5 Reasons Contact Centers Fail

The contact center industry has grown from a single center providing claims support in the late 1960s – to a $300+ billion global industry. Increased competition and pressure to reduce operating costs have forced many companies to move operations offshore and/or outsource operations to companies that specialize in contact center operations (ie., business process outsourcing or BPO). Only 14% of contact centers in the U.S. are outsourced – creating big business capabilities. Yet, contact centers still struggle with the basic mechanics which make their companies strong.


Reason #1: 
Poor Job Design and Managerial Practices = 'White Collar Factories'


Despite the industry's expanding footprint, sophisticated technology, and potential to differentiate a company's customer service – many contact centers continue to be plagued by poor job design and managerial practices that de-motivates and disengage employees. 

"Management practices and job design failed to adapt to the changes in the industry, prompting to describe contact centers as 'white collar factories'." – Brent Holland, Vice President, Research and Consulting at FurstPerson
 
Management practice and job design remain relatively unchanged even as the contact center industry has advanced technology and expanded globally. The emergence of computers, advanced telephony, and computer sophistication has allowed contact centers to improve performance and job capability, but still lack maintaining the most important factor – man power.


Reason #2: 
Failure to Keep-Up with Technology 

"Companies not equip to handle the shift to product and consumer support technologically or in terms of the knowledge, skills, abilities and other qualities (KSAOs) of front-line representatives, often experience long wait times, plummeting performance, and dissatisfied callers." – Brent Holland, Vice President, Research and Consulting at FurstPerson

The melding between communication and computer technology has caused difficulties for many contact centers to stay current and competitive in today's market. Whether it’s a simple database program that tracks inventory and daily purchases, or a sophisticated communications network that links people and places around the globe – technology helps organizations maintain a competitive edge and build a strong presence in today’s business world.

More modern technology has created greater demand for quality customer support, inevitably affected the nature of in-coming calls. Representative’s roles have evolved from resolving claims to supporting products and services – and the customer’s ability to use them.


Reason #3: 
Poor Recruiting Techniques

Recruiting an adequate supply of well qualified candidates is a precursor to hiring the right people. Implementing a strategically driven process to sustain a steady supply of contact center talent is akin to taking out an insurance policy on a center's future. Many centers, unfortunately, seem to favor a just-in-time philosophy – the same approach used to manage physical inventory – in which a pool of "replacements" are identified quickly by posting an advertisement on a job board, rewarding employees for referrals, or by calling a staffing office.

"Finding, hiring, and retaining employees with the characteristics necessary for long-term success can provide an organization with a significant competitive advantage." – Dawn Lampert, Director of Selection and Assessment Director at FurstPerson

In our experience at FurstPerson, many centers do a reasonable job assessing candidates’ knowledge (e.g., computer software and hardware), ability, and personality characteristics. However, when it comes to measuring essential job-relevant skills, far too many centers miss the mark.


Reason #4:
Ineffective Job Training

The nature of contact center work makes it challenging to identify candidates with the greatest likelihood of success. The work is complex and varied, and qualified candidates must possess a multitude of skills, abilities, and personality characteristics. As such, contact centers provide the ideal context for examining the value of accurate, high-quality pre-hire assessments that simulate the complex nature of the work to evaluate candidates’ job relevant skills.

"Asking a candidate to play the part of a contact center representative creates an engaging experience, presents a realistic preview of the job, and provides a company’s talent acquisition team greater visibility into the candidate’s likelihood to perform well in training and on the job." – Brent Holland, Vice President, Research and Consulting at FurstPerson


Reason #5:
Abundance of Turnover and Absenteeism Within Workforce 

Contact center work often places emotional, as well as mental, demands on employees, who must be ready to respond to any number of issues, resolve them quickly, and do so while maintaining a friendly demeanor. These jobs are often associated with high levels of psychological and physiological strain, which lead to burnout, absenteeism, turnover, and other withdrawal behaviors.

In a comprehensive survey of U.S. contact centers, it's reported that the industry averaged 33% annual turnover with a 6% daily absenteeism rate. Outsourced centers experienced 51% annual turnover and a 10% daily absenteeism rate.


FurstPerson Solution

Multimedia simulations are valuable indicators of a candidate’s likelihood to succeed in a contact center’s frenetic, intense environment. Contact centers are often characterized by low pay, poor management practices, and rigid punitive policies. The culture of dysfunction that tends to permeate many centers creates innumerable challenges for talent acquisition teams that must balance the need to “fill seats” with the desire to hire qualified candidates. The need to more accurately select candidates capable of performing well in contact center jobs helped inspire the development of multimedia simulations. Modern simulations allow candidates to experience life as a contact center representative while auditioning for a job from anywhere in the world, and give an organization’s talent acquisition team direct visibility into a candidate’s potential to achieve on-the-job success. Amid a constellation of problems that characterize many contact centers, multimedia simulations represent a promising tool to help centers identify the most skilled job candidates who will succeed in a complex and challenging role.

– Why do you think most contact centers struggle to perform well? Please submit your opinions in the comment section below.

All information compiled in this blog post was gathered from "How to Measure Contact Center Skills Using Multimedia Simulations." – compiled by FurstPerson.

To read the full text and discover more solutions that help candidates find a job they will love and enable clients to hire people that will perform well, be satisfied, and stay with the company – visit www.furstperson.com.


Hire Furst, Hire Right – FurstPerson