How coaching cuts costs and saves time at BT Retail

Transcription

1 by Ian Brumwell and Paul Reynolds Trinity Horne How coaching cuts costs and saves time at BT Retail Improving overall performance through coaching sessions In 2004, BT Retail Online enlisted the help of coaching consultants Trinity Horne, to identify methods of improving and optimizing its performance management framework. Ian Brumwell and Paul Reynolds of Trinity Horne explain how implementing a MasterCoach program with management development workshops significantly benefited the business. IN 2004, BRITISH Telecommunications (BT), a UK-based telecomms firm, sought assistance with improving the Customer Service Center performance in its online Retail operations. The company turned to Trinity Horne, a business performance improvement and coaching consultancy firm, which uses analytics-based change and coaching techniques to improve the bottom line. Addressing performance management issues Trinity Horne was contracted to work with BT Retail Online to design and implement a solution that would improve productivity and provide a sustainable performance management culture for 12,000 UK employees. The company deployed Trinity Horne s MasterCoach program (see Figure 1, right) to drive all coaching across BT Retail Online. The MasterCoach methodology involves a seven-step approach to coaching and requires the following: 1. Well-defined objectives from a business, team and individual perspective to which the coaching program can be developed to support. 2. Clear definition of the role to be coached. 3. The right tools to support the person performing the role. 4. A framework that outlines when the tools should be used within the context of the role. 5. A management development program to train in the above in order to establish shared understanding of the role, the tools and some techniques to overcome the barriers to change when developing high-performing teams. 6. On-the-floor-support to translate the management development and coaching program into tangible business benefits. 7. Individual accreditation based on the achievement of defined objectives. At BT, coaching was developed to support its existing performance management framework (PMF) and its long-term sustainability and robustness was ensured in four ways, by: 1. Training and intensive coaching of all 1,100 operational managers in the use of the new tools, such as the manager framework for all grades, defining what key roles each manager should perform on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to be successful in their role; providing one-to-one performance review meeting guidelines, team meeting guidelines, reporting interpretation and analysis, quality monitoring guidelines, and tutoring in the Mastercoach framework, their new role and the application of key performance management principles. The principles included being actively engaged with members of their teams for between 50 percent to 70 percent of the working week. Training enabled managers to make 20 Volume 5 Issue 5 July/August 2006

2 better use of their time, which produced a significant improvement in efficiency. 2. Providing additional training to 70 site performance managers (SPMs), who were seconded, full time to the program, so that they were equipped to support implementation and provide specialist guidance and support to the line managers beyond project completion. 3. Side-by-side coaching of the operational manager communities to embed new ways of working and bring about behavioral change. 4. Implementing a change management program. The role of the project team The project team (which included a senior representative from BT HR), embedded delivery and ongoing maintenance/development capabilities into the non-operational areas of the customer contact center, so that the performance management framework became part of the DNA of the business. From the outset, the project team worked to communicate, educate and champion the new ways of doing business across the Customer Contact Center. MD of BT Retail Online, Carol Borghesi, says Given the scale of BT s Customer Contact Center, to support significant and sustainable performance improvements through the business, I needed a robust and genuinely scaleable solution. We needed to establish a consistent method of performance management across the network and ensure all managers were fully engaged and actively managing their teams. Regular reviews of the changes were held to ensure the project was fully aligned to the ongoing business needs. Rolling out the changes The key phases of the BT Retail Online solution were as follows: Operational review to build and validate a compelling case for change. Design and develop simple, credible tools and frameworks, including a performance management framework and reports, to underpin the behavioral change. Design and deliver highly interactive management development workshops to 1,100 operational managers to promote understanding of the active manager role, the new tools and management principles for overcoming barriers to change and the pre-cursor to formal implementation. Offer one-to-one coaching to support the transition required to unlock tangible performance benefits through improved focus on goal setting, idea generation, confidence factors and self development. Winning the hearts and minds of employees in order to embed change into the business. Conduct knowledge transfer sessions, to embed understanding and behavioral change into the! TIPS FOR CREATING A COACHING PLAN: Creating the right coaching plan requires more than a well-defined approach to coaching. It also requires the following: 1. Well-defined objectives from a business, team and individual perspective to which the coaching program can be developed to support. 2. Clear definition of the role to be coached. 3. The right tools to support the person performing the role. 4. A framework that outlines when the tools should be used within the context of the role. 5. A management development program to establish shared understanding of the role, and the tools and techniques to overcome the barriers to change when developing high-performing teams. 6. On-the-floor-support to translate the management development and coaching program into tangible business benefits. 7. Individual accreditation based on the achievement of defined objectives. Figure 1. Trinity Horne s MasterCoach approach DNA of the business. HR s role in the process A senior BT HR business partner (HRBP) was the principal liaison between BT s HR department and the overall project, including BT internal communications teams and senior regional directors. This HRBP s role was to understand where the project may impinge on other HR activities to ensure that processes were aligned with BT s existing HR policy and working practices (ensuring work life balance and so on) and to act as a conduit between the joint BT-Trinity Horne project team and the trade unions. Trade unions were kept informed of the changes to help ensure buy in from all employees. A sizeable part of the workforce are trade union members and BT is t Paul Reynolds is a delivery manager for Trinity Horne. He specializes in outcome-led operational change programs. Ian Brumwell is the executive director of delivery operations for Trinity Horne. He was previously Pubmaster s head of retail operations. Volume 5 Issue 5 July/August

3 Figure 2. BT Online s route to MasterCoach t committed to engaging unions throughout the introduction of such major change and it was important to make sure the program was consistent with best practice, policy, working practices and would be implemented in a fair and consistent fashion across all sites. The HRBP also ensured no conflict occured between the project and BT s language culture, due to the introduction of Trinity Horne as a third party in the project. Making an assessment Trinity Horne s assessment of work practices and processes involved detailed operational review of online operations: performance exceptions and variance across and within service lines, levels of active management, methods for assessing work quality and resource utilization, highlighting inconsistent and ineffective methods and approaches to performance management. Operational managers recognized the critical importance of effective performance management, but were insufficiently equipped to coach their teams to become more effective and efficient. In addition, the business had no consistent measures to allow effective comparison of performance across different individuals, teams, or lines of business. The assessment demonstrated that the amount of time set aside for one-to-one reviews, team meetings or! BT RETAIL British Telecommunication (BT) is one of Europe s leading providers of telecommunications, serving over 20m customers in the UK. Part of the BT Group, BT Retail generated UK 12.5 billion revenue in 2004/5. It has 18,000 employees. coaching interventions varied enormously throughout the business. When meetings were completed, they lacked real focus on performance, target setting or forward planning. Other problems included sick day absences, weak schedule adherence and inconsistent levels of quality monitoring. Using an innovative approach In order to tackle these problems, the organization took a number of approaches. Fundamental to the project implementation approach is the belief that the primary role of first and second line managers is to be actively engaged in managing the performance of their teams for at least 70 percent of their time. With over 1,100 managers in online operations, BT was aware that it lacked its own resources to help the project succeed. BT therefore wanted to develop additional training for the SPMs so that they had the expertise to coach and support the first and second line managers in the application of the new frameworks, tools and reports. Process and behavioral change was achieved in four phases: 1. Bespoke design and development of frameworks, tools and reports. This included implementing a reporting solution to deliver at a glance performance reports for advisers through to general managers, developing a balanced management tool, producing knowledge management workshops for non-operational managers in order to explain how their functions underpin and support the delivery and sustainability of the PMF. This helped BT s managers be more actively engaged in improving the performance of individuals and teams. 2. Management development workshops promoted understanding of the PMF and the role of active managers and reinforced key management principles that help to overcome barriers to developing a highly performing team. The workshops involved the introduction of new tools and frameworks and performance reports, interactive exercises and case studies designed to improve skills, knowledge and ability as active performance managers. 3. Intensive one-to-one tuition was given to managers, designed to elevate personal performance and sharpen business acumen. 4. Implementation consultants worked side-by-side with the SPMs and regional directors to show them how to better perform their role, use new 22 Volume 5 Issue 5 July/August 2006

4 tools and generate targeted performance improvements. Defining and designing the new solution The total project, including operational assessment, lasted from April 2004 to late February 2005 (see Figure 2, left). It addressed concerns by ensuring the visible support of key managers. In addition, specialist training and oneto-one support was provided to 70 site performance managers, which helped integrate the changes into the business without compromising service to customers. The program, called Being the Best, enabled this by improving the existing work activities, with the focus on being better at what was already familiar. Simply working faster, at the risk of compromising service was not acceptable, so managers were targeted to achieve a balance of speed and quality. Positive, measurable results The project team helped managers and advisers think and act differently in the way they completed their daily work. An important factor in the success of the project and its goals, was the commitment and support of the senior executive team. Their support demonstrated senior management buy in and thereby facilitated and encouraged broader buy in.! OUTCOMES AND TANGIBLE BENEFITS: While maintaining good customer service levels, the project resulted in: Higher levels of active and engaged management support and coaching. A standardized approach to performance management and an ability to effectively compare performance at all levels and lines of business. More clearly defined management accountabilities and responsibilities. A simple and robust approach to quality monitoring and action planning. Review meetings clearly focused on performance and quality improvement actions. A gain of UK 20 million a year. new role and framework, to demonstrate use of the new tools and to support people thinking and acting differently in order to achieve their goals., CONTACT Ian Brumwell info@trinityhorne.com Implementing a clear coaching plan Many companies can look back on expensive training and coaching programs that promised much but delivered little. One major reason for this has been that there s been a failure to create a business plan and the right environment before launching such a program. One of the greatest challenges facing HR functions is attributing a commercial benefit to justify the program and then, once completed, proving it s been a success. The solution implemented at BT Retail Online enabled it to increase capacity and productivity by 11.2 percent higher than its target of 10.9 percent across its 12,000 BT Retail Online employees in the UK. This increase is equivalent to UK 20 million annual cost savings. At the heart of every team manager role there s a responsibility to raise individual and team performance to deliver improved customer service and a commercial benefit for the company and shareholders. Successful coaching programs are designed around enabling personal performance to be elevated and business acumen to be sharpened. By focusing on the key elements of goal achievement, innovation, confidence and self assessment within a coaching program, improvements in personal and team performance can be dramatically improved. Supporting the coaching with on-the-floor support will then allow the improvements to be sustained. Onthe-floor support is used to clarify understanding of the Volume 5 Issue 5 July/August

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