Go BackHow can contact centres rise to the challenge of retaining staff in an industry with a characteristically high staff turnover rate?
BY LINDA HOLDEN, GROUP HR DIRECTOR, TELECOM SERVICE CENTRES LIMITED (TSC)
Recruiting to fill vacant contact centre posts is not rocket science - that's the easy part. The on-going challenge, however, is to be able to identify the people who will enjoy the job and view it as an attractive career and personal development option. If, at the outset, you can spot candidates who will not get bored and frustrated with customer calls, the pressures of retention ease.
There's no doubt that a smile does travel over the telephone. And we must always recognise that the people who come to work in this industry have to put on a smiley face, be cheerful, leave their home and relationship woes behind and take call after call.
When they do remove their headsets and come off the phone for a break, they need to have something to do that will relax them.
At TSC, each of our nine sites has an internet café. During their break, employees can log on to their email or msn accounts and - because a lot of our people are in the 18-25 age bracket - chatting to friends on-line is part of their lifestyle and greatly appeals to those who do not have access to a home computer.
We've also tailored some initiatives to suit the needs of certain sites. Because many people travel quite a distance to work at TSC's Aviemore site, for example, we run a bus service for staff and have introduced innovative shift patterns designed to suit the lifestyle and travel requirements of people who live remotely. The Aviemore site also has a small convenience shop, as well as a games room with a TV, table football, board and PC games, magazines and books which staff have made their own relaxation zone.
Any business that wants to recruit and retain the best talent must have its USP. And at TSC's Kilmarnock site - which opened just over a year ago - it's the workplace health and beauty salon. Open to staff and to their families three days a week, the salon offers various competitively priced treatments, with everything from facials and manicures to sports massage for men.
When running a tight ship financially, as contact centre businesses do, only a small percentage of staff can be on leave at one time. We've found that attendance issues arise when people cannot get time off work when they need it. That's why at Kilmarnock we are also currently piloting a pioneering project in which people can choose their own hours. By encouraging relationships with front-line managers, the lifestyle needs of team members can be more easily accommodated and early indications are that absenteeism is taking a dip.
Also responsible for a steady increase in attendance records is the training of our front-line managers and empowering the HR business partners to audit teams and work with team leaders on a partnership basis.
Opportunities for career progression within an individual's own comfort zone are key to job satisfaction. Highly successful self managed teams, known as SMART teams, have been introduced at TSC's Falkirk site. In an environment with no team leaders where members are encouraged to use their own initiative, SMART teams are constantly out-performing their counterparts. Members with outstanding quality and attendance records are invited to join the SMART team, which empowers those who want greater autonomy and rewards, without the responsibilities associated with a team leader's role.
We also engaged employees in the creation of an on-line score card, which they named 'Get Minted.' Since the introduction of the revolutionary tool - which lets agents monitor their performance against that of their peers and watch their bonus grow in real time - we have seen an up-lift in quality scores and an improvement in contribution.
Due close performance monitoring, shift patterns and challenging calls from customers who sometimes become irate about issues beyond our control, however, it goes without saying that a job in this industry is not for everyone. But I'm proud to say that of the TSC people who have completed their training and gone out on to the floor from the past six months' population, we've enjoyed an impressive tenure rate.
Many parallels can be drawn between this and the retail industry - although, in retail, you can communicate with the client face-to-face. Here, you get only one chance to make an impression and the tone of a call is often set in the first few seconds. It's a tough job.
Regardless of the high quality challenges in this environment, it's vitally important that the workplace is a fun place to be. The executive and senior management must always be mindful that the enthusiasm of the people on the floor for their work, their clients and their company impacts directly on the bottom line and enhances TSC's global reputation.
Year on year, we've been delighted with the progress our retention strategy has delivered in terms of improved employee engagement, which is measured through twice-yearly employee satisfaction surveys.
What's also very clear, however, is that we can never stand still. What we have achieved and introduced quickly becomes last year's news. The secret of employee engagement and retention is to continually adapt or improve the tools and strategies that are available and be receptive to new ideas that will go on to become part of the wallpaper.
During the last year, for example, TSC has introduced a range of benefits for staff, including a child care voucher scheme and an e-learning initiative through which 136 courses have already been completed.
Plans on the horizon include a continued focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the communities in which we operate, and engaging staff in the reduction of our carbon footprint through energy savings and recycling.
In short, retention strategies must constantly evolve in what's commonly referred to as 'best practice.' There's no shame in admitting that I will copy and adapt any good idea that I come across and I really value being able to learn about other people's successes. Nobody can be successful in this particular sphere on their own.
Telecom Service Centres Ltd
1 Central Park Avenue
Central Business Park
Larbert
Falkirk FK5 4RX
Tel: 01324 575 000
Email: justthink@tsc.co.uk
Web: www.tsc.co.uk
