Everyone in the call center industry is aware of the high attrition rates in agents. Indeed, many agents view the role more as a short-term way to pay the bills and less as the first step on a successful career path—though agents who fall into the second category certainly exist. If your call center is struggling to hold onto agents, here are three ways to reduce attrition and help the agents in your call center thrive.

 

Treat Agents as Permanent Employees

 

When companies are hiring new employees, regardless of the level of the position or the department, they tend to select the candidate who has the best experience and who they hope will stay in the job the longest. Hiring call center agents should be no different. Even if many call center agents are coming into the job with the assumption that it will be temporary, companies should not treat them as such. Treating agents as temporary employees discounts the work they are putting in every day, showing the agents that they aren’t worth the same investment as other employees because they won’t be there for the long run. On the other hand, approaching them under the impression that they intend to stay and learn and grow in your call center will make them feel more appreciated and valued, likely making them stay in the position for longer.

 

Prioritize Training

 

A key component of treating agents as permanent employees is training them accordingly. One of the reasons call center agents leave jobs is because they are underprepared to deal with the tasks they are being asked to complete and the callers they are being asked to handle. A lot of the time, the thinking behind this is that companies don’t want to invest time and resources into training agents who are not going to be in their call center for very long—yet taking the time to adequately train and prepare them for the jobs they are being asked to do will directly influence how successful they are at those jobs and for how long they will want to do them.

 

Offer Incentives and Advancement Opportunities

 

On top of making call center agents feel like they aren’t in transient roles, agents should be made to feel like they are not in dead-end jobs either. The best way to do this is to offer opportunities for growth and advancement, such as from agent to supervisor or manager or movement from one department to others that deal with different or more complex inquiries. In addition to advancement opportunities, incentives for strong performance, frequent customer satisfaction or meeting customer service goals will also help keep agents motivated and engaged and wanting to continue to grow and improve in their positions.

One final way to help your agents thrive: Equip them with a call center platform that is intuitive and easy to use, like CallShaper’s. To learn more, request a demo today.