May is generally an event-loaded month for the industry. It’s also a time when blog readership spikes. This month, we saw a great deal of interest in a mix of topics from familiar management challenges like frontline coaching and attrition, to a look at how speech analytics’ can tackle long-time contact center pain points, to a compelling editorial on the economic consequences for agents when they have to call out (and what leaders can do to lessen the hardship for agents), to a look at the complexities of contact center management and why selecting a leader based on enthusiasm for the role over experience leads to poor decisions and chaos.
High Absenteeism? Consider Your Agents’ “Breaking Point”
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty frustrated by clients, prospects and some contact center managers who think that the only reason agents are absent from work is because they are lazy. Not only is this conclusion frequently detached from the facts of what’s causing the absenteeism, but it also abrogates a level of responsibility on the part of management.
Speech Analytics in 2019 and Beyond: With Change Comes Opportunity
If you’ve been lucky enough to be in the audience when an engaging speaker hits the stage, you know that his or her first words come with authority. Because of that, everyone else’s ears perk up a little bit, the notebooks and pens come out to scribble down the firehose of information being shared, and each member of the audience feels a little more at peace knowing that they’re getting the answers that they came to the session to find. And, by the reaction of the rest of the group, they know they’re not alone.
Tips and Techniques for Coaching Success
Coaching agents is arguably the most critical responsibility for frontline contact center management. Effective coaching is known to foster agent engagement, reinforce and expand critical skillsets, boost productivity and deliver higher performance for the individual, operation and company. It is also an important element for strengthening the all-important agent-supervisor relationship—a key to retaining top-performing talent in a competitive job market.
Managing Attrition in a Strong Economy
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate is the lowest in 48 years. When the economy is strong and contact center jobs are plentiful, retaining your top talent can become a daunting task. Although paying your agents a competitive rate is essential to retaining your top talent, many other factors play a part. Being aware of these factors and responding quickly can help you keep your best talent even when the labor market is as competitive as it is now.
Getting Off to a Flying Start… Or Are You?
The idiom “off to a flying start” is defined as “a start or beginning of anything, as characterized by the participant’s vigor and enthusiasm.” To be off to a flying start is often considered as an advantage, for example: “She was off to a flying start due to graduating at the top of her class.” Some advantages, however, are short-lived if initial enthusiasm is greater than the capacity for true insight that has not yet been achieved.
