Still not attracting the quality agents you and your customers desperately need? Quality agents want to work for companies that are forward thinking, open-minded, and employee centric. If you’re slow to adopt flexible staffing, that these job seekers want (and deserve), then I’m afraid quality agents will continue to elude you.
Augmenting your FTEs with a flexible staffing option or gig agents, will be an eye opening experience. Between short staffing and finding quality talent, you’ve probably settled for warm bodies in your call center.
When limiting your talent pool to a 25 mile radius around your is business, finding skilled agents, willing to work in-house, will inevitably come with challenges.
If we look at the issues surrounding call centers across the US we know by now that the workforce is demanding more flexibility. Can you blame them? There is no reason why adults (assuming that’s what you hire) shouldn’t be able to do their jobs from home. What most contact center businesses are missing though is how much this benefits them even more than the agent.
The Real Reasons You Have Staffing Issues
On average a gig worker gets back 8 hours per week of their unpaid time by ditching the traditional FT in-house model. This rough estimate combines commute and preparation time each morning that adds up to a considerable investment to come work for you. When you consider this is also unpaid time for an employee, can you blame them for transitioning to gig work? It just makes sense. Now add in gas costs (also unpaid) or the toxic work environment, if there happens to be one, and there usually is. Is there any question why it’s so hard to find good talent in the contact center? The bigger question: Why do call center agents need to commute to an office? When actions lack purpose, people eventually stop doing them. It’s just human nature. So why does your call center still require agents to commute to an office?
Why Does Your Business Require Agents to Be In-House?
For agents who work in-house, the desire for a better quality of life will eventually override any activity that lacks purpose. So unless you have a really good reason to require your agents to come to your office everyday, you will continue to have a revolving door. The costs of attrition will be a considerable and ongoing expense your contact center will incur. If the cost of attrition is creeping up, it’s going to get worse. Most agents are even willing to take a pay cut, for the ability to work from home – so there’s that.
Toxic Work Environments in The Contact Center
What so many leaders are missing about the work environment is how toxic most of them are. And, as everything in the company, toxicity seeps into the workforce like the black plague. The taste left in the mouths of the workforce from toxic work environments continues to drive the gig economy. Agents will continue to seek out a better quality of life and that includes, less exposure to toxic workplaces. Waking up each day with the dread of being undermined, manipulated, and treated unfairly amongst a sea of varying personality types, is far from motivating.
Fix Your Staffing Issues with Flexibility
If you are currently having staffing issues, or can’t find good people to fill seats, I’m pleased to report that there is a light at the end of this tunnel. But, it will require an open mind, and a release of an unnecessary need to control people. By better understanding the needs of the workforces of today, and being open-minded businesses can take advantage of better and more efficient methods of managing workforces.
If you can get passed the somewhat insulting idea that agents need to be watched over, in order to do their job, and you’re not adverse to change, the internal staffing transition will be a huge relief. If you don’t at least try a small set Gig workers to utilize for business surges or when FTEs call in sick, then you’re doing you and your business a disservice. There is a plethora of new talent waiting to sign on with you, but you have to be open to change. The reward will far outweigh any discomfort you feel from making staffing changes. Before long, you’ll have an abundance of quality agents who take pride in their work and their role. The best part is, attrition will not be your headache anymore. It will be managed by the GigCX provider.
Augmenting your traditional workforce model with flexible staffing options will provide the leverage you need, to attract the agents you want. S
I’ve provided some inspiration below to get you started.
Top 9 Benefits of Flexible Staffing
- Give better customer service by always having enough staff when you need it but not when you don’t
- Gig Agents rarely call in sick unless they’ve lost their ability to speak.
- Lower attrition resulting for a more satisfied workforce
- Don’t need as big of an office space – $avings
- Attrition costs become the responsibility of the GigCX provider
- Access a much larger and more skilled talent pool
- Happier employees = Better customer experience
- More of your money is spent on productive time versus paying full time agents during lulls, when you don’t need them
- Give the environment a break, instead of taxing it with needless commutes to your office