Southern California Edison has achieved an awesome feat. It has managed to create what one might view as a world-class operation. Now, I have never used that term to describe a Call Center; but this organization is well worthy of this designation. This utility company was founded well over 100 years ago. Some would expect it to be caught up in bureaucratic glue, when in fact it is more nimble and passionate than many who are a tenth its age and size.

So this is a story about possibility and initiative. About what is possible when initiatives are organized and focused on key business goals. SCE has recognized the Call Center as a strategic asset, critical to the long-term success of the enterprise.

When visiting SCE’s locations, it is not just the "drop-dead gorgeous" brand-new Rancho Cucamonga site that captures your attention. It is the sense of community and the obvious respect people have for one another. (During my visit, there were some hearts up for Valentine’s Day and some "just for fun" decorations adorning the center).

What creates this community spirit? So often large centers (any size centers actually) have a desperate challenge in creating a sense of community. I was really curious; so I asked if I could take a deeper look. What I found at SCE may interest anyone challenged with high performance and cost containment goals.

Role of the Communication Council

In speaking with Linda Gilleland, she stressed the benefits of taking a very active role in the development of her staff and in the performance of the center. One of Linda’s most important roles is being a member of SCE’s Communication Council. The Council includes representatives from other departments like Marketing and Consumer Affairs; members meet on a quarterly basis (with the flexibility of having more frequent meetings when needed).

The Council reviews and "approves every external communication." This includes communication timeframes, the segment of customers to whom SCE is communicating, message content and objectives. In this way, "we send a consistent message to the customer. There is no confusion in the market with competing advertising of products or services." This obviously is great news – a single-voice message in the marketplace. But it is also a breakthrough for the forecasting team. Because of this commitment to communication and collaboration, the Call Center enjoys access to information that is critical to the planning process. The evidence is in a forecasting accuracy rate within three to five percent. BINGO!

The same sense of participation and collaboration extends to the entire Call Center representative community. Representatives participate in annual communication meetings. The management team meets with staff and shares with them the current business climate, the challenges being faced and the business initiatives under consideration. Plans for the year ahead are laid out in terms of their individual impact, as well as how they will contribute to reaching enterprise objectives. Individual objectives are also linked to this process. When you ask a representative at SCE what the primary objective is for this year, he/she will answer, "cost containment." Not service level or handle time. These representatives possess a great gift – an enterprise view. Things like service level and handle time are recognized as areas that critically impact cost containment. Employees are rewarded through an incentive program based on productivity and quality monitoring performance. Tangible!

Representatives also participate in teams assigned to evaluate current practices and improve processes. They work on issues like incentive programs, workflow optimization, data entry and navigation. Representatives make recommendations and many management decisions are made based on that input. As Cheryl Thielman, Manager of Call Center Operations, puts it, "You have to look at employee enrichment – and leading-edge employees have to be involved in decision making."

When everyone is empowered not only to act, but to understand the actions they are asked to undertake, the result is momentum. That momentum moves an entire group towards the same end. This is a powerful force - a force that shapes culture to create not just meetings, but a spirit of contribution, communication, interest and pride.

For SCE, training is key. Like all Call Centers, it is challenged with discovering new and innovative ways to train and mentor staff. As an example, SCE has installed Witness systems for the call monitoring process. The Quality Assurance group conducts five call observations per rep, per month. The resulting assessment becomes part of a coaching program, as well as part of the representative’s performance review. Supervisors conduct side-by-side observations for real-time coaching.

But guess what? The representatives are also involved in training. There is a peer mentoring program called "Partnership Empowering Performance", known as PEP on the floor. According to Michelle Barbara, Billing Inquiry Specialist, this program is best described as "best practice sharing." Barbara is very skilled in system navigation and partners with peers having difficulty to demonstrate what she does. The result: decreased handle time for those folks who have had specific help in mastering a specific skill, with no loss of quality. This is a definite long-term gain in both staff performance and in the ongoing change in culture. In combination, all the initiatives contribute to the community spirit and to the belief that the company is committed to the growth and success of its people.

There are many examples in this story of the positive impact of communication and collaboration on being able to affect real change and launch initiatives. These are very much connected to having a clear and purposeful vision. According to Dean Ratliff, Business Support Manager, the vision SCE has for its Customer Communication Organization is "to be a viable, competitive, world class organization in a competitive market."

To operationalize the vision, Ratliff highlighted four key areas around which SCE is focusing its initiatives:

• Leveraging Emerging Technology – SCE is currently working to improve desktop processes and navigational steps. It is looking to computer telephony integration to reduce keystroke entries, and improve workflow and accuracy.
   
• Managing Performance – Much attention is placed on the behavioral aspects of staff and operation performance. SCE seeks to enhance performance by empowering its people and insuring that every dollar and every person on the payroll is doing something consistent with the vision.
   
• Improving Process and Policies - The impact of costs associated with redundant and inconsistent practices has prompted SCE to insure that it has policies in place that leverage its cross-functional partners and reduces chances for duplication.
   
• Managing Growth - SCE is growing its business, increasing its revenue and touching more customers through its solicitation services. For example, in some cases SCE solicits subscribers to the Los Angeles Times. As well, SCE out sources some of its credit calls, increasing flexibility while reducing costs.

As a utility company, SCE is under strict guidelines for containing costs while meeting budget targets. All initiatives are tied to delivering a very high level of service to the customer, while exercising strict cost controls. Goal attainment really requires participation across the operation.

Meanwhile, this is an organization whose very industry is undergoing an identity crisis. The introduction of deregulation to the electric utilities is still a very new concept. SCE is using this major market change to positively influence the customer’s experience by shifting its culture. This is no small task. Three years ago there were many people at SCE who were "stuck in their ways." Moving from a monopolistic to competitive culture "took a little bit of patience" according to Ratliff. "What we did is align everyone’s interest and made an effort to get everyone involved, particularly the representatives. They know exactly what we are trying to do as a company, they know the business objectives and they are going to help design the plan. We are becoming a much better cohesive organization."

The Commitment of Management

The management team at SCE is deserving of special attention. This is not a moving sidewalk environment where leaders drop by on their way to another assignment. This is a team with passion and focus. It understands how to lead. I asked Peter Smith, Billing Inquiry Specialist at the Rancho Cucamonga site, what the "best part of this new facility is." His reply - "I think management has done unbelievably … management and employees. I think the whole place is a team and it works really well. They have managed an enormous undertaking to make this place a civil, clean environment to work, where you can get the job done and get a sense of accomplishment. They have done a great job."

The SCE leadership team walks the talk. There is a general feeling of connection and friendliness, as well as a solid understanding of what is expected and how expectations will be evaluated and facilitated.

Like all Call Centers, a critical performance area within SCE is schedule adherence, administered by the Support Area. William Williams is the Supervisor of Operations Coordinators at the Rancho Cucamonga site. His team of nine manages real-time service level on a half-hour basis throughout the day as well as any scheduling exceptions. Williams describes his teams function as, "coordination of workload-having the right people in the right place at the right time – I call all the people assets," says Williams.

Over the last year at SCE, a Schedule Adherence Team was created. Participants from Business Support, as well as representatives and supervisors came together to develop a program on communicating schedule adherence and the importance of it.

This company is committed to providing: the What We Need You to Do, the Why and the How to Do It. The results speak for themselves,. Today, according to Linda Gilleland, "There is not a person in the Call Center who is not achieving schedule adherence." And I can testify to this. Representatives are not chained to their desks. They know, they understand and they do.

So much can be said about SCE, but the site at Rancho Cucamonga is a true WOW. Prior to moving in to this site in October of 1999, the Call Center was located in a very old building in San Bernardino. That building did not meet company requirements. When given the opportunity for a new site, SCE took all its facility nightmares from San Bernardino and converted them to a dream come true Call Center facility.

Imagine taking all the work on culture and process and technology and being able to translate that to a brand new state-of-the-art ( dare I say it) "world class" facility!

Ask anyone who has made the move to this new facility and you will inevitably hear the

word – windows! SCE staff came from a building with absolutely no windows to a facility with windows all around. The view doesn’t hurt either. The furniture is configured in a kind of snake- like set up, with the supervisors in the center and representatives closest to the windows.

Franco Salerno, Systems and Technology Supervisor for SCE commented on a new trend that is clearly visible in the new facility. He says that, " one thing unique about our company in comparison with some of the folks I network with in the outside world is it used to be that everything flowed downhill. You would have the biggest, best, newest workstations coming from the executive level down. We have reversed that trend. We actually have the best workstations at our representative level now. We are setting the standard for the rest of the corporation. It definitely makes a difference."

Yes - the furniture, the technology, the plasma flat screens used for the Target Vision system - all are very cool. But these are only complements to an organization that recognizes that it is still people who make the difference. Though SCE is still defining business practices and refining collaboration across the enterprise, it serves as an example of what is possible within an organization. It has done this by involving all staff; providing equitable performance standards and incentives and by showing commitment to staff development and training. The 21^st Century is well underway, but some good old-fashioned values like patience, flexibility, respect and professionalism continue to be a worthy investment.