Career opportunities needed for agent satisfaction

Career opportunities are a key factor in achieving employee satisfaction and retention according to a new study.

The main factors

In the UK, 74 percent of contact centre managers mention career opportunities as a major factor in ensuring agent satisfaction. Similarly, the lack of career opportunities was also cited as being the top reason for an agent to hang up their headset and leave their employer; this fact shows that the contact centre sector as a whole is now on a par with most other industries, where career opportunities and public recognition also plays a significant role in achieving employee satisfaction and retention.

“Contact centres have made great strides in eliminating the perception that they are noisy, crowded and stressful places to work – and for that they should be applauded,” says Brendan Read, Industry Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. “However, as we can see from the results of this survey, to address their continued high turnover rate they need to focus on providing additional career options and guidance to their employees on how to better achieve goals and targets.”

According to the survey by Jabra and Frost & Sullivan, in the UK 76 percent of contact centre managers believe that an overriding factor for agent satisfaction is the public recognition and bonus an agent may receive for extraordinary performance. And this may be time and resources well spent, as 85% of contact centre managers worldwide believe that a satisfied agent leads to a significant increase in productivity.

“I’m glad to see that a significant percentage of contact centres are making an effort to recognise employees for a job well done,” says Jette Bajlum, Branch Manager, KELLY Services, Contact Centre Division. “It’s been well documented that employees place a high value on recognition they receive from their managers, peers and co-workers. Public recognition schemes are often an effective way for contact centres to build strong, long-lasting employee satisfaction.”

What 66% of contact centre managers surveyed agreed upon was that providing equipment that improves agents’ working lives is key, and is the second-most popular method, after public recognition and bonus. Good quality software and headset solutions have proven to increase productivity by more than 15 percent, decreasing the time spent with each call and increasing the quality of the conversation.

The right technology and influence

“Equipment and technologies that improve the employee work experience are a relatively low-cost way for today’s organisations to both increase employee satisfaction and distinguish themselves from other potential employers”, said Andrew Doyle, UK Managing Director for Contact Centre & Office Division, Jabra. “At Jabra, we’re seeing a growing gap between organisations that embrace technology to make their employees’ work lives easier and organisations that don’t. Those that don’t are at considerable risk of being left behind as potential employees seek out employers that provide a work environment that is more to their liking.”

When it comes to job satisfaction, contact centre employees are quite clear that they want more than just good working conditions. In the modern contact centre, agents want to influence their working environment and have the right equipment for the job at their disposal. In short, contact centre employees want to be part of a dynamic, successful organisation. This indicates that modern contact centres that provide their agents with training, quality headsets and fulfilling tasks will likely thrive, whereas those that do not will eventually run the risk of being left behind.