Recently CCNG members and area contact center professionals were invited to the Alcon North America Customer Service Operations Center in Fort Worth Texas for a group discussion into Alcon’s journey of digital transformation over the years. Below are some of the highlights shared at the event as provided by a CCNG member in attendance.
Alcon customer service leaders shared and led discussions that included sharing their core values, leadership development, their vision, digital discovery / investment / capabilities, lessons learned, associate engagement success.
Alcon customer service core values: openness, trust, line of sight, intentionality, respect, authenticity, embrace and promote change, no stinking thinking, champion one another, fail forward, lighten up, have fun.
Leaders model these behaviors and call out agents who exhibit these behaviors. Agents receive an acrylic block to display in their cubicle.
Using external consultants to conduct a 2 1 2 day “discovery” workshop then entering the Digital Enablement phase to deliver targeted digital capabilities that were identified during the Digital Discovery process. Now they are in the Digital Acceleration phase to optimize these processes.
Digital investments include Omni channel, automation and AI, knowledge management, advanced analytics, and virtual customer assistants.
Alcon senior leadership requires a 4 x 1 work schedule with Friday being a flex day. They try to improve the in-office experience and allow for some flexibility to work from home.
Alcon CS feels that associate engagement should be a higher priority than customer engagement and celebrate holidays and Customer Service Week.
Alcon offers a voluntary program called Grad School for continuing education of their associates. The program consists of a self service CBT, 200 and 300 track, and is scheduled based on predicted call volume and staffing coverage.
Recently Alcon CS created a competition for their associates to record a voice recording for the USCS Idol IVR menu. This created a fun event for staff and helped develop the fun culture within their organization.
Knowledge College Mixers, food delivery from the cafeteria, Perfect Call Committee, Employee Surveys, Micro Development with other roles in the department…all part of the overall associate engagement investments and success. Additionally celebrating Customer Service Week, Tasty Tuesdays, Holiday Celebrations, Birthday Month Celebrations, Quality Program, and Quality Captains are all designed to engage and connect staff.
Lastly, don’t sacrifice training – fit it in!
Special thanks to our member hosts Bill Walker, North America US Customer Service Director and Jaedeanne Shaver, Associate Director of Implementation Excellence, US Commercial Operations.
For more information on CCNG member hosted events, please visit CCNG.com/Events. If you are interested in hosting a future CCNG event or just learning more about the CCNG community, please let us know!
