Ongoing effort required for retaining staff

This scene is a familiar one for many call centre managers: A call comes into the centre and the agent has difficulty resolving it. It may be due to technology, the caller not being clear on what he/she wants, or the agent is not having a great day. Whatever the cause, there is a delay in satisfying the customer. When this happens again and again, stress builds up and the agent starts to wonder if this job is worth it.

Employee retention remains a huge problem facing call centre managers today.

It is all very well saying that the call centre manager is responsible for the daily running and management of a call centre through the effective use of resources. It’s true that the call centre manager is responsible for ensuring that calls are answered within predetermined time scales and dealt with properly.

However, if there are no agents there when there should be, the call centre does not function. Trained people have to be in place to make the operation work.

There are staff shortages caused by people not entering the profession, too many people leaving the profession for either higher-paying jobs or jobs with less stress, and not enough promotional opportunities to warrant people making a career out of being a customer service agent.

The staff shortages in call centres are exacerbated by the difficulty in retaining people who enter the profession. While much work has been focused on recruitment and getting more people “in the front door”, the bulk of efforts to solve the shortage problem really needs to be focused on employee retention and “closing the back door”.

Employee retention is probably today's hottest competitive issue.

Retaining the right people means being able to retain and attract business.  Losing the wrong people means replacement costs, foregone opportunities and increased competition from the competitor who poached the talent away.

The 2005 Merchants Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report reveals that attrition rates in contact centres across the world have risen by 4 percent in only 2 years. (Merchants is a leading UK customer contact solutions company with 25 years experience.) Merchants claims that its report provides a unique insight into how contact centres are responding to industry pressures and driving down costs, whilst at the same time providing customers with the service levels they demand.

According to Merchants, the average annual rate of staff turnover now stands at 23 percent, compared to 19 percent in 2003. This increase is causing many to take a closer look at the causes of, and solutions to, call centre staff attrition.

Not only is the training investment lost with high turnover, so too is the knowledge that comes with experience. Successful call centres must manage their attrition rates to ensure that levels of service are optimal and consistent.

Two of the more important strategies that call centres need to pursue to boost staff retention are:

Using a performance management system that works:
Many performance management systems are a bureaucratic waste of time.  They should be simple, and based on strategic performance objectives.  They must help in getting the work of the organisation done.  Employees should have the opportunity to move within the company based on their skills, interests and performance and the capacity to expand their roles where such expansion can add value to the business.  Many performance management systems lead to fear and self doubt, and provide little meaningful information to the organisation or the individual.

Keeping employees informed:
Silence is the greatest enemy of retention.  Employers must inform staff on the financial and business status of the organisation.  Similarly, it is critical for employers to get ongoing feedback from employees.  It’s true that employees may no longer demand employment guarantees, but they do expect to be kept informed by the leaders of the organisation.