HR Policies

Proven tactics for getting agents in their seats and keeping them there.

Is language a barrier for your outsourcing operations? Speech analytics could help ease the headache for you and your customers.

Think you've got the call center agent's profile down pat? Think again.

Sometimes the cure can be worse than the disease. For all its benefits, HR Shared Services/Call Center platforms do present their challenges-but it's possible to overcome them.

Most indications are that small call centers (i.e., 20 or fewer agents) make up the fastest growing segment of the call center industry. New help desks, information lines, sales and customer service centers spring into existence daily. Often, managers new to call centers are assigned to these young operations. And therein lies an irony: in a number of fundamental ways, small call centers are more challenging to manage than large call centers.

For smaller call centers, the struggle to do more with less has been a long-time management ordeal. And as larger centers barrel ahead with the transition to the multichannel environment, the necessity for small operations to keep pace with the types of service options being offered has added a new dimension.

An analytics-based prehire assessment tool has enabled DISH Network to better assess job candidates for performance and retention.

To bring quality candidates to your door, you have to have them at hello.; Positive branding-attaching your call center's name to a reputation for quality benefits for both customers and agents-can increase your desirability in applicants' eyes.

The high cost of agent turnover can create a pressure-cooker atmosphere for hiring managers and executives. Assessment tools can help target and test for performance capabilities, and can increase fair and consistent hiring practices.

Best practices in call center agent recruiting and hiring from LIMRA International's Malcolm McCulloch.