Stop promoting call centre agents

Why we need to stop promoting call centre agents

Blogger Dan Campbell suggests there is much more to the decision-making process for new leaders in your organisation than simply selecting the person who is excelling in their current role.

He says that managers often feel an employee’s track record of success in their current job will make them a sufficient leader, after all, it’s the “logical next step.”

But as it turns out, there isn’t anything logical about it.

Why the call centre industry is promoting the wrong people

In the call centre industry, we tend to fall into step in promoting call centre agents who are excelling in their roles.

What we often don’t consider, is the fact they aren’t generally trained for the role, sometimes don’t have the personality traits to successfully manage others, or even have a desire for the responsibilities and accountability that come with such a leadership position.

Campbell suggests that promoting call centre agents to this position doesn’t do them or the company any good in the long run.

Workforce turnover and the effects of turnover that do happen can be largely reduced by implementing strategies around supervisor training.

Through a lack of staff retention, costs of lost time and productivity around hiring and training are increased, and the negative drain on employee morale and the loss of institutional knowledge that walks out the door with experienced employees are just a few of the many unquantifiable detriments.

Strategies you should be using

Effective internal communication and employee engagement from direct supervisors are the first of a number of strategies to increase staff retention and ensure you have the right people in the right roles.

Straz says “communication is the transfer of information, and effective communication is all about ensuring the information is relayed and received efficiently and accurately.”

Effective communicators will tailor their message for the target audience as individuals learn differently, and a strategic supervisor will be aware of how best to deliver information to team members to meet expected outcomes.

Without effective strategy behind the employment of leadership roles, it’s unlikely that the employee will possess the level of familiarity that must be achieved to identify these different communication needs and the wherewithal to account for them.

An effective manager will also encourage a candid and open dialogue, be receptive to constructive feedback, will promote key company values by modelling behaviour, and will focus on speaking the language of truth to build trust.

These are skills that need to be taught and trained, and knowledge of the practices to be implemented must be attained before one can hope to communicate effectively in a managerial setting.

Recommended further reading: 5 Common Barriers to Team Leader Success

Search a list of all upcoming industry training courses, conferences networking events and more on the Industry Events Calendar>>> or search a list of recruitment agencies that specialise in the contact centre industry.