How to Effectively Staff a Call Center

Introduction: High turnover is a problem for call centers. It can never be eliminated.  The type of job the employees do will cause ‘burnout’, no matter how a company tries to avoid it.  However, the longer an employee stays and is as productive as possible, the better for the company.

Hire the right people.  If you put the right people in your seats, handling the calls you have a better chance of success. Have a list of the minimum set of criteria that people must have such as: language skills, typing, problem solving and any other necessary skill. Don’t rush to hire people.  Don’t hire people just to fill the seats of your call center. During the interview process uncover what motivates your candidate and how they handle repetitive activities.  Most call center agents do the same job, for 6-8 hour shifts. 

Set realistic expectations and tell them what they need to do to accomplish them.  Don’t expect the other agents to ‘inspire’ the new employee to be successful. 

Formally train the new hire from day one.  Don’t allow the other agents to act as their trainer.  The new hire will develop the bad habits of others, even if you sit the new employee with your best producer. (Does anyone really drive the way they did during their driving lessons?)

Keep training as simple as possible in the beginning. Focus on individual goals and expectations; product knowledge; policies and procedures; call handling including dealing with difficult call situations; software and hardware utilization.

Create ongoing training processes.  Weekly quizzes, regular coaching sessions, team meetings, mystery calls, updates on policies and procedures. Utilize slow call volume days for ‘idle time training’ either through onsite training or webinars.  Make sure that the employee handbook clearly identifies training as a way to improve the skills of employees and not as a punishment for poor performance.

Clearly identify in the job description what will be required in the job, and what will not be acceptable so there is no misunderstanding.

Making good hiring decisions is the first step in having a productive call center, You will need to include testing applicants on the basic skills they will need to improve the likelihood of hiring the person with the appropriate skills and motivation.

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