One might view the rigor and structure of a health authority inspection (i.e. an FDA audit) as a strange tool to use within the contact center space, but Jaedeanne Shaver and her team did exactly that in Alcon’s US Customer Service department and have been reaping the rewards ever since. They set out to develop an internal audit program that would help ensure compliance with financial controls, corporate procedures, and relevant regulations – and ended up with a program which not only did that, but resulted in many other benefits including process improvements, system enhancements, business continuity, and a quality mindset throughout the organization.
The Internal Self Assessment (ISA) program was designed very deliberately with top-down support from the leadership team. It is essentially a “deep-dive” into the procedural documentation, order management, reporting, corrective transactions, complaint handling, records retention, and training documentation for a specific sub-team in the Customer Service department. The ISAs are conducted once per quarter, with the prep work beginning six-weeks prior to the ISA. Not only is the adherence to procedures, controls, and regulations evaluated, but “good business practices” are celebrated and socialized, relationships are built and developed, and the collaborative exercise serves as a career development and learning opportunity for associates.
Recognized as a “Gold Standard” within the organization, the Internal Self Assessment program has been shared with other teams and country business units within Alcon through the “ISA Play Book,” which is essentially the user guide for the program. It has resulted in the creation of the Quality Champion award, which is a highly sought-after quarterly recognition to celebrate an associate who has gone above-and-beyond to deliver exceptional quality to our internal and external customers. Most importantly, it has resulted in the development of a quality mindset in associates throughout the organization where they view each transaction through a quality lens, creating brilliant customer interactions.
Jaedeanne is a long time CCNG member and contributor as the Associate Director of Internal Training & Compliance with Alcon in Fort Worth Texas.
