The Challenges of a Novice Contact Center Agent

Citing challenges such as low compensation, high stress and repetitive job tasks, today’s contact center agents remain in their jobs for only about three-and-a half years.

Traditionally, the contact center industry has been plagued by high absenteeism and high staff attrition. Contact centers should develop strong policies with regard to staff retention, absenteeism and career development as the severity of these problems begins to dawn on the industry, we should expect to see determination to tackle these issues head-on.

These are some thoughts on cultivating and retaining key talent:

• Flexible schedules –By offering well-managed part-time options, contact centers can attract a wider variety of potential staff members.

• Diversified career options – By offering training programs in how to respond using multiple channels, contact centers can help agents hone their skill sets, while offering them a wider variety of tasks and increased opportunities for career advancement.

• Incentive programs –. By tying monetary incentives to skill diversification, contact centers can achieve greater levels of staff satisfaction.

• Close communication –Keeping agents informed of executive decisions is an important mechanism for boosting employee morale.

It is essential that everyone involved in a contact center’s day-to-day operations be well-versed in what value it delivers and how it does so – and in what detracts from that value. Contact centers should strive to keep agents abreast of key developments and to make their career paths more exciting. Having top-notch, productive agents who are better equipped to deal with and anticipate customer needs translates into having more satisfied customers.

Ethics at Work

Since there are quite a number of unethical people around, I thought it would be quite fitting to share my two cents worth on what it’s all about. Work ethics include not only how one feels about their job, career or vocation, but also how one does his/her job or responsibilities.

This involves attitude, behavior, respect, communication, and interaction; how one gets along with others. Work ethics demonstrate many things about whom and how a person is. Work ethics involve such characteristics as honesty and accountability. Essentially, work ethics break down to what one does or would do in a particular situation.

The begging question in a situation involves what is right and acceptable, and above board, versus what is wrong, underhanded, and under the table. Throughout the last few years, there have been companies whose work ethic -- honesty, integrity and accountability -- have been rather shady and have a rather negative impact on other people.

This has involved people looking the other way when people have done something questionable, or thinking it would not matter. Work ethics, such as honesty (not lying, cheating, and stealing), doing a job well, valuing what one does, having a sense of purpose and feeling/being a part of a greater vision or plan is vital. Philosophically, if one does not have proper work ethics, a person’s conscience may be bothered. People for the most part have good work ethic(s); we should not only want to do, but desire to do the proper thing in a given situation.

Shut Up & Listen: A successful entrepreneur knows when it's best to let others do the talking.

I learnt an important lesson when I decided to start my own business. I discovered through observation that the most effective way to grow your business is to let others do the talking. Over the years, I’ve been in countless business dealings and I realized that entrepreneurs who practiced exaggerated self-promotion rarely captured the attention of others. Prospective associates assumed boastful people didn't need the strategies they had to offer.

By involving other people, you’ll see how essential this is in creating business success. There are some very smart people around, believe it or not who have much information to share, and you’ll only be able to tap into it through active listening. It is only when you decide to understand where another person is coming from that you will discover all types of useful methods for achieving success.

Listening well isn't a skill we're born with unfortunately. But that’s what separates the doers from the followers. In order to lead a business successfully, you must develop it and learn to master it. Accomplishing this requires you to be dynamically present for every encounter--a difficult feat with all that goes on each day. Active listening begins with the willingness to recognize the value in every conversation you engage in.

So the next time before you open your mouth and get ready to say something, check yourself. Give the other person a chance to finish what they’re saying and consider what’s been said. You may learn something you don’t know but thought you did.