Contact centers have notoriously had the highest attrition rate of all the departments within an organization, but now more than ever, agents aren’t available to replace those leaving. The number of open requisitions is at an all-time high. Talent shortages and retention are the top challenges facing these departments. The agents who remain are stressed and are considering leaving within three years of their start date.
It is difficult to find and keep agents, who play a critical role as the face of your company and your brand. The competition for good employees is intensified by companies allowing for hybrid work and modernizing their tools and tech to attract those individuals. To stem this tide in a contact center, companies must consider the agent environment. This demands a fresh and new look to meet the reality of customer expectations and company standards.
The job market isn’t helping either:
In the balance of this, what suffers? Customer satisfaction.
This issue isn’t going away any time soon. It is really tough to find and keep contact center agents. In fact, many of you have experienced:
According to recent surveys, a vast majority of consumers reported experiencing poor customer service within the last six months. These same customers also say it is harder to reach a person now than it was two years ago, with long wait times cited as one of the biggest problems.
So, the question is three-part: How can you get good quality people who want to stay and work for you? How can you modernize with digital channels to be competitive? And lastly, how can you allow consumers to reach a human when they need to?
It may be easier than you think: