Name of company: Oregon Community Credit Union (OCCU)

Sector: Banking

Size of company: 60

Location: Oregon, USA

Introduction:

In 2023, Oregon Community Credit Union (OCCU), a credit union in the U.S., embarked on an innovative journey to test the benefits of a four-day, 32-hour workweek with its inbound call center team. This initiative was one of the first of its kind in the U.S. credit union sector.

Problem organisation was facing:

Oregon Community Credit Union (OCCU) implemented a 4-day week trial for its 60-person member call center (MCC) in the spring of 2023. The center fields about 250,000 calls per year from members, and calls have 50+ possible call flows. The center's hours are unchanged, but staff rotate their days off. The pandemic brought with it an unprecedented surge in call volumes as members sought assistance remotely, further exacerbating the stress on the call center team. Prior to the implementation of the four-day workweek, OCCU was facing a high turnover rate, with many employees citing burnout and lack of work-life balance as primary reasons for leaving. (48 out of 60 employees had left the year before implementing the trial.) This posed a significant challenge as the loss of experienced employees impacted the quality of member service and increased training costs.

Approach taken by 4DWG and/or Company:

OCCU launched a pilot program where team members worked four eight-hour shifts, but were compensated at a rate equivalent to what they would have been paid for five eight-hour shifts. Operating hours remained the same.

Contact center managers analyzed call volume to determine which days have the larger and smallest number of calls, and flex staff schedules accordingly.

They identified 10 performance metrics, most notably abandonment rates, time to answer, average time in queue, and employee turnover and absenteeism.

Impact of intervention:

The pilot program proved beneficial for both the employees and the organization.

• Surveys conducted since the program began showed an increase in member satisfaction and a decrease in complaints on calls.
• There was a significant drop in call abandonment and an 18% increase in monthly call volume at the call center.
• Employee turnover dropped to near zero during the program and unplanned time off per team member decreased by almost 50%. According to COO Tracey Keffer, "voluntary turnover is almost zero since we've launched this."
• Attendance is also more consistent. Center manager Michael Hutchinson says, "One of the biggest things with call centers is just struggling to people to get people in the door and in the seats answer in the call. So the fact that they're showing up is great."
• Customer service reviews are up. "Our members are not only noticing that they're happier, but they're more knowledgeable," Keffer says. As result, there are fewer times when staff have to say, "I don't know, hold on, let me put you on hold so I can look up the procedure, so I can ask my manager."