How to Retain Call Center Employees

It’s a fact that one of the main challenges that a business faces is the ability to retain quality call center employees. This is not surprising considering that they have to deal with demanding calls and the monotony of taking calls for hours up on end. Now, many call centers are attempting to stop the high turnover of employees in order to save money and time.

Here are some tips to retain great call center employees for your contact center:

Invest in your employees

In order to be successful, your call center employees should have the proper training they need to excel. While most are probably not going to make a career out of calling customers, employees still need an adequate amount of support for career advancement. Offer training and coaching programs as well as mentoring programs.

Offer praise and incentives

Everyone likes compliments! Your employees deserve to be told that they are doing a great job and that you appreciate their hard work. Offer contests and incentives with cool prizes to keep them motivated to continue their dedicated work in the call center. They have to work long hours with a virtual smile on their face, but it can be easier when there are incentives involved to show that they are appreciated by management.

Consult your team

Communication is key in the employee-manager relationship, so ask everyone their opinion when it comes to improving the contact center workplace. Don’t just ask for the sake of asking; act upon their suggestions. Make them feel valued.

Accommodating schedules

Consider giving your employees the option to telecommute. This will be effective in keeping your costs low and reducing agent turnover. Give them the opportunity to make their own schedules if you can as long as you can still maintain service capabilities.

Staff turnover is inevitable at times, but you can do whatever you can to keep your employees happy and productive. It’s a win-win for everyone!

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The Role of the Contact Center Team Leader

A call center’s team leader is a critical part of the business’ success. They play a significant role in boosting team’s morale and encouraging success and diversity. In this article, we’ll highlight the role of the call center team leader as well as the attributes that he/she should possess for the success of a call center.

What is a call center team leader responsible for?

A team leader actively enforces the goals of the operation, policies and procedures, implements plans in the organization’s training and development programs, handles escalations, supports agents, monitors the cue, and works in conjunction with the administration. 

A team leader in a call center is the one responsible for managing team of agents  to ensure that they are performing towards achieving their targets They review their performance and provide coaching and training. Team leaders meet with the manager on a regular basis to not only give feedback but also to receive instructions or actions. They are the one responsible for keeping agents informed of what is happening in the call center that may have an impact on them. At times, team leaders are involved in the recruitment of new agents to work on specific projects for the call center. 

Attributes that a call center team leader should possess

·         Management skills-A team leader should demonstrate the ability to manage the call center agents and other operations.

·         Coaching skills-They should be skilled in delivering instructive, collaborative, supportive, and motivational coaching sessions that boost open communications. He/she should be able to diagnose performance issues and be able to develop effective action plans to address the main cause of the issue. 

·         Analytical skills- Team leaders should be able to identify business trends and opportunities as well as underlying threats, and be able to provide effective suggestions for developments.

·         Goal- focused skills-A team leader should consistently meet all established goals and accomplish tasks in a commendable manner and timely basis.

·         Prioritization- A team leader needs to demonstrate the ability to prioritize issues based on urgency and scope of impact. He/she should be capable of effectively managing multiple projects.

·         Motivation skills- They should know how to create a strong sense of job satisfaction and keep all call center agents motivated, by effectively communicating, recognizing, and rewarding good performance. He should be able to identify effective ways of developing and enhancing agent’s skills.

·         Ownership/initiative- Being a team leader in a call center, one needs to volunteer and participate or lead new initiatives. He should take ownership of tasks and make sure they are completed.

·         Communication skills- Effective communication is one of the crucial skills that every team leader, regardless of the industry should possess. He should be able to professionally communicate to subordinates, peers, agents, as well as senor level management. 

·         Personnel skills- As a team leader, one should show the ability to maintain confidentiality and address sensitive issues appropriately, in accordance with HR procedures. He should prove to handle difficult issues with total professionalism, and a well-documented plan for resolution.

If a team leader possesses all the above attributes, a call center can move to greater heights.

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