Name: Kathrine Seavill
Age: 45
Role: Sponsor services manager
Employer: ChildFund New Zealand
Working hours: 40+ (10 hours a day, 4 days a week)
Average salary: $55,000 - $80,000
Qualifications: NZQA Certificate in Call Centre Management; various in-house certificates
Describe your job
I manage Child Fund's call centre staff of eight people. Six are phone-based and two deal with administration. When I joined ChildFund in 2006 I managed the team through the transition from receiving only inbound calls and inquiries to making outbound calls with targets for gaining new child sponsors.
We take care of all inbound calls, whether that's from an ad that we've shown or sponsor queries. We make outbound calls to welcome new sponsors, to encourage existing sponsors to take on an additional child, and to manage arrears.
A lot of my day is spent on poring over call centre statistics, how many calls have we received and made, what's our contact rate, looking at individuals' performances as each of my team has targets to meet and we look at how well the whole team is performing against target. I meet with staff, talk to colleagues overseas. I also make and receive calls myself so I spend a lot of time on the phone.
And what is ChildFund?
ChildFund is an international aid agency that works to help children break free from poverty. We support community-led initiatives which are funded by child sponsorship, regular gift donations and government grants. Our child sponsors pay an amount each month that helps to provide children with food, water, education, and help families and communities become independent. ChildFund works in more than 50 countries and ChildFund New Zealand has close partnerships with five countries: Kenya, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Vietnam and Zambia.
What is your background?
I began as a telemarketer in various corporate companies and worked my way up. I started on the phones, became a team leader, and then got into training and human resources.
My goal was to manage a small call centre so I've achieved that, but I always thought it would be as a team manager or business development manager for one of the big corporations.
Five years ago I was offered two roles that involved managing a call centre. One was a corporate role with a high paying salary, company car and all the trimmings. The other was with ChildFund which at the time had a small struggling call centre that only took inbound calls and had no performance targets.
There was a huge disparity in salary compared with the corporate role, and no trimmings. But ChildFund appealed to my philanthropic ideas and beliefs, so it was the perfect role because it matched my values and skills.
You have travelled to Ecuador, India, Kenya (twice), Australia and the US with ChildFund. What is the purpose of these trips?
The ChildFund Alliance has 12 member countries with 12 sponsor services managers. We managers meet once a year to discuss best practice and challenges, how best to manage the communication process between sponsor and child, including how to get sponsors' inquiries answered faster. We hold these meetings in a country where ChildFund works so that we can meet the children and families we're helping. I always come back motivated.
You are confined to a wheelchair. Does that change the way you travel or the way you work?
Being in a wheelchair doesn't alter the way I work but when I travel I get priority so I don't have to wait in queues. But friends and families still worry about me going more than I do.
I've had to learn to be adaptable. Bathrooms can be interesting, especially in Ecuador.
How does your role with ChildFund differ to working for corporates?
My approach doesn't differ much but my priorities are slightly different because you have to balance the needs of the sponsors with the needs of the child and sometimes they come into conflict. For example a sponsor says I want to send $500 to my child for Christmas, but we know that will create difficulties in the community.
Why is your job important?
We are the face of ChildFund and without us everything grinds to a halt. The calls don't get answered, sponsor details don't get entered into the system, children needing to be sponsored don't get connected with sponsors, queries don't get answered.
What are the job's challenges?
Challenges are persuading people to spend their discretionary income on giving to those less fortunate, keeping the team motivated to achieve their targets, and balancing the needs of sponsors with the needs of the child.
The best part of your job?
It's about knowing that what I'm doing is making a difference. I probably wouldn't have said the same thing had I not travelled because you have a much better appreciation once you've been into the projects.
... Any negatives?
Keeping motivated when you know there's more children to be sponsored and knowing I'm not going to be out of job in a hurry.
Advice to those interested in a similar role?
Keep yourself informed about what's going on in the call centre industry; take your breaks to stay motivated. Keep putting your hand up, volunteer for everything.
