The use of nationally recognised training in call centres

As a major growth industry, call centres require large numbers of staff who are new to the industry to be trained in short periods of time. To this end, call centres in Australia are major users of national vocational education and training (VET) qualifications, using the Telecommunications Training Package. Different types of government funding for training are available in this way and are heavily used. For example, Call Centre Certificate III showed the largest growth area for traineeships in New South Wales (Australia's most populous State) in 2003. This article reports on three case studies of training in large call centres, carried out as part of a national research project on the use by enterprises of nationally recognised training for existing workers. The study found that such training was well-suited to the call centre environment and was integrated into performance management systems, but that there were some problems associated with the appropriateness of delivery and assessment methods. There was also some cynicism among workers and first-line supervisors about the training.