2016 · Page 8 of 45 · Sensory Intelligence Consulting

The business world is rapidly changing and our worlds are being turned upside down due to the economic climate. It has never been more crucial for companies to ensure that their teams are effective, can manage the stress of the current climate, are utilised effectively, and can lead with confidence, making relevant and strategic decisions. Talent management with regard to knowing who your teams are and what they do best is now crucial.

The reality is that the recession is pushing us outside of our comfort zones. In the business world measures of stress, uncertainty, and anxiety have hit the roof. Our worlds are becoming sensory overloaded while demands and expectations increase, often with support structures lagging behind.

Are your teams prepared for this? Can they now function better than ever?

Organisations should now more than ever ensure that they identify their talent, keep them close and look for hidden talent in their midst. What then is Sensory Intelligence® and what does it have to do with teams and talent? Well, teams and talent are people: am I right? The more you know about the humans occupying the central/key structures of your business, the better you are equipped to ride through these uncertain times. People remain the best resource within organisations, and investing in human capital still delivers the best long-term returns.

Sensory Intelligence® is a powerful way to get back to basics, i.e. the human body and brain. The human brain has stayed exactly the same through the centuries; it is a matter of making sure that we use it wisely and optimally within our changing world. Every person has a particular sensory style, in that the core body-brain connections are wired uniquely for each individual. Sensory intelligence® takes this down to the subconscious and survival parts of the brain. We experience the world through seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and moving. This is the entry level where the brain absorbs the world, responds intuitively and then releases the higher function of the brain (often called the CEO of the brain) to perform accordingly. The survival and entry-level functions of the brain drive what happens later with regards to our attention, emotion and behaviour.

Sensory Intelligence® uses a standardised methodology to assess teams to determine their entry-level, survival and unconscious brain responses. Remember a time when you responded without thinking? Or only a split second too late realised that you had acted inappropriately? Well, this is the sensory brain, responding intuitively to that input and preparing you for fight/flight/fright responses without first checking with the upper parts, the CEO. That is basic human survival and is very necessary. But, yes, often it lands us in hot water. Based on individual thresholds, we respond differently to environmental stimuli. Individuals with low thresholds over-respond, since their brains, absorb information faster and more intensely. They don’t miss a thing and are most certainly the persons you need checking your finances and human resources: but, inevitably, they are often seen as finicky, difficult and pedantic. They respond to the environment faster and more intensely, hence recognising disaster a mile away. On the other hand, extremely high threshold individuals under-respond, since their brains absorb only what is perceived as relevant and most prominent. They have the ability to work in crazy environments, driving change and diversity with resilience. Diversity – yes, conflict – yes, necessary – absolutely yes.

Sensory Intelligence® will connect individuals in teams with their core body-brain comfort zones. They will know intuitively what they do best, drop unnecessary labels acquired due to misunderstanding behaviours, and ultimately bring balance to a team. By capitalising on this level of sensory diversity, individuals will be assigned roles they are intuitively driven to.

It also unfolds conflict in teams on a different (more acceptable) level in order to drop negative labels and acquire positive ones. When team members understand each other based on their sensory coding, it shifts understanding and tolerance within teams significantly. Teams then shift to a different level, get the work done and use team members to their full potential.

Balance in teams is crucial and, by ensuring that there are various thresholds within a team and resourcing them according to their team roles, you are sure to have a strong, top performing team.

Is your team collaborating and do they need a nudge in the right direction?

I was looking for the craziest, wildest, busiest, most sensory overloaded and insane work environment to do my research … I clearly found it in the contact centre industry! The first time I walked into a contact centre I was blown away. Although absolutely electrifying for me, and certainly switching on an extra few brain wires, I immediately knew with certainty that this environment would be a recipe for disaster for about 20% of the population.

Local and international research shows that 20% of the population are highly sensory sensitive to information derived from the environment. This means that their DNA and brain circuits have an over-intake of sensory (see, hear, touch, smell, taste, move) information. Sensory overload is of utmost relevance to them as they experience the world as too loud, too bright, too fast, too tight … plainly just too much. Needless to say, the contact centre environment is completely overwhelming for them and results in stress, absenteeism, performance issues and ultimately attrition. Even though they often manage to put effort into tolerating this environment, it often works for only a short period of time. Ever thought about why the critical period for losing agents is usually within the first 90 days of employment?

Although our sensory processing takes place in the unconscious parts of our brain functioning, it is critical for species survival. Intuitively we learn what works for us and whatnot, but mostly – and too often – through trial and error. Your sensory-sensitive contact centre agents will only realise this after being recruited, trained and positioned on the contact centre seat. And, suffice to say, thousands of rands later the realisation hits: “I hate this job.” Research also clearly corroborates the prevalence of high levels of stress within the industry.

When placed in data capturing, e-mail support, or quality assurance, these same individuals would however most often perform at very high levels. Traditionally, these processes, are usually performed in more contained, less sensory overloaded sections and require awareness, attention to detail and rigid processing. Your 20% unsuitable front office callers are well suited for these roles.

My quest as an occupational therapist has been to prove that sensory processing does correlate with the work performance, absenteeism and attrition of contact centre agents. Correlation results through my doctoral research clearly indicate that your 20% of highly sensitive agents spend longer time on after-call work, have longer holding times and lower quality assurance ratings.

The four main pillars in the call centre industry are:

People;
premises;
processes; and
technology.

They are obviously all crucial for sustainability and efficiency, but human resource allocation is the biggest hurdle. Your contact centre agent is the key to delivering service, sales or collections, utilising your business process and operations to capture the essence of your client audience.

How can we solve this?

Occupational science is a body of knowledge about how we analyse work environments and the people functioning within them. Goodness of fit is the vital key to supporting the fact that matching your talent and workforce to the job description and work environment will ensure productive, less stressed, and sustainable employees. It just makes plain business sense to ensure a best-fit match for the contact centre industry in particular. The industry is known for high training and operational costs, with agent attrition and absenteeism a common problems. This impacts the bottom line for the company but also depletes corporate wellness for the individual.

Sensory Intelligence® Consulting has two main objectives for the contact centre industry:

Firstly, to ensure return on investments for companies. If you are spending R17 264.00 (average industry figure South Africa 2007) on training an agent, shouldn’t you ensure up-front that they are suited for the position?
Secondly, a mismatch in the industry impacts the wellness of the agents. Unsuitable agents end up with a high degree of stress and anxiety which have detrimental effects on health and wellness and result in inflated healthcare costs. As many agents are young and often find themselves in contact centres as an entry-level job, the degree of failure and difficulty to manage has a far-reaching impact on their personal self-esteem and confidence. Therefore, ensure you, select agents, with more care, and consider their sensory processing styles to ensure sustainability in the environment. Senses on Call™ is a selection tool designed exclusively for the contact centre industry based on my research results.

Another consideration to ensure workspace optimisation is also to ensure you have a well set-up contact centre including:

Good equipment
Enough space
Air
Ventilation
Chill rooms (not glorified tea rooms)
Leadership that thinks and acts laterally
Ongoing coaching and development.

The contact centre business model works, locally and abroad, with unprecedented growth and has huge job creation opportunities for South Africa.

Year: 2016

Are your work teams collaborating?

Contact centres: A scary workplace?

Who has benefited