Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Call Center Scheduling for a Happier Workforce
As a call center leader, do you ever feel challenged by the demands put on your team to increase quality of customer service, while also keeping costs in check? This can be a complicated dance when you don’t have the right tools in place to achieve your goals.
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According to Monet Software, a number of call centers experience high turnover. In fact, it’s not uncommon for centers to experience turnover as high as 30 percent or more. This leaves the call center eating the cost of recruiting and training new agents on a consistent basis. This high turnover also has a negative impact on service quality and
Attempting to motivate your agents to remain loyal to you as an employer is only complicated by the fact that working in a call center can be demanding. Your environment can produce fluctuating call volumes, emotional calls and time pressure. It is up to you to ensure your call center scheduling can meet the needs of your center, as well as your employees.
As important as call center scheduling is to reducing your turnover, you also have to make some strategic changes in your approach to turnover. Identify and track reasons why it is happening to see what you have the power to change. You can also focus on improving the working conditions for your agents. This can start with your call center scheduling, but needs to include other elements as well.
For one thing, you need to be sure and hire the right people. It’s easy to find individuals who want a job – but do they want to work in the high pressure environment that is the call center? Be sure your candidates understand the challenges and can get excited about the goals you set. You’ll also want to engage your agents and make them part of the team. Listen and encourage them as you train and coach to drive improvements.
Flexibility is key, especially in your call center scheduling. Agents who feel their schedule is flexible enough to allow them a healthy work/life balance are more motivated to perform. Rely on robust workforce management tools to create accurate forecasts and optimal schedules to reduce the workload on your agents, which will produce happier agents.
It’s also important to pay attention to adherence in your call center scheduling. Monitor and track schedule adherence to the best of your ability. This will help to determine if the call load is spread fairly. It will also help to identify when specific agents may not be in their seats and causing pain for others.
Finally, as you focus on call center scheduling, don’t forget to create a positive work environment. Everyone wants to feel appreciated for their role and it’s your job to do that for your agents.
productivity.call center scheduling was the focus of a recent Monet Software blog as proper scheduling of your employees is a key step toward optimized performance. At the same time, you also have to keep a skilled set of agents in place by motivating your agents to continue to perform, instead of look elsewhere for employment.Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Chris DiMarco