Profile: Craig Wilson, NEC Business Solutions

CRAIG WILSON
National Contact Centre Manager
NEC Business Solutions 

What do you do?
Ensure all groups under my control are meeting agreed service levels. Those areas include helpdesk services, after sales support, telemarketing and any first level contact specialist teams that are set up as required.

Describe a typical work day.
I’m always looking at ways to develop the contact centre team leaders and staff, by establishing team objectives which are challenging and result in improved service for nec customers. I like to encourage initiative and lateral thinking in team members and create an environment that provides staff with learning opportunities. I’m always aware of balancing staff satisfaction and customer satisfaction.   

What results are expected in your position?
Increasingefficiency and quality while reducing costs. Work flows and processes are constantly examined, reviewed and optimised, ensuring we achieve business objectives while managing resources efficiently.

How did you get here? What has been your career path?
I started in customer service and telesales moving on to territory management and sales management. I did short stints in marketing, business development, project management, responding to tenders and contracting management.

I’ve been in contact centre management for only few years but I find it challenging and need to draw on all my previous experience and training.

What's your career highlight?
When I first moved into contact centre management I took on a centre which was in disarray - its performance was poor and it had much internal unrest. Within 12 months I had restructured the centre, refocused the staff and their performance was unsurpassed measured against the company’s national standards. This achievement was personally very rewarding.

What's the most unusual thing that's happened to you at work?
Being sent on an advanced driving course where Peter Brock was instructing.

What's the best and worst thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is seeing unrealised potential in a staff member and finding a way to bring their talent to the surface and see them go on to achieve big things.
The worst thing is when creativity is stifled by bureaucracy and red tape. 

How important is it to plan your career? Have you?
I never had a specific outcome in mind but rather wanted to gain broad experience in many areas to increase my options. I have found ‘flexibility’ to be most important throughout my own career.

Any tips on how to get and stay ahead?
Continuous education is obviously the best way to offer value to an employer. But be aware of who owns and manages the company you work for and align your efforts and objectives to theirs.

How do you maintain balance between your work and personal life?
I structure my department to virtually run on it’s own. In this way I have time to devote to either my personal life or to my work life as required.  If I perform well at work then I continue to get paid which enables me to do things in my personal life.

How do you encourage loyalty with your staff and clients?
By probing to understand their position and openly offer to support them to the best of my ability.

What do you think the biggest issue in your field is - and what should be done about it?
I think the work environment in contact centres is often suppressive and too controlling. There should be a balance between KPI measurement and enabling staff to take their own initiative. This approach would also raise the profile of the contact centre and draw attention to its importance within the organisation.

If you could invite five people, living or dead to dinner, who would they be?

• Jessica Alba
• Jimmy Page
• David Lynch
• Bill Murray
• Kurt Vonnegut

Who has been the biggest influence on your career? And who do you admire the most?
On two occasions managers have taken a gamble on me based on nothing more than gut feel. The both gave me freedom to develop and be myself. I admire them having so much capacity for trust and support. 

What or who are you incapable of working without?
My team are an extension of myself. When we all pull in the same direction, we can achieve anything.

What do you think employees want from their employer? And what does your company do for it’s staff that you feel is different from what other companies provide?
NEC conducts staff satisfaction surveys, reports the results and takes appropriate action.  This has resulted in a workplace which largely reflects the need of employees.