Placement Overview

This VIP supervises the contact centre for the Surrey Police Force. The contact centre is where all emergency calls for the force are received. The calls are reacted to by one of the Call Takers, they have to provide the appropriate response, grade the incident and provide the caller with support and advice. The Contact Centre Supervisor oversees the team of call takers and deals with management issues such as staffing and welfare.

Generic Job Description for a Contact Centre Supervisor

Contact centres are also known as call centres. They provide in-going and out-going telephone services for business and public services. Contact Centre Supervisors are responsible for the management of the operators that work in the contact centre.

They have to ensure that targets are met and high levels of customer’s service are achieved. A Contact Centre Supervisor’s daily tasks might include; providing support to customers and operators, planning and achieving targets, keeping records, providing training.

Skills:

• Excellent communication skills
• A high level of professionalism
• Patience
• The ability to work well as part of a team
• Initiative
• IT skills
• Motivation
• Excellent knowledge of the organisations products and services

Pay:

• Entry £15,000
• £15,000 - £20,000 with experience 

Please note salary figures are meant as a guide. Actual salaries will vary depending on organisation and geographical location

Hours:

• Hours can vary depending on the purpose of the contact centre
• Many contact centres are open 24 hours a day
• Work is typically based on a shift pattern 

Environment:

• Office based
• Contact Centres are typically open planned offices with numerous work stations
• Working environment can be noisy and stressful

Qualifications:

• No set entry requirement
• GCSE passes including English and Maths are sometimes required
• Contact centre experience is essential for Supervisor level
• Call Handling qualifications are available at BTEC and NVQ level

Training:

• Training is mainly on-the-job and an induction is normally required
• Call may be screened by the employer for training purposes
• Professional development courses are available in Customer Service

Opportunities:

• There are around 10,000 contact centres in the UK
• The contact centre market is one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors
• Opportunities exist mainly in retail, marketing, travel and tourism, finance and public sector industries

Links:

www.instituteofcustomerservice.com - Institute of Customer Service (ICS)

www.cca.org.uk - Professional Body for Customer Contact (CCA)

www.e-skills.com - E-Skills (Sector Skills Council for IT and Telecoms)