sariioCapability building through coaching
Call recordings, quality scores and performance data can show what happened. Managers still need time and context to turn that evidence into a useful conversation with each person.
Sariio does much of the preparation. Sariio brings the campaign standard, evidence from the work and the person's work preferences into one place for the manager to review. The standard remains consistent, while the conversation can still fit the person.
Two illustrative examples
A quality result has identified a call for discussion. one2one brings the relevant evidence and campaign standard together with the person's work preferences. The manager reviews the preparation, listens to the person's perspective and agrees an action with them.
Several pieces of work are due at once. The person uses Coach to consider what needs deciding, the options they see and the support they want to request. Their myMAP gives them language for explaining how they prefer to prepare and organise their work.
Two routes into the conversation
one2one supports manager preparation. Coach supports a person reflecting independently. In both, people decide what to discuss and do.
one2one
The campaign standard stays consistent. The preparation changes according to the evidence and how coaching is likely to land with this person.
A short note that recognises what went well, identifies the moment worth revisiting against the campaign standard, proposes one observable action and suggests how the manager might open the conversation.
The manager decides what is relevant, changes the draft and leads the conversation. The agent contributes their perspective. Nothing reaches the agent until the manager has endorsed it.
Coach
The person starts with the question that matters to them. They decide which context to add, what to take from the reflection and whether to bring it into a conversation.
Coach asks questions, helps the person examine the context they have chosen and makes room for options before a decision is made.
The person owns the question, answer and action. Coach cannot agree an action on their behalf, and it steps back when a matter requires qualified or organisational support.
From evidence to capability
A score can identify where attention is needed. Capability grows through what happens next: interpreting the evidence, preparing for the person, holding the conversation and checking whether the agreed action helped.
Evidence and standard
Start with the relevant quality evidence, call or interaction, scorecard and previous action. McKinsey found that coaching based on four to six calls from the 500 or 600 an agent may handle each month can miss important patterns and the behaviour behind the metric.
Research signal: McKinsey, contact-centre coaching research.
Read how standards and evidence shape coaching cadencePersonal relevance
The same evidence can prompt different reactions and different questions. Work preference intelligence helps the manager consider how to frame the conversation, invite the person's perspective and keep attention on the work. In the largest review of feedback interventions, more than a third reduced performance; feedback was less effective when attention shifted from the task to the self.
Research signal: Kluger and DeNisi, 607 feedback effects across 131 studies.
Read what the feedback evidence foundManager preparation
Sariio assembles the relevant evidence, coaching history, preference context and questions for the manager to review. The preparation supports judgement rather than replacing it. McKinsey found that time-pressed supervisors can fall back on coaching to a number, while Gallup describes meaningful feedback as dialogue built through listening, questions and context.
Research signal: McKinsey and Gallup research on coaching practice.
Read how AI can support rather than replace managerial judgementAction and review
The manager and agent agree one action that can be observed in the work, then return to it at the cadence the operation sets. COPC places the agent scorecard at the centre of the monthly one-to-one and uses interim check-ins to maintain momentum. The 2023 workplace-coaching meta-analysis found a positive overall effect, while also finding no evidence that one coaching approach is universally superior.
Research signal: COPC guidance and the 2023 workplace-coaching meta-analysis.
Read what the coaching evidence supportsThe operating question
Coaching belongs within the operating model. Better preparation helps managers use evidence consistently, exercise judgement and build capability as the operation grows.
Original research links open in a new tab.
$2mannual staff time allocated to coaching in an average 500-agent contact centre
TL;DRContact centres already invest substantial staff time in coaching, but McKinsey found that limited supervisor time, narrow call samples and inconsistent practice weaken the return. Digital tools can improve the evidence and reduce administrative work, but supervisors still need the capability and time to coach.
36%of managers felt insufficiently prepared for the people-management parts of their role
TL;DRDeloitte found that 36% of managers felt insufficiently prepared for the people-management parts of their role, while the same proportion reported insufficient technological support. As routine administration becomes automated, judgement, coaching and workforce development become more important managerial responsibilities.
Sariio has worked before
These case studies describe how two contact centres used Sariio’s first generation to support training and coaching around work preferences.
A UK outbound BPO working for Orange, Sky and Barclaycard rebuilt its sales training around how its agents prefer to work. 55% of new starters beat target within four days.
The sales process stayed the same. The coaching changed to fit the people.
Sitel used the maps on five major outsourced client campaigns and reported annual attrition down by more than 10% on average, a saving of more than six figures a year.
The saving came from people staying, and the difference on the floor came from coaching that suited each person.
From Insights
The evidence supports workplace coaching, but it does not support turning every conversation into the same script. These reviews examine outcomes, cadence, familiar frameworks and the limits of AI support.
A 2023 meta-analysis found a medium-sized positive effect from workplace coaching, making clear goals and follow-up essential to seeing what changes in the work.
For leaders, agree one observable work goal and a starting measure before coaching, then review work outcomes and the person’s experience together.
Coaching works, and GROW's ingredients of goal-first, solution-focused questions hold up in research, but the model itself has barely been studied and turns into a script when it is run mechanically.
For leaders, teach GROW as a map for a conversation, keep returning to the person's goal, and drop the sequence when it stops helping.
Cape Town, South Africa
“Sariio strengthens our ability to have meaningful, data-led conversations with employer partners about candidate fit, while empowering our Shadows with greater insight into their strengths and potential.”
Nate JacobsChief Operating Officer, Shadow Global
“For us to be sustainable, it's this kind of continuous improvement that would really support us. Sariio is an incredible tool.”
Tholakele NyongoHead of Facilitation & Training, Shadow Global
Start with one campaign
Choose a campaign where leaders want coaching to happen more regularly and to remain relevant to each person. We can examine the current evidence, manager workload and coaching approach before deciding what a useful first step would be.
