April 6, 2017
It’s no secret that the contact center has some of the worst employment attrition rates in business. According to Quality Assurance & Training Connection the average attrition rate across all businesses is 15%, but the contact center usually falls in the 30-45% range. That’s a sharp increase that leads to a lot of wasted time recruiting, training, and supporting agents who ultimately don’t last very long.
In terms of excess costs in the contact center, agent attrition is a major culprit.
At our upcoming contact center seminar, we’ll be covering proven strategies to reduce this attrition rate, but before that, let’s look at the problem at its source. Here are some of the most common reasons contact center agents quit their jobs.
Calling It Quits
- Payment: One of the most common reasons that any employee changes jobs is their compensation. From one contact center to another, this payment difference usually isn’t in the tens of thousands, but if one company offers regular spiffs and bonuses for good performance and another does not, it’s a clear choice which will be the better contact center job.
- Dead End Jobs: Some contact/call center jobs are indeed the proverbial dead end job, but it is much more common that the agent position simply seems that way from the inside. If there is a career path for your contact/call center agents, make sure to be very clear about this point during the interview, training, and throughout their time in your contact/call center. If the agent feels like they’re moving in the right direction, they’re more inclined to stick around.
- Not the Right Fit: Some people just aren’t cut out for the contact/call center field. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just a fact of life. The key is to figure out whether or not someone is a good fit before they start. If they do not like people, if they do not like being on the phone, then this is not the job for them.
- The Grind: Agents burn out, especially if they are fielding the same type of call over and over again and repeating the same lines over and over again. It can be exhausting for anyone. Contact/call center agents who are stuck doing the same repetitive task will begin to lose motivation and enthusiasm for the position.
- Poor Training: One thing leads to another. If the onboarding program is shoddy and agents are poorly trained to field calls, their performance will suffer for it. Poor performance leads to poor job satisfaction, which leads to poor motivation. This further hurts their performance until they eventually quit or are let go.
- Poor Environment: In a contact center position, there isn’t a ton of space to move around. The agent must remain at their desk, alert, and ready to field the next call for virtually their entire shift. Make sure their space is comfortable and aesthetic, otherwise it will affect overall happiness and job satisfaction.
Download Our White Paper: Happier Agents, Happier Customers to Learn More
Strip away the technology and processes in your contact center, and you’re left with what is truly most important—the agents. Happier agents lead to happier customers, and in this white paper, we talk to three contact center managers who have employed strategies in their own contact centers with great success. From agent attrition to onboarding, workforce management, and contact center environment, this white paper will give you actionable strategies and insights to improve your contact center team.
Download Mindsight’s free white paper, Happier Agents, Happier Customers today!
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About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We have one of the largest expert-level engineering teams delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from cloud to infrastructure, collaboration to contact center. Our highly-certified engineers and process-oriented excellence have certainly been key to our success. But what really sets us apart is our straightforward and honest approach to every conversation, whether it is for an emerging business or global enterprise. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.
Contact us at GoMindsight.com.
For Further Reading
[Infographic] The Top 3 Reasons Why Contact Center Agents Quit