CAA South Central

CAA South Central Ontario Thornhill and Hamilton Member Care Contact Center

Company Description

CAA South Central Ontario has been successfully servicing our members and customers for over 100 years.

Our vision is to be the leading membership organization in Canada by delivering first class quality service and unparalleled member satisfaction. Services offered include: Membership, Insurance, Travel, Automotive, Advocacy, and Member Savings.

Vision

CAA South Central Ontario will be the leading Membership organization in Canada by delivering first class quality service, unparalleled member satisfaction and profitable growth.

Mission

CAA South Central Ontario is a trusted Member-driven organization that delivers quality automotive, travel, insurance and advocacy services providing peace of mind, safety and value.

Culture

As an employer, CAA South Central Ontario will continue to inspire our employees to focus on exceeding Members' expectations in an organization that is fair, respectful and enjoyable to work for and that allows for personal growth.

Contact Center Description, Ergonomics and Technology

Vibrant colours on the walls, carpeting and partitions help make the centres visually appealing. There are large windows and plenty of natural light. Kitchen facilities offer refrigerator/freezer, microwave ovens, toaster ovens, toasters, dishwasher, coffee and tea. Clean, modern washroom facilities are really appreciated by employees. Plants are visible throughout the centres helping bring a little bit of nature indoors.

Workstations are approximately 5'x4' cubicles and provide plenty of desk and personal space. They are arranged in rows and grouped by business unit. Chest high partitions allow employees to view the entire contact centre from almost any location on the floor. Employees with special requirements are accommodated as much as possible. The building is designed to accommodate the disabled including wheelchair access. Each workstation is equipped with a flat screen monitor, ergonomic chair, mouse, keyboard, wrist rest and headset. Footrests and anti-glare screens are also available. Each desktop has MS Office. Each agent has internet access, an email address and has access to MS Messenger. Agents can access the Aspect workforce scheduling software to check or update their own schedules remotely.

Symposium is used for call routing, Verint for call recording and Interalia XMU for centralized announcements. CAA uses at-home agents through Live Exchange. CTI and IVR are used to help reduce call handle time and live call answer. "Call Pilot" software is used for voice mail, IVR and announcements. Flat screen TVs are visible throughout the Thornhill centre providing information to the floor. Agents can also see real-time centre metrics on the ADD (agent desktop display). Magic software is used to track calls coming to the resource center. Zen software is used to help manage the remote agents and provide virtual resource desk support. On-line map locator software is available to all associates.

All staff and visitors require security passes to get into the building and contact centre. A security guard is available at night.

CAA South Central Ontario Member Care Contact Centre is the first automobile association in North America to achieve Contact Center Employer of Choice^® certification. They scored into the Silver level on the first assessment.

The following issues were key factors in the decision to pursue the CCEOC designation:

• Improve ability to attract and retain top talent
• Improve employee engagement
• Boost employee morale and satisfaction
• Gain industry-wide recognition as a great place to work

Becoming certified through the Contact Center Employer of Choice^® program allows the CAA South Central Ontario Member Care to benefit from promoting the designation, address key employee satisfaction issues and develop an action plan for continuous improvement.

CAA South Central Ontario Member Care has achieved the Silver level CCEOC designation for 2007/2008 and is looking forward to promoting and maintaining their high standards of excellence.

KEY PERFOMANCE MEASURES

Quality Metrics

• Standards of performance measured on a 1 – 4 scale Revenue & Growth
• email collection
• insurance leads
• medical insurance sales
• membership sales
• Battery sales
• Swaying calls to light service rather than tow's

Efficiencies

• Not Ready
• Adherence to schedule
• AHT
• Short calls

Training and Development, Coaching and Mentoring

Free orientation and training is provided to all new employee's, along with ongoing free cross-training for all existing employee's. As the employee progresses in the position, additional training is offered to encompass medical insurance, trip tiks, premier and mobile lube. Ensuring employees have the tools to succeed in the role is the goal of management.

Coaching is conducted on a monthly basis by the supervisors along with team meetings, focus groups etc. Commitments are gained from the MCC for improved performance.

Growth Prospects

The CAA South Central Ontario contact centre operation has 2 contact center sites: Thornhill and Hamilton. Over one million calls and 200,000 emails are handled annually.

The contact centre operation has grown at a steady pace. Between the Thornhill and Hamilton sites there are over 160 frontline Associates, 11 Supervisors and 4 Managers. The two sites have very dynamic, enthusiastic and successful work environments. As the insurance side of CAA offering grows, call volume will continue to increase driving further growth in the operation. Many training and career path opportunities are available. Employees that promote out of the contact center are considered highly trained and valuable to the organization. More merger activity within the CAA will also continue to grow and create even more job stability.

CCEOC Attributes

Overall, CAA South Central Ontario Member Care displays many positive contact centre employer of choice^® attributes.

The following represent some of the main items that stood out as important from the management and employee's perspective:

• People are great, friendly
• Friendly, approachable management
• Open door policy
• Flexible dress code
• Comfortable atmosphere

Work/Life Balance

CAA South Central Ontario is very aware of the importance of helping employees find a balance between their work and personal lives. They work hard to match the individual's needs to the schedule. Every employee receives paid sick days, paid vacation, 2 float days and 20 bereavement days for the death of a spouse or child. New employees receive 3 weeks vacation to start and every 5th year, an additional week of vacation is accrued. An employee can take a limited number of days off with no reason. Employees also have the opportunity to "bank" extra time worked for future time off.

The Health and Safety committee handle a variety of issues that help make the workplace safe and healthy. The committee sets up programs and establishes training to help people become more aware of health and safety in the workplace. Fire drills are held regularly and first aid kits are available on every floor. There is also a Sick Room for employees who aren't feeling well or need to recharge their batteries.

Rewards and Recongnition

Rewards and recognition are important for maintaining a motivated and engaged workforce. A new program called Quality Rocks has been introduced to help provide company wide recognition for associates. It also provides monetary rewards based on performance. Associates that achieve a quality level "4" on 7 calls, 2 out of 3 months earn the award. This includes their name on a corporate plaque and an individual trophy. Colourful "gems" are hung over their workstation for further visual recognition. The Applause program is a recognition program that recognizes positive behaviour with a postcard from the center manager. This is a real motivator for employees.

President's Club is a prestigious award handed out on an annual basis recognizing an employee's contribution to performance and corporate values. This includes: lunch with the president, a certificate and a gift. "Share in Success" is a profit-sharing program that pays out bonuses to employees based on corporate profitability. An employee can earn up to 5% of their salary in bonuses.

The 25 Year Anniversary Dinner is an annual celebration for employees who have worked for the company for 25 years or more.

Monthly and quarterly team meetings are scheduled to recognize team member successes. Supervisors will work the last hour of a shift for the employee that has highest performance.

Culture and Social Environment

The culture of the CAA South Central is one of diversity, teamwork, success and fun. People pull together as a team for a common purpose with a variety of community/charity work as well as their day to day functions. Management is always available to respond to associate inquiries and to support staff.

A strong connection exists between the leadership team and the employees. This helps frontline staff feel valued and connected to the rest of the organization. Dress code is business oriented with casual Fridays.

The Social Committee is responsible for initiating many of the activities for the Centre. There are pot luck lunches and birthday/anniversary celebrations. There are quarterly events and outings throughout the year. Yearly events include: Christmas dinner, "Spring Thaw" dinner and dance, as well as a Kids Holiday Party at the end of the year.

Other social activities include: employee appreciation day, semi-annual parties, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Valentines Day and Christmas celebrations.

Community Support

Some of the activities organized by CAA South Central Member Care to support varies charities and causes include:

• Great battery round-up – pick up old batteries
• Shifting gears – retest seniors
• Child seat clinics
• School safety patrol
• Commissioner of Oath – notary republic – to give car as a gift – service for CAA members
• CAT(Consumer and Tech Support) for consumers purchasing new and used cars
• Legal advisory for tickets and other traffic infractions
• Auto Green – advice on maintaining a cleaner environment
• CSR – knitting baby hats for hospital maternity wards – goal of 1000
• United Way – pay for casual day – company will match contribution
• Food drives
• Kids Holiday party
• Public and Government Affairs lobbies the government on behalf of members – also involved in managing driving simulators organizing awareness campaigns for worst roads.

Above and Beyond Factors

Above and Beyond refers to the little (or big) extras that differentiates the CAA SCO Member Services Contact Centre operation and makes it a Contact Center Employer of Choice.

Here is a list of some of those attributes:

• People are great, friendly
• Friendly, approachable management
• Open door policy
• Flexible dress code
• Comfortable atmosphere
• Good benefits program
• Good, motivating awards and recognition
• Free parking
• Supportive and encouraging environment
• FISH philosophy
• Good communication – dedicated communication team
• fantastic technology
• On-site dry cleaning pick-up and delivery
• On-site car detailing and oil changes
• Free training
• Recognition for innovative ideas