5 Strategies for Effective Call Center Operational Performance

Working in today’s call center is a demanding job. The simplest of transactions are now often handled via self-service tools, leaving more complex work left to today’s agent. Effectively leading today’s call center agent can be even more challenging. From handling escalated calls, upset customers, stressed-out agents, and endless to-do lists — the list of challenges tends to get longer and longer.

This leaves an interesting question — how do you lower stress levels for your team members? How do you keep their moods up so that they are bright and cheery, treating each new customer as if they were their first of the day? How do you improve call center performance to ensure your team member, company, and clients get the necessary results they need? Here are five clear strategies to implement for effective call center operational performance.

1. Effective Sourcing

An ideal time to hire call center agents is at the start of their career, usually when they are entry level. Be open to those with little previous work experience. By starting the development process early, you can prepare workers with valuable experience to become not just high-performing agents, but future supervisors and managers.

There are many ways to attract employees who are at the start of their careers. Here are just a few tactics to consider:

• Provide paid internships for students fresh out of college or during their college breaks.
• Attend workshops and conferences at high schools to market your company as a desirable employer.
• Allow flexible work schedules so that students may work part-time while attending college.

2. Employee Incentives

Once you’ve increased the pool from which you can draw permanent workers for your call center operations, the next step is to be a desirable employer. If your goal is to attract mostly young workers, it’s important to note that flexibility and work-life balance are extremely important to millennials and Gen Z, often even more so than a high salary.

Here are some incentives you should consider that will benefit your older call center workers, as well:

• Opportunities for professional development
• Fun and creative experiences
• Innovative tech in the office
• Flexible work schedules
• Give back initiatives

3. Employee Training

Many call center operations leaders make the mistake of believing employees only need training for their first few weeks on the job. Others have training programs in place just for the sake of having them, with no real process and no real way of measuring their effectiveness. By investing in proper and frequent employee training, you are building a capable and resilient workforce.

Forbes recommends frequent employee training as a key to organizational success. Beyond knowledge improvement, consistent training delivers several operational benefits:

• Reduced need for supervision
• Increased productivity
• Lower turnover rates
• Improved efficiency
• Decrease in errors
• Improved morale

4. Employee Empowerment

One significant benefit of employee training that deserves its own section is employee empowerment. By providing call center employees with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed decisions, management can turn its focus back to administrative and strategic functions. Workers, in turn, can focus on achieving company goals without waiting for managerial approval at every step.

Employee empowerment leads to a reduced need for supervision, which helps flatten the organizational structure. Flat organizational structures are more efficient and more adaptable to change. They also improve customer satisfaction as workers reduce resolution times by resolving issues independently, eliminating the need to forward customers through multiple channels.

5. Health & Wellness Focus

According to a 2014 study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, certain health conditions present elevated risk for call center workers. Because of the 24/7 nature of call center operations, many employees work shifts that disrupt their natural sleep cycles. Interpersonal relationships with family and friends may also be negatively affected, which can lead to unhealthy lifestyle habits. Additionally, the need to suppress negative emotions in customer-facing roles may contribute to depression and anxiety over time.

For these reasons, it is important that companies invest in health and wellness programs. Perks such as dedicated break spaces can help, but there should also be structured employee benefits covering both mental and physical care. Employers should also implement concrete measures to reduce and prevent employee burnout.

Every call center has its own organizational culture and strategies in place to drive performance. However, organizational culture can sometimes work against improvement, and strategies can become outdated. By revisiting and adjusting those original strategies, you can strengthen your call center operations, support your workforce, and generate better outcomes for stakeholders. For more information on how partnering with Etech can help, contact us at info@etechgs.com.

This blog was originally published on LinkedIn.