Tips For Hiring And Retaining Contact Centre Agents

Employee turnover rates are on the rise, and this is posing a serious challenge for countless businesses across the board post-pandemic. Contact centres in particular are feeling the pressure in this context. With retention and employee engagement cited as two of the most pressing issues for HR departments in recent years, it begs the question: what measures can be put in place when it comes to both hiring and retaining contact centre agents?

In this article, we share some tips for success in these areas to ensure your business can perform at its best.

 

Start as you mean to go on at the hiring stage

 

The first step in retaining contact centre agents is to hire the “right fit”. This is someone ideally with experience, who is compatible with company values and who is likely to adapt well to the work at hand.

Finding this rare gem begins at the hiring stage and there are several ways you can attract top talent such as this:

 

1. Create a clear job description

 

Displaying a clear, unfiltered job description will help to attract the right candidates. It should outline the job responsibilities, required qualifications and necessary skills, without masking certain elements of the role that may later cause issues. This will ensure that candidates have a clear understanding of the job at the earliest stage and can decide to opt out at this point if they don’t meet the requirements.

 

2. Streamline the hiring process

 

Hiring new team members can take anything from one week to 30 days. Within this gap, there is ample room for top talent to get headhunted by other companies. By streamlining the hiring process through the use of tools, such as video interviews or online assessments, the overall timeframe can be significantly reduced to secure the right person for the job and improve the candidate experience.

 

3. Offer competitive salaries and benefits

 

Contact centre staff work in a high-pressure environment, often dealing with difficult customers and handling multiple tasks simultaneously. This can lead to burnout and high turnover rates if employees do not feel they are being fairly compensated for their work.

When companies offer competitive salaries and benefits, they signal to potential employees that their work will be valued. This automatically makes them a more attractive prospect to new hires.

 

 

Create a work environment that is geared towards retaining contact centre agents

 

Once the right people for the job have been hired, it’s vital to keep them on board. This can be a tough ask, given the high-pressure work environment they are working within.

The first step to take when seeking to improve retention rates is to focus on creating a positive work environment while providing the right tools and platforms to aid with job fulfilment.

 

1. Build a positive work environment

 

According to a survey by Deloitte, 62% of respondents admitted to considering their organisation’s purpose when they joined the ranks. This reinforces the growing trend of a company’s ethos taking centre stage in the context of both hiring and retention.

Creating a positive work environment that is built upon the foundations of admirable values can help to improve engagement and retention.

Along with the bigger picture of a company’s mission statement, this can include offering flexible schedules, recognising and rewarding employee performance and promoting work-life balance.

 

2. Provide ongoing training and development

 

For a contact centre agent to feel engaged in their work and to have the mental stamina to deal with the demands of the job, sufficient support from the employer’s corner is necessary. Providing ongoing coaching and training can yield improvements in both of these areas, thus promoting a higher rate of retention.

Offering developmental opportunities in line with digital technologies can also go a long way in improving job satisfaction.

 

3. Use the right tools and platforms

 

This ties in well with the latter point. Making specific digital tools available to employees that will help to accelerate their performance and improve their relationship with the work at hand can have a hugely positive impact on employee turnover rates. Providing training in the use of these tools is also vital.

Technology has been playing an increasingly important role in employee engagement and retention. When used correctly, powerful digital platforms can drastically improve the employee experience by providing agents with the most up-to-speed means to carry out their work to the best of their abilities.

Twilio is one such platform that is making a real difference to contact centre teams and the businesses they work for.

 

 

What role does Twilio play in retaining contact centre agents?

 

Twilio allows agents to communicate with customers through multiple channels, including voice, SMS and chat, while providing real-time analytics to help operators make data-driven decisions.

Its unrivalled capabilities enable agents to engage with customers through their preferred channel, which can help to improve both customer satisfaction and agent morale. It also boasts real-time analytics that gives agents a better understanding of customer needs, thus allowing them to make data-driven decisions.

Furthermore, Twilio can be integrated with other platforms, such as CRM systems, to create seamless workflows that streamline agent tasks.

By reducing administrative tasks and providing agents with the right information at the right time, Twilio can help to improve agent productivity and satisfaction.

 

Continue retaining contact centre agents with help from Kaptea, your Twilio provider

 

As your go-to Twilio consulting partner, our expert team at Kaptea specialise in implementing and customising Twilio to suit your unique business needs. A successful implementation can empower your agents and improve your company’s retention rates, while drastically improving customer satisfaction in the process.

There’s no time like the present to increase your business success. Get in touch with us today to arrange a seamless integration followed by ongoing support and training, and make sure to also visit our blog and knowledge centre for more information on our services and all the latest updates.