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Job Hiring for Retention
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Impact Learning Systems InternationalP.O. Box 14110San Luis Obispo, CA 93406Toll Free: 800.545.9003Voice: 805.781.3283Fax: 805.545.9075Email: info@impactlearning.com
www.impactlearning.com
© 2010 Impact Learning Systems Internationalwww.impactlearning.com1
Job Hiring for Retention
I
n today’s economy, it’s becoming more and more
important to hire the right employees. This isespecially true for the contact center environment. Everyone knows high turnover can sink the bottom-line of a contact center. So, what can be done in order to ensure you are hiring a highly productive, longlasting workforce? In this article,
we’ll give you the answers needed to fully ensure you’re hiring
practices are bullet proof in order to enforce employee retention.
What is Turnover Costing Me?
Every business operates with turnover, but just how much does turnover affect a contact center
’s
bottom-line?
Research done at Purdue’s Center for Customer Driven Quality puts the average cost for
recruiting and training a customer service representative between $5,000 and $18,000. That cost isliable to make any manager tremble. The cost then skyrockets with the usual insufficient training, hiring,and careless management of newly hired employees.
Contact Center Turnover Rates
Median Average HighestPart Time Inbound
20% 33.6% 300%
Full Time Inbound
19% 26% 252%
Part Time Outbound
15% 35.5% 480%
Full Time Outbound
10% 21.3% 210%
The data above is according to Purdue’s Cente
r for Customer Driven Quality. With turnoverfigures as high as 480%, contact centers must establish better hiring practices.
Hiring Practices
In order to ensure the hiring of qualified personnel, management can arrange for a candidate sourcingprogram. Sourcing programs are able to screen new candidates according to those who
can
do the joband
will
do the job. Setting up an employee sourcing program can be done by an internal team, anoutside recruiter, or a search firm specializing in contact center environments.
© 2010 Impact Learning Systems Internationalwww.impactlearning.com2
What to Look For
When hiring employees, each and every contact center is unique
—
an employee who complements onecontact center team might not fit well with another contact center. When looking for the right fit, thesegeneral skills and personality traits will have a lasting effect:
Skills
Simultaneous thinker (able to talk and type)
Empathetic listener
Detail-oriented individual
Exceptional communicator (able to express ideas clearly)
Problem solver
Personality & Interests
Conscientious
Open
Extraverted
Agreeable
Emotionally Stable
Positive
Enthusiastic
Friendly and Cheerful
Non-confrontational
Professional
Motivated
Team-oriented
Customer Service Interview Questions
A host of quality interview questions will assist you in understanding if the candidate will fit nicely intothe contact center. With these interview questions, you as the manager should
assess the candidate’s
communication skills and personality qualities. You should also
identify where the candidate’s
motivation continues to come from. The contact center environment is incredibly dynamic, so assessingthe candidate in all situations will be beneficial. The pressure in a contact center is immense, so youwant to understand how the candidate handles pressure. When interviewing candidates, you shouldalso gather a better understanding of previous work and job functions. Below is a list of sampleinterview questions which will help in filtering out the best possible contact center employees:
Do you feel the customer is always right?
How do you handle unruly or demanding customers?
What level of decision-making authority have you had in your last two positions?
How did you handle a situation when the customer was totally wrong?
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