Best Call Centre In Australia:  No Outsourcing

ANZ is one of the top 5 companies in Australia, and the number one bank in New Zealand.  It has assets of $293 billion dollars and employs more than 30 thousand people all over the world.

The ANZ  call centre has the unique distinction of winning the Best Call Centre of Australia 3 years in a row.   Techgoss.com put the following questions to Pam Rebecca, Head of Australian Call Centre, ANZ

Q. Staff are obviously the most important factor in ANZ Call Centre being recognized the best Call Centre in Australia three years running.  How do you identify employees best suited for call centre roles?

A. (Pam Rebecca) New employees are assessed via a group assessment centre, designed specifically to measure the skills required for call centre consultant roles as demonstrated through the work samples they are tested on.

Q. How important are these elements in running a successful call centre - Location, Office decor, training, benchmarking, flexible work timings?

A. All these factors contribute to the success of the call centre by assisting staff engagement with their work and surrounding environment.

Location – ANZ call centre operates from two sites in Melbourne that offer a broader labour market the opportunity to work for ANZ and at the same time allows ANZ access to a wider market.

Office décor – Offices have been purpose built for the call centre to encompass work, rest and play. Workstations are fully ergonomic and there are designated areas for relaxation, eating and having fun (e.g. billiard table, table tennis, computer games)

Benchmarking – standard metrics are set for the relevant roles. It is very important for maintaining consistency, performance expectations and customer satisfaction.

Flexible working times – the Call Centre operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week making the option of flexible hours attractive to a wider audience, e.g. students, part-timers, returning from parental leave, gearing up for retirement.

Q. How do you motivate and reward your best performers?

A. The Call Centre runs an in-house recognition program called STAR, which is open to all employees.  Recognition can come from colleagues and/or managers whereby they are allocated ‘points’.  Prizes are chosen by the recognised staff member and are dependent on how many ‘points’ they have earned. 

Q. How many employees do you have in your call centre?

A. We have approximately 1000 people filling 890 roles.

Q. There is no doubt that many customers in USA, Europe and Australia prefer to talk to local call centres.  How important is that for ANZ customers?

A. ANZ has a commitment not to move call centres offshore - they will remain in Australia.

ANZ understands that our customers want to be able to talk to staff in Australia about their banking and financial services needs.  As a result, all customer contact roles including call centre roles will remain in Australia and ANZ will continue to provide award-winning service through our Australian Customer Call Centre.