Being a leader can be satisfying but not always fun.  Especially in today’s uncertain workplace, a critical leadership skill for women is being able to create positive change, even when it’s not seen that way.  At least not at first. The key is to stay steady despite the naysayers, criticisms and push back.  Being willing to get more comfortable with the uncomfortable was my first lesson learned as the new manager of AOL’s call center that would grow from 70 to 250 employees in less than a year.

When I had taken over the call center, everything was in chaos. We were constantly adding new customers and had more incoming calls than we could handle. Every day, our reps faced an ongoing stream of calls most of which were from aggravated customers who were growing impatient after waiting on hold for so long. 

The stress was palpable and there was a pervasive feeling that we couldn’t do anything but hire people as fast as we could to replace those who burned out.  Big surprise, but throwing bodies at the problem wasn’t working.

So as the new call center manager I put my first stake in the ground and did something that would seem so obvious to anyone from the outside but was really a huge culture shift from within:  I established standards and insisted we keep them.

I knew we couldn’t control everything, but I also knew there were certain aspects of the work that were within our control, even if it meant making our customers stay on hold a few seconds longer.  We needed to give people breaks to recharge.  We needed to create schedules that handled the workload better.  We needed to establish quality and attendance standards.  We needed to invest back into employees by giving them training, one-on-one feedback, and team meetings to keep them informed about company developments.

In addition, we needed to fire those employees who couldn’t or wouldn’t perform according to standards, the least of which was showing up to work on time.  At first, people were shocked.  We already had attendance policies, but they were never enforced, and we’d suffered the consequences.  For example, if a call center rep was a mere 15 minutes late to his or her shift, that meant three customer calls went unanswered.  If ten people were late, that meant thirty customers were backed up. Once behind, it was almost impossible to catch up. 

So I reintroduced our attendance policies, announcing that this time they were serious.  When people didn’t measure up, we would let them know and give them a warning.  We couldn’t afford to lose valuable employees, and we did everything we could to keep them. It was quickly understood that if you got fired, you earned it.  Within a few months, the mood of the place changed.  There was a higher consistency in work quality.  There was more mutual respect and camaraderie.  People actually liked coming to work and started recommending friends for openings.

Professionally, it was very satisfying, but along the way it wasn’t always fun.  Shortly after instigating these changes I asked one of the seasoned reps how I was regarded.  “Some of them don’t like you, Mary,” she said, “but they respect you because you’re fair.”  What woman relishes in making others uncomfortable?  Not this one.  But as the leader I had to accept that it was just part of the change process. The uncomfortable feelings were temporary and would pass. What remained was something very positive and worth getting uncomfortable for.

Image:  FreeDigitialPhotos.net

About Mary Foley
Get more free resources to increase your career confidence at MaryFoley.com, including your Free Sanity, Confidence & Fun Action Pack with eBooks How to Thrive on Shift & Change for Your Career and What Every Woman Must Know About Office Politics eBooks. Mary inspires women with practical advice to create sanity in your life and confidence in your career – all while having a bit of fun!  She is the author of three books, a popular national speaker, and former co-host of the Girlfriend We Gotta Talk! radio show.  Find out more at http://www.maryfoley.com.