You should be concerned if your Contact Center’s turnover rate is higher than 3% or 4%. Although these frequent changes indeed occur because most of the workers in this sector are from younger generations (millennials) who are still in the process of fitting into the labor market, it is also true that they are the type of people who choose a workplace not only for the salary but for the emotional incentives they can receive.

The millennial generation is low motivation. Let’s remember that this generation grew up and was educated in a new, highly modern world, where technological improvements have been systematically developed. Therefore, these consultants can get tired of the routine without changes or incentives. Being in a workplace where the wear and tear are intense and without any additional stimulation to their activities is a reason for unscheduled abandonment.

If we add to this the summer, vacation season for many and, for those who are not, it is more difficult to concentrate on what will be done when leaving the office. In addition, the heat causes productivity to decrease by up to 20%. That’s why it’s essential to think about how to retain and motivate your contact center agents.

Here are a few tips:

Learn how to retain and motivate contact center agents

1. Improve their schedules

The agents’ schedule is also a reason for personnel turnover, and it is more than necessary to have a plan that coordinates all the corporation’s instruments so that they work efficiently.

Give them their respective rest periods, respect their working hours and try not to make radical changes that affect your initial schedules.

You may find this difficult if you are one of those who still plan schedules manually, using a spreadsheet.

We recommend implementing a WFM (Workforce Management) tool, which allows you to plan resources, accurately forecast demand, and generate optimized instant schedules to deliver the best levels of service to your customers and the best experience for your agents.

Some of the things you will be able to do with a WFM tool:

• Multi-channel, multi-disciplinary forecasting and scheduling for omnichannel contact centers.
• Customize your dashboard with the needed graphs, statistics, and campaign summaries.
• Agent self-scheduling, including shift and vacation management, through a dedicated web portal and mobile app.

2. Playing at work

Imagine working while playing with your work team in a rally through the most impressive roads on Earth or climbing Everest. Incredible, isn’t it?

Gamification is a technique that can improve productivity by making work more enjoyable, fun, and rewarding. If staff who enjoy their work perform better, work harder and stay longer in the company.

At Enghouse we offer games for companies in which the combination of storytelling and technology allows us to build an emotional bond between the tasks and their executors through the games. Game dynamics motivate players to be much more productive in their work because they enjoy their execution.

We combine gaming and technology to focus your agents on business objectives, through training and gamified Call Center sales dynamics.

We develop a Call Center incentive plan tailored to the needs of your employees to generate a higher level of commitment.

3. Offer knowledge… while they play!

We are in a knowledge society, young people are increasingly interested in learning, and being trained professionals and want to be jobs that make them more creative and challenge them. So giving them training days on topics of their interest that are of service in your company would be a great idea.

This training doesn’t have to be boring, on the contrary, you should look for ways to make them as dynamic as possible. There are several ways, however, you could make the previous point of this article and this one effective with the same tool.

According to a study by the University of Colorado (2011), simulation games, compared to other learning methods, obtained a 9% improvement in knowledge retention, 14% more skill-based knowledge, and 11% more factual knowledge. Not bad, right?

With a gamification tool, you can teach by playing. Create completely customized games for your company to create game dynamics that revolve around your production processes and that through the game are retained more efficiently.

Games provide knowledge that lasts in the memory and transforms the entire study process into a more enjoyable and entertaining experience that improves productivity. Internet giants such as Google or eBay have been using gamified platforms for some time to improve learning processes and make them more attractive.

Extra benefit…

The best thing is that you make your agents happy while you get more and more qualified staff, which in turn will allow you to offer them promotions as vacancies arise in your company, another reason why they will not want to leave and will be more motivated.

Would you like to learn more about these tools and how to implement them to retain and motivate your agents? Schedule a personalized meeting here.