Neteller

Company Description

One of the leading service providers in the industry, NETELLER operates a secure online funds transfer service.

A NETELLER account acts as an e-wallet that enables members (individuals who open NETELLER accounts) to load, withdraw and transfer funds. Members can instantly transfer funds to/from any merchant website that supports NETELLER's online payments system, and to/from other NETELLER members.

The firm has been providing secure online transactions since 1999. Over 1,500 online merchants accept payments through the NETELLER system. With a user base of over 1,500,000 members, NETELLER processed over $3.4 billion in transactions in 2004. The company employs over 450 people and growing. Corporate headquarters are located in Douglas, Isle of Man with regional offices in Calgary, Canada, London, England, Hong Kong, China and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Contact Center Description

The management team at NETELLER works very hard to make the environment functional and enjoyable. However, this task is made more difficult due to the many limitations of their current office building. The building is an old renovated warehouse that has been divided into various sections and levels to accommodate employees. NETELLER will soon be moving to a much more pleasant and modern facility that will provide more space, better heating and air conditioning, better lighting, better electrical and improved operability.

The call centre is located all on one floor. Workstations are arranged in pods of 4. There are no dividers between the workstations which encourages dialogue and better interaction with employees. Each pod has the same configuration and approximately 80% of them have dual monitors for improved productivity. Seats are assigned by employee role or function. For example, if an employee does email response or live chat, they will sit in a designated pod. All supervisor and QA functions have designated areas and rotate by shifts. Employees are encouraged to bring in items to personalize their workspace. This helps add colour to the office and provides people an opportunity to express themselves. Coffee centres, and the lunch room have recently been updated to accommodate larger fridges, dishwashers and other convenience amenities. New tables and chairs have also been added to improve these areas. This helps encourage people to bring in their lunches and socialize with their peers. A resource room is also available for reading books or taking on-line courses.

A new PA system has just been implemented that also dispenses white noise. This has had a significant impact on eliminating ambient noise - most noticeably during shift changes. Staggered shifts have also helped to reduce noise levels. The current call centre location has very little natural light. However, the new facility has windows all around the perimeter where the agent work stations will be positioned. There are 3 sets of washrooms available – no waiting. NETELLER has a day porter that empties garbage pails, tidies the office and keeps the facility clean. Management allows employees to turn down the main lighting in the office and use individual lighting at their workstations. This has a real calming affect in the centre.

There are approximately 450 employees at NETELLER. Departments include: Customer Service Fraud, Security and Investigations, Accounting, Collections, Customer Retention, Merchant Services, HR and a large IT department. There are 130 CSRs in the contact centre. 50 seats are dedicated to Customer Service and approximately 30 seats are dedicated to Fraud, Security and Investigations. The span of control in the contact centre consists of one Contact Centre Manager to 7 Supervisors, one Head Supervisor to 6 Supervisors, 6 Supervisors and 5 Senior CSR's (backup to Supervisors) to 100 CSRs. The Contact Centre Manager reports to the VP of Operations who in-turn reports to one other executive level, then the global president as well as a dotted line to the Canadian site president. There are 6 QA people. There is an internal help desk that looks after hardware and software support. Training is a separate group of 8 people. One individual also looks after scheduling and the supervisors look after most of the administration.

NETELLER take staff safety security very seriously. They have a night security guard from 6pm - 6am. Security personnel are located at our front door, walk the building regularly, and ensure everyone in the building has a corporate security badge visible at all times. All areas of the building are carded access. A security guard can also walk someone to their car during the night for complete safety and peace of mind.

NETELLER is the first Calgary based contact centre to achieve the prestigious Contact Center Employer of Choice™ (CCEOC) Gold level award for its customer service centre. This award distinguishes the NETELLER customer service centre as one of the best contact center operations to work for in North America.

NETELLER participated in the Contact Center Employer of Choice certification program in order to create a unique competitive advantage for recruiting and selecting personnel and to gain industry-wide recognition as a great place to work. Also, by understanding their employees' motivation and satisfaction drivers, they are able to develop more targeted people focused programs and further position themselves as a market leader in service excellence.

Specific areas of focus for NETELLER include:

• Improve ability to attract the best talent
• Gain industry-wide recognition as a great place to work.
• Identify areas of opportunity to improve employee satisfaction
• Elevate the performance of its operations

Key Performance Measures

• ASA – Average Speed of Answer
• ABN – Abandonment Rate
• GOS – Grade of Service
• SAT – Customer Satisfaction taken from an online site survey
• QAM – Quality and Monitoring

Metrics	ASA	ABN	GOS	SAT	QAM
Red	Over 2:00	Over 10%	Below 60%	Below 70%	Below 2%
Bronze	1:59 – 1:30	10% - 7%	60% - 69%	70% - 74%	2% - 2.9%
Silver	1:29 – 0:50	6.99% -3%	70% - 79%	75% - 79%	3% - 3.9%
Gold	0:49 – 0:20	2.99% - 1%	80% - 89%	80% - 89%	4% - 4.9%
Platinum	Under 0:20	Under 1%	Above 90%	Above 90%	Above 5%

Technology & Ergonomics

NETELLER uses a Nortel switch with Symposium ACD, IVR & CTI. They use an innovative scheduling software system called WhenToWork.com. It's an on-line scheduler that automatically creates schedules using employee preferred work times. It also includes an automatic e-mail notification function. Forecasting and planning is done by the manager and supervisor team. Skills based routing is used for languages only. Agents have the Symposium desktop bar, so they can see calls waiting in queue. The only in-house developed application is a database administration site.

CSRs can use their browser to locate time zones, dialing sequences and other pertinent information. Monitors are being upgrading to flat screens, and many workstations have already been converted. New high quality, ergonomic chairs have been purchased for all CSRs.

Growth Prospects

The NETELLER contact centre operation has been expanding at an accelerated rate over the last 18 months. Currently, there are 130 CSR staff. This number is expected to grow to over 175 by the end of the year. Due to this growth, NETELLER is moving to a larger, more modern building. There are also plans to open another call centre in Asia by the end of 2005.

CCEOC Attributes

NETELLER has a number of initiatives supporting health & wellness and work/life balance. A gym facility is provided on site to allow people an opportunity to workout and work off stress. A massage therapist is brought in every 2 weeks. $500 a year for massage therapy is provided through the benefits package. An employee and family assistance program is offered to all staff. Through this program, employees can call a confidential help line if they need assistance. Full benefits are available to CSRs after 6 months from the date of hire. This is unique in the call centre industry.

Management ensures that the building is meeting municipal fire and safety regulations. Fire extinguishers and other safety items are checked regularly and updated as required. All Customer Service Supervisors have gone through first aid training and are well prepared in case of an emergency.

A lot of work is done to accommodate various scheduling requirements. Management works around school schedules for students; they also work around family schedules for single moms and duel income families with special daycare requirements. It's a very family friendly, flexible environment. People appreciate the ability to work the hours that fit their lifestyle.

NETTELLER is a 24/7 operation and many new CSRs start off working the graveyard shift. However, because the company is growing quickly and hiring new people, CSRs working this shift are usually rotated out after 3 – 6 months. The scheduler also keeps a priority list of people that want to move into a more palatable shift when the opportunity presents itself. Neteller realizes that small changes made to accommodate a scheduling concern can have a big impact on the life of the agent.

People are encouraged to take their vacation time and the company is very flexible in allowing people to take time off when they need to.

NETELLER has lots of rewards and recognition opportunities. Some of these include: employee of the month - $100 bonus, employee of the quarter - $300 bonus, email stars for customer compliments, posting good customer service stories on a bulletin board, gift certificates for a job well done or going the extra mile, lunches provided at least once a month, catered dinners to the night staff, birthday cake once a month and an attendance incentive plan. There is no dress code at NETELLER. This allows employees to feel comfortable in the clothes they choose to wear. It also helps to breakdown social barriers and saves employees money on expensive business attire.

The AIP (Attendance Incentive Plan) is administered monthly and gives recognition to employees with perfect attendance. Employees receive $75 tax free on their paycheck at the end of the month if they qualify. Additional 3 month incentives (a day off with pay) and 6 month incentives (gift certificates) are also used as motivators. Individuals who have no late days or absences for the entire year are awarded a "trip for two" weekend getaway to Banff ($500 value). This program is designed to reward the people at work who are covering for the people who are not there. It has been successful because most employees take a lot pride in meeting the attendance goals and are excited about the prospects of earning extra recognition and perks.

NETELLER regularly gives back to the community and supports local charities through various activities. They are involved in: corporate challenge to support the United Way, aids benefits, raising money for Calgary Women's Shelter and needy children at Christmas, food drives and supporting sports leagues of all kinds including: bowling, baseball, chess and curling. They do a blood drive to support the Canadian Blood Services donation program. Management is very open to employees if they have a charity they are particularly passionate about.

Contract Center Culture and Social Environment

NETELLER has a very active social climate and a supportive team culture. A few of the words used to describe the culture at NETELLER include: young, dynamic, fast growing, vibrant, relaxed and casual. From the corporate employee survey, 93% said they would recommend working at NETELLER to a friend.

Lots of activities are planned to create a strong social environment. This helps people cope with stress and develop a supportive team culture. Employees regularly bring in food to share and there is a pizza lunch once a month. Training on how to avoid support staff burnout is provided by management. NETELLER strongly believes that providing the tools to deal with conflict is important in helping manage stress and improving job satisfaction.

Above and Beyond Factors

Above and Beyond refers to the little (or big) extras that differentiates NETELLER Customer Service contact centre from all the rest.

Here is a list of some of those attributes:

• Open mindedness
• Respect for the employee
• Flexible, relaxed work environment
• Many students stay on as full time once they receive their degrees
• Salary level is very competitive
• Work/life balance – flexible scheduling
• Culture of diversity
• Lots of growth opportunities for employees
• Vibrant social culture