Tag: Leadership

Ep. 27 A Purpose Driven Leadership Customer Experience Strategy in Trinidad

Posted on by Bernie Borges

Customer Experience Strategy Goes from Academia to Real World 

William Huggins, DBA, is Vice President Operations and Country Lead at iQor Trinidad. In this episode, we discuss his purpose-driven approach to leading the iQor team in Trinidad. William recently completed his Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) with a concentration in customer experience. He explains how he is applying his previous work experience, his education and his purpose-driven approach to leading the iQor team in Trinidad.  

His Previous Experience Set the Stage for His Current Role  

William’s past roles have led him to iQor in this leadership role. He has worked in several industries in different roles including marketing, sales, business development and customer experience. Of all those roles, he attributes the most impactful in his career to roles in the contact center industry. When the VP Operations, Country Lead position in Trinidad became available at iQor, he jumped at the chance to apply his professional experience, his education, and his passion for the local economy. iQor is a dynamic and innovative customer centric organization that is passionate about its employees, its customers and the local communities in which it operates, all of which excited William.   

How His Doctoral Dissertation Aligns  

William explains that his doctoral dissertation addresses a gap in customer experience theory which he describes as a lack of constructs of the customer experience and its impact at each stage of the consumer buying process. His dissertation is a unique study that unearthed a new theory and valuable knowledge for customer experience practitioners. 

He examined over 50 years of scholastic work conducted on customer experience and concluded that any given customer experience is created by the combination of four attributes, or dimensions, explained in the acronym FACT. This is how they breakdown: 

Functionality refers to the physical aspect of a company’s core product and service offering. 

Aesthetics involves the appearance of a building or staff (the look and feel). 

Communication with customers is considered fundamental to a CX strategy. 

Talent involves the people and culture of an organization. 

How His Doctoral Dissertation Correlates to His Leadership Role at iQor Trinidad  

William points out that customer experience IS iQor’s business. We interact with customers for the brands who entrust us to answer their questions and solve their problems. Hence, having a deeper understanding of what creates an excellent customer experience enables William to lead our team in Trinidad to focus on those key dimensions and sub-dimensions in the delivery of an exceptional experience to our client’s customers. 

What It Means to be Purpose-Driven in His Leadership Role  

For many years, the Trinidad and Tobago (TT) economy was largely driven by oil and gas. While there have been many discussions about diversification of the TT economy it has been slow in coming. Because of William’s involvement in the BPO industry for several years, he has long had the desire to influence the development of the BPO industry as an alternative revenue source for the TT economy. iQor provides William the opportunity to impact diversification in TT and to create desirable jobs for his fellow Trinidadians. As a result, William’s passion is to position iQor TT as the BEST place to work and the most desirable contact center location for our clients.   

iQor Trinidad employees are all local Trinidadians. William points out that he grew up in TT. He knows firsthand how passionate, and performance-driven his fellow Trinidadians are. As an example, he boasts that a client in the home services industry has ranked iQor Trinidad as their #1 BPO in performance among ALL their contact centers globally! And he mentions with pride that this same team is currently leading the pack in 2021 with the same client. 

Why iQor is a Great Place to Work for Local Trinidadians  

William points out the obvious to me, that iQor has an irresistible culture. When you couple our irresistible culture with an abundance of opportunities for local talent, iQor is an excellent place for young people to start their careers straight out of a university. Additionally, there are many job opportunities for people further along in their career as well, ranging from frontline agents to roles in HR, IT, Facilities, Operations, Finance, etc.  

iQor is fortunate to be expanding even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently preparing to open our third contact center in Chaguanas, Trinidad. Our TT employee count is currently approximately 1,350 and growing rapidly with expansion from existing programs and new clients coming on board. William says that it is an exciting time to be at iQor TT. 

A Situational Leadership Style  

I asked William how he is converging his work experience, education, and purpose to lead more than 1,300 people at iQor Trinidad. 

He explains that leadership is situational. He adopts an appropriate style to suit each situation. 

However, he points out that his inherent leadership style is participative and collaborative. This style is critical to support and drive his purpose of making iQor TT:  

  1. The best destination for our clients. 
  1. The best place to work for our employees. 
  1. The best investment for owners.  
  1. A valuable partner to the local government to assist with diversification efforts. 

His Leadership Action Plan 

William explains his leadership action plan this way: 

  1. It starts with our people. We have a unique culture that is difficult to replicate. William views his job as to harness this culture and bring out the best in our people to develop them and maximize their career path potential. 
  1. Each employee has something to contribute. He encourages a free flow of ideas.  
  1. Fostering a culture of performance that surpasses client’s expectations and enables continued growth. 
  1. Collaboration with key stakeholders such as InvesTT, Minister of Trade, local universities, Chamber of Commerce all to help iQor TT diversify the economy and enhance communities through its Corporate Social Responsibilities initiatives. 

What William Does for Fun When He’s Not Working  

William enjoys his work so much that he considers it fun. He also loves traveling with his family to other countries and exploring diverse cultures and foods during non-pandemic times. Additionally, he enjoys watching sports on television, particularly football, basketball and cricket. 

Learn more about iQor digital customer experience capabilities.

Ep. 26 How iQorians Give Back through iQor Qares

Posted on by Bernie Borges

Giving Back through A Standalone 501(c)(3) Entity to Support iQorians in Need

Loren Dennis is Senior Vice President of Operations at iQor in charge of special projects. One of Loren’s favorite projects he has spearheaded is iQor Qares. In this episode, he explains what it is and why iQor has invested significant resources into it.

One of iQor’s core values is “always giving back.” In the past, when iQor employees – aka iQorians – ran into emergencies, the company organized fundraisers through events to provide financial assistance to those in need across our global population of approximately 35,000 employees. While noble, these efforts were ad hoc and only moderately effective because it was not a unified effort under one entity.

The iQor senior leadership team (SLT) decided to create a standalone philanthropic organization called iQor Qares. It was formed in Q4 2019 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit with its own board of directors (BOD). Loren sits on the BOD along with members of iQor’s SLT to oversee the direction and execution of its mission, which is to be a financial resource to iQor employees and their local communities when unforeseen hardship occurs during times of natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and more.

Building the Philanthropy

In 2020, the primary focus of iQor Qares was to get the entity established in the U.S. This was a new venture for all involved. Creating the organization and getting approved in every state across the U.S. required a lot of coordination with government entities.  The Board made headway across nine states, standing up the organization as a philanthropy ready to be of service to iQorians.

Soliciting Donations

 From a donation standpoint, the initial rollout of iQor Qares is in the U.S. to support any employee regardless of geographic location. iQor employees can set up donations to be made automatically from each paycheck. As is customary with a 501(c)(3), reporting is provided to the employee for tax deduction purposes. In 2021 donations began to be collected to help iQorians anywhere in the world.

Examples of iQorians Supported through iQor Qares

Loren explained that approved requests for support remain anonymous except between HR and the iQor Qares vetting committee. Beyond this group, identities are not revealed to protect their privacy.

In 2021, examples of recipients of support include an iQorian whose home caught fire, where much of the house was destroyed. iQor Qares provided support to aid with meals for the iQorian’s family while they dealt with the transition to temporary housing. iQor Qares also provided support to iQorians who were displaced by the horrific floods in Texas in mid-2021.

iQor Qares is also available to support employees and their families during times of loss. When iQor was made aware of a tragic death of our own, iQor Qares was quick to provide their family with funds to aid in funeral expenses. When an iQorian family member was battling cancer, they were met with high hospital bills that drained their finances.  iQor Qares helped cover heating costs to keep their home warm during the winter months, so the employee could focus on their health and not stress about bills.

Small Donations from Many iQorians

As you can see by these examples, life circumstances can cause financial hardship. The vision of iQor Qares is for many people to give a small amount. Loren specifically says he’s not asking for large donations. If many people regularly donate a small amount from each paycheck, the coffers are well supplied, enabling us to respond to situations in times of need.

Looking to 2022

Loren and the BOD at iQor Qares are spreading the word and expanding into other countries in 2022. Hopefully, conditions will allow for an annual charity golf event. The power of volume with many small donations will make a difference in people’s lives. The easiest way to set up automatic contributions is to visit the website iqorqares.com to configure a steady donation from each paycheck.

How to Apply for Assistance from iQor Qares

iQor Qares is set up to provide financial aid to iQor employees who are experiencing temporary financial hardship. iQor employees in need of assistance should begin by contacting their local HR representative. This individual will have a confidential conversation with the iQorian and assist with the application process at iqorqares.com.

How to Donate to iQor Qares

iQor employees can easily set up a donation commitment. It’s simple and safe.

iQor employees can donate here at iqorqares.com.

Anyone outside of iQor is welcome to make a one-time donation (or as often as they want)!

People outside of iQor can donate on this website. 

What Loren Does for Fun When He’s Not Working

For Loren, it’s all about family. Whether it’s watching a movie, having a family game night, or spending time outdoors, he cherishes each moment with his family.

Learn more about iQor digital customer experience capabilities.

Ep. 25 How Strong Language Can Be Used to Deliver Great Customer Service

Posted on by Bernie Borges

Customer Service Can Be the Easiest Use Case to Harness Language

Chris West is the Founding Partner of Verbal Identity, a leading strategy agency specializing in the power of language. His firm has guided global and national brands, relaunches, and startups from B2B and B2C to tech and luxury and everything in between. Chris is a multi-award-winning copywriter and the author of the highly acclaimed book: Strong Language: The Fastest, Smartest, Cheapest Marketing Tool You’re Not Using.  

This episode discusses the key takeaways from his book, including insights into how strong language can be deployed in customer service delivery.  

Chris is a copywriter by background. He has written in every medium ranging from short films to newspapers. He loves the power of language to share ideas and build relationships. He founded Verbal Identity to help brands harness the power of language in their business.

The Inspiration to Write the Book – Strong Language 

Chris has been running Verbal Identity for more than ten years. When his firm was a boutique advertising agency, clients frequently asked him to write copy across the spectrum of the business, not just for advertising, for example, customer service use cases. He witnessed clients becoming more aware of the need to write copy to support their entire business. This inspired Chris to focus on language. After being asked by many people how to harness language, he decided to write a book about it.

How to Know When Your Brand Voice Isn’t Working Well

How does an executive team determine if their current use of language is working for their business? It’s more accessible in customer service because the people on the front lines are closer to the customer. They’re able to observe engagement with customers in response to the language used.  Executives can observe how agents are talking to customers or communicating on social media channels when delivering omnichannel support. What they often discover is a disconnect among different channels with different voices using inconsistent language. Sometimes, they find that their brand voice sounds the same as everyone else in their space. In that situation, their brand lacks differentiation and value. This can result in customers not remaining loyal to the brand, which can result in lost revenue.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Churn, and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores can indicate how ineffectively a brand communicates during customer care delivery. Improving language can be a fast, smart, cheap way to improve customer service metrics.

How to Find Quick Wins Using Strong Language

When executives recognize they need to change their language, they usually want to find quick wins. Most companies don’t approach changing their language with the mindset of allocating a big budget, particularly assigning a lot of time to it. Chris recommends mapping out where people interact with your brand in a high-impact way to identify the areas where you can change the language to measure a change in business impact quickly. These quick wins allow teams to understand the power of language, often leading to a willingness to invest incremental budget and time in impacting other business areas ranging from marketing to sales to customer service.

How to Measure the Value of Updating Your Brand Voice 

All stakeholders want to measure the value of updating their brand voice. When considering this, Chris suggests starting with the metrics you care about most. Consider the contributing factors to those metrics. CX professionals use a different set of metrics than sales, marketing, and operations people use. Chris suggests dividing metrics into two categories: self-serve engagement and human interaction engagement.

We’re living in a time of higher staff turnover in many businesses. By shortening the learning curve to effective language among employees, we can impact the business faster. This is especially true in customer experience delivery. The more effective the language is the more effective the customer experience delivery. This has a direct correlation with contact center agent job satisfaction, which impacts employee retention metrics.

Ultimately, the best way to measure the value of language in your brand is by reverse engineering it. Start with the key metrics that are important to the business. Identify how language is used to impact the current state of those metrics. Standard metrics on an executive’s dashboard include revenue pipeline, actual sales, employee retention and attrition, inventory turns, and others unique to each business. These metrics are essential, and the use of language is a crucial factor influencing them. Changing the language to improve any one of these metrics is a great way to measure the value of revising the language.

Decision Making Process in Language Change

The decision process in language change varies for each company. In founder-led companies, all decisions get approved by the founder. In other companies, it’s more decentralized. Language programs that compare your brand to one or more competitors help get c-suite awareness and support.

Another approach is to run an internal survey to gauge the current effectiveness of language. When internal stakeholders express their opinion about the ineffectiveness of existing language in a particular use case, it can influence the c-suite’s interest in making change. Often, the c-suite appreciates calling attention to the inconsistency and the opportunity to remedy the situation to improve key business metrics.

How to Develop a Consistently Distinctive Brand Voice

Chris shares that the original title of his book was, One Business, One Voice. Executives can all agree, whether it’s marketing, customer service, investor relations, sales, or operations, the language of their brand should always sound like one voice for the company. But how does a company create one consistently distinctive brand voice?

Strong Language (the book) documents a framework made up of three levels of communication.

  1. The first level is the ten thousand foot view of what your business stands for and against (i.e., your worldview).
  2. The second level is the one thousand foot view, your brand’s personality (how you express your world view).
  3. The ground level is about your jargon, grammar, and style.

Splitting it into three levels helps people have a common framework for harnessing the power of language. Sometimes the feedback tells us that the language for the world view is great, but the personality language doesn’t support it. Or vice versa. This simple framework allows for congruency among the overarching worldview narrative, internal and ground levels. It is a simple method to enable stakeholders to agree on the language needed to guide people in language development, resulting in one business, one voice.

What Chris Does for Fun

In response to the “what do you do for fun” question, Chris has three activities that make him smile. He is an avid reader, which should not surprise anyone, given his passion for language. He is also an avid swimmer. Chris is a husband to an entrepreneur and father of two amazing kids.    

Visit VerbalIdentity.com to learn more about their approach and Chris’ book – Strong Language: The Fastest, Smartest, Cheapest Marketing Tool You’re Not Using.

Learn more about iQor digital customer experience capabilities.

Ep. 24 Patient Engagement Can Create Customer Experience in Healthcare

Posted on by Bernie Borges

Customer Experience in Healthcare Does Not Exist without Engagement

Rohan Kulkarni is the healthcare practice lead at HFS Research. HFS Research is recognized as second to Gartner in healthcare influence among decision-makers.

In this episode, we discuss the “triple aim” model, which addresses the three pillars in healthcare:

  1. Improving patient outcomes
  2. Reducing the cost of care
  3. Enhancing the care experience through engagement

In our limited time together, we reviewed the first two pillars and spoke in more detail on the third pillar, enhancing the care experience, which is equivalent to the customer experience in business.

Rohan’s background is in product management in health plans. Most recently, he was CIO at Versant Health before joining HFS Research. His extensive background in healthcare and being a consumer of health care services (as we all are) has led him to many insights on these three pillars and ways we can improve the care experience.

The Triple Aim Construct in Healthcare

The triple aim is recognized as a construct to measure how well we are doing in delivering healthcare services. In the U.S., the cost of healthcare has been increasing at twice the rate of inflation. Chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac disease are on the rise. Life expectancy in the U.S. has declined from 79 to 78 years of age, despite rapid advancements in healthcare technology. This data supports the need for a triple aim engagement model.

Enhancing the Care Experience through Engagement

A healthcare consumer is a patient and a healthy member of a healthcare plan, possibly an employee, or a beneficiary of a government program. Each role is unique, with different expectations.

In reality, the current state of healthcare is sick care. The experience at the point of care happens when people are already ill and trying to get back to health. However, we could benefit significantly from increased engagement with our healthcare providers and professionals when we are healthy.

In a traditional customer journey model, a brand engages with consumers at different touchpoints throughout their purchasing journey. In healthcare, there is no current construct of engagement. Healthcare engagement is limited to transactions at the point of care.

The opportunity to improve is providing omnichannel engagement during the patient’s life journey before they are sick. This approach can increase the chance of the patient remaining healthy and/or recognizing circumstances that warrant healthcare treatment sooner to reduce the severity of illness and the cost of care.

Ownership-Based Engagement

An HFS Research study found that a healthy consumer with an income above the median wage is more satisfied with their experience at their point of care. By comparison, those dealing with illness and whose income is below the median wage are less satisfied with their healthcare experience. This data calls out the inequity in healthcare in the U.S.

Rohan points out that the potential remedy to address this inequity is to create an engagement process with shared ownership among the stakeholders, including the patient, the entities providing care delivery (e.g., hospitals, doctor groups, etc.), and employers who either self-insure or insure through traditional carriers.

Rohan points out the importance of educating consumers with vital information to enable them to improve their healthcare journey. Allowing the patients to manage their data and chart their choices in food and activities with accurate information in a shared ownership model would go a long way toward improving healthcare.

More than Just a Transactional Model

Setting up an engagement model would create a shared experience with incentives among all the stakeholders to maximize better health outcomes and reduce the cost of care delivery. Giving consumers a reason to stay healthy through information and resources would benefit all the stakeholders.

The health plan providers and employers should also be encouraged to engage patients during their healthy times, mainly since so many chronic conditions are often poorly managed for many reasons, including a lack of accurate information consumed by patients.

For effective engagement to happen, patients need to be educated about their health choices. And when they do need sick care, they need support and assistance with medication and other care details.

The Future of Triple Aim

Rohan hopes we will eventually reduce cost and improve patient outcomes and improve engagement, largely through evolving technology and the availability of innovative health plans.

Our population is constantly evolving. Lifestyles are changing. We’re likely to see more consumer engagement and literacy on healthcare topics. Healthcare distribution channels, including employers and the government, will play a different role, mainly as information concierges. As new distribution models emerge, they can disrupt the industry in favor of engagement and better patient outcomes.

Not surprisingly, Rohan enjoys a healthy lifestyle. He enjoys cooking healthy meals and hiking with his wife on the Appalachian trails near his home in northern Virginia.

Learn more about iQor digital customer experience capabilities.

7 Ways to Morph Managers Into Leaders

Posted on by Blake Graves

Hint: break some rules to create leaders that inspire leaders

Did you know that only one-third of U.S. employees are engaged at work? According to a recent Gallup report, people are increasingly indifferent about their jobs, and even more so, lack confidence in their managers in communicating effectively or making them feel enthusiastic about their roles. This is a tough pill to swallow, especially since lack of engagement can lead to increased employee turnover and all-around dissatisfaction.

The thing is, organizations can throw manuals, training videos, and performance metric box-checking forms at their management all day, but workers’ priorities are changing, and thus leaders must break some of the hard and fast rules of regular employee management. They must be trained to be engaging, emotionally intelligent, and even more, inspirational.

At iQor, we rebuilt our leadership training from the ground up to better reflect the skills our managers, directors, and VPs need today to manage a fast-changing workforce. Called Leaders Inspiring Leaders, our program specifically focuses on how to create managers that rewrite the old rules and blaze new trails in response to our employees’ needs.

Here are seven ways you can incorporate some trailblazer-worthy training into your business today based on what we’ve learned through the creation of our Leaders Inspiring Leaders program.

1. Revamp Your Library of e-Courses

In order to morph your leaders into true trailblazers, you must “be” the change. Redesign your leadership landing and training pages so they are more engaging, easier to navigate, and provide reviews and course completion progress for your managers and their direct reports. And remember, while eLearning may not be the end all be all in development, it does provide an opportunity to introduce new learning approaches and reinforce and support other traditional learning methods.

Provide short 30 minutes to 1-hour competency-based training videos or material that speak to people on an emotional level. This can be developed in-house, or outsourced (here is one company that breaks down lessons into three-minute videos). Your goal is to create inspirational leaders by setting the foundation for developing their emotional intelligence, which is critical in building and sustaining positive and engaged individuals and organizations.

Here are some example course topics that iQor has incorporated into our e-course training:

  • Becoming an Inspirational Leader
  • Successful Delegation: Supervise and Encourage
  • Performing with Others under Pressure
  • Thinking Strategically as a Manager

2. Launch a Leadership Book Studies Group

Keep the group small (10-12 max) and meet bi-monthly. Each session should include a review of the topics covered in the previous chapters and how the lessons can apply to current challenges or be incorporated into one’s own management style.

In iQor’s Leadership Book Series, we encourage participants to apply new techniques or ideas and share feedback with the group. Again, engagement is the key theme here, with the goal of it flowing down from our managers to their direct reports, and so on. Engaged teams lead to increased customer satisfaction, increased retention, and a better bottom line. In fact, our own employees are two times more likely to stay when they are highly engaged and well-trained.

Here are a few books that iQor is including in our leadership studies book group:

3. Keep the Performance Review…But Do it Differently

Couple the traditional performance reviews and self-evaluation forms with career and goal outlines. Then, un-silo! Instead of filing this information within its traditional HR walls, share it with the corporate training department where they can use it as a resource and work with your managers when they need program support. Most importantly, make sure that the manager has open access so they can revisit it themselves and have the opportunity to hold themselves and their boss accountable.

At iQor, we call this our Performance Review 360 because we want our leaders to see the complete picture — from how they are doing within their roles to the progress they are making in their personal and career development journey.

To recap, your 360 view should include:

  • Traditional performance evaluations
  • Self-evaluations
  • Career path outlines
  • Goal setting outlines

Another tip: conduct reviews and check-ins more frequently than just once a year. Companies that do this are 45 percent more likely to have above-average financial performance.

4. Get Down to the Nitty-Gritty

Not all your leaders show up with a business degree. In fact, there are many things you can’t learn until you reach that leadership position. Thus, it’s a good idea to give your frontrunners the tools and lessons for the nitty-gritty processes that they will encounter on a daily basis.

Some of our own core-knowledge workshops include:

  • Change Management
  • Principles of Accounting
  • Social Media/Tech Acumen Training

5. Host Monthly Leadership Lunch & Learns

These 60-minute lunch workshops focus on current employee-related challenges and issues. We recommend that Lunch and Learns contain real-world examples and best-practice sharing for leaders at all levels of an organization.

Again, this is another way to engage your leaders, keep up a growth mindset, and improve morale.

6. Blend Virtual Training with Real Life Role Play

Incorporate workshops based on understanding what a competency is and how it is practiced in real life. At iQor, we blend learning formats and delivery techniques from role-playing to best practice sharing and post-training feedback sessions.

According to trainingmag.com, role-playing helps to build confidence, develop listening skills, and improve creative problem-solving.

Some of our competency-based workshops include:

  • Managerial Courage (Feedback)
  • Strategic Planning
  • Inspiring Others
  • Developing Direct Reports
  • Process Management

7. Develop an Executive Mentorship Program

Mentorship is a recognized and successful method for encouraging professional development. It also increases the chances of employees, especially millennials, in sticking around. Your organization has an abundance of seasoned and accomplished senior leaders. Why not engage them and use them for helping others to grow in their career, share their experiences, and coach other individuals who have been recognized or aspire to be future leaders?

We recommend meeting once a month for an hour over the course of a year, albeit flexible enough to meet the needs and schedules of the mentors and mentees. In our program, we encourage our mentors to share with the mentees how they were able to navigate through company challenges, political situations, and cultural norms.

Bonus Tip

One more differentiator of our Leaders Inspiring Leaders program is that it is an ongoing program. Leave out the certificates, application deadlines, and timed exams, and give your leaders the opportunity to learn and develop themselves on their terms. Let your leadership training evolve and grow over time based on their needs. By simply building up a strong foundation of leadership excellence training, you give your managers the fuel they need to inspire, engage and blaze forward.

In need of more inspiration? Check out how iQor’s leadership training programs have been snagging awards left and right, including from HR.com and the Stevies.