In Industry we are noticing a high percentage of Agent Turnover rate. On average in any Customer Support Department, you may find a 30 - 35% Agent turnover rate. Higher the Attrition rate higher the cost of running a Support Department.
To hire an Agent in the Customer Support Department on an average required is 3000 - 4500$ per FTE, as there is a Hiring & Training cost involved. Assume if Agent is leaving the organization immediately after the training or within 3 -4 months the organization will need to invest the money again to hire and train new Support Agents. So it is always suggested to retain the existing employees.
Top ways to retain employees:
1. Perfect Recruitment & Hiring Process: Many times we hire the wrong fit example we don't have a clear requirement in terms of the skill set required and we hire wrong people in the Customer Support Department and after the training, we may have to terminate or either they leave the organization in both the way cost is involved and also the Customer Experience is impacted. Understanding the Minimum hiring & recruitment for the designation is very important and accordingly preparing a clear requirement.
(Example 1: If you are hiring for a Customer Support Agent for a multichannel process like Chat, Email & Phone, so here your minimum requirement should be having a good written & voice skillset, good customer service skills to understand the requirement of the customer and provide the solution.
Example 2: If you are hiring for a Technical Support process then the minimum requirement should be having good troubleshooting and solution & discourse strategy skills.
Some time organizations just give them some basic mock tests based on their past experience and hire them which is gambling because hiring them based on their past experience doesn't necessarily mean that they will be successful in your program because your Product might differ. Therefore an organization should come up with an effective method of hiring so that at the beginning itself they hire the perfect Agent. The organization can first provide a Demonstration about their Product and share some basic examples for the kind of query they get in their Customer Support department and then assessing them on the real-time questions will give more opportunity to the Hiring Manager to evaluate and select the perfect Agent. Many companies now days are following this good practice so that they get the best people in and reduce the cost to support.
2. Perfect Onboarding: Once you hire a Customer Support Agent it is always suggested that the Head of Customer Support Department should share examples about how the Customer Support Department is important in meeting the needs of the Organization. They can even share how the new Support Agent can build their career in Customer Support Department, some example can be shared about how an Agent become a Team Leader in 1 year or 2 years this will motivate the New Customer Support Agent and they can align themself to work with a long term commitment. You can even enroll your Customer Support Agent to Register for an Online Course which will guide them about the various Roles & Career options available within the Customer Support Department.
https://www.udemy.com/course/power-of-customer-support-deparment/?referralCode=12DC3D352757AAD29736
3. Perfecting the New Agent Training Program: Once you hire the new Agent you must have a clear & detailed Training plan with an estimated time format. An organized Training plan motivates employees because they know the directions. Many times organization doesn't have a detailed Training plan and shows a lack of credibility towards the brand and Support Agent may leave the organization as there is no clear expectation. Therefore Customer Support Managers should ensure that a detailed Training plan is developed and training is completed as per the estimated time.
4. Celebrating Training Success: Once the New Support Agent has successfully completed the Training it is the time to celebrate about their Success so that they are motivated. They should be given a kind of certificate of completion as that adds value.
5. Setting Performance & Other Expectation: Once the New Support Agent is sent on the floor to support the customers it is the responsibility of the Customer Support Department to set Performance expectations about the employees.
- How will their performance be measured i.e What will be their KPI?
- When they will be eligible for the Incentive plan?
- When and how the yearly review is performed?
- When the Team Leader will coach them?
- What are Quality Evaluation parameters?
- What is the next level of promotion and how they can apply for the same?
- Other Administration questions related to Salary, Medclaim, Transport, etc.
Note Many a time the Team Leader doesn't communicate this to the Customer Support Agent in detail and it is one of the causes of Attrition.
6. Reward & Recognition: Customer Support Department must have a Reward & Recognization program in place so that existing employees are motivated to achieve the Reward and it helps to retain them. You can reward the Top performing Agent of the Month or Quarter it boost Employee morale. A company can use the Balanced Scored Methodology to determine the Top Performer.
7. Professional & Career Development: Companies should invest in their Customer Support Employees. So you must provide your Agents & Support Employees with ongoing learning, growth, and personal development. One of the best ways of doing this is enrolling them in the Support Center Training Courses. If you train them and invest in their development they will stick with your company for a longer duration. As per the survey, it is found that many people leave the Customer Support department due to a lack of career advancement.
You can enroll your Customer Support Employees in our courses.
https://www.thecustomersupportschool.com/p/customer-support-training.html
https://www.thecustomersupportschool.com/p/brands-worked-with.html
Completely reducing the Customer Support Department is not an easy job. It will require a Teamwork right from Team Leader to Head of Department everyone should dedicate their Role in such a way that all this above task is achieved. Obviously, some factors will not be under your Department's control but performing the above task effectively will definitely reduce the turnover.
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