Profile: Michael Meredith, Australian Teleservices Association (ATA)
 |
Michael Meredith Number of years in role: 7 years |
What do you do?
I manage the day to day functions and activities of the ATA.
What results are expected in your position?
My performance is judged on the overall performance of the ATA against its key business drivers. These revolve primarily around the development and growth of the ATA, maintaining the organisation’s financial stability and the promotion of the Australian Call Centre Industry.
At a personal level I measure my success on the ability of the ATA to meet the expectations of its various members.
What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
When I first started my current role, the ATA was struggling both financially and in its capacity to meet the needs of its membership. Through hard work and a focus on core operations, the ATA is now financially strong and provides real value to members.
What is the best and worst thing about your job?
In my role I wear many hats and cover responsibilities such as financial planner, technical support, analyst, HR Specialist, marketer and many other areas. Whilst this is challenging it also provides such variety that no two days are alike.
I also have the opportunity to visit many member centres and see first hand, how the principles of Call Centre operation apply to different centres across a range of industries. The professionalism, effectiveness and innovation I see during these visits inspire me and reinforce how much I enjoy working in this industry.
On the flip side, throughout the ATA we have a number of volunteers who give their time and skills to the organisation. On several occasions I have had to advise some of these people that their services are no longer required by the ATA. This is always hard and even harder when in many cases I have enjoyed a good friendship with these people.
Any tips on how to get and stay ahead?
I strongly believe that ethics, honesty and hard work will go a long way to being successful. When faced with difficult or controversial decisions I have always asked myself if I could stand in front of my members and substantiate my decision. This approach forces me to make sure that I am at all times putting the needs of the ATA as a body first.
I also believe that actions speak louder than words and as such you need to be seen to do things not just talk about them.
How do you encourage loyalty with your staff and clients?
I believe that everybody looks for both success and development. When I employ staff, after I have established their areas of responsibility, I allow them to get on with the job with minimal oversight. I think this gives staff a sense of ownership, a sense of trust and the opportunity for them to grow.
What do you think employees want from their employer?
We all look for a challenging and rewarding working environment. The challenge provides us with an opportunity to utilise the various skills, knowledge and talents that we possess whilst a rewarding environment provides us with a sense of accomplishment. If an employer provides these in a pleasant environment that treats employees as individuals rather than numbers, then the employer will enjoy staff loyalty.
What does your company do for its staff that you feel is different from what other companies provide?
Our work environment allows staff members to take ownership of their particular part of the business and in a manner where they are not being micro managed. Such empowerment of staff allows then to display their skills and also provides them with an opportunity to greatly affect their own work environment.
Being a small office, all staff participate in the general running of the office which then provides us all with a range of duties during the day.
What are the biggest human capital issues your industry is dealing with? …and what should be done about them?
The Call Centre industry will require approximately 30,000 new agents in 2007 and sourcing these continues to challenge the industry especially given a growing trend for centres to become recruitment portals for the rest of the business. In today’s full employment environment, centres are looking to increase the efficiency of their recruitment processes. Programs such as staff referrals, and links to educational and community groups are being used to identify possible candidates.
In addition, the ATA has created an on-line Career Portal to enable members to advertise job vacancies and provide information on the Call Centre industry to potential recruits. At a higher level, the ATA is about to rollout pre-vocational training, providing basic Call Centre skills to prospective job candidates. This initiative is focused on workplace participation, with emphasis on assisting the differently abled and long term unemployed into the workforce and helping those returning to or reskilling from other industry areas. An Adelaide-based trial program proved highly successful with over 80% of the students finding employment.
