Aside from attracting the best talent, Call Center managers must ask themselves how they can retain employees. According to Philstar.com, leading companies from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry are posting 55% attrition, a startlingly high rate considering that having talented and motivated employees is the lifeblood of a call center’s operations. Losing an employee in a call center means productivity losses and having no returns on the cost of their training.

Recognize Top Performers

Before they start, inform your employees about their key performance indicators so that they know how they can be evaluated. Praise them for good performance or coach them on their bad performance. Moreover, provide bonuses for agents that perform better than what had been expected of them. Stellar, for example, spent approximately P15 million in bonuses in 2013.

If monetary constraints do not allow you to provide bonuses, give your agents a chance to know how well his or her account is doing financially so that they know why they cannot get bonuses. Transparency is the key to retain your Call Center Employees.

Give Employees a Chance to Meet and Interact

Most agents list having a fun environment and having good friends as the top reasons to stay in a company. To take advantage of this, schedule your agents’ breaks together so that they get to interact during their free time. BPO companies also normally put up clubs to allow Call Center Agents to meet, especially those from different accounts.

Review their Schedules

Although working during odd hours is a natural part of working in a call center, look for accounts that will provide day shift opportunities for your agents. Most agents transfer jobs once they see day shift opportunities available, so avoid this from happening by giving them the prospect of shifting to a daytime schedule within your company. This will also allow agents to maintain work-life balance.

Provide Opportunities for Growth

Provide agents with opportunities to apply for higher positions once they’ve completed a few years of service. Even though some of your call center agents are undergrads, if they have been one of the top-performing agents for a long period of time, don’t hesitate to give them opportunities to advance their career. Stellar, for example, holds a Reach for the Stars program, which provides opportunities for excellent agents to train and apply for team lead or managerial positions.

Keep an Eye on Your Managers

The most important and most crucial way to keep call centers engaged in a company is to keep an eye on managers and team leaders. An old saying goes, “Employees don’t leave companies. They leave their managers.” That’s why you must ensure that call center agents are managed by individuals who listen to their needs and address their concerns, as well as managers who know when to provide bonuses and when to withhold it.

Furthermore, you must ensure that agents are managed by individuals whom they can learn from. A manager that coaches agents to improve their skills, as well as motivate them to do so, is one that employees would love to work for.

Summary

Having a combination of growth opportunities, work-life balance, top class managers, and bonuses will minimize employee turnover in call centers. Understand what motivates employees and reinforce them in order to retain your call center employees. If you do all these things correctly, you can expect to retain call center agents in your company for years.

*The foregoing was a guest post by Carmina Caparras.

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