Ten ways to improve call center agent job satisfaction

Call Centers for Dummies

Excerpted with permission from "Call Centers For Dummies," authored by Réal Bergevin. Published by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., May 2005, ISBN 470835494. For more information about this book and similar titles, please visit www.wiley.com.

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Improve Agent Job Satisfaction

In the business world, it's a generally accepted principle -- one that I agree with -- that companies with happier employees tend to have happier customers. By improving your agents' job satisfaction, you're likely to improve your customers' satisfaction as well.

In this chapter you'll find a list of things you can do to maximize your agents' satisfaction with their jobs.

1. Recruit People Who Value the Work
When recruiting, you need to look for two things in a candidate -- skill and motivation. (For more on recruiting, see Chapter 10.) Most employers are good at finding the skill, but motivation is more difficult.

Remember that finding employees who value the work means you'll have employees who continue to be motivated after the honeymoon is over. In some cases, this might mean accepting a candidate with fewer or lesser skills. I'd take the person who's slightly less skilled but highly motivated, every day of the week.

This can be tough in some places. The knee-jerk reaction is to hire the most skilled person who knocks on your door. However, you often end up hiring a highly skilled person who's "between jobs." It should be no surprise when the person quits as soon as they find something that he or she considers better.

A more disconcerting situation occurs when the unmotivated agent doesn't find something better and ends up resenting your call center work for underchallenging them. They "quit" emotionally, but stay on the payroll.

2. Clarify Expectations
Tell your agents what's expected of them and what they'll get for meeting and exceeding those expectations. (I talk more about developing and communicating expectations in Chapter 3.)

One of the reasons why employees fail to do what's expected of them is that they aren't told what's expected of them. Being clear in your expectations -- even before they accept the job -- is one way to make sure that your agents aren't disappointed (and you aren't, either). Confusion about roles and contributions frustrates everyone.

Clear expectations set the road for achievement and, even if the rewards of meeting those expectations are intrinsic to the employee, enhance job satisfaction.

Read the rest of this chapter for more ways to improve call center agent job satisfaction

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