By: Ned Rossini
As you can imagine and have likely experienced in your contact center journey, staffing is a never-ending process that you never really fully solve or don’t deal with. Oftentimes, it is the #1 priority for each and every contact center out there. There is so much that goes into it that it would be impossible to cover in a single blog post. Truthfully, you could break down each step in the process and it probably would not fit in a single blog but here is what you should be thinking about from a 30,000-foot view.
#1 – Work from Home (WFH) versus Brick and Morter – As you can imagine, this decision is going to be the single biggest contributing factor your organization deals with when it comes to contact center staffing, by a long shot. Like everything, there are pros and cons to each. There are too many to list but for WFH the positives are (a) you can hire from all over the United States (b) you have some flexibility when you need it on pay rates (c) 98% of every contact center person is looking for a WFH job, so you might as well embrace it.
For Brick and Morter the positives are (a) creating a synergy that can only be created in the office, often referred to as “the call center hum” (b) training and development in a live setting can be better (c) data security is usually easier to manage and feel good about.
I give WFH the nod when it comes to the preferred strategy because although I do not at all disagree with the benefits of Brick and Morter, the fact that the vast majority of contact center employees prefer WFH and it dramatically increases my candidate pool, makes it the winner for me.
#2 – What type of scientific data and AI tools are you leveraging? There are really good tools out there that can help you identify the correct candidate for each job. For example, a person who is doing a routine call type has certain characteristics that certain tools can help you identify in candidates. By the same token, the call type may be something that is much more complex and that is best suited for a certain personality type. The point is, when deciding who the best person for the job would be, you need to be utilizing a tool that best positions you to make the best hiring decisions based on science and data and project type. These same tools can also help you identify the best ways to help that individual be successful based on their characteristics. If you would like some info on these tools, let me know and I can point you in the right direction.
#3 – Training and Transitioning Staff onto the Floor – If you have poor training or your training is a “get ‘em in and get ‘em out” type thing, you are never going to do well with staffing. I know no one would ever admit they have a “get ‘em in & get ‘em out” strategy but you know if you do or not and it is not uncommon. Good training is important for very obvious reasons, but don’t overlook that it is also the first real first impression of the company. That new employee is going home and telling their significant other, roommate, pets, or whoever the training is either “really good” or “kind of stinks”. Probably a strong correlation between that first impression of your company and how your staffing is going. I could go on and on about how important training is, but you already know all that stuff.
There are literally 100 points we could make on staffing but as I said, we don’t have the time for that. Think about these top 3 and you will find there is plenty of work to be done if you are struggling with staffing. If you think you are doing well in these areas, let me know and I’d love to talk about other trends in the industry when it comes to staffing. Things like pay rates, scheduling strategies, how the gig economy is affecting us in the contact center, company culture, career advancement opportunities, employee feedback, how is the company viewed in the community, etc.
Lastly, since my entire career has been working for an outsourcer and not a captive contact center team, I always unapologetically lobby for BPOs. So, I will say that with the right BPO partner, you can execute this process correctly. Doesn’t mean you will nail it and master it and not have moments where you are stumped.. but you can do better than most at it, and today that is a win when it comes to staffing.
