Contact centers or call center services have some of the highest turnover rates. It shouldn’t come as a surprise as these jobs are very demanding and stressful. After better control of the pandemic situation, there has been a surge of jobs for contact center agents at several companies. Because of that, many agents have been resigning and changing jobs.
With the right approach, you can increase retention and have a better chance of solidifying your team. The tips in this blog can help any Customer Service Apology Statements contact center with resolving such issues. They are easy to apply at your office and can significantly reduce employee retention.
Hire the Right People
Hiring the right people is the first phase of building a call center team. Companies often end up hiring people that do not have the right set of skills for the job. For example, emotional intelligence, communication skills, problem-solving skills, and empathy toward customers are something that not all agents have. Therefore, it is important to hire people who are the best fit for the job.
Curate an intelligent hiring process that values the right candidates and takes them to the next part of the onboarding process. Also, you can set open days for people to visit the company and see the environment, setting, and company culture for themselves.
Lastly, when you hire candidates, make the best use of the probation period to test the abilities of employees. This way, you can make sure that you have the right people on your team.
Conduct Training
Even when you hire the right people, not focusing on their growth and learning can result in disengagement and burnout. Employees in such a state are more likely to switch jobs. Therefore, it is best to have training sessions at your company. Such training programs could be about teaching how to use new software, deal with a disgruntled customer, or on how to handle stress at work.
Not only such trainings can boost the productivity and engagement of the team, but it can also be a nice change from the usual work routine. These are more than enough reasons for companies to invest in the training of employees.
Be Open to Communication
Communication is the key is not a generic phrase people are tired of listening every day, it is a reality. Whether people keep inside what eats them up in relationships, friendships, or a job, they eventually leave. A culture of frictionless and open communication in contact centers can help you retain employees.
Besides waiting for them to speak up, be considerate about asking them for their feedback. This way, you can initiate the conversation yourself and ask them to talk about what things bother them at work. Such sessions can be effective in reducing the tension built up over exhausting weeks.
Avoid Micromanagement
One of the pet peeves of most employees is micromanagement. When an agent is dealing with a difficult customer over the phone, and a manager is standing behind their shoulder, it adds to the stress. That’s just one example. Multiple meetings on the same agenda every day and late sittings for conducting such talks are all very unproductive.
Instead of micromanaging, introduce reporting software. The agents can fill the spaces on these software applications at whatever frequency your company sets. Working with these apps is a lot less stressful compared to explaining them directly to managers. Plus, another thing you should do is to conduct lesser meetings. Encourage walking meetings or whatever takes less time to get the message across.
Conduct Office Events
Office events are one of the best ways to promote company culture and team spirit among employees. Plus, they break the monotony of the routine that otherwise causes stress and burnout. You can have game nights, movie days, lunches, and even pizza days. And try to add such events now and then.
If you plan smartly, you do not even have to set a big budget for conducting these activities. Instead of focusing on making an event grandiose, try to conduct more events with smart utilization of resources. Such refreshments on different occasions have a lot of benefits.
Offer Promotions and Bonuses
A tested way of motivating your team and keeping employees motivated is by offering promotions and bonuses. One of the major reasons why people leave a job is to earn bigger paychecks. And if they can get those paychecks at your company, employees won’t have a reason to leave.
Promote top-performing employees and disperse bonuses among the team. The boost in productivity and efficiency will make paying bonuses worth it. Do know that hiring a fitting employee is more expensive than paying more to an employee.
With these 6 tips, you can retain your employees for a long time.