Reduce Turnover Raise Productivity Lower Absenteeism
A exemplary disposition Center employs 3 Different Types of disposition Center Agents:
1. Top Performing Agents - “Grade A” Agents with the “Right Stuff” that pushes them to Succeed, and the ostensibly Natural Compatibility with the Duties of the Position. You belike hit a some in your disposition Center Operation today and desire that you could replicate them.
2. Adequate Agents - “Grade B” Agents who Perform their Duties Adequately Enough “to intend by” - but No Better.
3. Marginal Agents - “Grade C” Agents who hit a High Level of Absenteeism, Low Productivity, Poor Performance & Poor Customer Satisfaction Ratings and who hit a Negative Impact on Agent Team Morale.
We communicate for a aggregation from today’s disposition Center Agent: Handle solon Customers & Calls, Order Taking, Cross-Selling/UpSelling, Being Proficient with Computer & Support Systems, Being Non-Confrontational & Good-Humored, Work Well in a Team Environment, etc., etc.
As a disposition Center Hiring Manager, your Challenge is Twofold:
1st - How Do You Find a Sufficient Quantity of Quality Applicants for your disposition Center Agent Positions?
Many North dweller Labor Markets hit reached the Saturation Point for disposition Center Agent Applicants in the Local Labor Pool. In fact, 64% of every North dweller disposition Centers today encounter it a “Major Struggle” or “Somewhat of a Challenge” to Find Quality Applicants for disposition Center Agent Positions. And 37% of disposition Center Employers are today Reporting “Severe” Competition for disposition Center Agents by Other Employers.
2nd - How Do You Weed Out the Job Candidates Who Will Burn Out Fast Because They Aren’t Suited For The Work, and Identify the People With the Skills, Motivation, and Work Ethic to be Your Top disposition Center Agents?
While Almost Everyone crapper Use a Telephone, Not Everyone is Cut Out to Work Successfully as a disposition Center Agent.
Hiring the Wrong disposition Center Agent is the Root Cause of Turnover and Absenteeism, and is a Significant Drain on your Bottom Line, on Customer Satisfaction, and on your coverall disposition Center Agent Team Morale.
Today, the Average Annual Turnover Rate of Full-Time disposition Center Agents is over 30%. The Turnover Rate for Part-Time disposition Center Agents is Worse (84% - with 15 Month Avg. Job Tenure). And, the Average Cost to Recruit/Hire/Train a Replacement disposition Center Agent ranges from US$2,600 - US$15,000 (depending on the identify of Agent Position).
Every Failed Hire Causes You to Throw Precious Budget Dollars Down the Drain Retraining Recruits for the Same Position. Not to Mention the Lost Sales & Service Opportunities, Poor Customer Satisfaction Ratings, Lowered Productivity and Higher Absences related with a Poor Job Fit.
There are a Series of Best Practices Steps you crapper verify to come these Two Issues in visit to Recruit solon Top Performing disposition Center Agents:
STEP 1: Create an Agent Success Profile - What are the Core Competencies, Personality Traits, Skill Set(s) and Demographics of your Optimal Performing Agents?
Who are your Top Performing Agents?
You should be Profiling your Top Performing Agents for their Gender, Diversity, Economics and Education.
Across every disposition Center Industry Segments (except OutBound TeleSales and Technical Support/Help Desk), over 75% of every Top Performing Agents are Female and 66% of them are Working Mothers. Only 5% hit College Degrees, and 30% of them participated in “Welfare-to-Work”, Unemployment Insurance or Public Assistance within 6 months preceding to their Hiring.
Is there Specific “Must Have” Skills/Knowledge that your Top Performing Agents need?
How do your Top Performing Agents Profile in Terms of Typing Speed/Accuracy, Computer Literacy, Specific Industry Knowledge/Experience, etc.?
What are the attorney Personality Traits of your Top Performing Agents?
Are you hunting for an InBound Agent? (A Persuasive Communicator Motivated by Security, Work Environment, Coworkers / Team, Service and Recognition).
Are you hunting for an Inside Sales Agent? (A Persuasive & Persistent Communicator who is Service Oriented, still Motivated by Sales Opportunity).
Or are you hunting for an OutBound Sales Agent (An Assertive & Persistent Closer who is Motivated by Income and Conquering Challenges and who Initiates Customer Interactions).
STEP 2: Create a Recruiting Strategy - Create a Recruiting Communications Plan that Identifies & Targets the Job Seekers that Meet your Agent Success Profile Criteria.
Your Recruiting Communications Plan should include:
STEP 3: Deploy an In-Depth Telephone Screening Process - All of your Recruiting Advertising should ingest as the Call-to-Action a 24×7 Automated “Employment Information Line”/Phone Screen which is then followed by a Structured Telephone Interview.
A 24×7 Automated “Employment Information Line”/Phone Screen Can Be As Simple As An Extension on your Current Voice Mail System:
“Hello and Thanks for Calling you’ve reached the 24 Hr. Employment Information Line for the ABCXYZ Company.
At ABCXYZ Company you module hit the Opportunity to Have Fun Make Good Money and wage a Service that Our Customers Really Appreciate.
You’ll Earn a Guaranteed Base Wage of $__/Hr Bonuses Get Training and All the Support you’ll requirement to Succeed.
We’re Conveniently settled Downtown with Easy Public Transit Access and there’s Plenty of Parking nearby.
To Succeed You’ll requirement to be Confident Professional and hit an Excellent Telephone Communication Style.
To Take The Next Step in Our Hiring Process at the Sound of the Tone Please Tell Us Your Name and Please Spell Your Last Name.
Also Please Give Us Your Telephone Number and the Best Time to disposition You Back.
And eventually Please Read Back to Us the Ad you are Responding to and Remember this is a Telephone Audition So provide it Your Best Shot!
Here Comes the Beep So Give Us Your Name Your Telephone Number and Read Back the Ad.
Good Luck in your Job Hunt
Thanks for Calling.”
A 24×7 Automated “Employment Information Line”/Phone Screen crapper also be as Sophisticated as an Interactive IVR System:
“This Position requires you to Read Speak and see English. Are you healthy to do so?”
“Press 1 for YES Press 2 for NO”
“This Position module visit you to impact Non-Traditional Hours including Evenings Weekends and Holidays. Do you desire to move this Process?”
“Press 1 for YES Press 2 for NO”
“This Position is Fast-Paced Structured and Requires that you hit the Ability to Multi-Task. For the Majority of your Shift you module Remain at your Workstation patch Assisting Callers and Customers by Telephone. Your Performance module be Monitored and Measured to Ensure the Highest Levels of Customer Service. Do you desire to move this Process?”
“Press 1 for YES Press 2 for NO”
You module Save Time and Money using a 24 Hr. “Employment Information Line”/”/Phone Screen by:
Reaching solon Applicants Faster.
Recruiting Top Candidates Before Your Competition.
Building a Bigger Applicant Pool.
Ensuring that Applicants hit a Clear Understanding of Important Job Requirements.
Assessing Applicant’s Ability to Follow Basic Instructions.
Conducting “Voice Auditions” to set an Applicant’s “Telephone Personality”.
Reducing instance spent with Unqualified Candidates.
Maximizing Applicant Buy-In and Participation in your Hiring Process.
Part of a Legally Defensible Hiring Process.
The Job Candidates who transfer finished your 24 Hr. “Employment Information Line”/”/Phone Screen should then be pronto followed up with using a Structured Telephone Interview.
A Structured Telephone Interview is:
Used to Further “Sell The Job Opportunity”.
Used as 2nd Screen of Candidates for “Must Have” Skills & Attributes (Start Date, Shift Availability, Wage Rate, Typing Speed, Specific Product Knowledge, Sales Ability, Security Clearances, etc.)
Used to Further Evaluate a Candidate’s “Telephone Personality”.
Where Appropriate, Used to Schedule a Candidate Visit at your Office for Going Forward with Hiring Process.
Delivered consistently, a Structured Telephone Interview is conception of a Legally Defensible Hiring Process - as every Candidates are asked for the aforementioned aggregation in a homogenous and conformable fashion.
STEP 4: Deploying Pre-Employment Assessment Testing - to Confirm Personality Traits/Job Fit and Skill Set(s).
Candidates for disposition Center Agent Positions requirement to hit a Unique Constellation of Traits - and Specific Amounts of those Traits - in visit to Successfully Complete the Job Requirements.
A disposition Center Agent’s Success Depends Much solon Upon Personality/Job Fit Factors than Product Knowledge, Past Experience or Skill Set.
Merely lettered how to move in a Customer Service Situation is Far Different from Actually Engaging in the Necessary Appropriate Behavior - Consistently - and for the Long-Term.
This is what disposition Center Agent Personality/Job Fit Testing Measures.
SPAS - Service Personnel Appraisal System - is CD-Rom supported disposition Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software, which is Easy to Deploy, Very Cost-Effective and Highly Predictive of an Individual’s Suitability for a portion disposition Center Agent Position.
SPAS Weeds Out Job Candidates Who Burn Out Fast Because They Aren’t Suited For The Work, and Identifies The People With The Skills, Motivation, and Work Ethic to be Top disposition Center Agents.
There are Specific Versions of the SPAS disposition Center Agent Pre-Employment Testing Software Validated to Test for disposition Center Agent Positions much as:
InBound Customer Service
OutBound Telephone Sales (B2B) Business-to-Business
OutBound Telephone Sales (B2C) Business-to-Consumer
Inside Sales Agent
Tier 1 Technical Support/Help Desk Agent
Central Station Monitoring Operator
Telephone Collections
Telephone Answering Service Operator
Reservations/Guest Service Agent
Government Information & Referral Operator
Tele-Counselor
Mystery Shopper
Whatever disposition Center Agent Personality Testing Instrument you Deploy - attain trusty it is Validated for the Specific disposition Center Agent Position you are hunting to modify - and Use it Consistently - at the Same Point in your Hiring Process - and with All Candidates.
You should also action a Skills Test on your Job Candidates. Skills Tests are fashioned to Identify a Candidate’s Skill Level in Specific Areas much as Keyboarding, Software Literacy, Spelling, Telephone Etiquette, Listening, etc.
STEP 5: Using a Structured Face-to-Face Interview - supported on Core Competencies, Personality Traits and Skill Set(s).
This Style of Interview has Great Value in disposition Centers because it allows you to Identify Candidates’ Past Behaviors and Use Them as Good Indicators of Future Performance and Behavior.
Before you carry a Structured Face-to-Face Interview, you requirement to go backwards to your Original Success Profile and Core Requirements Document. Identify the Most Appropriate Core Competencies for the Position and Build your Questions around these Competencies.
They should be Very Specific Questions Designed to Determine How Candidates Behaved and Thought during Certain Situations.
Structured Interview Questions could include:
“Tell Me About a Time When You Went Far Beyond What Could Normally Be Expected In Order To Satisfy a Customer?”
The Target Behavior you are hunting to show is Customer Focus. Can this Candidate Demonstrate that they crapper go “Above & Beyond The disposition of Duty” to secure that Customer Requests are Handled Effectively - and with a Customer Service Orientation?
STEP 6: Having Your Candidates Experience a Job Preview - Depicting Day-to-Day Activities, Responsibilities and the Environment of the disposition Center.
The Goal of a disposition Center Job Preview is a Final Attempt to Sell the Candidate “In or Out” of the Job.
You requirement to Paint a Realistic Picture of the Company, disposition Center Environment, Hours, Flexibility, Management Style, Performance Expectations, etc.
This crapper be finished as easily as having Candidates Sit in the disposition Center for a Period of Time to Form Their Own Opinion before Accepting or Declining the Job Offer (**Check Your Local Labor Laws to See If Candidate Time Spent in a disposition Center Preview by “Sitting In The disposition Center” Qualifies as “Paid Time”.)
There are also Software-Based disposition Center Simulators that are acquirable to provide a Candidate the Ability to Accurately Experience disposition Center Work - much as Referencing and Cross-Referencing Data and Dealing with a Variety of Callers and Customer Service Scenarios. (**Used as conception of a Pre-Employment Process, Software-Based disposition Center Simulators are Not Subject to Local Labor Law Interpretation as “Paid Time”.)
During the disposition Center Job Preview Time, the Candidate should also be Encouraged to Speak “Off the Record” with Supervisors/Team Leaders and Potential Coworkers.
Done correctly, this Step module Help You Attract People who Genuinely Want to Work in your disposition Center.
STEP 7: Reference Verification - (also Security Clearances / Drug Testing if required).
These Best Practices Hiring Steps are Easy to Deploy, Very Cost-Effective and Highly Predictive of an Individual’s Suitability for your disposition Center Agent Positions. They module earmark you to Recruit, Select and Hire New disposition Center Agents who sound your Employment Needs Better and Stay On The Job Longer - directive to a disposition Center Agent Workgroup that has solon Experience and is solon Productive.
Your Individual disposition Center Agent Productivity Will Go Up - Along With Your Customer Satisfaction Ratings - and Your Turnover Costs Will Go Down.
I would be Happy to Prove to you - in Advance and at No Charge - that these Best Practices Hiring Steps Will Work for your disposition Center Team as well.
Please Don’t Hesitate to Call/eMail me, or to Find Out solon Click Here =>http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html
Regards.
David Filwood
Principal Consultant
TeleSoft Systems
604-986-4116
david_filwood@telesoftsystems.ca
www.telesoftsystems.ca
David Filwood is the Principal Consultant with TeleSoft Systems http://www.telesoftsystems.ca, a disposition Center Improvement Consultancy supported in Vancouver, BC.
David has 20 Plus Years of disposition Center Management Consulting Experience for Small-to-Medium Sized Government, Non-Profit and Diversified Business disposition Centers.
David has been featured in Profit Magazine, TeleProfessional, Connections, disposition Center Times, InQueue and The CBC as a disposition Center Subject Matter Expert.
David has also been a Featured Speaker at disposition Center Industry Conferences much as The Association of Teleservices International (ATSI), The Help Desk Institute (HDI), The river disposition Management Association (CAM-X), The river Security Association (CANASA), and The Southern Calif. Nortel Users Association (INNMUG).
David Filwood also sits on the Advisory Board of The National Association of disposition Centers (NACC).
How To Hire Better disposition Center Agents - Every Time!
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