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The modern-day Quality Assurance (QA) function looks quite different from the one a few years back. In addition to measuring legal and internal policy compliance, QA is often responsible for measuring reps on competencies, identifying performance development opportunities, and partnering with supervisors to deliver coaching. That’s not all. By virtue of being close to the voice of the customer, some QA functions are also participating in customer experience and process improvement opportunities. This means that growth opportunities in the QA group are increasing. But have you had a relook at your QA Career Pathing Playbook recently? If you haven’t, it’s possible that employee morale—and performance—may be suffering.
A common challenge that many QA functions struggle with is providing meaningful career opportunities at junior levels. A large proportion of the QA team is in individual contributor roles, where their primary responsibility is call evaluation. These junior staff can get disillusioned if they don’t see prospects for growth.
To address this problem, progressive companies clearly demarcate the responsibilities of entry-level QA staff from those of the more tenured junior staff. Some organizations do this formally (i.e., by creating a new position) while others do it more informally (i.e., by increasing the complexity of existing responsibilities related to call evaluation, and by adding additional responsibilities such as coaching or customer experience analysis).
This approach helps QA staff develop skills (such as coaching and critical thinking) which helps them grow further within QA, or explore other opportunities within the contact center (e.g., frontline supervisor roles).
Interested in learning more? Stay tuned for our latest research on “QA Career Pathing” (slated to be published in August) which will help you:
- Build meaningful career paths that span across seniority levels within the QA function,
- Understand the competencies required to move to successive levels, and
- Enrich QA job roles in a manner that meets current business and employee needs.
How is the QA career path structured at your organization? What are some QA responsibilities that you entrust to your staff, in addition to call evaluation? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments box.
Related CEB Customer Contact blogs:
- How Dusty is Your Career Path Playbook
- Dipping Your Toes in Customer-Led QA
- The “Been There, Done That” QA Success Story
Related CCLC Resources:
