February 2011

You are browsing the archive for February 2011.

Letter Responding to Jan. CIS Logout "To Improve Quality and Profits Get Rid of "HR"

February 25, 2011

Here is a letter written in response to my Logout column “To Improve Quality and Profits Get Rid of "HR" that appeared in the January 2011 Customer Interaction Solutions.

In the piece I decried the too-often poor contact center agent and supervisor hiring and screening practices, such as job descriptions having little to do with the reality of the work, as a result of the human resource "HR" mentality--treating people like raw materials rather than as individuals.

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Brendan –

I read your article (Customer Interactions Solutions, Jan 2011 issue) and couldn’t agree more.

Posted in Call Center CRM, Workforce Management

Tagged: Employee retention, Employment, Human resource management, human-resource : Related Tags: improve quality, quality profits, recruiting, quality

How To Win Contact Center Agent Loyalty

February 17, 2011

Contact center work is important, sometimes interesting but more often than not highly stressful and mind-numbing and the hours are often unsociable. It is little wonder then that agent turnover is high, even in an economic downturn; at the first sign of an uptick, of better-paying, more 9-5 and stable jobs off go the headsets.

And with indications that at last the economy may be turning the corner, more attention should be given to keeping quality staff.

In many cases these conditions described above are inherent in the contact center business.

Posted in Call Center CRM

Tagged: Call centers, contact centers, employee retention, employee turnover, Employment : Related Tags: contact center, contact centers, rewards programs, contact, often, agents

Tablets as Phones...Are There Signs of It Happening?

February 10, 2011

I like cellphones as phones and tablets as e-mail/texting/surfing means. I dislike the reverse: for me and many others cellphones are a terrible tool for communications other than voice. The keyboards may be suited for Tweets and texts but are just too tiny for serious e-mail/chat work for all as are the screens. My wife has a BlackBerry smartphone with the touchscreen pad and the only "smart" task (other than making calls) she uses it for is occasionally checking her e-mails.

Posted in Call Center CRM, VoIP, Wireless

A Big Reason To Avoid Credit-Checking Contact Center Applicants: Lawsuits

February 4, 2011

I have been critical of using credit checks as contact center screening tools. Not only are they in most cases unnecessary, another excuse by hiring managers who are unable to examine people at their true worth but they are also morally wrong. They act as blows to the kneecaps of highly skilled and motivated individuals--whom through little fault of their own have fallen behind in their bills that is practically inevitable in today’s tough economy—that makes it even more difficult for them to get up. These checks serve then as virtual debtors’ prisons; Catch-22s for which there is little escape.