There has been an inordinate amount of press recently about a somewhat sketchy movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” It was the quintessential 80’s movie, with everything you would expect from that genre. What you might not know is it was based on a book written by author, producer, screenwriter, Cameron Crowe, who went undercover at Ridgemont High and wrote about his experiences.
There has been a lot of publicity about remaking this 40-year-old movie. The all-star cast is quite impressive, with everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. Will this movie grab the attention of young generations of movie watchers? Will the movie resonate with the same high school themes or will producers need to tailor the new version to younger audiences and experiences today?
Hopefully the producers thought about the different types of people that will watch this movie today and make it relevant to today’s audiences. Similarly, when managing a call center, you must consider each new “remake” audience of employees as you hire. Each generation (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z) have a different perspective with very different life experiences. Everyone does not fit neatly inside one of these designations. Some may have seen FTRH when it came out, others were not even born yet.
As call center leadership, you must engage with all of them, encourage them to peak performance, and encourage loyalty within your organization. In conjunction with our modeling technology, AnswerOn has done extensive research on generations and how generations are powerful clues you can use to connect, influence, and effectively train people of different ages.
Maybe on your next “No Call No show” you can channel this exchange between the character – Jeff Spicola and his teacher “Mr. Hand.”
Mr. Hand: Mr. Spicoli, what’s your reason for your truancy?
Jeff Spicoli: I just couldn’t make it on time.
Mr. Hand: You mean you couldn’t or wouldn’t?
Jeff Spicoli: Well, there’s like a full crowd scene at the food line.
Our customers have told us worse….
Checkout our Nightmares in the Call Center blogs on Scheduling and Discipline Gone Awry.
