Any hiring manager who has tried to recruit help desk or technical support professionals in recent months knows the demand for top talent is high. One major reason is that many of the best workers simply are not on the market. And, given that many companies are expanding their operations,...
Tag(s): workforce management, people
The results of the 2011 HDI Support Center Practices & Salary Report revealed that 73 percent of support centers are hiring, meaning that they are now allowed to either fill vacant positions or create new ones. Now that things appear to be looking up, it is a good time to review the...
Tag(s): people, workforce management, research
In this environment of rapidly changing support requirements and increasing customer demands, the question is not whether organizations should make the transition to web-based support (i.e., chat), but how they can make that transition successfully. When implemented perfectly, chat can deliver...
Tag(s): process, practices and processes, workforce management, technology
Tag(s): business of support, customer service, framework and methodologies, leadership, metrics and measurements, novice, people, process, practices and processes, professional development, research, technology, workforce management, RESOURCES
A support center has two principle assets: a robust, well-managed knowledge base and talented people. Support centers typically invest significant time and effort into training and developing specialists, supervisors, and managers; a support center leader’s job is to ensure that this time and...
Tag(s): people, workforce management
If there’s one thing service desks are good at, it is collecting information and reporting on it. If there is one thing they are terrible at, it is being able to focus on the few instead of the many. But one way to find out if anyone is actually reading the reports you spend so much time...
Tag(s): metrics and measurements, people, workforce management, process, business of support
In many IT service and support organizations, the help desk is managed independently from the desktop support operation, contributing to inefficiencies in service provisioning. While each group spends time and energy to make their respective teams better through people, process, and technology,...
Tag(s): desktop support, people, workforce management
Whether the reason is the economy or just a desire to stay active, fewer workers are retiring once they reach their sixties. As a result, organizations are witnessing a new trend in age diversity, one in which groups share traditions and culture based upon the period in which they came of...
Tag(s): people, leadership, workforce management
In IT service and technical support, it can sometimes seem like you’re working in a vacuum. That’s probably one of the reasons you joined HDI, or are considering joining—to network with your peers and get good, reliable information. But with all the discussion groups out there, getting an answer...
Tag(s): process, practices and processes, people, workforce management
Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are? Who defines the structure of an organization or, in this case, an entire industry? And just because it is that way now, who says that it needs to remain the same? Everything changes, and I think the time to change the way we structure our...
Tag(s): desktop support, people, workforce management