremely motivated places to work and are attracting highly educated employees to help meet the cast demands, placed on them in the 21st century.”