Call Center Management Featured Article
Turn Your Call Center into an Employer of Choice
Employer of Choice International, Inc., recognizes organizations that continually attract, engage and retain the best talent. Recently, call center management consultant Greg Levin of Off Center, LLC, wrote an article applying the Employer of Choice principles to the call center environment.
The article defined how call centers can transition from being revolving doors for disgruntled agents into being places where the best employees actually want to work.
Call centers should start, according to Levin, by creating the image that their company is forward-thinking and well-respected. Next, they should create and sustain a positive contact center environment.
While Levin recommended “mandatory group hugs” and “top-grade antidepressants,” better solutions may include providing recognition for good work, ensuring that equipment is in good working condition, and providing quick and effective solutions to interpersonal conflicts.
Good leadership is another essential quality for attracting and retaining talent. Leaders who exhibit approachability, good communications skills and awareness of what contributes to success will inspire loyalty and better performance from agents.
Caring for and nurturing agents is also important. Rather than giving them “a lollipop and a hug,” though, managers should consider flexible scheduling, employee wellness and promotion of work/life balance. In addition to these factors, managers should provide growth and development opportunities and should show agents that their work has value and meaning.
Levin also pointed out that while creative compensation structures can be difficult in the call center, they are vital to employers of choice.
“These centers go beyond merely adhering to compensation benchmark studies and/or paying agents exactly what nearby and competing centers pay theirs,” wrote Levin. “Instead, they give agents what they are worth to their particular organization.”
While you have to dig through the sarcasm a bit, you can find important advice in Levin’s article for improving your call center environment.
Most of all, employees want to feel that they’re making a difference. “Most employees seek to contribute to much more than just the organization’s bottom line or customer satisfaction rate; they want to work for organizations that strive to make a real difference in the local community and the world at large,” Levin concluded.
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Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli