Just because your agents start to score better using your evaluation forms, don’t be tricked into thinking your job is done! Letting your evaluation form become outdated is a typical quality assurance mistake. A great evaluation form will mature over the course of time based on how you and your team learn, improve and drive to meet your goals across various KPIs. How do you ensure your evaluation forms help drive your goals and keep up with your progressing work force? What do you need to consider in building an evaluation form, grading form, or questionnaire?
Your evaluation forms, are they vintage or vinegar?
Identify what the key drivers of your targeted KPI are. For example, we know that average handle time can be effected by product knowledge, script adherence, system use and call handling skills. These drivers may change as your agents become efficient in meeting them and require updating.
Group structure and group related questions. Key drivers should be broken down into groups containing related questions and given a weight of importance depending on how importantly that group effects performance or meeting your KPI goals. For example, “Product Knowledge” will be the title of one of your question groups for addressing AHT. Additional groups and questions may be added as important areas are discovered. Group weightings may also shift as agents become efficient in specific areas. When agents become very efficient in System Use, shift the weighting of importance to Call Handling Skills.
Questions should have more than two possible answers that provide scoring depth and allow for richer analytics. Questions should directly assess a targeted area. For example “Did the agent understand the customer’s needs by restating the customer’s issue?” Using answers such as Yes -100% No- 0% leaves very little area for analytics. If the answers had various scoring such as Yes-100%, Partially 50%, No-0% this will indicate that the agent can easily be coached to correct behavior instead of needing modular training which saves time for everyone. Taking it a step further by providing four answers will eliminate the option for the evaluator of just taking a middle ground stance. This will push them to provide an answer that can truly identify root causes.
Design each group and question not only for analytical scoring structures but also for coaching feedback and maintenance of historical feedback. When evaluations are completed, agents should have access to them and be able to take in valuable constructive feedback, aligning their work with the QA standards. This will enhance any coaching or one to one sessions that may be necessary to correct behavior. Users should see a track record of improved performance across the key drivers of any KPI.
The evaluation form is the back bone of all quality assurance campaigns. Using this as a foundation to address your KPIs will provide a solid starting point for your path of continual improvement. Ensure your evaluation form matures along with the improvement which will drive your goals.
