Original Publication: Call Center Magazine - June 2007
It's no secret that the main challenge for contact center operators is agent attrition. With the cost of hiring and training new agents ranging from two thousand to ten thousand dollars per agent, any reduction in annual attrition rates goes right to the bottom line. High agent attrition rates degrade the customer experience and customer satisfaction, which negatively impact the bottom line.
Why do agents quit so often? Many reasons, including job repetitiveness, boredom, family issues, fatigue from dealing with frustrated callers all day, scheduling conflicts, cultural differences with the callers being serviced, transportation issues, management issues, and a myriad of others.
Proactive customer-centric care providers are addressing this problem head-on. Their strategies focus on many different tactics that can improve attrition rates: hiring the right candidates upfront, improving agent management, developing agent career paths, improving training, utilizing automation, building agent teamwork, improving facilities, employing home agents and so forth.
In addressing the attrition challenge, it is important to understand why agents leave and just as important to proactively address the needs of the individual agent before he or she resigns. Addressing individual agent issues without knowing exactly what those issues are and which agents are being impacted might seem like an impossible task for call center operators -- especially since many organizations employ thousands of agents.
Convergys Corporation, the largest provider of outsourced contact center services in the world, developed a technology-based system to combat the attrition challenge head-on. Convergys employs over 63,000 agents in over 75 centers around the world, providing customer care and consulting solutions, including live agent support, to the most prominent companies in financial services, retail, consumer goods, communications, and technology industries around the world. Thus, controlling attrition is a strategic imperative for Convergys in order to continue to provide 'best in class' care services to its clients at competitive prices.
Convergys' system, called the "Early Warning System" (EWS), was originally developed in a Convergys contact center located in Gurgaon, India. Since India has a high concentration of contact centers, competition for agents is fierce among contact center operators. Convergys has even experienced other companies hiring away Convergys agents after the agent completed its training program, since it is recognized as one of the top programs in the industry.
EWS utilizes proprietary software that tracks 50 distinct triggers that Convergys has identified as likely to lead to agent attrition. These indicators include such events as declining or fluctuating productivity, increased absenteeism or tardiness, rejections for internal job postings, drops in call quality, drops in voice tone on calls, increased off-phone time, visible signs of frustration, and a multitude of others.
As the triggers consist of quantitative and qualitative data points, Convergys team leaders enter qualitative information into the EWS software on a weekly basis after meeting individually with their agents. The EWS system then compiles and indicates the agent's likeliness to leave with a Red, Yellow, or Green indicator. Red means the agent is most likely to leave within 30 days, Yellow designates the agent is at risk to quit, and Green means the agent appears to be satisfied and fulfilled in the position.
Convergys team leaders employ intervention activities to address the factors causing a yellow designation for an agent. When an agent receives a red designation, immediate intervention action from a team leader, operations manager, and other operational resource personnel is taken to address the agent's issues. The EWS system also allows Convergys management to address potential attrition drivers before they result in employee loss.
Although the actual underlying EWS technology is quite extraordinary and important in combating attrition, the technology itself is not the whole story. The EWS technology also helps foster the human element, which is just as important.
The EWS system encourages team leaders to meet regularly and build better relationships with the agents that report to them. The building of these relationships improves two-way communications between the agent and the team leaders. These improved relationships also underscore to agents and managers alike that every employee is a valuable -- and valued -- company asset.
Over the past two years, Convergys has implemented EWS in all of its contact centers around the world. To date, the use of EWS and associated intervention strategies has had a multi-million dollar financial benefit for Convergys. Convergys contact centers experienced a reduction of 15% to 25% in attrition in 2006.
While EWS is a fantastic tool to help get ahead of the attrition challenges, Convergys has a number of other programs working in conjunction with EWS. Convergys addresses many of the drivers of attrition with agent career path planning, tuition re-imbursement, incentive programs, competitive pay, training, social and community events, working from home availability, and other work-life balance issues such as scheduling flexibility.
Convergys has introduced a "Team Leader Transformation" program with an emphasis on coaching to improve team leader management skills. Agents with more effective managers will have higher job satisfaction, and are, thus, less likely to leave.
Another program of note is an automated Performance-Based Scheduling (PBS) program that uses data on individual agent performance to award agent-identified schedule preferences to higher performers.
Agents view this automated program very positively and feel empowered by it, as they can see a direct link between how well they perform and the ability to receive work schedules that they prefer. This enhances agent productivity, ultimately improving customer satisfaction as well.
Effectively managing agent turnover saves contact centers millions of dollars in recruiting, hiring, and training costs. And just as important, low attrition rates mean that agents are satisfied, which directly and positively impacts the level of customer care given to the customer.
-- PJ Weyforth is vice president of Convergys Corporation's Customer Care Business. Weyworth's responsibilities include managing the development and deployment of the Team Lead Transformation program across all of Convergys' Customer Care locations globally, management of the Home Agent and the Time & Leave Management Initiatives, and Operations Support team.
Copyright 2007 CMP Media LLC. All rights reserved. 6/1/07, Issue # 2006, page 43.
