Call Center Management Featured Article
Make Agent Onboarding Engaging and Empowering
Starting a new job anywhere can be tricky, but onboarding in the call center paramount to successful operations. The proper process and protocols for new hires ensure operations don’t miss a beat while bringing the customer service agent up to speed. So before bringing anyone else on board, let’s review a few ways to make a more engaging process.
For starters, create a gameplan. Come up with a documented, repeatable process, which means a checklist. This provides for consistency among agents. At the end of the day, a roadmap for comprehensive and quick training is a requirement for an elevated onboarding process.
Use training as a team building exercise. Bring agents and executives together to share experiences, company background and some of the ins and outs of operations. Make the onboarding process one that is interactive and engaging. Once the basics of training are completed, it’s smart to assign a peer mentor for each team member.
In assigning a peer mentor to each new team member, it provides a point person for day-to-day questions, as well as a familiar and friendly face at the office to ease the transition into company culture and the team.
Beyond training on products, processes and services its crucial to continue training agents. For example, keep a number of new team members in a controlled environment where managers can monitor can assist and offer guidance when addressing customer questions.
Finally, as a manager, don’t be afraid to be a little annoying. What I mean is don’t be afraid to check in more than you may think is needed. From touching base over the coffee maker in the morning or following up around lunch, to an informal meeting at the close of a shift, taking this proactive approach can go a long way in making a new agent feel comfortable, supported and prepared for what lays ahead.
The contact center is certainly a critical component of customer service operations, making the training a crucial first step in the job of a new agent. How is your onboarding process engaging?Edited by Maurice Nagle