Call Center Attrition
Call Center attrition may not seem to have a high impact on the bottom line of a company, but there are a lot of unconsidered hidden costs involved in employee turnover. If you have a full time trainer it may seem as though cycling through staff represents normalcy in a Call Center environment. Start to dissect the individual components that come into play with each turnover and the costs can be astounding.
There are calculative expenses that can easily be put on paper such as separation costs and administrative functions of termination and unemployment. Add to that the expense of vacancy; attracting new applicants, interviews, screening and testing, pre-employment administrative costs and training. These expenses are clear and easy to calculate, but there are more serious hidden costs that affect the productivity of a call center when the attrition rate is high that can threaten customer relations and be detrimental to a call centers financial success.
Whether voluntary or involuntary, a high employee churn can have a serious impact on call center morale, just as a low morale can impact churn. The increased workload on veteran employees that occurs when losing a trained agent until a new agent is up to speed is only the tip of the iceberg. Other circumstances that can reduce morale are low pay, unpleasant interpersonal working conditions, lack of communication, no opportunity for advancement or career path, handling constant complaints without any recognition or rewarding team building experiences and better outside opportunities to name a few.
Unhappy call center employees directly affect customer satisfaction. An employee who feels recognized or appreciated is happy to come to work and has a much higher level of productivity than an employee who simply feels like another statistic. Feeling like just a number makes an agent feel expendable at any time. This leads to more sick time, tardiness and exhaustion which can translate to the customer as apathy, sluggishness, higher hold times and overall dissatisfaction.
Employees that are happy to come to work are driven to promote their company in a positive light to the customer and are more likely to go that extra mile for customer satisfaction and company need. This is critical since your call center agents are the everyday voice representing your product or service and company name.
Some simple concepts that can boost morale in an otherwise stressful career can be very effective and produce a high return on investment with comparison to attrition. Employee recognition and Atta boys for a job well done, frequent coaching sessions; not just for negative feedback but positive as well, incentives and awards, team contests and frequent special events can encourage an employee to feel appreciated for their hard work.
This will lead to career longevity thereby increasing the knowledge-base of your employees resulting in a cohesive team building and agents more ready willing and capable to offer the best customer support possible saving the call center substantial costs annually.