Call Monitoring Can Help Ensure Employees Are Working When They're Supposed to Be
September 16, 2014
By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor
In the contact center, maintaining a schedule is of the utmost importance. Managers use historical data and forecasts to build a schedule that will neither waste manpower by over scheduling agents, nor risk customer relationships by under scheduling. That said, once a good schedule is built, it’s critical to track adherence to be sure that agents are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, when they’re supposed to be doing it. This may be the harder task.
While it’s an oft-cited fact that Americans are some of the most productive workers in the world, this doesn’t mean that we’re all perfect. In fact, according to a recent study conducted by salary.com and AOL (News - Alert), the average worker admits to wasting over 1.8 hours per eight-hour workday. It’s not hard to see what could happen if you multiply 1.8 hours times an entire contact center full of agents. It’s also no wonder that schedule adherence is so tricky.
This isn’t to say that agent time-wasting is only to blame for a lack of adherence. Sometimes things go wrong: unexpected absences, employees going home sick, jury duty or family emergencies, and training or coaching sessions that go too long can also be blame. But while companies may not be able to prevent illness, they can ensure that employees are working when they’re supposed to be while they’re at their stations.
According to a recent blog post by ISI Telemanagement Solutions’ (News - Alert) Justin DiSandro, the key to regaining control over productivity is monitoring.
“Perhaps 1.8 hours a day doesn’t seem that impressive,” wrote DiSandro. “So, let’s put that number into perspective. Added together, about $544 billion is lost in productivity each year alone for U.S. companies. Is your company among the many that would benefit from monitoring employee call activity?”
DiSandro notes that simply by implementing a solution that monitors phone use, companies can go a long way toward ensuring the workforce is working when it’s supposed to. (This is particularly true in a contact center, where agents are on the phone much of the day). Together with call reporting and recording, monitoring solutions can get a bigger picture of statistics such as call volume, ring time, abandon call rates, and overall talk time…all factors that reflect the quality and quantity of work employees are turning in.
“A manager never has to guess how often a particular agent is on the phone, or if that agent is making calls that take advantage of company time,” wrote DiSandro. “On top of that, supervisors can listen in on agent calls in real-time. They can even monitor instant messages between an agent and a customer when utilizing Cisco (News - Alert) Jabber or Microsoft Lync.”
No company wants to become Big Brother. Employees who don’t believe that their employer trusts them are likely to see their employee engagement suffer. But successful companies should be looking for a middle road.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi