The Channel
For Industry
Information
Leading Thoughts
The Impact
of Agent Retention
By Kathleen Peterson, PowerHouse Consulting
Assess
your contact
center’s
practices
and
environment
to identify
and plug
critical
talent leaks.
If your automobile’s gas tank has a fuel leak, you
would either have the car repaired or buy a new one.
After all, the price of gasoline is too high to ignore
the problem. Turnover in the call center is very much
like a fuel leak — only the fuel that is leaking is talent.
The impact areas to your operation are multiple, significant and costly. Agent retention must be an area
of focus within any high-performance call center.
Turnover is defined as the number of agents that
need to be replaced in a given time period. Any and
all loss of agents must be calculated as part of a turnover analysis. This even includes what many human
resource (HR) professionals label as “good” turnover
(i.e., when the agent has moved on to another
department within the organization). Because call
center agents are exposed to many different types
of transactions and customer contacts, they are
often sought-after resources by other departments.
Unfortunately, the agents still must be replaced in
the call center. All turnover occurrences must be
monitored closely to maintain necessary rates of
proficiency and productivity in the contact center.
Do You Have High Turnover?
Five Factors to Consider
There are likely as many reasons for agents quitting
as there are call centers. But here are some factors to
consider if your call center is experiencing low retention
rates.
●●
Call volume. Is volume going up? If staffing
does not keep up with increases in call volume,
agents may experience burnout. This condition
is exacerbated by a belief that the company
doesn’t care enough about the frontline to
properly staff the center.
●●
●●
Span of control (ratio of agents to supervisors).
When the span of control exceeds 15 to 1,
it is extremely unlikely that the supervisor is
able to do much more than manage all the
administrative duties associated with that role.
Fred Reichheld, author of Loyalty Rules: How
Today’s Leaders Build Lasting Relationships,
suggests that ratio not exceed 10 to 1 if your
organization is attempting to strengthen
relationships with customers. Many agents
feel ignored or only get feedback from their
supervisor when they have done something
wrong if the ratio is too high. This is not a
morale-building situation and contributes
to turnover. When teams have good leaders
and consistent feedback there is a reason to
stay. The agent feels informed, cared for, and
assisted in improving their performance.
Training. New-hire training is only the
beginning of the training that must exist in call
centers. The near constant introduction of new
products, services, responsibilities, objectives,
etc., requires that solid ongoing training plans
be developed. Memos or emails may work for
a simple notification, but if you are introducing
Continued on page 2
To read the entire article, visit:
June 2009, Contact Center Pipeline
www.contactcenterpipeline.com
Leading Thoughts
The Impact of Agent
Retention
Continued from page 1
a sales program to the center, that initiative will require much
more. Centers that provide for limited training create an
environment where smart people feel stupid. That creates job
dissatisfaction and can make agents look elsewhere.
●●
●●
Job Satisfaction. Job satisfaction is one of the most artful ways
to positively influence retention. If agents are bored, angry
or feel like they are being lied to, the obvious and mundane
aspects of many call center jobs can become intolerable. Job
satisfaction emerges when the company’s values are genuine
and aligned with those of the agent. When management
practices are consistent, professional and reflect caring,
you will see retention. Conducting an employee survey will
illuminate your current state and quickly reveal areas that
need improvement.
approach that is taken to getting things done. A culture
of development and mentoring is likely to yield retention,
quality and productivity. On the other hand, a rigid and
rules-based “search for the guilty” environment is more apt to
generate turnover.
To read the entire article, visit:
June 2009, Contact Center Pipeline
Work culture. The culture of an environment is the general
Kathleen Peterson is the Chief
Vision Officer of PowerHouse
Consulting, a call center and telecommunications consulting firm.
[email protected]
800-449-9904
The role of supervisors and managers
must be closely evaluated
— to determine whether they are
contributing to retention or to turnover. —
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Contact Center Pipeline is a monthly instructional journal focused on driving business success through effective contact center
direction and decisions. Each issue contains informative articles, case studies, best practices, research and coverage of trends
that impact the customer experience. Our writers and contributors are well-known industry experts with a unique understanding of how to optimize resources and maximize the value the organization provides to its customers.
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