Call center agents have to sit at their desks all through their work shift. A recent study on ergonomics at the work place suggests that there must be some provision for them to stand and work when they want to. Working continuously for long hours at the call centers bring about stress and fatigue. BPO units can take up the results of this study and think about this proposition. All the call center outsourcing units have to do is make room for a raised monitor and keyboard. Ergonomic experts who conducted the study feel that this simple improvisation will solve the problem in 95% of the cases.
“Sitting positions affect the quality of work in a way,” says call center executive Sarah Michele, “When you’re uncomfortable in your chair, you grow impatient and that affects customer service.” Call centers have to consider the fact that the agents at work are vulnerable to injuries caused by awkward back-rests and improper chairs. Injuries to the vertebrae are common among BPO agents. Movement is the key for any professional to deliver their best. That is why stress management experts at the call center outsourcing units advise taking short breaks regularly. If the agents can stand and work for a while, it will break their monotony and improve the energy levels.
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We have reported time and again that call center scheduling can be a wonderful way of improving performance at the call centers. Here are some tips that you can use for effective scheduling of call center services.
First, make use of a flexible schedule model. Call center services are flexible and vary from day to day. Some days you may have to put in some extra to make up for lost time. Such days also come in when you are lagging behind on your targets. If you have your call center agents work to predetermined timings, you will find yourself facing challenges on a daily level.
Second, reduce shrinkage by stringent adherence. Call centers often go weak on the question of adhering to time schedules. The best way to get rid of the lackadaisical attitude is to make the agents realize that a mere waste of 10 minutes can change things and have ripple effects all over the call center departments. They have to go out for lunches and comfort breaks on time and get back to the floor punctually.
To make sure that your call center agents are working hard at maintaining the schedule, arrange for incentives. Let the deserving ones be awarded and that will motivate the others to follow schedules diligently.
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It’s not always true that motivational exercises in the BPO have to do something with money. It cannot be denied that money is a prime motivator for call center agents. But not all call centers have the same kind of budget that is necessary to fund expensive motivational exercises. There are other ways of keeping your telemarketing agents interested in the work that they are doing. An ideal way to do it is to keep coaching and training them. Very few would like to miss an opportunity to pick up more skill sets. Agents would feel a strong sense of belonging to the call center they work in when the management tries to improve them as professionals.
The attitude of the BPO management is of paramount importance. It’s important to treat the employees in a dignified, proper way. You will have to adopt the practice of praising in public and criticizing in private. When the managers and team leaders want to criticize the work of the agents, they must be constructive and impartial. Nothing registers in the mind of the agent when you go on a fault-finding mission and pin your employees to the wall. Make the agents feel more responsible towards their role in telemarketing services. You will soon build up a strongly motivated team.
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Every call center must have a wish list: a list that jots down all those features of a BPO that are difficult to achieve. For example, you may wish that you customer service team will be able to solve all the problems that your callers come up with. Because of the prompt action taken by the inbound call center department, you will have lesser calls coming in. You may also wish that all the resources at your disposal, like CRM software or workforce optimization applications, are smartly utilized. It doesn’t make much sense to hanker after the CFO for equipment that you won’t use after they are part of the office furniture!
At Fusion BPO Services, we ensure that we plan to make our wish list a reality. Our call center agents firmly believe that unless you have some vision, you are not going to get far. We keep our visionary glasses on so that our path is clear to us. Our BPO agents are always encouraged to utilize office resources and equipment. We don’t hold back expenditures towards office infrastructure. Similarly, we don’t like them to lie unused. Wish lists can be realized in the practical sense only when you have a dedicated team and motivated leaders working for you.
