Telstra Contact Centres Employee Schedule Flexibility
Telstra will shortly expand participation in its trial of the Attune shift scheduling software platform.
The system allows what Telstra claims is a better way for contact centre agents to adjust their own schedules without compromising on Telstra’s requirements linked to customer wait times and without needing to approach management to request those shift changes – allowing agents to adjust their shifts in real-time without lengthy and restrictive approval processes that currently exist.
During the initial trial phase, 174 of 181 participants logged into the system and 76% of agents went on to make a change.
Over the 12-week trial period, 6027 discrete shift changes occurred and 18 employees split 93 shifts consistent with the requirements of the current Enterprise Agreement regarding shift splitting.
Throughout the trial, Telstra sought feedback from employees, with a particular focus on:
- the empowerment to change rosters without approval;
- the ease of use and timeliness to make changes;
- the ability to create various shift combinations (change the length of standard shifts, start / finish times, split shifts, across different days of the week, shift swaps);
- the high value of spilt shifts to meet ongoing and ad hoc needs which may ordinarily require the use of leave; and
- their wellbeing and appreciation for the flexibility it enables for personal needs.
Telstra is now seeking to expand that trial. Your participation would be optional.
However, should you choose to participate, we would ask members to report back to us with any issues you encounter when using the platform. Doing so would allow your Union to make any necessary representations to ensure that any further contemplated changes to employee shift scheduling arrangements enhance that experience, rather than impacting negatively on it.
The Union has been given commitments that members will not be required to participate in the trial in order to seek flexibility – we will continue to monitor the progression of the trial to ensure that indeed does not occur.
In the meantime, should you require any further information, please contact National Assistant Secretary James Perkins on (03) 9349 2100 or your State Branch Official for assistance.
