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Will the recession help to keep a lid on excessive staff turnover in contact centres?

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19^th October 2009

Will the recession help to keep a lid on excessive staff turnover in contact centres?

Andy Turner, Head of Workforce Optimisation at ProtoCall One

Agents working in contact centres are feeling the cold winds of the recession as much as any other group of employees across the UK. It has reached the point where, unless directly involved, most people know someone who has been made redundant recently or whose job is currently under threat. The total number of job vacancies has also shrunk. The Office for National Statistics figures published for the last quarter of 2008 shows vacancies at the lowest level for seven years.

How will this current climate affect staff turnover? Typical annual staff turnover rate in contact centres is around 15-20%. In my experience at ProtoCall One, where we work with many contact centres to tackle staff turnover issues, the most problematic contact centres have turnover rates at 30% while the best have turnover rates on par or better than the rest of the working population at around 6%.

Agents staying put

A common view held by contact centre managers is as the economic climate worsens staff are more likely to stay in jobs even if they are not happy there - especially if a family member has lost a job, they fear of redundancy and see evidence of more applicants and chasing fewer jobs. No matter how intolerable the working environment, the agents will just grin and bear it. So agents are sitting tight which will keep the turnover figure down, and on the recruitment side there is a growing pool of applicants who will be queuing up to take any vacancies.

Your contact centre may be experiencing this situation as we speak, with agents holding on to their jobs also accompanied by a wave of potential applicants. It must be understood that this current situation is not a cure for staff turnover and it could well be simply storing up trouble for the future.

Address the causes of high staff turnover

If your contact centre suffers from high staff turnover, you need to ask the simple question - why? High staff turnover pushes up recruitment costs and increases training demands. It also erodes customer experience and effectiveness as inexperienced agents that a higher proportion of calls.

Your search for the reasons for high staff turnover in your contact centre needs to be far reaching. Creating a pleasurable work environment and providing services to employees that help to assist with the pressure of the daily routine has been core to many very successful contact centres. The shining example is First Direct, which famously has an on-site crèche and a concierge service to assist agents with their day-to-day tasks, such as going to the Post Office - all this plus management who truly believe in empowering their agents delivers a staff turnover rate of 6%.

As First Direct shows, providing a modern, attractive working environment is definitely one way of tackling staff turnover. But the reasons list is a long one and includes poor management, stress, failing IT systems, inadequate processes and unrealistic targets. All these are examples of triggers for contact centre agents to finally decide they are leaving and the vast majority of agents leave the contact centre sector entirely - only 13% of people who work in contact centres will go to another contact centre when they change jobs.

Be receptive

Contact centre managers have the biggest role to play when it comes to reducing staff turnover. Any good manager should be aware of the problems on the 'shop floor', keeping an ear to the ground and tackling the causes of staff turnover day to day. Be supportive, listen to the comments from agents - ask them how the business can help employees during the downturn - perhaps agents are looking for shift changes or overtime to increase income.

Your agents need to feel involved in your business. Use customer experience as a focus for improvement, challenge old processes and accepted norms, by involving agents, allowing input and demonstrating flexibility, agents will want to get more involved in fixing what is currently wrong. Always carry out an exit interview for leaving employees, who should give you a full and frank list of reasons for moving on.

Next steps

With many contact centres going through hard times there is a lot of fear for the future, so contact centre managers need to communicate the current state of the business, its prospects going forward and involve agents in turnaround projects. Regular, honest communication from senior management is really valued as it clears up uncertainty and makes all employees feel that they are a part of the solution.

Although the number of recruits chasing each of your contact centre vacancies will increase during these recessionary times, it does not mean that candidate quality will improve. In fact the volume of applicants could make it harder to select good prospective agents. People who have never considered contact centre work before may now be applying for positions as they feel it is a job that anyone can secure quickly. Contact centres are looking for a blend of skills - customer handling, ability to use IT systems, flexibility, commercial awareness, team work. Not everyone will fit the criteria, especially if they have been employed in very different sectors previously. It will pay to stick to your recruitment guidelines, employ based on aptitude and the person's 'fit' with your organisation.

In summary, the core message is to avoid being complacent about staff turnover. Although your agents may be sitting tight at the moment while the job market is volatile, it does not mean they will not leave as soon as the recessionary storm subsides. With a 'back to basics' approach - listen to agents and tackle the causes of staff turnover seriously you can ensure your organisation continues to retain and attract quality agents now and in the future.


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