Benefits July 14, 2005

Report Gives Strategies for Managing Call Center Turnover

July 14, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Studies on call centers in the financial services sector find that the annual turnover rate is as high as 39% and results in hundreds of millions of dollars spent for hiring, training, and overhead costs, according to a news release.
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The release notes that one reason for this high turnover is that workers feel they are treated as a lower class of employees making lower pay and having reduced benefits. A report from Cutting Edge Information, a business research firm, offers strategies for retention of call center employees including financial and non-financial incentives.

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According to the release, the report “Managing Financial Services Call Centers” offers information and strategies in the following areas:

  • Call center agents’ incentive and compensation packages
  • Turnover, blocked calls, cost per rep and many other key performance measurements
  • Inbound and outbound call metrics for the financial services industry
  • Up-selling and cross-selling strategies
  • Offshore outsourcing
  • Process efficiency and call center technology

Another practice that may contribute to the high turnover rate is the segmentation of call center workers from other employees, the report notes. This practice makes it hard for these employees to cross-train and advance within the company.

“Providing top-notch customer service still requires a high level of human interaction, and call center managers must continue to invent creative ways to motivate, reward and retain valuable agents,” said Elio Evangelista, senior analyst at Cutting Edge Information, in the news release.

The full report from Cutting Edge Information can be found here .

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