Learning and Development
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Knowing what you don’t know-this may be the single most important advantage you can have in business. We constantly evaluate our body of knowledge against our performance and goals. Center Partners is a learning organization from our experiential training to our JumpStart program; from our ongoing recurrence training to eLearning and leadership training.
Our philosophy of training is experiential. It’s what we like to call Just Enough, Just In Time, Just For Me. By fostering this type of learning environment, our employees become an invaluable resource and our learning and development team become Knowledge Management.
Center Partners uses the best practices and research in the field of Adult Education. We design learning based on the Kirkpatrick Model (Reaction, Learning, Behavior and Results), and our success is manifested in our Quality Driven Management Systems (QDMS), and employee satisfaction.
Our Learning and Development team consists of qualified professionals in their industry. They have degrees in Corporate Training, Instructional Technology, Graphic Design and Occupational Education and certifications from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).
Our Director is a Certified Performance Technologist with the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) with a Masters Degree in Training and Development. In addition, our director is a requested speaker by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) and the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM).
Experiential Training
Center Partners incorporates four learning strategies into our training:
A combination of the above strategies keep our learners engaged in the training process; and each program facilitates increased retention of the material, which ultimately results in higher levels of speed and proficiency.
The multiple learning strategies generally start with instructor-led training which allows a synchronous, guided learning experience. Instructor-led training includes group discussion, games, lecturettes, and cooperative/team based learning among others. Instructor-led training allows for immediate access to an expert instructor and other participants which reduces the time to competency over independent learning. One of the best learning strategies is role-play because it engages learners in a doing activity. Through that active process the learner is drawing on training content to act out a realistic scenario. Those scenarios prepare learners with simulated job experience which aids in the transfer of training.
Another strategy, mentoring, allows for a much more effective transition out of training through the guidance of an experienced, supportive employee. Mentors support new employees by reinforcing job knowledge and requirements in the actual job environment. Another training support system, eLearning, allows the participant to gain knowledge through experience. By simulating systems and enabling online role-plays or assessments, eLearning allows for “just enough, just in time” learning that is flexible around business and participant needs.
Depending on client needs, we target standard curriculums at a mix of 50% instructor-led and 50% mentoring. However, the instructor-led portion consists of 75% role-play with eLearning weaved through the entire process as needed to support learning objectives.
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JumpStart Program
Center Partners University (see Recurrence training) focuses our learning and development opportunities for agents on increasing agent confidence and decreasing time to proficiency. As such, our learning opportunities are highly experiential, providing agents hands-on training from the first day of employment.
All initial training includes a formal transition period from training to operations. This program, Jump Start, is designed to give new agents intense support and feedback, as well as giving them a big picture of the business. The end result: they become comfortable and knowledgeable when taking calls, an essential characteristic of the Center Partners vision. Jump Start is typically a weeklong period of taking calls in a highly resourced, high-feedback environment.
At the end of each Jump Start day, we provide review and additional instruction on the top call types. Top areas of opportunity and “best practices” are shared among these new agents. Agents typically graduate from Jump Start meeting or exceeding quality expectations and go on to meet Average Handle Time (AHT) goals significantly faster.
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Recurrence Training
Getting agents up to speed is only a portion of the commitment we make to our employees at Center Partners. One of our goals is to provide employees with life tools that will make the more valuable in any environment, whether they choose to stay with Center Partners for 2 years or 20 years. To meet this goal, we have Center Partners University (CPU)—a key aspect of our training resource center. In fact we matriculated with the local community colleges and our employees can earn college credit through the training provided by CPU.
Center Partners University (CPU) is the umbrella organization for all training at Center Partners. We refer to our training practices as learning and development because we employ a holistic approach to learning, which incorporates opportunities beyond traditional classroom training.
The objectives of Center Partners University are:
We also continually monitor various data sources based on customer feedback. This is achieved through monitoring sessions and other data sources to proactively create refreshed training to handle such feedback. Clients frequently require training for new products, systems or programs, and we meet their demands through the following training programs:
eLearning
Effective eLearning requires specific strategies that help organizations break away from the “Power Point Click” mindset of presentations and propel themselves towards true performance enhancement and behavior change through interactive and experiential e-learning. Center Partners’ provides our partners with the development, infrastructure, training, and consultative support necessary to execute their internal visions toward this end.
Programs
Conversion Services
Center Partners assumes the responsibility for development of courses from traditional instructor led curriculum to eLearning modules.
Consulting
Center Partners provides consulting services as needed for eLearning platform functionality, creation of experiential activities, Instructional design, simulations and scenarios and other eLearning related solutions.
Processes and Tools
Center Partners provides to our partners our proprietary internal processes, tools, and templates that have been developed (and benchmarked) for our partners internal eLearning enterprise.
Toolset Training
Center Partners provides in-person classroom training for our partners developers to help them better understand the eLearning platform and development environment, Learning management system setup and configuration, eLearning theory, Design/Aesthetics of eLearning and other training as needed.
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Just Enough, Just In Time, Just For Me
In a nutshell: if a person is overwhelmed with too much information and rote memorization all at once, chances are they will typically forget the information when the time comes to employ it. We believe in the philosophy that you must teach someone how to connect the dots and how to locate information. By fostering this type of environment, we are able to discern a rise in performance and competency.
We constantly evaluate our body of knowledge against our performance and goals. Center Partners is a “learning organization” from our immersive “new hire” training to our “jumpstart” program through our interaction with our client’s customers, Center Partners believes in knowledge.
This approach is the result of in depth experience in adult education and a fierce belief in the Kirkpatrick model of Reaction, Learning, Behavior and Results. Our focus is on communicating the business objectives, providing individualized training in support of those goals, measuring the results of the training and adjusting where necessary. Our success is manifest in quality scores, speed to market, employee satisfaction, client results and most importantly customer satisfaction.
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Knowledge Management
Improving call handling through Knowledge Management
A client’s products or services may be complex to explain and administer. Consequently, an agent may have difficulty locating information, which would inevitably result in longer call handling.
The BrainEKP™ Knowledge Management Tool is our answer to this potential problem. The BrainEKP is an overlay tool that agents can easily configure to more closely match the way that they would organize the information. Each agent’s participation and unique categorization increases the chance that the agent will use the tool (thereby providing accurate information to the customer). Additionally, because the tool is personalized, they’ll be able to access the information quickly.
Our agents and leadership staff embrace this tool, not only because it is easy to use and understand, but also because information becomes easy to access.
Here are some real results from a wireless telephony client who had introduced many new products in the wireless world:
These results translate directly in to savings for the client as more calls could be handled per hour, per agent, ultimately improving service levels and increasing customer satisfaction with the customer care experience.
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Leadership Training
The Center Partners Learning & Development Team grows in stages, or what we call courses, with certification as the final result. The format of these courses engages an easy learning environment, while still educating the participant in both depth and breadth of dynamic material.
Courses range from industry fundamentals to Self-Directed Development, and they provide the type of insight that raises Center Partners employees above the bar.
CORE Toolbox
Introduces key processes and systems
Call Center Essentials
Explores the fundamentals of the call center industry
Professional Partners
Provides online scenarios that equip leaders with the basics of workplace law
Engineering Performance
Introduces leaders to the key concepts that affect human performance and how to influence those factors for successful coaching
Coach Me
Introduction to leadership at Center Partners and an orientation to our goals, vision, and mission
Financial Foundations
Enables leaders to affect financial outcomes at Center Partners
Connected Communication
Introduces communication models for success in a leadership role
Cultivating Culture
Helps leaders understand the dynamics that affect corporate culture and how they can successfully influence each
Personal Power
Discusses time, relationship, and stress management for leadership
Self-Directed Development
Empowers leaders to design and implement a professional growth plan
Quality Driven Management Systems
Center Partners has never missed a go live date
Center Partners used world-class Total Quality Management (TQM) principles and the prestigious Baldrige National Quality Award criteria to develop its Quality Driven Management System (QDMS). The QDMS model defines our core competencies and strategic management processes, allowing us to fulfill our company purpose and meet our goals.
QDMS defines eight key areas of the management system. These areas include Customer and Market Focus, Process Management, Improvement Projects, and Planning, all of which are key to delivering superior client satisfaction. We rely on this system to continually improve our business, holding regular leadership reviews to determine where we are successful and which areas need improvement. QDMS helps us ensure that our processes are well defined and in a state of control, and that we are meeting expectations.
Center Partners employs managers certified in Six Sigma. We actively use two Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV to focus on process improvements and variation reduction. The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement. The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement.
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