Scanim Case Study

You have recently been hired as the Ontario Manager for an organization (Scanim) that operates call centres. Scanim is a publicly traded company based out of Houston, Texas. They currently operate 3 in Ontario and have just been informed that they will be losing a major contract in 6 months. In response to this the CEO has informed the General Manager (Canada) that one of these locations will be closed. The loss of the contract will require a reduction in total of 25 customer service representatives, per shift. Employee morale has not been high and recently 1 of the locations has been unionized. Payroll and benefits administration is conducted in-house by the HR department which currently consists of the Ontario HR Manager (yourself), 2 payroll clerks and 1 HR generalist in each location. The site managers for each location generally control the selection, succession and compensation processes and these are not standardized across the 3 operations. Each shift requires 1 manager and 1 supervisor is required for every 25 operators.

The Ontario call centres are in-bound only. They receive calls of a non-technical nature. Customer service agents are expected to take customer orders, answer basic queries regarding services and sell additional products or options to customers. All operations operate 24/7.

1) Located in Toronto and employing 25 representatives per shift. It has been in operation for 6 years. The average salary is $15 per hour and the average tenure is 10 months. Toronto is currently experiencing unemployment of 10% with a population of 2.5 million and a high cost of living. The average wage in the Toronto area for all employers is $17.50 per hour. The facility is rented and has room to expand to double its size. The real estate market in Toronto is expensive, however there is a surplus of available buildings. There are over 100 other call centres operating in Toronto ranging in size from a dozen staff to over 1,000 representatives per shift. The area has 3 colleges, 2 of which offer a specialized call centre, customer service certificate. The location o has public transit operating to its front door from 6:00am until 1:00am.

2) Located in Cambridge and employing 50 representatives per shift. It has been in operation for 4 years. The average hourly wage is $14 and the average tenure is 18 months. Public transit runs to the corner from 7:00am to 11:00pm on weekdays. The facility is owned by the company and can be expanded to double its size. The real estate market in Cambridge is average but there is a shortage of suitable