Employee Retention in Practice
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Seventy percent of customer-service workers, on average, quit their jobs within a year. But some companies have kept turnover rates low by learning how to engage these crucial employees.
You think your job is hard? Try sitting in a cubicle for eight hours a day listening to angry customers, tracking lost orders and answering picky questions, all with a helpful, pleasant demeanor, for $15 an hour.
Most people wouldn't last a day as a customer-service representative. Yet retailers, airlines, banks and legions of other employers rely on these low-rung professionals to keep their businesses humming. Their performance on the phone, on the sales floor and online can make or break customer relationships.
If everyone practiced what's been preached about employee engagement, perhaps there would be no turnover. Obviously, that's not the case among the nation's 2.1 million customer-service representatives -- annual turnover rates of 70 percent or more among that segment of the workforce are common, according to experts.
Nevertheless, employers known for excellent customer service have gotten their CSRs to stick around. What's their secret? Southwest Airlines, Nordstrom Inc. and other companies that rank high in customer satisfaction trace their success, in part, to the care and feeding of customer-service workers.
Human resource executives can help ensure that success by hiring people with the talent to serve customers, training them -- and their managers -- effectively and driving motivation with worker-directed incentives. In other words, they have a better chance of engaging their customers in repeat business by having customer-service workers who are, themselves, engaged.
"Organizations need to establish the importance of having an engaged and empowered workforce first; then customer service will follow," says Mark Phelps, a senior consultant and engagement practice leader at Development Dimensions International Inc., a human resource consulting firm based in Bridgeville, Pa.
But it takes more than innate talent to provide great customer service. Also needed is "a cooperative culture where employees understand what behaviors are positive and what goals they're expected to achieve," says Karen Renk, executive director of the Incentive Marketing Association in Naperville, Ill., a trade association of suppliers of awards for incentive and recognition programs.
Words must be followed by deeds, she says. To say, "We value customers" without the policies and procedures necessary to support customer service undermines a company's image. That makes life hard for customer-service reps, but the best of the best can explain a policy in a way that soothes ruffled feathers instead of ruffling them even more.
In general, highly engaged employees know what's expected of them, feel that their job is important and have caring supervisors who encourage their development. These are among the 12 attributes of employee engagement identified by Gallup Consulting.
Even more importantly, engaged employees have lower turnover, feel better about their jobs and exert more effort, studies show. Salary and benefits are only part of retention. Other key drivers are advancement opportunities and the company's reputation as a good employer and an inspirational manager, according to a 2006 report by the Conference Board entitled Employee Engagement.
Clearly, having a supportive environment in the demanding world of call centers, stores and other customer-service settings means that effective manager training is crucial. Supervisors who've been properly trained are better able to serve as role models and provide feedback, coaching and a sense of one's place in the company, consultants say.
"You can't take it for granted that people know how to coach," says Pete Ambrozaitis, vice president of sales at Novations Group Inc., a Boston consulting firm. "Many [managers] are managing to the numbers. Without proper training, they won't have the right skills" to coach subordinates.
Rewards such as gift cards, electronics and trips are popular, but a few kind words from the boss can also go a long way. "It has to be sincere in order to be valued," Phelps says. Individual, specific praise is better than a general group "thank you." And appreciation should be regular -- at least once a week, Gallup recommends.
By Carolyn Hirschman
Originally appeared in Human Resource Executive in December 2007.
To read the entire article entitled Moments of Truth you can go to http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=52226191&query=call%20center or go to http://www.hreonline.com/ to learn more about this magazine.
