CRM - August 2008 - (Page 25)

AGENT MORALE Beyond empowering agents to have an authoritative say in their own scheduling and work location, another important way to improve agents’ morale is by letting them tell you exactly what they think of their work environment—not through an antiquated suggestion box, but with an automated survey system sent to each agent at the end of a shift. West is one of the firms relying on such a system, and Hicks says it’s proved to be a tremendous success among his company’s home-agent force.“Feedback matters,” he declares. “In our virtual world, it’s more important they know they have a voice to change customer process and know that what they’re seeing and feeling makes a difference.” Still, just sending out end-of-shift surveys isn’t enough—even though Hicks says an average of 73 percent of his home agents complete them. As with customer surveys, you need to make sure agents know that their feedback is actually being put to use. At West, general feedback on the survey results is sent to all home agents weekly. Feedback that’s more complex, Hicks says, gets specific, oneon-one follow-up. Giving Yourself Over to a Hire Power Much thought is given to how to keep contact center agents happy—and morale high—in the workplace, but often what gets lost in the mix is hiring the right people for the job in the first place. Paul Stockford, chief analyst for Saddletree Research, says that the contact center industry is still putting the cart before the horse. “I’ve tried getting people to think along those lines for years,” he says. “The industry just doesn’t seem ready for it.” To Stockford, the turnstile manner in which many contact center agents come and go from companies has simply been accepted as a fact of life. “The turnover problem has just become such an ingrained part of the call center industry culture that people just assume that it’s the way it always has been, and it’s the way it always will be,” he explains. “So why even bother trying? We’ll keep a steady flow of warm bodies coming through the door to replace all the people who leave.” Stockford argues that a supervisor’s efforts to make agents happier won’t matter if they already don’t like their job. “I don’t think there are enough pizza parties in the world to keep somebody in a job they don’t like,” he says. That’s why it’s extremely important, he says, to invest in hiring software to find the right employees for the job, right out of the starting gate. While many companies sell hiring software, Stockford says that when they try to enter the contact center industry and pitch their wares they’re not always met with open arms. “I’ve had experience personally with companies that have tried to get into [the] call center business—and a year later they throw up their hands in frustration and say, ‘Forget it, we’re out of here,’” he recalls. One business that has not given up is FurstPerson, which provides contact centers with employment screening software, outsourcing, and consulting. According to the company’s president and CEO, Jeff Furst, a major hurdle his company initially faces with prospective clients stems from misperception— both about the functionality and the financial value of the testing. All it takes, he says, is some education and hard data to sway hesitant prospects. “If you reduce attrition by 3 percent, you probably have tripled your investment on any type of testing,” he says. “In our data, $4,500 is the average variable cost of attrition for a front-line representative at a contact center—and [that amount] covers a lot of tests.” Furst admits there’s no single answer to be found in testing, but says that a mix of different testing forms can greatly improve the chances of hiring the right people. He adds that if you test a job candidate’s personality, work ability, and work habits, and conduct a behavior- or competency-based interview, “the combination…makes for a nice, predictive process that should ultimately help clients reduce turnover and hire people who will perform better.” —CM QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS All the tools and perks in the world won’t stop workers from leaving their place of employment if the relationship they have with their boss is poor. This could have special significance in the contact center, according to Ronald Hildebrandt, founder of performance management software provider Enkata. “At the end of the day, what we know from the research and our experience is that it’s really about the employee-andsupervisor relationship,” he says. “The whole adage of ‘People join companies and leave bosses’ is true even for call center agents. Addressing the people side of the equation is most critical.” However, this is easier said than done—especially in the contact center. Hildebrandt explains that, in most cases, contact center supervisors are former agents who performed well and were promoted without getting the basic people-management training. www.destinationCRM.com Great performers do not automatically make good administrators—just ask Michael Jordan. “McDonald’s managers get more training than your typical contact center manager [gets],” he says. “Good management structure is better than spending $50,000 upgrading a break room.” Part of that structure should ensure that new supervisors know how essential it is to have a rapport with agents. It’s even more important that supervisors spend at least 70 percent of their time coaching their reps—and “coaching” means something more than hourly screams of “Stop putting people on hold!” “Side-by-side coaching is essential,”Hildebrandt says. “Not just sitting in on calls, but personal one-on-one time that comes when agents are off of the phone. That way, you’re getting into the agent’s head and understanding what they need to be 25 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | AUGUST 2008 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - August 2008

CRM - August 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Maximum Security A Code Win Doesn’t Blow Forming the Platform CRM on Twitter CRM Class Is in Session Making CRM Mandatory for University Administration Required Reading Cover Story: Calling it Quits Wouldja Look at That? 8 Enterprise Strategies That Stick CRM Searches for Search All Lines Are Not Busy UC: As Easy as A-B-C Even Contact Centers Have Room for Improvement Money Lying Around? Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - August 2008

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