Equipping employees to manage challenging customer interactions
Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA) is one of the most common psychosocial hazards facing Australian workers, particularly in customer-facing environments. A frustrated caller tips into aggression. The call ends. The person who absorbs that interaction takes a breath and picks up the next call.
AGL partnered with Transitioning Well to ensure its people are equipped for dealing with moments like that.
“We had a lot of processes in place to deal with aggressive customer phone calls,” says Adam Keddad, Senior Manager, Health, Wellbeing and Injury Management at AGL Energy. He states that AGL wanted to go the extra mile, proactively providing employees with tools to deal with challenging interactions in the moment.
AGL proactively identified that upcoming price increases might increase the likelihood of call centre staff being exposed to difficult customer conversations. AGL wanted to equip employees with the tools, skills, and permission for people to protect themselves in the moment.
Understanding OVA in the workplace
OVA can occur wherever people are delivering difficult news, managing complaints, or representing an organisation during a stressful moment in a customer's life.
There is a risk of call centre workers dealing with these interactions on a continual basis. Existing systems (incident reporting, escalation pathways or post-incident wellbeing checks) are designed to respond in the event that harm has occurred.
The Pilot
AGL proactively engaged Transitioning Well to design and deliver a tailored program for customer-facing staff across their call centre operations. The pilot ran at AGL's 699 Bourke Street call centre in Melbourne, home to approximately 300 people.
The program has since expanded to AGL's King William call centre in South Australia, with rollout underway across additional business units.
A New Approach to OVA Support
Rather than delivering an off-the-shelf training program, Transitioning Well spent significant time at the outset understanding AGL's sophisticated existing systems, training frameworks and workforce structure before a single session was designed.
Staff interviews, documentation reviews, and meetings with AGL's training and development team informed the development of a program designed to integrate with AGL's well-established systems. Resolution Agents, Technical Coaches, Team Leaders and Managers each received different targeted support reflecting their different roles and exposure.
The program equipped staff with:
- De-escalation techniques for live customer interactions
- Practical tools to recognise when a situation is starting to head towards crossing a line
- Regulation techniques to use in the moment
- The skill of shifting focus from customer needs to self-protection when required
- A clear framework for self-care before, during, and after high-pressure interactions
Outcomes
Broader organisational application
Increased staff confidence
Reduced risk of cumulative exposure
A scalable model for psychosocial risk
"There are too many providers selling flexible programs that are off the shelf and very hard to mould. Transitioning Well were very clear from the outset that they wanted to understand. They spent a lot of time up front collecting and gathering information so they knew exactly how to fit the program in with what we had."
What the program delivered
One of the more significant discoveries during the program design process was how thoroughly AGL's prior empathy training had oriented staff toward the customer.
"The workers are so well-versed and trained to focus on the customer's needs that they sometimes forget their own needs. To give the customer the best service, you need to be the best version of yourself." — Adam Keddad, Health, Safety and Wellbeing, AGL
The program went through multiple iterations during delivery, adapting in real time based on participant feedback and observation by Transitioning Well’s organisational psychologists. By the time the rollout reached the King William centre, it had evolved substantially from where it began.
“It was very engaging and informative. It showed me that we are all on the same page and care deeply about each other and our people."
Expanding the Program
Following the success of the pilot, AGL expanded the program to its King William call centre in South Australia and began exploring how it could support other teams exposed to complex interactions.
Support that makes a difference
Wherever your people are absorbing the stress, frustration, or aggression of others as part of their role, Transitioning Well's national team of registered organisational psychologists can deliver tailored interventions designed around your workforce, your existing systems, and the specific psychosocial hazards your people may face.
Get in touch to find out how we can support your team.