In the Battle Against Attrition a Well-trained Supervisor is Your Best Weapon
A fresh approach to solving an old problem
One of the largest business process outsourcers in the US, Alliance Data Systems, is conducting a yearlong supervisor development project at their 300-agent center in Scottsbluff Nebraska. This initiative is expected to significantly reduce controllable attrition and as a result save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in agent hiring and training costs. The project is designed to address a key driver of contact center agent attrition – supervisor efficacy. Recent studies show that the reason many good agents leave is because their supervisor did not adequately acknowledge or reward their efforts.
The project focuses on training supervisors to recognize and respond to the unique needs of each agent on their team and apply a simple process to acknowledge their contributions. The program’s design features unique components, such as:
• The supervisors own the project.
The 21 supervisors are accountable for their teams’ rate of attrition, attendance index, quality metrics and job satisfaction survey results. That is one reason they have embraced the project and made it their own. They helped to design the project, are devising creative ways to maintain the momentum for change and are helping each other apply what they learn.
• The supervisors utilize a short fable book about a customer service rep that works in a call center, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey: A Customer Service Fable, by Barbara Burke, as a vehicle for connecting with their agents.
Prior to the project’s roll out in January 2008, the supervisors participated in a workshop that showed them how to reference the experiences of the book’s main character (a service rep who faced the same challenges as the service reps on their teams) in coaching sessions. These “conversation starters” are used when discussing intractable contact-handling behaviors such as: pre-judging customers, not using empowerment, or not taking personal responsibility for outcomes. Supervisors also learned to facilitate a series of 45-minute team meetings in which agents discuss their job challenges, work/life balance issues and core values such as mutual respect and teamwork.
It will take several months to gather adequate data to determine the project’s impact on agent attrition and other key metrics. After two months, the book and training appear to be gaining traction. Over 90% of the agents read the book in the first week. Management from both centers noticed that overall morale improved significantly after the book was introduced. Supervisors say they are getting a positive response to their new, more positive approach.
For more information about the project, to receive periodic updates, or to find out if your center could be a candidate for a similar initiative, contact Barbara Burke.
To access information about the fable book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey: A Customer Service Fable, go to the book’s website, www.napkinmelonmonkey.com. (Books are not available in bookstores.)
March 4, 2008
