Newsroom

22 Feb 2006

ContactCenterWorld.com Q&A: Staff Retention

Author: Alton Martin, CEO
Company: COPC

Q&A for ContactCenterWorld Staff Retention Feature:


1. In your opinion, what are the common mistakes that contact center managers commit in dealing with staff turnover? What systematic approach do you recommend in solving these problems?

Common mistakes that contact center managers often make in dealing with staff turnover include:

a. Not having truly accurate numbers about attrition at the line level. For instance, managers know the attrition rate of people who leave the firm, but, in general, they do not know the queue to queue (internal rate). This is often called positive attrition. As a result, they don't have an accurate picture of the situation. And because of this, fail to recognize that the problem is usually bigger than they think. If they are going to accurately assess attrition, they need to waterfall the attrition from the point in time of their original discussion with staff members to the point of their departure (see attached ppt for the waterfall yield chart).

b. Not having a true financial cost for attrition other than direct training costs. To accurately assess the cost of attrition, managers need to track items such as impact on AHT, close rate, supervisor time, etc.

c. Paying lip service to the issue with lots of complaining but not a lot of actual work. This is problematic in a number of areas in contact center management, but clearly comes into play here. Management needs to make sure the entire operation, HR, training, and recruiting organization are aware of the current attrition rate, the target rate they should be looking at, and the action that needs to be taken in order to hit that target. In other words, they need well-planned, thoughtful focus backed by performance in order to effectively attack the problem.


2. What are some common costs, direct and indirect, which contact centers experiencing high turnover must absorb? Please explain.

a. High turnover carries with it a number of costs – recruiting, hiring, training, cost of facilities and equipment, software licenses (this can be significant), extra call monitoring during ramp time on the floor, Cost of Poor Quality mistakes, taking time from good performers. And these are only some of the costs.


3. What specific variables are strong predictors of staff turnover in a contact center?

a. The strongest variable predicting staff turnover that I’ve seen is unscheduled absenteeism. Unscheduled absenteeism tracks very closely with attrition – the higher the unscheduled absenteeism the higher the attrition.

b. Second is the gap between current wages and prevailing wages in the area. Here, the bigger the gap, the higher the attrition.

c. Third is the working relationship with the manager. People will tend to be more likely to continue in a work situation where they feel comfortable with the way they are treated and where they have confidence in the leadership. The more effective the relationship with management, the lower the attrition.


4. In your opinion, what is the most valued benefit of the agent that contact center managers must maintain with such considerable effort? How can they reap the most value from the agent in this regard?

a. As the old saying goes, “showing up is half the battle”. Agents who are dependable are simply worth more than those who aren’t. Getting staff to stick to the schedule is a coup. Once you get them there, having them learn and use tools properly is key.


5. What pointers can you give to contact center managers on how to improve and increase retention in contact centers?

a. This is really common sense. Treat people decently, be fair and honest, pay a fair wage for a day’s work well done. Don’t change the rules without very valid reasons, and be consistent in your treatment of people. Do not allow abusive behaviors by managers, and mandate equality of treatment.


6. Do you agree that the social stigma associated with telemarketing work is real and affects how long agents are willing to do their job? Please explain your answer.

a. No. In many parts of the world, call center jobs are considered to be good jobs (and they are). Telemarketing implies a bias towards outbound sales, which is a very tough environment in any region.